Local Food 7/11/2009

This week is our seventh week of our CSA and the first week that we’ve really started to see tomatoes in full force.  We’re also seeing corn in abundance and more and more squash every week.  I really need to plan for stuffed zucchini boats one of these days so I remember to buy the large ones.  

Lots of little hot peppers and the larger ones which are labeled “chiles.”  Art says that he’ll just munch on these although I am making a few recipes that call for a pepper or three.

This is a beautiful, tight, compact head of red cabbage.  Most of the recipes I can find for red cabbage involve apples in some manner and I try to avoid apples aside from Thanksgiving stuffing.  I’ll be serving this red cabbage with pork chops instead.  The selection of bell peppers will be going into gazpacho.  I’m slowly coming to accept green peppers as being edible.  

I believe these were the last of the eggs that my farmer had!  She really sells out quickly.  However, I’m in luck for future weeks since we’ve got a new farmer at the market who specializes in honey and eggs.  

This basil will find itself in Caprese later this week.  

I think these are gorgeous.  Heirloom tomatoes are always a bit funkier looking compared to regular tomatoes, but they flavor is just insane.  Most of them will be going into gazpacho, so it doesn’t matter too much what they look like to begin with.  Sadly, I forget the variety.  I really need to take notes.  

Three yellow squash and two teeny pattypans.  These will be going into a casserole along with some zucchini.  

These are wax beans and completely new to me.  I found a recipe for Honey-Glazed Wax Beans that I’m looking forward to trying out.  They’re a beautiful shade of yellowy-green.  

Tomatillos are on the left and tomatoes on the right.  I’ve never had a tomatillo before, but I understand they’re the main ingredient in salsa verde.  I’ll be making a layered enchilada dish that will incorporate these in the sauce.  

The three tomatoes in front are green tomatoes and the traditional way to eat them is fried.  I’ve always wanted to try these, ever since reading the fantastic book, but have never had the chance.  That will change this week!  The tomato in back isn’t quite ripe, but will ripen to be a nice purple colour.  

Freshly harvested new potatoes.  I’m probably going to be roasting these again now that I’ve gotten the hang of how to do that.  

These carrots will be roasted along with the potatoes.  

Cucumbers and onions from another great farmer.  Sadly she says that onion season might be coming to an end, but I’ll buy them when I can!  I regretted only getting three last week, so I got six this week.  The cucumbers will be going into the gazpacho.  

This is the first time I’ve seen red onion at the market, so I bought the only bunch left.  They’ll be split between gazpacho and burgers.  I love red onions best when it comes to raw onion consumption.  

I love corn.  I grew up with amazing corn on the cob every summer and it’s something I look forward to every year.  Sadly, I am the only true corn lover in the family so I try to restrict myself to only having it once or twice a year.  When I do have it, I tend to go all out.  We got 12 ears total today and that was lunch.  Delicious, boiled, corn on the cob.  My cooking method is to bring a large pot of water to boil, add corn, and boil for 5 minutes.  Then I serve it with butter, salt, and pepper.  

This is corn from a different farmer.  We did a taste test and got 6 ears from each of two farmers.  Both were delicious in their own way.  

We have a new farmer this year who seems to specialize in squash.  Since I didn’t get any in my CSA box, I picked up some zucchini from him.  

Three yellow peaches.  I only had $2 left when I got to peaches and Art loves them so much.  If we run out mid-week, we might have to stop by the market on Wednesday to pick up a few more.  

An assortment of little tomatoes which will be used for salads throughout the week.  

These are Japanese eggplant.  They’re long and skinny and very dark purple.  I’m going to be contrary and use them in an Italian recipe.  I can’t wait to try them!  

One of our favorite farmers makes homemade pesto with ingredients she grows herself.  This is the first time this year that she’s had it so we had to get a container.  It will be going into Art’s favorite Egg Pesto Pasta.  

And that, as they say, is that.  Up until this week I’ve been sticking to my $20/week budget but I as we get deeper into the growing season and I get a better grasp on what we can use, I think I’m going to up it to $30/week.  I’m finding more and more things that I can buy at the market instead of at the grocery store, and I want to be able to take advantage of that option while I can.