In Your Share (Sept 26th edition)

Time to sign up for the winter share if you haven’t done so already!

The first rains of the season have arrived. Hopefully the sun will come back out towards the end of the week so we can finish harvesting all the storage crops like dry beans, popcorn, potatoes and onions. The tomatoes probably won’t last much longer, but we should get enough sunny days in October to continue ripening peppers – c’mon Gypsys!

This week your share may include…

  • Daikon Radish: These look really good! I like to grate them raw into salads, but they make a mean pickle. This recipe is easy & awesome with Bánh Mì, the spicy Vietnamese baguette pork sandwich.
  • Eggplant: The long skinny asian varieties are tasty and more productive for us than the traditional italian vareities. Most of what you see in the share will be the dark purple Orient Express and the pink Orient Charm. These varieties can be used exactly as you would use the regular eggplant. I’ve posted one of my favorite recipes for a simple spanish eggplant salad here.
  • Fennel: The mild anise flavored bulb is very versatile – it can be shaved into salads and is also great in gratins. More ideas here.
  • Mizuna and/or Arugula: Mizuna is one of my favorite asian greens as it is very mild and can be used in salads or sauteed. Arugula has a sharp nutty flavor and is usually used in salad, but is also nice when sauteed. I usually just wilt it then add to pasta or it’s also good in fritatas.
  • Parsley: This beautiful Italian flat leaf parsley to will be tasty in a late season tomato sauce.
  • Peppers, Anaheim:  These peppers have just a hint of heat and they really shine in traditional southwest and mexican cooking. I made some great corn & roasted chile salsa this week. This is a good recipe for stuffed peppers and once you have the basics you can get creative and come up with lots of variations on this theme.  I often use Anaheim’s to substitute for regular green bell peppers in recipes too.
  • Peppers, Jalapeno: Time for salsa!
  • Summer Squash: The much maligned courgette will produce obscenely large fruit if you turn your back on it this time of year. We harvest regularly so you always have a wide variety of shapes and sizes to choose from. Take larger ones if you want to make zucchini bread. The smaller fruit can be steamed whole.
  • Tomatoes, Stupice: These small early tomatoes continue to be tasty and productive throughout the season.
  • Tomatoes, Heirlooms: This is probably the last week of red tomatoes. We have Brandywine, Moskovitch, Azoychka, German Striped, Black, Zapotec Pleated and more varieties to chose from. The rain has caused many to split so take them home and eat immediately!

Coming soon… Green Tomatoes!!