Summer Week Eight

It’s 8:00pm on Saturday night. I spent most of my morning roasting tomatoes and making a list of meals I want to cook this week. We have more produce than we can eat this week, and I have so many things I want to put in my freezer for winter, and I just need a few more hours every day this week. I cleaned it all up and took the family to the pool this afternoon and decided I’d tackle the rest of the food prep later this week.

As I was driving home from the farm yesterday, I listened to this podcast and couldn’t help but think about how summer shows up in the foods that we eat. Here it is August already, and here in New England, it’s the month that we really get a good taste of summer. The tomatoes and peppers are rolling in—and they are just gorgeous. We got four huge heirloom tomatoes this week and I can’t wait to eat them. I turned one into salsa tonight and it was divine.

The best thing about summer produce is you can pretty much just grab anything and eat it raw and call it a meal. You’ll see a good bit of that here this week.

Summer Week 8: What We Brought Home

apples, basil, beets (with beautiful greens), blueberries, cabbage, cherry tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, parsley, pattypan squash, peaches, poblano peppers, red lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini

Meal Ideas for the Week

Breakfasts

My new favorite thing to eat for breakfast is fancy toast. Throw some ricotta cheese in the food processor until it’s smooth. Spread it on toast and add a sliced tomato and some basil. You can add balsamic vinegar if you’d like. Or top your ricotta toast with sliced radishes, or the zucchini butter that you made last week.

I’m also making a lot of these Zucchini Muffins lately. As long as there is zucchini in the house, we might as well bake with it, #amIright? I love muffins for breakfast because they double as a quick snack when my kids have activities later in the day.

Lunches

August is a month when I want to have as many picnics as possible, because I know Winter will be here before we know it. I simply adore Kale Salad for lunch on the hot days of summer. It’s great for picnics because it travels so much better than a lettuce salad. My favorite kale salad is curly kale, cherry tomatoes, boiled eggs, shaved parmesan cheese, and croutons with a champagne vinaigrette. Chop your kale into small pieces and massage it with a little salad dressing before adding your toppings.

Gazpacho is another picnic-friendly lunch and it uses all those veggies in the crisper drawer. Throw some tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper (I use green), and onion in a blender with some olive oil and seasonings and you really can’t go wrong. It’s like a savory smoothie. We like to serve it at room temperature and top it with grilled shrimp.

Dinners

This Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan feels like a lot of work, but it’s much easier than regular Eggplant Parmesan and it’s even more delicious. I’m going to triple this recipe this week to use all those eggplants I brought home last week and stick them in the freezer for the dark days of winter.

When the first of the poblano peppers come home, I immediately plan to make these Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Corn Risotto. I think you could stuff green bell peppers with corn risotto and it would be delicious as well. Instead of using chicken broth, I make corn stock and use it instead.

When you need a fast meal, this Pasta with Baked Cherry Tomato Sauce is a fantastic choice. This is one of those meals that is a real summer treat because the cherry tomatoes are plentiful and as sweet as candy. I’m always amazed what a pound of cherry tomatoes and some bread crumbs will do for a bag of pasta.

This Angel Hair Pasta with Raw Tomato Sauce is my favorite way to use those beautiful big heirloom tomatoes that show up in my farm share. It’s excellent with a side salad and maybe some garlic bread.

I want to be adventurous sometime this week and attempt to make grilled vegetable ravioli. I can’t find a recipe, but I saw some in Costco a few weeks ago and was instantly intrigued. I’m going to try to grill eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes, chop them really tiny and put them in sheets of homemade beet pasta. Stay tuned - it will either be a huge hit or a total flop.

I made these Halloumi Veggie Kebabs last week with Zucchini, Eggplant, Mushrooms, and Green Pepper and they were incredible. We served them with corn on the cob and grilled flatbread.

Snacks & Treats

This recipe for Jalapeno Poppers is so delicious we made it twice last week. I’m considering freezing a batch or two, but I’m not sure they’ll ever make it to the freezer!

Nothing says summer quite like Peach Ice Cream. I told the girls this recipe always trips me up because there’s sour cream in it, and I don’t like sour cream. I make it every year, and every year I think it will be weird. But when it’s done and you take that first bite, it’s nothing short of sublime.

Preserving Notes: Tomatoes

Next week I’ll share my favorite canning recipes for tomatoes, but it’s late on Saturday night, so this week I’m all about the lazy preserving.

I wrote a poem about my asparagus plant this week if you want something fun to read. I also have several volunteer tomato plants that are doing better than any tomatoes have ever done in my yard. It seems giving up on gardening was the key to my success.

Hope you have a wonderful week my friends!

Summer Week Two

Summer has arrived in New England and the heat is here to stay for a while. I must have finally adapted to New England weather because the daily temperatures we’ve been seeing in the 90s feel oppressively hot. By the end of next week, we’ll have already reached our average number of 90-days for the summer—and summer has only gotten started. I’m giving thanks for the little backyard pool we splurged on earlier in the year, and a house with air conditioning to keep us cool. And I know colder temperatures always come before I’m ready for them, so I’m grateful for the summer crops that are here to keep us company for a while.

I donned my Grandma’s apron this week and dug the canner out of the basement. We’ve reached that time of year when there are not many days that go by without needing to can something or blanch and freeze. It is so much work, but it is one of my favorite parts of summer. I canned Strawberry Syrup, Pickled Golden Beets, and Rhubarb Chutney. I made pasta from beet greens and pesto from kale stems and called it “Compost Dinner.” I made Cheesy Kale Scones. I blanched peas, beet greens, broccoli and garlic scapes. On the horizon for this week is a small batch of Strawberry Jam.

It must be CSA season!

Summer Week 2

3 quarts strawberries
3 heads lettuce
1 bunch rainbow swiss chard
1 bunch Golden Sugar Beets (with their greens)
1 bunch Red Sugar Beets (with their greens)
1 bunch curly kale
2 bags snow peas
2 bags sugar snap peas
4 broccoli crowns
1 bunch garlic scapes (plus a few more sad unloved ones from the swap table)
3 yellow squash (from the swap table)
2 zucchini (from the swap table)

From the Farmstand

1 small yellow onion
2 sweet onions
2 Spanish onions
4 misfit broccoli crowns
1 bunch of misfit celery
2 small zucchini
1 head of lettuce (I know what you’re thinking … “because 3 isn’t enough?”)
2 tomatoes

Recipes to Try

Strawberries

This was an abysmal year for strawberries in New England. Between last year’s drought and this year’s heat, strawberry crops really struggled. We are thankful for the 12 quarts of strawberries we’ve gotten over the last three weeks, and have put them to good use. Here are my favorite ways to use strawberries, if you are lucky enough to find a flat or two.

Lettuce

I have been saving this recipe for the week that Bibb lettuce and broccoli appeared at the same time. David has declared it to be his favorite salad, and that, my friends, is high praise. Maybe he will turn into a salad lover after all.

Last night we had friends over for a Taco salad Buffet. I turned my counter into a salad bar and put out lettuce, shredded taco chicken, black beans, roasted beets, sautéed squash with garlic scapes, salsa, guacamole, cotija cheese, Monterrey Jack cheese, pickled jalapeños, tortilla chips, and street taco shells. It was so fun, and the salads turned out amazing. 

Last week I made a bacon egg and cheese salad for breakfast. It was better than a bacon egg and cheese sandwich, and I love a good breakfast sandwich. One day I’ll create a recipe, but it’s basically as easy as it sounds. Start with a bed of lettuce, topped with cooked bacon, some shredded cheddar cheese, and a fried egg (cooked however you like). I used a bit of honey mustard dressing. David used his runny egg yolk as dressing. 

Swiss Chard

The first Chard of the year always means Green Treats on the menu! These are so good and they are so filling you don’t need much else for dinner. Except for a small salad of course, because there’s too much lettuce to not have a salad every day.

Beets

I think I’ve told you before that I hate beets. I’ve tried so many ways to like them, but have never been able to get past the dirt taste they leave in my mouth. But y’all. I made these Easy Roasted Beets last night for my Taco buffet, and they were incredible. They tasted like candy. I don’t know if it’s how I cooked them or where they’re grown—Farmer Jamie seriously had the best produce I’ve ever tasted—but I am now a beet lover. Or at least a Farmer Jamie’s beet lover.

I may get really brave and try something like this Raw Beet Salad this week. Or this one, with lettuce instead of arugula. 

My favorite way to use beets is to juice them. We found a juicer at a thrift store a couple of years ago and it has been an excellent addition to our kitchen. I haven’t learned how to use it, so I pile all the things I don’t want to eat in a bowl and make David juice it for me. My favorite is beet, kale greens, apple, and ginger. It’s a true breakfast of champions!

And here’s your weekly reminder to not compost the greens! Blanch them in boiling water for 3 minutes, put them immediately in ice water for 3 minutes, then squeeze out as much water as possible before freezing. You’ll be so grateful for their presence come Winter.

Curly Kale

Curly kale is my favorite type of kale. I love to make a Massaged Kale Salad. It feels heartier than a lettuce salad and holds up really well for picnics.

If you’ve been reading my Monthly Newsletter for a while, you know how much I love Smitten Kitchen’s Flipped Crispy Egg Taco with Singed Greens. This is my favorite breakfast of all time and I’m thrilled to have curly kale in the house once again. (Shameless plug - June’s newsletter will go out early next week, so take a minute to signup so you don’t miss it!)

These Cheesy Kale Scones are another fun breakfast. It is a huge recipe and makes very big scones as written. I made much smaller scones this time around, making 4 small balls of dough and cutting them each into 8 triangles. We ate 6 of them, I brought 4 to a friend, and the rest went into the freezer. I think scones taste best freshly baked, so I freeze them before baking. I put them on a parchment-lined sheet pan and freeze them overnight, then I put them in a ziplock freezer baggie and return them to the freezer. It’s super easy to grab a few and bake when I’m ready for them.

Dare I say Kale is my favorite breakfast food?

Snow peas/Sugar Snap Peas

Fresh peas get eaten incredibly fast in my house. They are my kids’ favorite snack in early summer. I often don’t get to cook them or save any for winter, so I immediately blanched an entire bag of snow peas when I brought them home. They are a wonderful addition to Stir-Fry or Mongolian Beef, and I wanted a few hiding away for winter meals.

I want to make these Sesame Snow Peas this week. Maybe I’ll make Beef & Broccoli to go with them.

Garlic scapes

Garlic scapes are such a fun sign of summer. The garlic scape is the stem and flower bud of the hardneck garlic plant. Farmers harvest them not only because they are great to eat, but also because it helps the garlic bulb grow bigger. When the scape isn’t harvested, the plant sends all its energy into creating the flower and seeds and the bulb doesn’t grow as much. Garlic is one of those incredible plants that feeds us twice—once with the scape and twice with the bulb itself. This list of how to use them is pretty helpful. I love to grill them with romaine lettuce and top it with grilled shrimp or fish. This week I blanched half of ours for just 30 seconds and froze them to use instead of green beans in pot pie later in the year. Garlic scape compound butter is another fun way to save them for later.

Broccoli

I adore broccoli season and can never get enough broccoli. I’m always sad when I hear people say they don’t like it. It’s the first vegetable we run out of in our freezer stash each year, so I always blanch and freeze as much as I can. These Broccoli Fritters are a huge hit in our house and can be made with fresh or frozen broccoli. Just thaw and drain the frozen broccoli first.

This Charred Broccoli Salad is one of my favorite ways to use fresh broccoli. I like to eat it warm, but I think it would save well for a cold lunch too.

And when I have provolone cheese hiding in my fridge and an old loaf of bread needing to be used, I make these Broccoli Melts.

Yellow Squash/Zucchini

These were not in my regular Super Share this week, but there were some less than perfect ones in the Swap Box, so I grabbed them. I sauteed the Yellow squash at super high heat with some barely blanched garlic scapes and an onion leftover from cooking beans earlier in the week. I sprinkled some salt and pepper and Arizona Dreaming on top and it was an incredible addition to the Taco Buffet.

Squash and Zucchini make a very big appearance in Summer, so there’s lots of time to share my favorite recipes with you. I’ve been craving these Zucchini Taco Boats, so that’s how I’ll use zucchini this week. I use ground beef because we get it in our Meat Share.

Now—who’s ready to eat after reading all that?! What will you make this week?

Summer Week One

We went on a field trip yesterday to Old Sturbridge Village. It’s one of my favorite places to take the girls because we always learn something new. As a family who enjoys historic handicrafts, we really enjoy talking to the costumed historians who illustrate what life was like two hundred years ago. Yesterday was their final Homeschool Day for the school year and the girls had a great time painting a plate and making artwork out of things they found in nature.

We took a detour on the way home to pick up our Farm Share. When I opened the trunk to pull out my baskets—and my phone to take a picture—I discovered my phone was not in my backpack like I thought. There was a small panic in my mind about who might find my phone and hack into it to discover all my photos and terrible writing drafts. Then I realized the Village was closed for the day and hoped other homeschoolers were as honest as we are. When we got home, we used Find My Phone to search for it, and sure enough it was still in the bathroom where it must have fallen out.

The smell of coffee woke me at 6am this morning. Finding my bed empty, I trudged down the stairs to find an empty French Press and a note. “Phone GPS says it’s in the parking lot, not the bathroom. I’ll be back soon.” Anytime he leaves me a note, no matter what it says, my heart goes aflutter. He’s on the road, rescuing my lost phone, and I am here. Making my own coffee and meal planning. He is a true Hero.

And I’m going to need another cup of coffee.

This is the first week of our Summer Share at Springdell and Farmer Jamie does not ever disappoint. We have a Super Share this year plus extra fruit and eggs each week. We are getting a LOT of food, and while it can feel overwhelming during the peak harvest months, I never regret it come Winter. I’ll share tips and tricks with you on storing food, and if you stick with me through Winter, I’ll help you use it along the way. If this is your first year with a CSA, or if you’re considering a CSA for the first time, I do not recommend beginning with a Super Share. Get your feet wet first, THEN dive all the way in. Early summer means a lot of greens, and this week is all about the salad.

Summer Week 1

4 heads lettuce
2 heads cabbage
1 bunch Russian Red Kale
1 pint strawberry honey
1 bunch rhubarb
1 bunch golden beets (with their greens)
7 quarts strawberries

From the Farmstand

2 greenhouse cucumbers
1 half pint cherry tomatoes
4 small yellow onions
1 sweet onion
2 misfit broccoli crowns

Strawberries & Rhubarb

I have a post coming later this week about all the many things you can do with strawberries. Today I’d like to talk about the perfect pairing of strawberries and rhubarb. When I was a kid, my Aunt would make Strawberry Rhubarb pie for every Thanksgiving. I would never touch it. Rhubarb sounded weird, and I didn’t want to eat anything weird. I now know I was being ridiculous, because strawberry rhubarb is now one of my favorite combinations.

I adore this Strawberry Rhubarb Pecan Loaf so much that I make 2-4 of them every year and stick them in my freezer. Come January, when all the fresh fruit is long gone, I pull it out and enjoy it for breakfast with a cup of coffee. You can turn it into muffins too, which makes for even easier winter enjoyment.

I made a variation of this Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp last week. I used equal parts strawberry & rhubarb (1 lb), cut the sugar to 1 cup, and used arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch. I also always use old fashioned oats instead of quick-cooking, because it’s what I usually have in the pantry. It was delightful with ice cream for dessert, and with yogurt for breakfast the next day.

This Strawberry Rhubarb Syrup is an excellent way to use up rhubarb. Many years I take time to can the syrup so I have it later. It’s great to use in making lemonade, or a great addition to Gin & Tonics, or even just a dash in a glass of sparkling water makes a fun treat. And I always save the fruit to put on top of yogurt. No wasting deliciousness!

Lettuce

We grabbed pizza on our way home last night, but with 4 heads of lettuce in the share, I made everyone wait to eat until I had made a side salad. Farmer Jamie’s lettuce is seriously the best lettuce I’ve ever had. The fact that not even my tiniest (who hates lettuce) complained about having to eat a salad with pizza is a huge testament to the deliciousness of her greens. We topped it with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries (of course).

This Bon Appetit Article made me want Steak Salad for dinner every night for the next week, so I was thrilled with David requested Steak Salad for Father’s Day.

I got a great variety of Red & Green Leaf Lettuce as well as one head of Bibb lettuce this week so I’m excited to mix and match them all. Lettuce Wraps are perhaps my favorite way to use Bibb lettuce. This recipe takes me back to my high school days, when P.F. Changs felt like the fanciest joint around.

If you’re starting out with a CSA for the first time this year, I hope you’re not hit with 4 heads of lettuce like I am. Unless you really love lettuce. It’s taken us a very long time to get used to using 4 heads of lettuce in one week, and I’m always so proud of us when it’s gone before the week is over. The trick is to eat lettuce every single day. Even for breakfast.

When the weather forecast is sunny and beach-worthy, I’m grateful for the ability to pack a quick lunch salad to go. Lunch Salads need no recipe, just creativity. I usually open my fridge and start pulling out leftovers and soon a lunch salad is born. Don’t forget to pack salad dressing. And a fork. A seashell will work as a fork in a pinch, but it’s not ideal. Trust me.

Cabbage

Anytime I get cabbage in my share I instantly think of this Crispy Oven Pork with Cole Slaw. This is a great recipe if you’re feeding a crowd (which I am THRILLED to be able to do once again this year).

Last week I used unloved cabbage from the misfit shelf to make this Asian-Inspired Salad. I made this Sesame Dressing because I’m not a fan of Peanut Butter in my salad dressing. It kept well in my fridge all week, and was an excellent salad to take to the beach.

This Beef and Cabbage Stirfry is one of my favorite recipes for Cabbage. I wish I could figure out a way to freeze cabbage so that I can make this in the Winter. If you know any tricks about freezing shredded cabbage, send them my way!

Russian Red Kale

Russian Red Kale is terrific for salads, and this one uses Golden Beets too! It feels like a huge win when I can combine ingredients to make meals. This White Bean & Kale Panzanella also looks delightful and would be a good way to use up that stale bread in my bread box.

If you need an easy appetizer or snack, Kale Chips are always a win around here.

With as much lettuce as we have this week, I’ll likely blanch and freeze our kale this week because it stores well and is easy to use in soups in Winter. Or maybe I’ll use some of the misfit potatoes from last week and make these Twice Baked Potatoes with Kale. They also freeze well and are a treat in the dark days of Winter.

As for the Kale stems, I try not to compost them. They juice well, or they can be thrown in a blender with some fruit for a fun twist on Green Smoothies. Don’t forget the honey in your smoothie. It will give the smoothie a sweetness that your kids (or you) can’t resist. You can also turn them into Pesto, which will freeze well and will be so welcome in Winter.

Golden Beets (with their greens)

Most people adore simple roasted beets as a side dish or on top of a salad. I have been trying to love beets as long as we’ve had a CSA, and I just don’t. I do like some varieties better than others, but all-in-all, beets are not my favorite thing. I do love a good pickled beet, especially in Winter or very early Spring. This recipe is similar to the one I typically use, but I’m intrigued by this Pickled Beet with Grapefruit and Chili. Maybe I’ll try something new this year.

Surprisingly, I find beet greens to be incredibly easy to use. My kids are huge fans of these Green Treats and I will sometimes substitute beet greens for the chard. Did you know beets and swiss chard come from the same family? Most often I blanch and freeze the greens and use them later when I want fresh pasta. I hardly ever make pasta without some kind of greens sneaking their way in.

Strawberry Honey

I don’t really need to tell you how to use fresh honey, do I? This is the most delicious honey I’ve ever had. With a faint taste of strawberries, we’ve been sticking spoons in and eating it by itself. I’ve long heard that eating local raw honey may help with seasonal allergies. Although there’s no science to back that up, I figure a small taste of honey every day can’t hurt. At the very least, it brings a smile to our faces.

I drizzle a spoonful over plain yogurt for the girls, put it in my coffee and tea, put it in smoothies, and occasionally drizzle some on top of a piece of toast covered in peanut or almond butter. A pint of honey doesn’t last long around here.

Alright friends, that’s a lot of recipes for you to dig through this week. It will only get bigger as the summer goes on. If at any time you feel overwhelmed, please don’t hesitate to comment below and ask for ideas specific to your share. I truly do love helping people learn how to love their farm shares!

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