- Lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Cherry tomatoes
- Hot peppers
- Sweet peppers
- Stuffing peppers
- Eggplant (they came back!)
- Beets
- Celery or Romanesco broccoli (that greenish combo between broccoli and cauliflower)
- Winter squash – you can easily leave these treasures on your counters until later in the fall, they will sweeten as they age
- Basil
- Dill or cilantro
- Green beans
- Kale or chard
- Garlic
- Onions (cipollinis this week, heirloom Italian flat onions, great for grilling!)
- Leeks (use the white part, great for soup and stews)
- tomatillos
The canning party was a great success. Mary Kay again was instrumental in the organization and leadership to get the right recipes started early so we could have them sit in their juices and get everything canned and ready to distribute by 4:30! The canning party is a labor of love that we put on as a community building/learning experience. Mary Kay and I meet sometime in August to decide on recipes and then she modifies them and often quadruples them. I do the shopping and organizing of the day and then there is the set up. Juvencio borrowed tables from our neighbors and filled gas tanks. We donate the produce (some extra beets came from our friends Polly and James at Pumpkin Ridge Gardens).Many others contributed in other ways, so thank you to all who helped make it happen and to the participants. A special thank you goes out to Mary Kay, without her you are left me and a decidedly less organized and efficient event!
We made 15 recipes:
- Jardinere
- Nuoc Cham (Asian dipping sauce)
- Plum apple pear chutney
- Pickled beets
- Ketchup
- Belizian Hot sauce (it is HOOOT)
- Salsa Chipotle
- Chipotle Adobo
- Pickled radishes
- Zucchini Relish
- Zucchini pickles bread and butter style
- Shallot marmalade
- Onion jam
- Pickled green beans
- Zucchini Jam
If you want to get a recipe you can email Mary Kay at mkgehring@comcast.net and she will get it to you. I have many of the recipes as well, but she has a file that may be easier to access.
The Harvest Party is our next big event. We have a great line up of performers soon to be announced once they are confirmed. Mark your calendar for October 18 from 2-6. That is a Sunday to start after we complete the harvest. We need your help with harvest, fall is huge and our boys are heading back to college. We still have Luna but that is small crew for 80 shares. Please sign up and lend a hand harvesting your vegetables.
We will have a Thanksgiving harvest this year on November 22. This is an add on harvest that is a prepaid $35. More details as the season winds down. Our last harvest of the regular season is October 29th.
Have a great week!
Sweet Pepper and Lentil Soup
inspired by a recipe in Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook by Hensperger and Kaufmann
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, or 2 leeks, chopped
3-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon freshly purchased paprika or smoked paprika
1-3 sweet peppers, depending on their size, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup dried brown or black lentils, picked over and rinsed
5 cups broth or water
S & P to taste (at least an entire teaspoon of salt for this one)
1-2 Tablespoons champagne or sherry or rice vinegar to finish the soup
Cook the onion in 1 Tablespoon oil over medium heat in a skillet until the onion/leeks begin to soften. Stir in paprika and allow it to cook for about a minute more. Add the chopped sweet pepper and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until everything begins to soften. Scrape all this into a slow cooker. Add the lentils and broth (or water) and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low until the lentils are completely soft, 7-9 hours. Season the soup with S & P (more salt if you used water, less if you used purchased broth), and last Tablespoon olive oil. Stir in 1 Tablespoon of one of the vinegars, adding more if needed. Serve hot.
Romesco Sauce for Crostini, Pasta, or as a vegetable dipper
4 large roasted yellow, orange, and or red peppers
1/2 cup toasted almonds
2 cloves garlic
1 ripe tomato
1 tsp salt
2 thick slices from a baguette
1 tsp paprika
½ cup or less olive oil
Fresh basil leaves if available
2-4 Tablespoons sherry vinegar
Whirl everything in a food processor. Serve with vegetables such as carrot sticks, lightly steamed broccoli and caulifower florets, etc. Bread and crackers work well too.
Multi Pepper Salad with Fontina
adapted from From the Cook’s Garden by Ellen Ogden
1.5 pounds Sweet peppers, roasted and cut into 1/4 inch strips
12 black olives, such as kalamata, pitted and coarsely chopped
6 ounces Fontina cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 1.5 cups)
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon finely chopped cutting celery OR tarragon OR parsley
1/4 cup best extra virgin olive oil
S & P to taste
Combine the peppers, olives, and cheese. Mix the cream, lemon juice, mustard, and herb in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in the oil. Season with the S & P. Pour over the peppers and mix. Serve immediately.
Roasted Peppers Stuffed with Cherry Tomatoes, Onion, and Basil
4 red & yellow bell peppers
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 medium onion or one bunch green onions
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
3 garlic cloves
about 3 tablespoons olive oil
Preheat oven to 425F and lightly oil a large shallow baking pan.
Halve bell peppers lengthwise and discard seeds and ribs. Arrange peppers, cut sides up, in baking pan and lightly oil cut edges and stems. Halve tomatoes and chop onion and basil. Finely chop garlic and in a bowl toss with tomatoes, onion, basil, 2 tablespoons oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Divide mixture among peppers and roast in upper third of oven until peppers are tender, about 20 minutes. adapted from Gourmet
Balsamic-Dressed Roasted Beets
A simple sweet-and-sour dressing complements earthy roasted beets. Its bright flavors make this dish a fitting accompaniment for roasted meats.
6 medium beets (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar1 tablespoon sugar
1 star anise
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 400°.
Leave root and 1 inch of stem on beets; scrub with a brush. Wrap beets in foil. Bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool beets to room temperature. Peel and cut each beet into 8 wedges.
Combine juice, vinegar, sugar, and star anise in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/3 cup (about 10 minutes). Discard star anise. Combine beets, vinegar mixture, salt, and pepper; toss well.
Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup)
CALORIES 79(3% from fat); FAT 0.3g (sat 0.0g,mono 0.1g,poly 0.1g); PROTEIN 2.4g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 27mg; SODIUM 258mg; FIBER 4g; IRON 1.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 17.9g
Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2005
Beet and Leek Salad with Peanut Dressing
The beets, leeks, and dressing can all be prepared and stored separately in the refrigerator up to two days in advance; just let them all come close to room temperature before serving. The dressing gets thicker as it stands, so add more water to thin it if necessary. To avoid staining your hands when rubbing the skins off the beets, wear gloves or rub the beets under running water.
2 medium beets (about 3/4 pound)
Cooking spray
4 cups thinly sliced leek (about 1 pound)
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 cups alfalfa sprouts
Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Leave root and 1 inch of stem on beets; scrub with a brush. Place beets on a small baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 1 hour or until tender when pierced with a fork. Cool. Trim off beet roots and stem; rub off skins. Cut each beet in half lengthwise; slice each beet half crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
Combine leek, oil, and 1/4 teaspoon salt on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; toss well to coat. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until tender and just beginning to brown; stir after 8 minutes.
Combine water, lime juice, peanut butter, ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring well with a whisk until smooth.
Arrange 1/3 cup sprouts on each of 6 salad plates; divide the beets and leek evenly among servings. Drizzle about 2 teaspoons dressing over each serving.
CALORIES 84(23% from fat); FAT 2.1g (sat 0.4g,mono 1g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 2.9g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 49mg; SODIUM 266mg; FIBER 3.1g; IRON 1.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 15.1g Cooking Light, MARCH 2005 Yield: 6 servings
Rochelle’s Beet Salad
We love it, it’s fast, easy and healthy.
I just threw it together, so it’s a simple one. trim ends off beets, then steam until soft rinse with cold water, so that the skin peels right off. dice up, mix with thinly sliced onions, (red, white or yellow), add crumbled crostini, and plenty of balsamic vinegar, salt/pepper to taste with a dash of extra virgin olive oil. Toss, EAT.