Whew! What a day! So much to harvest, so much to clean, so much to package. The hardest part of CSA, every week, is figuring out how to make what we harvest work for our families. 18 pounds of Dragon Tongue beans and 33 families - they each get........ummmm.......oh, so much math!
First, a big thank you to our little crew, who worked so hard today! Vartan, Nataliya, Danielle, Kara, Patel, Ming and Zhong were out this morning and picked in, first, the mud from last nights' storm. Then, it heated up and became very humid. Couldn't have done it without the crew! Our Farmers' Market right-hand guy Travis came out to package and tidied up after us! Thanks, Travis! It was great to come home to a tidy site!
Second, a big thanks to our growing partners. Linda Boys provided beautiful cabbage, tatsoi, peas, kale and snow peas. Amanda and Ed Wiebe added to the cabbage and peas, and brought the cucumbers. Our buddy Hugh dug carrots in the muck!
So, it's a pea and bean kind of a day. We have never brought such a good haul of shelling peas to CSA. And we are bean happy! Everyone got a taste of three different beans! The summer squash is coming along - and we don't mean zucchini!!! Everyone got a large, oval, speckled green Moroccan or cousa squash called 'Lolita'. It's firm, with a mild nutty flavour. Great raw in salads or with dip, great in sautes, good on the B-B-Q and great stuffed and baked! Everyone also received a patty pan or scallopini, the flying saucer shaped squash. It's one of our favourites! Great texture and flavor, also dense enough to stand up well to the B-B-Q and awesome stuffed! Our fav method is to cut off the top, scoop out some of the flesh and fill with cream cheese, crab meat, diced onions and dill. Bake until the skin is soft enough to pierce with a fork. Yummy!!!!!! The full shares also have a crookneck squash - the Cadillac of southern cooking! In the southern States, it is commonly coated in corn meal and Cajun spice and fried. Buttery and delicate - it's a delight!
So, for the FULL SHARES: 2.5 lbs German Butterball potatoes, 2.5 lbs Alaskan Sweetheart potatoes (with pink flesh!, dense and meaty!), 3 lbs shelling peas, a cabbage, cucumbers, purple, yellow, green and Dragon's Tongue beans, tatsoi, 'Grand Rapids' lettuce, a large and small patty pan or scallopini squash, 3 'Lolita' cousa squash, and a crook neck squash, carrots, onions and a pint of 'Mammoth' raspberries.
For the PART SHARES: 2.5 lbs German Butterball potatoes, 2 lbs shelling peas, snow peas, cucumbers, purple, yellow and green beans, kale, 'Grand Rapids' lettuce, patty pan or scallopini squash, some 'Lolita' cousa squash, carrots, onions and a pint of 'Mammoth' raspberries.
We were soooo on the fly today, that I took really lousy pictures. Apologies - the photo really doesn't do the vegetables justice. This post is getting up later than I had hoped, because I tried to fix the pictures, which I'm not very good at. Hope all you CSA members are enjoying! Remember, please add your comments and recipes!!
I used some of the fantastic zucchini to make these brownies. I substituted an equal amount of applesauce in place of the oil (and reduced the white sugar by 1/4c), used raspberry yogurt instead of plain and swapped out the walnuts for pecans. The result was a denser brownie that the kids loved! The raspberry flavour really stands out and compliments the chocolate, but I'd be interested to see how it tastes with the plain yogurt.
ReplyDeleteChocolate Zucchini Brownies
* 3 cups shredded zucchini
* 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
* 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
* 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
* 1/2 tsp. baking soda
* 1 large egg
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 3/4 cup light brown sugar
* 1/2 cup canola oil
* 1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt
* 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (such as Nestle Chocolatier 62% cacao chips)
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place zucchini in a colander. Sprinkle with salt and allow to drain 20 to 30 minutes. Wrap in a paper towel to wring out as much water as possible. Set aside.
Whisk together the flours, unsweetened cocoa and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat egg, sugars, yogurt and canola oil together. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Beat well. Stir in the zucchini. Pour into the prepared pan.
Sprinkle the chocolate chips and walnuts evenly over the top of the batter. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean
Those sound absolutely yummy! I love the applesauce instead of oil - super healthy!! Thanks, Jill!
ReplyDeleteblimey, you guys certainly enjoy your food!
ReplyDeleteThese are the things dreams are made of when there is three feet of snow and the wind is howling!
ReplyDeleteHere is a recipe that uses a variety of summer squashes. It sounds like a bit of a production but is well worth it. Adapted from the "River Cafe Cook Book Green" by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers
ReplyDeleteBraised Summer Squash (zucchine gialle e verdi trifolate) - serves 6
350g (3/4 lb) patty pan squash
350g (3/4 lb) crookneck squash
500g (1 lb 2 oz) yellow and green zucchini
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
3 dried red chillies, crumbled
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
finely grated zest of 2 washed lemons
3 tablespoons fresh marjoram leaves
extra virgin olive oil
Wash the zucchini and place them in a bowl of cold water for an hour. Dry and cut into 2 cm slices.
Wash the patty pan, cut off the stems, cut in half and then into quarters. Wash the crookneck, cut in half lengthwise then cut into 3cm lengths. Put the crookneck pieces in a colander, sprinkle with salt, and leave for at least half an hour. Wash and squeeze dry thoroughly.
Heat the olive oil in a large thick-bottomed saucepan, add the squash and fry quickly, browning on all sides. Add the zucchini and fry, stirring, for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, chilli and half the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat down,cover the saucepan with a lid and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the stove and add the remaining parsley, lemon zest and marjoram. Test for seasoning. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and serve hot or at room temperature.