My apologies for the lack of a blog post last week – everything seemed to fly by. With the full harvest season upon us, time is the one thing I don’t have a lot of.
So the share this week has: various cucumbers, beets, celery, zucchini and summer squash, Brooks plums (from my backyard tree), basil, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers (Hungarian hot wax is the variety), garlic, collard greens, and a head of lettuce. Last week’s share was similar, though you had carrots instead of beets, and kale instead of collards. The Hungarian hot wax pepper is similar in spiciness to a jalapeno, and seems to me to be perfect for pickling. The collards are from a brand new planting and thus very tender right now. The garlic is for combining with the basil for some pesto if you like.
Here’s farm baby Ayla helping with harvest. This was on what was supposed to be my day off but you know why they call it the ‘harvest season’ right?
In field notes this week, Della and I got the leeks weeded and hilled up a bit. You can sort of see that there is soil mounded up around the base of the leek plants. This is to help blanch the stem to create a longer tender white part of the leek.
And last but not least, here are your recipes for the week:
Roasted Peppers Stuffed with Cherry Tomatoes, Onion, and Basil
(http://www.mariquita.com/recipes/peppers.html)
4 sweet peppers 1 pint cherry tomatoes (or try using your slicing or heirloom tomatoes!) 1 medium onion or one bunch green onions 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves 3 garlic cloves About 3 tablespoons olive oil1. Preheat oven to 425F and lightly oil a large shallow baking pan.
2. Halve bell peppers lengthwise and discard seeds and ribs. Arrange peppers, cut sides up, in baking pan and lightly oil cut edges and stems.
3. Dice tomatoes and chop the onion and basil. Finely chop garlic and in a bowl toss with tomatoes, onion, basil, 2 tablespoons oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Divide mixture among peppers and roast in upper third of oven until peppers are tender, about 20 minutes.
Beet Tabbouleh
(http://www.cookforyourlife.org/recipes/beet-tabbouleh)
1 cup uncooked quinoa or couscous 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 large beets, roasted or boiled, peeled and cut into a small dice 2 celery stalks, cut into a small dice 2 green scallions, quartered through the root end and diced 2 tablespoons chopped dill ¼ cup toasted almond slices Sea salt, to taste1. Cook quinoa or couscous. Fluff with fork and set aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl, mix the oil and lemon juice together with salt. Add the beets, celery, scallions and dill. Toss together until well mixed.
3. Add the quinoa or couscous a little at a time until the dish is about half quinoa/couscous and half vegetables. Sprinkle with toasted almonds. Serve.
Cully Neighborhood Farm 