In Your Share (July 25th edition)

Lettuce_ColorI never tire of summer salads! My favorite lettuce this time of year are those varieties know as French crisp or Batavia crisp or summer crisp heads. They are all the same thing and all delicious. Some are red, some are green and some are a beautiful swirl of both colors. In the heat of summer other types of  lettuce can get bitter or bolt – not so with these, they maintain their crunchy texture and sweet flavor all the way through. I’m also looking forward to making my grandmothers potato salad and a less traditional nicoise salad with fava beans.

Amazing recipes for salad and everything we grow on the farm are available to members at Cook With What You Have. If you joined our Summer CSA you will find your password in the member email. Enjoy 24/7 access to recipe inspiration!

This week your share may include…

  • Carrots: Sweet summer carrots are delicious!
  • Collard Greens: These are tender enough to be just lightly sautéed and will stand up to more traditional long cooking with a ham hock. Or  try them raw in salad – cut them into a chiffonade of thin slices and use them instead of kale in this salad with lemon & pecorino.
  • Cucumbers: We have have some regular green slicers and we’re also growing a new variety called Silver Slicer. It is related to one of our favorite heirlooms, Boothby’s Blonde, and we are happy to report that it seems to have the same great heirloom flavor with larger fruit – yum!
  • Fava Beans: We had a later than usual planting this year and we’re thrilled that they are finally ready! There are lots of tips and a dozen great recipes for fava beans at Cook With What You Have. And here is one of my favorite ways to cook them whole and in the shell – Grilled Fresh Fava’s
  • Lettuce Heads: Nothing better than a crisp summer salad.
  • Joi Choi: There are lots of ways to cook these tasty asian greens. One of my favorites is this Noodle Salad with Shitake Mushrooms.
  • Parsley: Maybe everyone already has their own favorite Tabbouleh Recipe but just thought I’d share three of mine. Know these will be even better once we have fresh tomatoes, but it’s really the parsley that makes it! Yotam Ottolenghi from his cookbook Jerusalem which includes pomegranates and a traditional spice mixture. From David Lebovitz on his blog Living the Sweet Life in Paris – he is very particular and this recipe is very good. And last but not least – the simplest version which is still really good – from Ina Garten at her Barefoot Contessa series.
  • New Potatoes: The skins are so thin on the first of the season potatoes you hardly need to peel them. Might be a few yellow potatoes in the share but mostly red this week!

Coming soon… Zucchini & Patty Pan Summer Squash!