Can you guess what's in the bowl pictured to the left? I'll give you a hint - there are two types of tomatoes and a more traditional fruit (which we did not get in our share). In addition to the two types of tomatoes shown, we also got yellow cherry tomatoes called Snow White, basil, carrots, and sweet bell peppers. I passed corn and a canary melon off to Josh and Caitlin since I'd just bought six ears of corn at Ellwood Thompson's.
Amy had cartons of healthy-looking Padron peppers, which I've eaten at both Secco and Boqueria, and she was generous enough to give me after she saw me eyeing them. I can't wait to try blistering them in olive oil and enjoying them in the comforts of my own home.
In case you're still reading, this is what's in the photo above: yellow plum tomatoes (Golden Rave variety), pink heirloom tomatoes, and nectarines. I couldn't get over how similar the nectarines look to the pink heirlooms!
To the left is a picture of last week's sweet peppers, which I neglected to include in both posts about Week 10. We received another sweet pepper yesterday, though this one is a pretty, light green bell pepper. We also got: carrots, new potatoes, eggplant (given to Carrie), onion, yellow and green beans, sungold cherry tomatoes, and a mix of cherokee purple, yellow and red tomatoes.
I'm officially in holycowit'smid-Julywhereisthesummergoing? mode. The last couple of weeks went by in a whirlwind of celebration, relaxation, and travel.
Our house guests were in Richmond through the 4th of July, which meant that the annual party benefited from Lyndsey's extreme chopping talent. She used some of her salvaged cabbage and carrots, and our CSA red onion, to compile a simple, pretty coleslaw. If you don't believe me, the proof is in the photo below; it looks like bagged slaw mix sliced by machine, but it was all done by a skilled hand.
In the meantime, I put together a haphazard pasta salad with roasted summer squash, mozzarella, and several basil leaves (pictured). The rest of the basil was made into pesto the following week.
I believe my contribution was eaten, but it wasn't very noteworthy compared to the slaw and several of the other dishes gracing Tex's air-conditioned kitchen.
We recovered from the holiday in Seabrook, SC, and our first dinner there was a group effort that incorporated components of our share from Week 9. Davy and I steamed the yellow and green beans, and made flank steak with chimichurri sauce, which was decent. Keith and Carrie's dish, however, outshone ours, and the cucumber and cherry tomatoes we brought added a lot to the roasted shrimp and orzo salad. At the end of the meal, we added the remaining steak and beans to the salad to keep it going for lunch the following day.
In an attempt to clean out our fridge a little before the next round of CSA produce, I repeated a Splendid Table recipe from the spring (Spring Vegetables and White Beans Scented with Fresh Bay). Instead of spinach, I used dandelion greens - courtesy of Lyndsey and Travis, chicken stock instead of vegetable broth, and added some freshly made pesto. The "stew," as Lyne Rosetto Kasper and Sally Swift call it, was light and garlicky, and had an earthy flavor from the greens and carrots.
By some miracle, I managed to make caramel for turtle brownies the same night. The bubbling corn syrup and sugar were mesmerizing, and made a delicious sweet topping for the fudgy brownies.
Davy and I whittled away at our cherry tomato and mesclun salad mix supply with a few green salads throughout the week, adding different ingredients depending on what we had and what was appealing at the time.
I was visiting family in Harrisburg over the weekend, and we brought a big cucumber and tomato salad over to my grandma's for dinner on Sunday night. There were sungolds, slicing tomatoes, sweet peppers, and cucumbers from my share, and different types of herbs, tomatoes and cucumbers from my parents' CSA and garden. My mom and I worked on the salad together, and dressed it with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, and sugar.
Despite the fact that it feels like summer is already slipping away, I know that there are many more meals and memories to be made over the next couple of months.
All of the heat and rain produced a lot of large, bright red tomatoes. We also got plenty of everything below:
- sungold cherry tomatoes
- mesclun salad mix
- new potatoes
- sweet peppers
We still have a couple cucumbers to work with, and I'm anticipating at least a few variations of my beloved cucumber and tomato salad. That, and some succulent pork sandwiches with the remaining 4th of July pig meat.
Today I'm picking up:
- green beans
- sungold cherry tomatoes
- two types of melons
- eggplant (here we go)
- slicing tomatoes
- carrots
- basil
- red onion
I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday, and eats something delicious. We'll be indulging in another pig. Happy 4th of July!
We sustained 100+ degree temperatures and crazy storms over the past week, and managed to maintain both hydration and power.
Before all of the extreme weather hit, Davy grilled burgers, which we ate with sauteed chard (below) and corn on the cob.
There was a third, small ear of corn that we didn't consume on Tuesday, but I cut the kernels off the cob to use later in the week. I've been on an avocado kick since March, and I mashed half of one with a little lime juice and olive oil, added the corn, and made it into sandwich filling with some arugula. As a bonus, I ate it with a medium-boiled egg on my back porch.
The sungold cherry tomatoes, quartered and arranged carefully with fresh basil and mozzarella, were the highlight of a homemade pizza.
On Saturday morning, we made our traditional breakfast for out-of-town guests: a frittata with whatever vegetables and cheeses happen to be available. This time, it contained summer squash, onion, banana pepper, and cheddar cheese.
Those same out-of-town guests, our good friends Lyndsey and Travis, weren't as fortunate with the weekend storms. They lost power at their house in Rockville, MD, and aren't supposed to get it back until this Friday (!). We convinced them to stay for the week and celebrate the 4th of July with us. Travis went back to Rockville on Sunday to check on everything and returned with some of the rescued contents of the fridge and freezer.
On Monday evening, we grilled rockfish, ate a green salad with the Hoffmanns' CSA veggies, and made a chickpea, barley and zucchini salad to round out the meal.
I am sorry that Lyndsey and Travis have to be displaced for so long, but I think Davy and I made out pretty well in this arrangement - it's been great having them (and their food).
