In Your Share (Oct 23rd edition)

The Delicata squash is one of the best tasting early season winter squash. It has an amazing sweet flavor and creamy flesh that is super tasty from fall harvest through the end of the year. Other winter squash varieties might store longer, but hardly any can beat the eating quality of this one right now! Cut in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and bake in the oven until soft. Serve simply with oil, salt & pepper or dress them up with some stuffing. Either way the skin is so tender it can be eaten too.  They are a good source of Vitamin A&C and fiber. Nice to know some sweet treats are healthy too!

Speaking of winter squash – we are signing people up for our Winter Spring CSA Share which is starting NEXT WEEK!

Amazing recipes for Delicata squash and everything else in your share 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! Your access to the website will end soon unless you join us for the Winter Spring CSA season.

This week your share may include…

  • Broccoli: The heads are tasty, but so are the leaves and stem so don’t forget to eat those too!
  • Carrots: Tasty and sweet and yum!
  • Celery: This may be slightly stronger flavored than the celery that you are used to so taste a bit before you put it out with the peanut butter : ) Leaves and stems are perfect for cooking – makes a great addition to stuffing, soups & au gratin potatoes.
  • Garlic: More often than not, dinner at our house starts with some garlic sautéd in olive oil and then we decide what direction to go from there… maybe clam linguini with all that parsley, or cook up a big bunch of greens and put poached eggs on top. So many delicious options!
  • Italian Parsley: This versatile vegetable is both an herb and it is greens. I prefer to treat it more like the latter since it contains all the healthy goodness of other dark leafy greens plus has a distinct flavor and subtle sweetness. I like to sauté a pile of chopped parsley in olive oil by itself or in combo with other greens like chard, spinach or kale. Then add them to pasta, scrambled eggs, polenta… yum! Parsley also makes great pesto, chimmichuri and salsa verde. More on my favorite green sauces here.
  • Hot Peppers: Tasty in any dish where you’d like to add a little heat! Plenty of jalapeños this week so I’m planning to make poppers! A couple of my favorite recipes are Baked Rings and Whole Roasted Jalapeños. Hot peppers can also be frozen for future use – take stems off and remove seeds if you want to, then sauté or roast them and freeze in single serving size containers. Nice to be able to add some summer spice to winter soups and stews.
  • Purple Potatoes: Anything you like to do with yellow or red potatoes, you can also do with these beautiful purple (on the inside too) potatoes. They are tasty AND good for you since like many other purple “super” foods (ie. blueberries & pomegranates) they contain the antioxidant anthocyanin.
  • Pie Pumpkins: You can carve them if you must, but they’d make a really great pie or quick bread and the toasted seeds are tasty too!
  • Winter Squash: As you can see from the way I was waxing poetic above, Delicata is a “gateway” squash. Even those folks who think they don’t like winter squash usually like this one : ) Try this Delicata recipe for Squash Rings.

 

Coming soon… Winter Share!!