2016 week 10!

New this week:

Cantaloupe- So happy for the arrival of cantaloupe! That first taste is the best.  My favorite fruit salad combination: cantaloupe and blueberry.

Green Bell Pepper- I think I see some stir fried peppers and onions in my future!

Red Onion - A nice mild onion perfect for salsas and salads.

Green Beans -  green beans, string beans, snap beans, which ever you prefer to call them they are so good fresh from the field.

Jalapaño - watch out for this spicy guy, but he will really kick your fresh salsa up a notch.

Beets - I love roasted beets on a salad with goat cheese.

How to Roast Beets

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Coat beets lightly with oil.
3. Wrap beets in aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet, and roast in the oven until cooked through, approximately 45 to 60 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes, and then peel and slice into 1/4-inch thick slices.

2015 week 16

2015 week 13

New this week poblano peppers, a hot pepper, that is great for roasting or stuffing!

2015 week 11

Returning from previous weeks!

Onion
String Beans
Grape Tomatoes
Carrots
Bell Peppers
Tomatoes
Sweet Corn!!!

New this week:
Peaches from Larchmont Farms on Rt 77 in Deerfield.

2015 week 9 // Summer Explosion!

Returning produce from previous weeks:
Spring onion
Collard Greens
Carrots
Bell Peppers

New this week!
Parsley - A lovely herb that really brightens flavor.  Here is a link to a chimichurri sauce which delicious served on steak or other meats.  Chimichurri is kind of like pesto, but made with parsley.
Cantaloupe- One of my favorite summer crops! Here is a link to my recipe for grilled cantaloupe. It is one of my most popular blogposts.
Grape Tomatoes- Yum! Sweet, pop 'em in your mouth snack.
Heirloom Tomatoes- It is the beginning of tomato season! Yippy! I hope you really get to know and love all the different varieties we grew this year.
Cauliflower- Many varieties of cauliflower are white only because, farmers bunch the leaves over top of the head blocking the sun. This variety is called Bishop and is a "self-blanching" variety, meaning the leaves naturally tend to cover the head. You may notice these heads are a bit yellow in color. This is because the "self-blanching" isn't quite as sun-proof as bunching the leaves and these cauliflowers have seen the sun a bit.
Red Cabbage-  The flavor for this "Super Red" superior for red cabbage: tender, crisp, and pleasantly peppery. I can't wait to make some fish tacos with red cabbage slaw!

2015 week 8!

Tuesday's storm was a whopper! Crazy fierce wind. Electricity was out for 2 days and there are many trees down. One tree fell on a greenhouse. One whole row of kiwi trellis collapsed! That looked scary, but we were able to reconstruct the trellis the next day and get them all standing. Looks like no kiwi were killed, only beat up a bit. Saturday we got another 2 inches of rain. Ugh!  And there are more thunderstorms in the forecast.  But at least the irrigation guys are getting a break.  Come on sunny summer days! 

Returning from previous weeks:
Blueberries
Kale
Carrots
Onion

New this week:

Sweet Corn- So glad to have sweet corn in your share for this week leading up to the 4th of July.  My words of wisdom about our sweet corn is eat it as soon as you can, it will taste the best this way. If you can't eat it right away, leave it in the husk and put in the refrigerator.  I've had many people tell me the have kept their corn for a whole week in the fridge and it still tastes delicious!  
Green Bell Peppers- Come on! Stir fried peppers and onion. . . heavenly! :-)
Beets- Our beet crop is a little underwhelming. Year after year we struggle to have a stellar beet harvest.  But we will keep trying to grow this elusive root crop.  I love roasted beets on a salad with goat cheese!

My All Time Favorite Salad

Shout out to my good friend Rachael who first introduced me to this salad quite a few years back.  Rachael and I share much in common, our love of food, trying new recipes, and browsing cookbooks.  Throughout our friendship she has introduced me to many wonderful foods: BBQ chicken nachos, Cheesecake Factory Factory Burrito, Bean Corn Salsa, Iced Lattes, Death by Chocolate Cupcakes, Amish Market Donuts, and the list goes on.   Gosh, writing all this makes me NEED a girls night out with my girls!  Love you Rachael! This one is for you.

 

My All Time Favorite Salad

First grill some chicken.  

During the last couple minutes of cooking slather in BBQ sauce.

While the chicken is grilling cut up 1 onion, 1 red, and 1 green pepper.  I make this salad in the winter with Buzby peppers that I froze.

Saute the peppers and onions with a little bit of olive oil. 

Don't forget to season with salt and pepper.

 Now take the sugar snap peas you picked and cut the top off.

Steam the sugar snap peas for a couple minutes.

Now its time to assemble the salad. Start by making a nice big pile of romaine leaves on your dinner plate.

Add some slices of BBQ grilled chicken.

 Next add the peppers and onions.

 Then the sugar snap peas.

 The next layer is cheese! Provolone cheese.  Cut into strips.

 Add cheese slices to salad.

 Now this is when the magic happens. 

 Add a couple globs of dressing.  You won't believe how good this flavor combination is.  The crisp lettuce with the warm chicken, peppers, and snap peas, then the cheese melts from the warmth of the chicken. Then the tangy blue cheese!  It's amazing.

 Now for the kids I keep all the ingredients separate.  They like it like that.

 Oh yeah!

Feel free to modify with a different dressing if blue cheese isn't your thing, but I do believe you will be missing out.

Happy Cooking!

CSA 2012 week 11

This weeks share includes: corn, green bell peppers, Sicilian eggplant, onions, heirloom tomatoes, PYO grape tomatoes, blueberries, watermelon and cantaloupe.

You can use Sicilian eggplant just as you would use your black globe eggplant.   Sicilian eggplant is great for eggplant Parmesan and is said to have slightly sweeter taste.
 Here is a link to my all time favorite eggplant recipe.

Tomato harvest is in full swing.  I LOVE it.  Here is my BLT I made for myself tonight.  That is one of the Big Beef tomatoes.  I had tomato juice running down to my elbows. YUM-O!

Also enjoying:

-Grilled Cheese with tomato
-Tomato Bruschetta
-Pico de gallo with our tomato, onion, and jalapeno
-Fried Eggplant with a slice of tomato on top
-Eat a tomato like an apple (Gram is famous for this one)

Enjoy!