csa box:: week 7

It is August already! Week 7.

::in the box:: lettuce, sweet corn, cucumber, new garlic, summer savory, dill heads, pickling cucumbers, onions, 2 types of summer squash, peppers, cabbage.


::extras:: beets, carrots, broccoli, summer savory, sage, thyme, onions.

To see what was in our CSA box this week in previous years::
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |

What is now in season where you live??

rice vinegar ginger fridge pickles

I love refrigerator pickles. We have our favorite tried and true recipes, but I also love making variations on both vinegar and lacto fermented veggies to keep it interesting. This recipe is a fridge pickle made with ginger and rice vinegar - it has a milder vinegar flavor with a light ginger aroma. Not too sweet, not too salty, crunchy and crisp. So good!

For the tastiest crunchiest fridge pickles, after slicing your cucumbers place them in a bowl and sprinkle with sea salt. Toss, and then let sit for 30 minutes to an hour (or longer) and then pour off the liquid before placing the cucumbers in the canning jars for the next steps.


::rice vinegar ginger refrigerator pickles::

::ingredients::

3/4 cup rice vinegar
2 cups filtered water
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 onion, finely sliced
pinch of sea salt (see above, for sweating)
1 Tbsp kosher or pickling salt
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp of spice mix - mine included mostly dill seeds with some mustard seeds, peppercorns, a small dried pepper, and celery salt.
2 large heads of fresh dill, or sprigs if you don't have heads
2 tsp grated fresh ginger (more if you like)
How many cucumbers this equals depends on the size of your cukes. Enough to fill 2 pint jars...

After salting/sweating your cucumbers (see above) pack your slices into 2 pint jars along with one crushed garlic clove per jar, and 1/2 of the sliced onions per jar. Split your spice mix, grated ginger, and dill heads between the jars too.


Put the vinegar, water, sugar, and pickling/kosher salt in a pot and bring to a boil. Let salt and sugar dissolve. Remove from heat. Pour the hot liquid into the jars, covering the cucumbers, with a bit of head room. Push the cucumbers down if needed. Let cool to room temperature without any lids. Screw on lids tightly and put in your refrigerator. Great the next day, even better after a few days. Eat within a few months!

Tip:: when slicing your cucumbers toss the tips. The flower tip contains an enzyme which can make your pickles soft!

slow roasted cherry tomatoes

For most people tomatoes are the epitome of summer. That one flavor that says long hot days and garden fresh. Our tomatoes are just starting to come in and I know we will have a good two months of fresh heirloom tomatoes from our garden and CSA. In the beginning it is hard to do more than to pick them and rinse in the hose before popping them right into my mouth.

My husband LOVES tomatoes too, but the acidity bothers him, so over the years I have expanded how I make tomatoes so that we can enjoy them more ways than only raw or for pasta in the early weeks. Today was the first day I picked enough tomatoes (isis candy cherry) to roast. When I am bringing them in by the bowl full I will start to dehydrate them too, but roasting is a fantastic way to enjoy them in smaller quantities. You can make huge trays of this, but I love making this in my toaster oven and use a ceramic pie dish or brownie pan. Using a toaster oven I don't have to heat the whole kitchen up on a hot day - they roast happily away and turn out perfectly every time. You can of course roast them in your full size oven. Roasting brings out the rich deep flavor of the tomatoes too.

I love roasting cherry tomatoes - but you can use any size of tomato. You will need to slice bigger tomatoes down into smaller pieces.


::slow roasted cherry tomatoes::

Slice cherry tomatoes in half, and place skin side down in your dish. Drizzle with olive oil and a nice splash of good quality balsamic vinegar (more vinegar than oil as it will cook down). Add a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Add some whole garlic cloves if you like. Place into your oven at 275ºF for a two or so hours until the balsamic looks sticky and reduced and the tomatoes are slightly smaller and getting curly at the edge. There is no exact time as it will depend on the size and type of your tomatoes - just roast until they get softer, smaller, a bit darker, and curly edged but not all dried out. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Chop some freshly picked basil leaves and scatter over the top, and if you like drop in some soft cheese. I used brie here, but you could use goat cheese, fresh mozzarella, or slivers of good quality Parmesan.

When you serve, be sure to drizzle some of the sticky reduced balsamic over the top. SO good!

roasted cabbage.

Cabbage is one of those veggies you either love or hate, I think. I look forward to it every year to make some sauerkraut, or to cook with apples in the fall, but don't see it as really a creative summer dish. I've been exploring different ways to cook it and have found something we like and which REALLY brings out the best in cabbage. Roasting it. This is really easy to make and has spectacular flavor - both crispy and creamy with a nice nutty flavor.


::roasted cabbage::

1 head of cabbage, cut into 8 wedges, core removed

Pre-heat your oven to 400ºF. Place the wedges into a roasting pan. Smash a few cloves of garlic and place over the wedges. Drizzle with olive oil. Add a nice pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle over a good pinch (1/2 tsp) of dill seeds...either crushed a little with a mortar and pestle or chop a little with a knife (don't pound into a powder though, just crack it a bit). Place the roasting pan in the oven. Let roast for 15 minutes. Using a flat spatula turn each wedge over gently and let roast another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and eat warm!

good stuff:: Cabbage is full of nutrients. Vitamin K, C, fiber, manganese, B6, potassium, folate. It also contains other B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin), calcium, magnesium, Vitamin A and protein. What is interesting is that cabbage contains omega-3's! "There is actually far more ALA in 100 calories of cabbage than there is in 100 calories of salmon! "

csa box: week 6

We had rain! Two nights in a row! My garden is SO happy and I know that farmers in my area are relieved (for now).

::in the box:: 2 types of cucumbers, 2 types of summer squash, scallions, new garlic, green beans, sage, lettuce, carrots, beets, cabbage


With the dry weather there was not a lot of 'extra' available to purchase this week, but I picked up a few things.

::extras:: carrots, beets, sage

To see what was in our CSA box this week in previous years::
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |

What is now in season where you live??

csa box:: week 5

We have had some record heat and a lack of rain this month, so it was no surprise to hear from our CSA farmer on pick up day about how things were not doing so well this week. It was too hot to seed lettuces, radishes and other plants were bolting, and everything is dry dry dry. So this week she put in storage popcorn from last year to fill it out a bit. Hopefully the heat will at least boost the heat lovers like tomatoes, melons and cucumbers. Now, if it will just rain a bit more often!

::in the box:: kale, cucumbers, summer savory, new garlic, summer squash, carrots, popcorn, beans



I picked up a few extras:: carrots, beets, onions, dill heads, chives.

What is in your box this week? What is in season in your area?

zucchini chips.

If you love your dehydrator as much as I do, you will want to keep using it all summer. We love kale chips and make them all the time. But you can also make snack 'chips' from other veggies too (beets!). Zucchini is in that 'overabundance always have too much of it' category. And honestly, it doesn't have much flavor on its own. But these chips? So good, so easy and you can make them all summer long.


It is basically the same as kale chips. You slice your zucchini very thinly with a knife or mandolin and put into a bowl. In a small bowl mix together 2 tsp of olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper, and any herb blend you like. I used a nice pinch of yellow curry powder and some dried cilantro from the garden. See what you like - smoky paprika, onion powder, fresh thyme...


Drizzle the mixture over the slices, tossing gently until completely coated. Lay the slices out on your dehydrator and dry until crispy. Be sure to rotate your trays so they dry evenly.


I like using the dehydrator because it doesn't heat up the house on hot days, and it also doesn't heat the food to a high temperature. You can do these in an oven on a baking sheet (or something that allows air to flow all around like a rack), just be sure to use the lowest temperature setting, open the door a bit if needed, and to turn them over midway.

The time they need to dehydrate will depend on the humidity where you are. Just let them go until crispy. They will stay crispy in an air tight container if they are really dry, but can get a little soft in a bag if there is much humidity or they were not dehydrated until fully dry. So best to just eat them right away! It is hard to stop anyway...