09' CSA Basket Journal #21; Volume 2
Posted 10/8/2009 3:55pm by Matthew and Allison Mills Neal.
CSA Basket Journal #21
October 7th
What Genus Specie Varieties your basket contains:
1.)Batavian Escarole Endive Bunch
2.)Rutabaga Greens Bunch
3.)Bulk Lettuce Bag of Red Romaine and Red Tide Leaf Lettuce
4.)Peppers...a variety of Purple Beauty Bell, King of the North Red Bell , Napolean
Sweet, Corno di Toro Sweet, Healthy (Yellow-Green) Pepper, and Ring of Fire
Hot (very small and skinny)and Cyklon Polish Hot (wide, pointy, and short; larger
then the Ring o Fire and more spicey than the Ring o Fire)
5.)Eggplants...a variety of Turkish Orange, Applegreen, Rosita, Rosa bianca,
Black opal, and Louisiana long green
6.)Spaghetti Winter Squash
This is one of those great Fall baskets that really presents so much diversity, as it incorporates vegetables from all seasons. You have some wonderful greens (both hardy and tender), you have some robust summer crops of eggplants and peppers, and then you have those comforting winter spaghetti squash.
I hope you enjoy using your Rutabaga Greens as these hardy greens are ones that you could not normally find in the grocery. Think of these greens as being a combination in flavor of kale and collards, so you can use them in the same types of ways that you would try using kale and/or collards. The stems will even have a crunchy cabbage flavor that would be great in a Sweet pepper, rutabaga greens, and spaghett squash (a spaghetti squash that has already been baked and ready to be scooped) stir fry or sautee. This dish could be flavored with sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce and maybe some shredded coconut and sunflower seeds, or some of your roasted winter squash seeds.
As far as the eggplants go, I hope everyone has been enjoying the different varieties of eggplant that you have been recieving, as these are not your normal large purple eggplants. The great advantage of our eggplants is that they do not have to be pre-soaked in water and salt to take out the bitterness. Here is a tasty way to try your eggplant this week...
Take as many of the eggplants as you want to use, trim of tops, then dice up in very small pieces with skins on.
Heat a cooking pot that has a lid that you can use on medium to medium high heat. Have one of the small ring o fire hot peppers finely minced (without seeds, that is unless you really want a very spicy dish).
Pour some olive oil in your pot, probably 1-2 Tablespoons, depending on how many eggplants you are using.
First add the hot pepper to the warm oil and let that get fragrant.
Then toss in your eggplant.
Stir around for a minute or so, then turn down your heat to low-medium and cover with lid.
Next have a lemon out and zest it and juice it. Add zest, juice, and salt and pepper, making sure when you pick up the lid you let the condensed water run back into the pot.
Now have a couple Bell Peppers chopped and add them at this point too, Stir around and then put lid back on.
You will let all this cook for about 20-25 minutes I would say and through the process you might add a few splashes of white wine vinegar and a little more olive oil if need be.
Towards the end add in about 1/2 cup of raisins or currents and some honey.
This is a delicious dish served with rice, toasted bread, roasted winter squash, or even along side a salad.
Then if you would like to use a cheese I would go with some parmesan reggiano or a blue veined cheese.
If any of you are trying to remember how long the CSA runs through, the season is scheduled to make it till November the 18th and so therefore that still leaves 6 more baskets! We will be looking forward to seeing you all for then at least still a little bit longer.
Thanks,
Allison and Matthew
October 7th
What Genus Specie Varieties your basket contains:
1.)Batavian Escarole Endive Bunch
2.)Rutabaga Greens Bunch
3.)Bulk Lettuce Bag of Red Romaine and Red Tide Leaf Lettuce
4.)Peppers...a variety of Purple Beauty Bell, King of the North Red Bell , Napolean
Sweet, Corno di Toro Sweet, Healthy (Yellow-Green) Pepper, and Ring of Fire
Hot (very small and skinny)and Cyklon Polish Hot (wide, pointy, and short; larger
then the Ring o Fire and more spicey than the Ring o Fire)
5.)Eggplants...a variety of Turkish Orange, Applegreen, Rosita, Rosa bianca,
Black opal, and Louisiana long green
6.)Spaghetti Winter Squash
This is one of those great Fall baskets that really presents so much diversity, as it incorporates vegetables from all seasons. You have some wonderful greens (both hardy and tender), you have some robust summer crops of eggplants and peppers, and then you have those comforting winter spaghetti squash.
I hope you enjoy using your Rutabaga Greens as these hardy greens are ones that you could not normally find in the grocery. Think of these greens as being a combination in flavor of kale and collards, so you can use them in the same types of ways that you would try using kale and/or collards. The stems will even have a crunchy cabbage flavor that would be great in a Sweet pepper, rutabaga greens, and spaghett squash (a spaghetti squash that has already been baked and ready to be scooped) stir fry or sautee. This dish could be flavored with sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce and maybe some shredded coconut and sunflower seeds, or some of your roasted winter squash seeds.
As far as the eggplants go, I hope everyone has been enjoying the different varieties of eggplant that you have been recieving, as these are not your normal large purple eggplants. The great advantage of our eggplants is that they do not have to be pre-soaked in water and salt to take out the bitterness. Here is a tasty way to try your eggplant this week...
Take as many of the eggplants as you want to use, trim of tops, then dice up in very small pieces with skins on.
Heat a cooking pot that has a lid that you can use on medium to medium high heat. Have one of the small ring o fire hot peppers finely minced (without seeds, that is unless you really want a very spicy dish).
Pour some olive oil in your pot, probably 1-2 Tablespoons, depending on how many eggplants you are using.
First add the hot pepper to the warm oil and let that get fragrant.
Then toss in your eggplant.
Stir around for a minute or so, then turn down your heat to low-medium and cover with lid.
Next have a lemon out and zest it and juice it. Add zest, juice, and salt and pepper, making sure when you pick up the lid you let the condensed water run back into the pot.
Now have a couple Bell Peppers chopped and add them at this point too, Stir around and then put lid back on.
You will let all this cook for about 20-25 minutes I would say and through the process you might add a few splashes of white wine vinegar and a little more olive oil if need be.
Towards the end add in about 1/2 cup of raisins or currents and some honey.
This is a delicious dish served with rice, toasted bread, roasted winter squash, or even along side a salad.
Then if you would like to use a cheese I would go with some parmesan reggiano or a blue veined cheese.
If any of you are trying to remember how long the CSA runs through, the season is scheduled to make it till November the 18th and so therefore that still leaves 6 more baskets! We will be looking forward to seeing you all for then at least still a little bit longer.
Thanks,
Allison and Matthew