Wednesday, August 30, 2023

August 31, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Sweet Peppers

 


Cooking With This Week's Box

Basque Piperade
Photo from www.culinaryambition.com
Red and Yellow Onions:  

Musik Garlic:  

Green and/or Italian Zucchini:  

Silver Slicer or Green Slicer Cucumbers:  
Chocolate Oatmeal Zucchini Cookies
Photo from www.crazyforcrust.com
Creamy Cucumber Dill Salad 

Sweet Corn:  

Sweet Peppers:  
Corn & Pepper Pudding (See Below)
Greek Salad (See Below)

Jalapeño Peppers:  

Variety Bag of Tomatoes:  
Jalapeño Popper Bagels
Photo from www.delish.com
10-Minute Fresh Tomato Salsa 

Melons:  

Red Seedless Watermelon:  

Orange Carrots:  

Lacinato Kale:  

I say this every month, but how in the world has another month passed us by!?!  We are just a few weeks away from harvesting winter squash and this week the harvest crews have been bringing in bins of potatoes, carrots, beets, and rutabagas! Late August and early September is a bountiful time of the year as summer and fall collide, and this is the time of the year when sweet peppers are at their peak. Now that we’re seeing some gorgeous colors in the pepper field, it’s time to talk about what to do with sweet peppers.  Trust me, there will be more coming over the next few weeks! This week I chose two featured recipes, one raw and one cooked. With our fresh sweet corn, I thought this recipe for Corn & Pepper Pudding (See Below) was seasonally appropriate. I also like Alice Water’s very simple, but very tasty Greek Salad (See Below) which brings together fresh tomatoes, red onions, and sweet peppers in a refreshing salad. This recipe calls for fresh oregano, but you could also use fresh zaatar from your herb garden in this salad!
5-Ingredient Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup
Photo from www.vanillaandbean.com

Another great dish to make around this time of year is Basque Piperade, a vegetable stew of sorts that originates from the Basque region near France and Spain.  The main ingredients are onions, peppers, and tomatoes. It’s commonly served as an accompaniment to eggs, grilled fish or chicken, or used as a pasta sauce.  Peppers and tomatoes are a natural pairing in this recipe, as well as others such as this 5-Ingredient Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup.  

It's a big melon week!  If you want to try something a little different with your melons this week, aside from just cutting them up and eating them, check out this Chili Lime Melon Salad or Chili Lime Watermelon, which also has fresh cotija cheese on it.  I also found this interesting recipe for Sicilian Watermelon Pudding. I’ve never had anything like this, but I would try anything with Sicilian origins as the Sicilians really know how to enjoy life and food!

I’m going to keep this week’s commentary brief as the harvest crew is going to be bringing in a load of carrots any moment now!  But before I close out, a little glimpse into next week. I’m hoping we’ll have enough poblano peppers ready next week for boxes, along with more tomatillos!  Mini sweet peppers will be coming soon, along with orange Italian frying peppers. Before long we’ll also have jicama and lemongrass!  Have a great week and I’ll see you in September! 

—Chef Andrea 

Vegetable Feature: Sweet Peppers

by Andrea Yoder

Mini Sweet Peppers
before they are ripe
As we continue our progression through the seasons, we are approaching another transition point. Within the season of “Summer,” I feel like there are sub-seasons. Zucchini and cucumbers mark the beginning of summer. Tomatoes take center stage in mid-summer, and peppers close it out. For me, the peak of the pepper season is one of the markers that late summer is upon us and will very soon be colliding with fall. Because of their place in the season, they pair well with all of the summer vegetables we still have available, such as tomatoes and eggplant.  They also play nicely with fall cauliflower, winter squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes and fall greens such as Broccoli Raab and kale. This week we’re focusing on sweet peppers, of which we grow several different types.  Of note, all peppers start out as green peppers when they are immature. While we eat green peppers, peppers are actually fully ripe and at their peak of sweetness and flavor if we let them turn color to be fully red, yellow or orange.  Most people are familiar with the standard bell pepper, which holds an important place in our pepper lineup as an early season green pepper.  Once we start seeing some color in the field as peppers ripen, we move on to more interesting varieties such as Italian Frying Peppers. Italian frying peppers are long, slender peppers that, despite their name, may be eaten either raw or cooked. We have both red and orange varieties, and both have good pepper flavor and sweetness, which we prefer to a red bell pepper.

Fully ripe Mini Sweet Peppers
We also grow mini sweet peppers which are our all-time favorite sweet variety. While there are many snack peppers available in the marketplace today, we believe our peppers are more flavorful than commercial seed varieties. We’ve been saving our own seed for 15-20 years and our variety is not just carefully selected, but also well adapted to our area.  While sweet peppers are delicious eaten raw, they may also be sautéed and roasted. You can roast peppers whole, over an open flame such as on a grill or just on your stovetop if you have gas burners. Otherwise, peppers may be roasted under a broiler in the oven. When roasting peppers, blacken nearly the entire exterior of the pepper.  Once blackened, put them in a bowl and cover them so they steam for about 10 minutes. Remove the cover and once they are cool enough to handle you can peel away the black skin.  Once you have roasted the pepper, it’s ready to use however you’d like.  Slices of roasted red pepper are a nice addition to sandwiches, grain, or lentil salads, or use them to build an antipasto platter. You can also use roasted sweet peppers to make a delicious cream sauce, dressing or soup.

Italian Frying Peppers
While pepper season usually lasts several weeks, peppers are one of the easiest vegetables to preserve and it’s worth putting some away to use throughout the winter.  I use them quite often in winter stir-fries, as a pizza topping, added to soups and stews, and scrambled eggs, etc. Even if I am limited on time, I know I can always successfully freeze peppers as they do not need to be cooked before freezing. At a minimum, freezing peppers requires the time it takes to wash the pepper and put it in a bag. If I have a little extra time, and to save some freezer space, I’ll actually remove the stem and seeds and cut them into smaller pieces.  Really, it’s that simple and you’ll really appreciate having them in the dead of winter!

Peppers are high in vitamins A & C as well as a whole host of other phytonutrients, so munching on a sweet pepper also has nutritive benefits. As far as storage goes, peppers are best held at a warmer temperature of 45-60 degrees. We recognize very few homes have this perfect storage environment, so we recommend you do your best. Personally, I choose to store them at room temperature. If you choose to put them in the refrigerator, I’d encourage you to use them within a few days as they can get cold injury with prolonged time at cold temperatures.  Sometimes my peppers start to dehydrate and get soft and wrinkly. This does not mean the pepper is bad, it may have just lost some moisture. If this happens to you, don’t throw it out, rather use it in a cooked preparation such as soup or if you want to use it raw, do so to make a pepper puree or pepper sauce. 

Corn and Pepper Pudding

Yield:  4 servings

3 eggs
2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
2 Tbsp minced onion
½ cup chopped sweet red pepper
5 Tbsp all-purpose flour
Salt and cayenne pepper, to taste
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 cup half-and-half
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 1 ½ quart souffle dish or casserole.
  2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until light and frothy. Stir in the corn, onions, and bell peppers.
  3. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, a large pinch of cayenne pepper and a pinch of salt. Add to the corn mixture, stirring to blend. Stir in the butter and half-and-half and mix well. Pour into the prepared dish and place the dish in a baking pan that is larger than the dish containing the pudding. Pour hot water into the baking pan to reach about one-fourth of the way up the sides of the dish.
  4. Carefully transfer the baking dish to the oven. Bake the pudding until the top is golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe borrowed from Williams-Sonoma Cooking at Home, by Chuck Williams.

Greek Salad

Yield:  4 servings

2 small, ripe tomatoes
1 medium cucumber
½ small red onion
1 small to medium sweet pepper
¼ cup black olives
4 ounces feta cheese
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
2 tsp fresh oregano or zaatar, chopped or torn 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  1. First prepare the vegetables and combine together in a medium mixing or serving bowl.  Prepare the tomatoes by removing the core at the stem end and cutting them into wedges or bite-sized pieces.  Cut the cucumbers in have lengthwise and remove the seed cavity. Cut into thick, bite-sized slices. Peel and thinly slice the red onion. Remove the stem and seeds from the pepper and slice thinly. Once all the vegetables are in the bowl, season lightly with salt and toss to combine. 
  2. Prepare the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, combine red wine vinegar and lemon juice along with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking to combine. Stir in the fresh herbs. 
  3. Add half to ¾ of the vinaigrette to the bowl of vegetables and gently toss to combine.  Taste and add more salt, black pepper and/or vinaigrette as needed. Allow the salad to sit for a few minutes to let the flavors blend together. Just before serving. Gently toss the salad again and garnish with the feta cheese and olives.
Recipe adapted from Alice Waters’ book, The Art of Simple Food.
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Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Inspections…Opportunities to Learn & Make Improvements

By:  Richard & Andrea


Operating a farm is not just planting, harvesting, washing, and packing vegetables. It’s also accountability, certifications, maintaining integrity, upholding standards and a lot of record keeping!  Over the course of a calendar year, we undergo several different inspections, a part of doing business for us as well as many other companies. Some of the inspections we undergo happen annually while others may occur every few years, spontaneously, or in response to an application or the like. Welcoming an inspector onto the farm can be intimidating sometimes, but we’ve come to look at inspections as opportunities to learn, grow and improve which means we walk away better than we were before!  Over the last month, we have undergone two on-farm inspections, so this is a topic that’s pretty fresh in our minds!  We thought we’d take a little time this week to share a glimpse into the inspection side of farming.  

We ease into the new year without any inspections scheduled for the month of January, but we take advantage of this first month to get ready for our first inspection which is usually scheduled for mid-February. The inspection I am referring to is our annual housing inspection with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. This is a required inspection and is a necessary part of our application process for receiving H2A work visas for our workers. Even though we’ve been doing these inspections for over 20 years now, we learn something new and make additional improvements to our housing every year!  In recent years we’ve added Emergency Exit signs near all the door and window exits…in both Spanish and English!  We also make structural improvements such as remodeling a bathroom in one of our houses to convert an old tub to a more useful shower and replacing kitchen cabinets and flooring. We also regularly replace light fixtures and ceiling fans that wear out, repair leaking faucets, replace worn out furniture, and washers and dryers as needed….which can be quite frequently given the amount of heavy duty laundry that moves through those machines each week!  Of course, we also take care of the usual things such as replacing batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, making sure the beds have mattress covers and all the required bedding components, check to make sure the water heaters are working properly along with all the plumbing, and a long list of other requirements.  We have a total of three properties where we house our H2A employees and the inspector visits each property.  It’s a long inspection process, but a necessary part of being able to move forward with our application to get our crew members here for the season!  

Fire Training and
Extinguisher Inspection!
We typically don’t have any inspections in March, but sometime in early spring we contact a local team to come out and inspect our vast collection of fire extinguishers!  We have so many that they usually camp out in front of our shop for most of the day and work out of their mobile unit. We take fire safety very seriously and want to make sure our fire extinguishers are available and functional if and when we need them! We have fire extinguishers in all of the buildings on our main farm, in all of our housing units as well as in nearly all of our sheds and outbuildings. Additionally, we have fire extinguishers in our delivery trucks and on the three pick-up trucks that have additional fuel tanks on them for refueling. That’s not all though, we also mount a fire extinguisher on our propane forklift, the flamer and the bulldozer.  We are really thankful that they can come to the farm to do these inspections as it would be quite an ordeal to have to take them all into town! While we seldom need to use them, thankfully, we do find great peace of mind in knowing they are accessible and in working order should we have an emergency and need to use them!

Color Coded Brushes to Prevent
Cross-Contamination!
Once the growing season is underway, we have to schedule our annual organic inspection with our certifier, MOSA. As a certified organic farm, this is obviously a big inspection for us and a critical one at that! The timing for our organic inspection varies from year to year as the certifier likes to see our operation in the different seasons of production. Some years we have our inspection in late April or early May so they can inspect the woods where we wild harvest ramps while we’re actively harvesting.  This year they came in late July, which gave the inspector the opportunity to see our happenings mid-season, including our peak summer grazing pastures for our animals. We have a pretty thick file and it takes one to two days of onsite inspection plus some follow up as needed to submit additional documentation as requested by our reviewer.  This is a very thorough inspection. We submit paperwork in advance of the inspection as well as having documents available at the onsite visit for review. The inspector looks at everything from water tests for the packing shed processing water to receipts for our seed purchases. Over the past two years they have focused more on the animal side of our operation and we had to provide receipts and documentation for all of our animal feed purchases as well as any additional supplements we gave them (e.g. aloe pellets and essential oils used for their face rubbers).  As part of the inspection we also undergo at least two audits.  One audit is done for our meat sales and the other for vegetable sales. We have to provide documentation that demonstrates we only sold what we produced, so the production records need to be in alignment with the sales records.  This is one way they verify our integrity and sniff out fraud in operations. Another main focus over the past two years has been verifying our integrity related to the seeds we are purchasing. As organic growers, we are required to purchase organic seed whenever it is available. If organic seed is available on the market but we do not purchase it, we have to provide documentation for why we did not use it. Sometimes the seed is in short supply, and we have to substitute untreated seed, while in other cases the quality of the seed may be compromised for some reason (e.g. low germination) and we opt to go with the untreated seed.  All of this needs to be documented! We have file folders, electronic documents, and binder after binder that we consult along the way to provide the inspector with everything they ask for. It’s intense, but manageable if we are diligent about keeping good records throughout the year.  We also care about the integrity of the organic label and wish for all organic inspections to be conducted so as to uphold the organic standards industry wide!

Irrigation Pump & Filter Trailer
Given we’re in a drought year, irrigation is a primary topic in our thoughts and conversations from day to day.  This is another area where we are held accountable with oversight to ensure we’re using irrigation water responsibly.  We can’t just go drop an irrigation pump in any waterway we want to and pump any quantity of water we want or need.  We have to obtain an irrigation permit from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for each of our different pumping sites. This can sometimes be a long application and review process that at times has taken up to three years to complete! They establish a benchmark, which is the level we use to determine whether or not we can pump water. If the water level falls below the benchmark, we cannot extract water from that site. They come out with their surveying equipment and measure the benchmark to a very tiny margin of error. Throughout the irrigation season we have to monitor and record the benchmark water level, along with detailed records showing how much water we’re extracting.  At any point in time the DNR or a member of the public may ask to see our records and at the end of the season, we upload all of our irrigation records, and it becomes public record.  We’ve been pumping irrigation water from the Bad Axe River and our smaller creeks for over twenty years with no negative impact to the ecosystem or the wildlife in our area that depend on this water for life, habitat, and nourishment proving that it is possible to work in harmony with nature!

A place for everything and
everything in its place!
At the beginning of August, we welcomed our longtime inspector and food safety advisor, Dr. Kolb, back to our farm for our annual food safety inspection. We’ve been working with Dr. Kolb and Ceres Certifications International for over twenty years now.  We have been voluntarily doing annual food safety inspections for many years before it ever became mandatory by law, and because of that we’ve been able to stay ahead of the curve and create a “culture of cleanliness” that we hold in high regard on our farm.  Every year he has given us new challenges, doable improvements, one step at a time. He has told us, “when I come around the last curve on the road as I approach the farm and see clean fields and perimeters, no brush piles, no junk piles, all is in order, I know it will be a good inspection.”  This year he concluded our inspection visit by telling us “you are a model farm!”  Wow, we appreciate hearing that from a man who has inspected many farms across the country! Now don’t think he let us off easy.  We have a list of improvements we need to make to our policies and practices over the next year, including implementing a new “Plasters Policy” which involves establishing a system for being accountable for every band-aid used on our farm! He also encourages continuing education, so over the next year we will be investing in additional training on HACCP analysis for agricultural operations and improving our processes and policies along the way.

In addition to the inspections I’ve already mentioned, we also expect a visit every few years from the state food safety team to complete an onsite visit related to the FDA’s enforcement of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).  Our insurance company also likes to keep us in check, so they set us up with a Safety Audit every few years. We’ve found this to be very helpful and educational.  Last year the inspector asked us to secure the propane tanks we use for our propane forklift in one of our storage facilities. Of course, she told us a story about another client that did not have their back up tanks properly secured and one tumbled over and exploded. Ok, point taken! Within a few days of her visit, we had installed a safety chain to secure the tanks! Thank you!

Inspections can be intimidating, but we have been fortunate to have inspectors who take our inspections as an opportunity to educate us and help us make positive improvements to our operation. Inspections help us see our farm from a different perspective which can help strengthen our processes and keep us on our toes.  There’s no way around inspections, so we might as well make the most of the experience and use it as a way to improve and expand.  For you, our customers, inspections, and third-party audits provide you with the reassurance that we are doing what we say we’re doing!  We value integrity and want others to be held accountable as well, so we’ll keep on showing up and doing the best we can!

As we wrap up this year and head into another calendar year and growing season, we’ll start our preparations for next year’s inspections.  Over the winter months we’ll consult our lists of notes that we’ve made over the course of the busy season for improvements we want to make to our record keeping systems, filing systems, procedures, policies, etc. to make us stronger and help us pass our inspections with flying colors!  One important thing we emphasize is that while we may prepare for inspections, we don’t do anything different while the inspector is here than we do every other day of the year.  When you operate to the standards, inspections are just a technicality. The day-to-day operations are in check, and you have nothing to fret or worry about! 

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August 24, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Tomatoes

 


Cooking With This Week's Box

Sierra Blanca Onions and/or Red Onions:
Creamy Eggplant & Caramelized Onion Dip
Photo from www.minimalistbaker.com
Tomato & Onion Salad 

Italian Garlic:  

Green and/or Italian Zucchini:  

Silver Slicer and/or Green Slicer Cucumbers:  

Teggia Shell Beans:  
Fresh Stewed Beans with Tomatoes
Photo from www.italianfoodforever.com
Fresh Stewed Beans with Tomatoes 

Green Beans:  

Sweet Corn:
Macaroni Corn Casserole
Photo from www.southernliving.com

Green Bell or Green Italian Frying Peppers:  

Jalapeño Peppers:  

Large Tomato Variety:  
Roasted Ratatouille (See Below)
Melon Cooler
Photo from www.foodhero.org

Assorted Melons:  

Red Seedless Watermelon:  

Orange Carrots:  

Carola Gold Potatoes:  

We are in the peak of summer, and it doesn’t get much better than a box full of sweet corn, tomatoes, green beans, melons and watermelons!  This week our focus is on tomatoes and let’s face it—there are so many different ways to enjoy tomatoes!  Our feature recipe this week is one of my favorites and it’s simple, Roasted Ratatouille (See Below).  I like to double this recipe and freeze it in portions. It’s a great way to preserve all of these summer flavors and it makes winter meal prep very easy.  I add this into scrambled eggs, use it as the base for pizza, toss it with pasta, or serve it over steak. And in the spirit of inspiration for how to use tomatoes, I found this article entitled 80 Fresh Tomato Recipes to Make All Summer Long!

Greek Potato Salad
Photo from www.thehealthfulideas.com
Potatoes are back in the box this week, but I’m leaning towards more cool fare which is why my mind went to a cold potato salad.  This Greek Potato Salad with Feta looks very tasty.  Along the lines of summer salads, check out this Green Bean Salad with Toasted Almonds and Feta or this Italian Green Bean Salad.

And what are you going to do with this week’s tasty, sweet corn? Well if anyone is up for an adventure, I hope you’ll try this recipe for Mini Coconut Corn Cakes with Corn Cob Jelly.  If you do try this, please post in our Facebook group, and let us know how it turns out!

Alright, I’m signing off so I can go check on things in the packing shed.  I hope you have a great week, enjoy some tasty summer fare, and get ready for more summer goodness next week including colored peppers and possibly some tasty canary melons!  

—Chef Andrea


Vegetable Feature: Tomatoes

by Andrea Yoder

While this isn’t the first week you’re receiving tomatoes, we thought it would be an appropriate week to bring this summer favorite to the forefront!  This week we started picking tomatoes from our second field, but the first is still in strong production! While we are in the peak of tomato season, we hope to have several more weeks of tomato harvest, fingers crossed. Tomatoes are a staple crop that we rely on, not only during the height of the summer, but also as a vegetable to preserve for use throughout the winter as well. If you’re interested in putting some up for the winter, we encourage you to take a look at our Produce Plus offerings for next week.  Don’t wait too long to place your order as we never know for sure how long tomato season will be!  

Roma Tomatoes
We grow a variety of tomatoes but have tried to strike a balance between tomatoes that are interesting, delicious, and able to travel in a CSA box, but also ones that have good yields and disease resistance. We do our best to keep our fields healthy and productive, but in hot, humid, and rainy years disease can quickly take hold of a crop and result in a rapid end to the season. So, with these attributes in mind, we sift through the seed catalogs and narrow our selections to just a few possibilities. This year we grew four varieties of small tomatoes, two Roma varieties, twelve other varieties including gold and red slicers, Japanese pink, and a few heritage heirloom tomatoes.

Heritage Heirloom Tomatoes
Let’s take a moment to talk about these heritage heirloom varieties.  Many people look to heirloom varieties for the best flavor. Unfortunately, many lack the disease resistance and yields we need. In more recent year’s seed breeders have developed a class of tomatoes they are calling “hybrid heirlooms,” or “heritage” heirloom tomatoes. These varieties have an heirloom parent that brings the look and flavor of heirloom tomatoes, but they were combined with a more reliable hybrid variety that brings a more comprehensive disease package. This is perfect for our growing conditions as we can offer you a variety of interesting colors, shapes, etc. while still growing a tomato that has excellent flavor and actually has decent production!

Marsalato Tomatoes on the vine!
Tomatoes are delicious eaten both raw and cooked. Variety can be a factor in deciding which tomatoes are better eaten raw versus those whose flavor and characteristics may be enhanced with cooking. Some varieties are more “fleshy,” meaning there is more flesh and less juice (e.g., Roma tomatoes and the ruffled red Marsalato tomatoes). These tomatoes are often better choices for cooking down to make sauce and soup as they result in a thicker finished product. If you’re serving tomatoes raw, aesthetics may come into play as well, so you’ll want to choose a mix of those pretty heritage heirlooms.

Canned Tomatoes
Tomatoes are also a popular selection to preserve for use year-round and there are a variety of ways you can preserve them. You could do something such as tomato jam or make salsa and can it. Of course, you can also can tomato juice, diced tomatoes or make tomato sauce to can or freeze.  I often don’t have a lot of time during tomato season for complicated preservation, so I tend to go the route of either freezing tomatoes whole or freezing tomato puree.  If you want to freeze tomatoes whole, simply wash them and cut out the core. Pop them into a freezer bag and put them in the freezer. When you thaw them, they will collapse and be juicy, but that makes them perfect for using in soups, chili, sauces, etc. You can choose to either pull the skins off before you use them, or I usually just blend them into the sauce. For my quick method frozen sauce, I just chop up any extra tomatoes I have, skins and all, and cook them down on the stovetop in a wide pan. Once they have cooked down, I cool them and puree them in the blender. Pour the puree into freezer bags and lay them flat to freeze into “pillows.”  In the winter, when I have more time, I pull out the puree and turn it into spaghetti sauce, etc. If you’re interested in preserving tomatoes for use during the season, don’t think you need to have any experience or special equipment.  You can start simply with the basic method I described and build up to canning or more involved methods if you wish. 

Drying tomatoes is another great way to preserve tomatoes.  You can do this in a dehydrator or a low heat oven.  Slice the tomatoes into even thickness and lay them out in a single layer to dry.  Once dried, you can store them as slices or grind them into a powder.  This is a great preservation option if you are short on space.

The ideal storage temperature for tomatoes is about 50-55°F. If held at temperatures less than this for extended periods of time, tomatoes will suffer chill injury that affects the texture of the skin and flesh as well as robbing the tomato of its flavor. You may receive some tomatoes that are still a little on the green side. It’s best to ripen these on your kitchen counter at room temperature and eat them or preserve them as soon as they are ready.  When you get your box home and unpack your tomatoes, we encourage you to wipe them dry of any excess moisture or condensation and then place them at room temperature where you can keep your eye on them. When they start to get soft, it’s time to prioritize eating that one!

Roasted Ratatouille

Photo from www.alexandracooks.com
Yield:  1 to 3 quarts

12 ounces eggplant, chopped into 1-inch pieces
20 ounces tomatoes, chopped into 1-inch pieces
12 ounces zucchini, chopped into 1-inch pieces
2 bell or Italian frying peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 medium to onion, large dice
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ to ½ cups olive oil
2 to 4 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. 
  2. In a large roasting pan, combine the tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, onions, and garlic. 
  3. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, thyme, and 1 tsp of kosher salt.  Pour over the vegetables. Toss to coat. Season with pepper. 
  4. Bake for 30 minutes, then stir well. Bake for another 30 to 45 minutes, or longer if needed until the vegetables are all very tender and the released juices are beginning to thicken. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper as desired.
  5. Once cooked, you may either serve right away or freeze it for later use. This dish may stand alone or serve it with pasta, polenta or spooned over bread.  It is also a great base layer for pizza or spooned on top of focaccia bread.
Recipe borrowed from www.alexandracooks.com.
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Wednesday, August 16, 2023

August 17, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Eggplant

 


Cooking With This Week's Box

Eggplant:   
Mushroom & Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Photo from www.tasteofhome.com
Mediterranean Grilled Eggplant Salad (See Below)

Sierra Blanca Onions:  

Italian Garlic:  
Tomato Pie with Brown Butter Garlic & Shallots
Photo from www.theleekandthecarrot.com

Green and/or Italian Zucchini:  

Silver Slicer and/or Green Slicer Cucumbers:  

Edamame:  
Spicy Garlic Ginger Edamame
Photo from www.inspiredtaste.net
Spicy Garlic-Ginger Edamame 

Teggia Shell Beans:  

Sweet Corn:  

Italian Frying Peppers:  

Chicken with Creamy Jalapeño Sauce
Photo from www.tasteofhome.com
Jalapeño Pepper:  

Large Tomato Variety:  

Cilantro:  

Tomatillos:  
Parmesan Herb Veggie Dip
Photo from www.sungrownkitchen.com
Fresh Raw Tomatillo Salsa
 
Sun Jewel Melon:

Sweet Sarah, Sugar Cube or French Orange Melon:  

Orange Carrots:  

It’s another full box this week, so full we had to delay a few items until next week!  Lets kick off this week’s Cooking with the Box article with a little chat about eggplant.  I know there are some people who may still be learning to like eggplant. My recommendation to you is to try a recipe, such as this week’s featured recipe for Mediterranean Grilled Eggplant Salad (See Below) where eggplant is combined with other flavors and textures. I also included links to some of my personal favorite eggplant recipes from past years. I make this One-Pot Vegetable Thai Red Curry quite frequently and like it because you can put any vegetables in this dish that you have available.  Don’t think you have to stick to only what is cited in the recipe.  Eggplant is good to include in this dish though because it holds all of the wonderful curry flavors.  Possibly one of my favorite eggplant recipes is this Grilled Eggplant & Quinoa Salad with Dates & Almonds.  This salad is a nice blend of sweet and savory. It also travels well, so it’s a great option for picnics, potlucks, brown-bag lunches, etc.

Moving on, lets talk about that big bag of tomatoes! There are so many ways you can use tomatoes, although sometimes I don’t get too far past just eating them with salt and olive oil!  If you are in the mood to cook with your tomatoes, try this Tomato and Garlic Chicken Curry  or Tomato Pie with Brown Buttered Garlic and  Shallots. 

Blueberry Melon Salad
Photo from www.byandreajanssen.com
This week we also included tomatillos in the box, along with the other ingredients you need to make Roasted Tomatillo Salsa.  If you want a faster method, try this Fresh Raw Tomatillo Salsa.  You can stop there and just use the salsa as it is, or turn it into a more complex sauce, such as in this recipe for Vegetable Enchiladas with Tomatillo-Cream Sauce.  This has been a popular member-favorite recipe from a past newsletter, and a reliable recipe at that. It incorporates a lot of summer vegetables, but it also can be cooked and then frozen…in case you want to put a few portions in the freezer and give yourself a night off making dinner in the future!

Next week we’ll expand our melon lineup to include watermelons, but before we do I thought I’d share a few refreshing melon-centric recipes with you.  Cucumbers and melons are in the same vegetable family, so it would make sense that you can pair them together in a recipe. This Cucumber, Melon & Blueberry Salad with Feta & Honey sounds delicious and you could make it with any of this week’s melon selections.  I also found this recipe for Cucumber & Korean Melon Salad, which is most appropriate to make with the Sun Jewel melon.

Alright, I’m going to wrap things up here.  I hope you’re enjoying all of these summer vegetables and are creating some tasty summer meals!  Next week we hope to send poblano peppers and soon we’ll have colored sweet peppers.  I mentioned watermelons will be coming along with more tomatoes, different types of eggplant and hopefully more potatoes if there’s enough room in the box!  Have a great week—

Chef Andrea


Vegetable Feature: Eggplant

by Andrea Yoder

Eggplant is grown all around the world and is a part of the cuisine in many different cultures, which means there are many different ways to put it to use in your kitchen.  Eggplant is a member of the nightshade family, along with potatoes and tomatoes, and is one of the most beautiful crops we grow. In their peak, the plants can be loaded with beautiful glossy fruit hanging heavy on the plant. There are many varieties of eggplant ranging in size from small round eggplant the size of a golf ball to large globe eggplant weighing several pounds. They also come in a variety of colors ranging from various shades of purple to black, green, lavender, white and orange. While there are many varieties to choose from, we have narrowed our lineup of eggplant to our four favorite varieties including Lilac Bride, Purple Dancer, Listada and the traditional Black eggplant. Each variety has slightly different characteristics which may impact your decision as to how you want to prepare them.  If you’re not familiar with the different varieties, I’ve included a brief description of each one below.  I encourage you to refer to these descriptions each week to help you identify which eggplant you receive as this information will also help you choose the most fitting recipe for what you have received!

  • Black Globe Eggplant: This is the most familiar variety of eggplant. It is characterized by dark purple skin that looks black and has an elongated tear drop shape. It is best used in dishes like Eggplant Parmesan, lasagna or to make dips, etc. This variety will also hold up on the grill or if roasted.
    Black Eggplant

  • Lilac Bride Eggplant: Lilac bride eggplant is long and slender with lavender to dark purple skin and white flesh. It is best used in Thai curry dishes, stir-fries, stews, or any other preparation where you want the eggplant to hold its shape better. The skin is tender enough you don’t need to peel it.
    Lilac Bride

  • Listada Eggplant: Listada is characterized by a small globe shape with dark purple/ magenta skin streaked with white stripes. This variety is very dense with firm flesh that holds its shape well for grilling or roasting. 
Listada


  • Purple Dancer Eggplant: This superb variety is characterized by an elongated tear drop shape and a bright purple skin. Purple Dancer eggplant is an all-purpose eggplant that has creamy, white flesh. It is firm enough that it keeps its shape if you grill it or use it in curries, soups, or stews. The flesh is also soft enough when cooked to use in dips, etc.
Purple Dancer

There are many different ways to prepare eggplant, but it is important to note that eggplant should be cooked before eating. It should not be eaten raw or undercooked. Eggplant is at its best when the flesh becomes very soft and silky.  In fact, the more it smooshes, the better! While eggplant has a pretty mild flavor, its texture is what makes it a sponge that is able to absorb other flavors.  Eggplant pairs well with other vegetables including tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, zucchini, potatoes, lentils, and chickpeas. It also goes well with flavorful olive oil, tahini, herbs such as basil, parsley and mint, and spices including cumin, coriander, sumac, and cinnamon. It is a friend to dairy products including yogurt, cheese (feta, Parmesan, and mozzarella), and cream and fruits including lemons and pomegranate.

Eggplant can be prepared using a variety of cooking methods including pan-frying, baking, grilling, and roasting. Many resources will tell you to salt eggplant before cooking it to remove bitterness. While some older varieties were bitter, the new varieties we grow have been selected because they are not bitter, thus you can skip the salting step for that reason. You may still choose to salt eggplant to soften the flesh, so it doesn’t absorb too much oil.  Most of our varieties of eggplant have skin that is tender enough to eat, thus you do not need to peel them.

Chocolate Eggplant Torte
Since eggplant is part of so many cultures, there are a lot of ways you can use eggplant in your cooking. It is often incorporated into curry and stir-fry dishes in Indian, Thai, and Chinese cuisine. Sicilians are famous for eggplant caponata and Pasta alla Norma while Middle Eastern dishes include baba ghanoush and moussaka. The French put their mark on eggplant with the traditional Provencal dish, ratatouille. When you are reading recipes, you’ll find they often refer to “1 medium eggplant.”  Well, eggplant grows in a wide range of sizes. So how do you know what “1 medium eggplant” is actually referring to?  Well, the best guideline I can offer you is that most recipes are likely referring to about one pound of raw eggplant.  If you have a larger eggplant than you need to use at the time, I encourage you to cook it all (if possible) at one time and then store any remaining unused portion. If you have some extra grilled eggplant, you can add it into a vegetable wrap, scramble it into your morning eggs or add it as a pizza topping. If you choose to roast eggplant and puree the flesh, you can store any unused pureed portion for another use or you can freeze it. When you are ready to use it, just pull it out of the freezer, thaw it and it’s ready to turn into a dip, soup or even a chocolate dessert!  That’s right, eggplant puree can be used in baked goods similarly to how we use mashed bananas!  If you don’t believe me, refer to this decadent recipe for Chocolate Eggplant Torte.

Eggplant does not store terribly well and is best stored at a temperature of about 45-50°F. This is warmer than your home refrigerator should be set at, thus we recommend storing your eggplant on the kitchen counter and use it within 2-4 days. If it starts to get a little soft or dehydrated looking, it’s still good, however we recommend you use it as soon as possible.

In this week’s Cooking With the Box Article above, I included links to some of our favorite eggplant recipes from past years. Hopefully, you’ll find something that piques your interest!  


Mediterranean Grilled Eggplant Salad

Photo from acedarspoon.com
Yield:  3-4 servings

1-1.5 pounds eggplant
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper, to taste
½ tsp zaatar seasoning 
1 ½ cups diced fresh tomatoes
1 Italian Frying pepper, seeds removed, small dice
1 medium onion, small dice
2 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
The juice of 1 lemon, to taste
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
1-2 tsp fresh zaatar leaf, minced or ½ tsp zaatar seasoning
  1. Heat a grill to medium heat, or heat a grill pan on your stove top. Slice the eggplant into rounds, about ½ inch thick. Rub salt on each side of the eggplant and lay on a baking sheet for 45 minutes to an hour. Use a paper towel to pat the eggplant dry, then brush each side of the slices generously with olive oil. Sprinkle each side with salt, pepper and zaatar. 
  2. Place the eggplant on the grill and cook for 5 minutes. Flip eggplant and grill until browned on bottom, soft and fully cooked. Remove the slices from the grill and let the eggplant cool to room temperature. 
  3. Chop the grilled eggplant into small, bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Season to your liking with additional salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and/or olive oil.
Recipe borrowed from www.acedarspoon.com.
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