Oh Harmony Valley, you're so good to us! How many CSAs package tomatillos, jalapenos, and cilantro together in "salsa kits"? Or pre-wash and bag a variety of salad greens? Shoot, I dunno, but probably not too many, right? The food is becoming more plentiful, and the variety is truly amazing. Here's a list of the cool, tasty stuff we got in this week's farmshare box. All of the descriptions and suggestions - and the photo - come directly from Harmony Valley's newsletter. Enjoy!
- Italian garlic: Even when used sparingly, garlic can heighten the other flavors in a dish. When you don't want a knockout garlicky meal, you can generally still get away with 1-2 cloves, if cooked completely. Garlic will make your food more flavorful, and you will get to benefit from garlic's healthful properties seven days a week! So keep the garlic flowing.
- Yellow onions: Throw some diced onions on a grilled hamburger, hot dog, or brat. Summer's drawing to a close soon, so get your grilling in while you can!
- Green top carrots: How about a cool carrot dill salad? Grate carrots and other crunchy veggies- perhaps onion and cucumber- and marinate with fresh dill and lemon or a little vinegar. Serve topped with a dollop of yogurt and toasted sunflower seeds.
- Summer squash: Toss hot pasta with summer squash, tomatoes, and eggplant in a light garlic oil sauce and top with cooked chicken or shrimp.
- Cucumbers: Add sliced cucumbers to a chicken salad sandwich, or a hummus and sprout sandwich if you're veggie.
- Tomatoes: Enjoy the summery taste of fresh tomatoes in a simple tomato and cheese sandwich. Make sure to slice the tomatoes extra thick, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and layer on your favorite bread with a mild Cheddar.
- Green Bell peppers: Add chopped peppers to fajitas, stir-fries, pasta sauce, or potatoes.
- Italia or UW roaster peppers: This pepper variety is a hybrid created for northern climates by Jim Nienhuis and plant breeders at UW Madison. Richard [our farmer] obtained the seeds in exchange for teaching a class this past spring, and the plants have been doing beautifully. These peppers are flavorful, with just a teeny amount of discernible heat. Roast over a flame or grill, turning frequently, until equally blackened on all sides. Seal in a plastic bag for 10 minutes until cooled, and then peel off the blackened skins under running water. Trim stem, remove seeds, and use in any recipe that calls for roasted peppers.
- Green beans: To save some beans for winter, trim beans and cut to 1 ½" length, blanch in boiling water about 3 minutes, drain, and freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Once the beans are fully frozen, they can be stored in a freezer bag.
- Edamame: See veggie feature on back of newsletter.
- Tomatillo salsa pack: Tomatillos can be used raw or cooked. Use our recipe card (available at your site) to whip up a quick and tasty batch of salsa verde. It's great as a chip dip or on tacos, and will impress your friends.
- Melons, variety: You might have a Sweet Sarah cantaloupe (large, tan with webbed rind), a Butterscotch (green flesh with an orange swirl), or a Mini Musketeer (crisp, sweet, white flesh with either white or yellow rind).
- Sweet corn: All bi-color varieties, you might have Extra Tender Supersweet, Temptation or Ecstasy Sugar Enhanced. Grill, boil or make a sweet corn chowder. Salad mix: How many veggies can you put on top of your salad?
- Amaranth: Brilliant bunched green (actually maroon & green) great for stir-fries, sautés and soups.
- Choice of Eggplant and/or Basil: Due to the cool weather, our heat loving crops are slow to ripen while our fall crops are loving it and coming in ahead of schedule. This means an overlap for the next few weeks; there will probably be items we can't fit in the box and will send along as Choice items instead.
