What’s in the Box – week 12

Tomatoes-2 pounds

Cluster Tomatoes-1 basket

Broccoli-1 head

Summer Squash-1 pound

Summer Savory-1 bunch

Onions-2

Peppers-3

Spinach-1 bunch

Carrots-1 bunch

Okra-take it if you like

1 bag each of 

Plums

Peaches

Nectarines

I am quite delayed in doing the tally this week, but I think I have a pretty good excuse for that. I have a lot going on at the moment, finishing up a dayjob & getting going with a very big new project. I’m hoping that my food blogging will not get tossed out the window completely in the coming months, but it will probably take something of a back seat. Cooking is therapeutic for me in a lot of ways, from the calming effect of spending time in the kitchen, to the end result of eating better than I would if I relied on take-out, and the compulsory socializing when I cook for other people. So I will definitley still be cooking, but the record-keeping will likely slow down.

But back to this week: 

The tomatoes are evidently past their peak, which means we only (only!) got TWO pounds this week, plus the cluster tomatoes, which are sort of like giant cherry tomatoes. I never worry about using up tomatoes, especially once I established the strategy of taking at least a few that are underripe. They redden sitting in the windowsill with no problem.

I took the broccoli, even though C. hates it with a fiery passion, because I like it, and because all that was in the swap box was summer savory, and I’m pretty well stocked on that at this point. But that doesn’t mean I have a plan for it.

The okra went into a Creole recipe along with one of the peppers, served atop cheesy grits. Post tk on that. It was quite good.

I think I will finally make zucchini bread this weekend. 

The spinach and the cluster tomatoes might go into this unorthodox mac & cheese recipe I’m testing for a cookbook (not mine), though technically I’m supposed to use baby spinach.

Meanwhile we still have a few peaches & things left from last week, so I will definitely have to make a dessert of sorts to hack away at that pile. Or possibly a shrub.

What’s in the Box – week 11

Slicing Tomatoes-4 pounds (!)

Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes-1 basket

Oriental Eggplant-2

Basil-1 bunch

Walla Walla Onions-2

Sweet Peppers-mix-3

Hot Peppers-take them if you like

Bright Lights Swiss Chard-1 bunch

Summer Leeks-1 bunch

1 bag each of

Plums

Nectarines

Peaches

That pile of red & green things in the bottom left corner? Those are jalapenos. A favorite of C.'s. When I arrived at the pick-up, with less than a half-hour until clean-up, there was a very large bag remaining. So I interpreted "take them if you like" instruction as "take a pound or so, enough to make sriracha & hot salsa & chili and freeze the rest for use in winter."

I'm determined to make roasted eggplant salad again. I've restocked my capers, though I think I will do walnuts in lieu of pinenuts, because the latter have gotten so damned expensive in recent years.

Last week's peppers became a Deborah Madison peperonata, that then became the base for a fritatta. It was very good with some garlic toast, but it means I still have the sausage in the freezer to make this pasta dish. Or possibly a similar preparation but as sandwiches, on baguettes from Maison Kayser.

Regular green basil thankfully keeps in a glass of water much more easily than the other varieties, so I will get to use some of it before inevitably turning the rest into pesto.

I'm so giddy about having such a bounty of tomatoes that I don't know where to begin with them. I've already been snacking on the cherry tomatoes liberally, and some of the rest will go with the peppers & sausage dish. I suppose I could chop some and freeze them in ziplocks if they are not used up by the time next week rolls around, a distinct possibility given that C. and I are heading upstate on Friday for the Washington County Fair. I will be communing with the cows of the Southern Adirondacks, and eating lots of deep-fried somethings. There is pig racing, and multiple tractor pulls, and a contest for Best Dressed Rabbit. I can't wait.

What’s in the Box – week 10

Slicing Tomatoes-3 Pounds

Cluster Tomatoes-1 basket

Eggplant-1

Summer Squash-1 pound

Cucumbers-1 slicer

Lemon Basil-1 bunch

Walla Walla Onions-2

Large Green Bell Pepper-1

Red Russian Kale-1 bunch

New Red Potatoes-1 pound

Mixed Variety Medium Peppers-2

Fruit Share

Donut Peaches-1 bag

Venear Plums-1 bag

Peaches-1 bag

Holy tomatoes! Connie is requesting some salmorejo, and there is no earthly reason not to make it again, because we have about 4 pounds of tomatoes to play with.

The eggplant is going to become this Ottolenghi salad-y thing, which I’ve obviously made before but it’s just so good. And I thought it would be even better with some olive bread from the new Maison Kayser bakery that opened around the corner from me. The bakery is more or less on the way from the subway to Jan Hus, which could become a problem.

I want to use the lemon basil as quickly as possible, because I have a very poor track record with keeping basil alive at all past the 2nd day, but I don’t have any brilliant ideas for that. It isn’t very good for a standard pesto. Maybe a sorbet?

I have some sausage in the freezer, which could pair with the okra I froze the other week to become gumbo, if the temperature gets cool enough to cook like that. Or else it could meet up with the peppers and some pasta for rendition of this dinner. 

And I want to make this Deborah Madison Lebanese stew with the potatoes, but I need to grab some carrots and another can of chickpeas before I can do it properly.

I feel like I’ve been cooking a lot of the same old things these days, which is good for me & C., because it means we are eating things we like very much. But it’s less good for having material for the blog. But maybe eating well is more of a priority than writing at the moment, which is ok with me when I think about it in those terms. 

What’s in the Box, week 9

Tomatoes-2 pounds

Cherry Tomatoes-1 basket

Boothby Blonde Cucumbers-2

Opal Basil-1 bunch

Walla Walla Onions-2

Purple Peppers-2

Green Beans-1 pound

Bright Lights Swiss Chard-1 bunch

Green Slicing Cucumber-1

Okra-take it if you like

Fruit Share

Peaches-1 bag

Nectarines-1 bag

Donut Peaches-1 box

I had a whole post practically written here and then the Brazil/Korea soccer bloodbath crashed my browser.* I think I was saying something about how spending almost a week lying on the beach and then heading to Central Park last night to watch these guys play SummerStage has resulted in my brain running a little slowly today.

Agenda for the week: the real version of this Ottolenghi recipe, meaning with okra instead of green beans; attempt at a rendition of Seasonal‘s cucumber salad; something something Swiss chard.

There might also be a stone fruit clafoutis in the near future, because damn that’s a lot of peaches & nectarines. I’m afraid the purple basil is already half-wilted on my counter, though.

The week at the shore was lovely, but I still have kale left (which I kind of expected to happen). I have this image of a kale tabbouleh that could be really good, though. And I have a vegetarian houseguest this weekend, so I’m pretty sure my fridge will be empty again before next Monday.

*Admittedly, I have no proof that soccer is to blame, but it does seem like streaming from NBCOlympics.com does make Chrome a little cranky.

What’s in the Box – week 8

Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage-1 head

Tomatillos-1 pound

Summer Squash-1 pound

Slicing Tomatoes-1 pound

Red Onions-3 onions

Baby Carrots with Greens-1 bunch

Starbor Kale-1 bunch

Green Basil-1 bunch

Thyme-1 bunch

Fruit Share

Peaches-1 basket-local

White Nectarines-1 bag-local

Blackberries-1 basket-no spray

The casual observer will note that there are no nectarines pictured above, and also perhaps that there seems to be far more than one pound of tomatillos. The explanation is that there are consequences to arriving late to pick-up.* One of them is that if the delivery was short one bag of nectarines (for example), you are SOL. But on the plus side, when you are the last person there, you get to have your pick of the inevitable extra veggies the farm sends down. So I grabbed a second bunch of kale, a second bunch of basil, another couple of onions, and another pile of tomatillos. It all works out in the end, right?

Tomorrow night, C. and I are heading down to my mom’s house on Long Beach Island for the rest of the week, where we’ll get to hang out with my sister & her recently expanded family. I’m incredibly excited, and not only because two of my favorite redheads will finally meet each other in person. I am also looking forward to being able to cook 4 dinners in a row on a grill. Oh, and seeing my sister… (Love you, Linds!)

It should probably go without saying that I’m bringing this week’s haul to the shore with me. I really want to make a classic cole slaw and put it on sandwiches with turkey & swiss. And I think the tomatillos will make an excellent salsa after they get a little charred on the grill. The carrots will keep, truthfully, though I might snack on a few of them before skipping town. I’ll have to wait and see what happens with everything else. The bunches of kale are on the small side still, so even two of them won’t likely make dinner for 5 adults and a toddler (who probably wouldn’t touch the stuff anyway, unless it was baked into a cookie). And we’ve been advised to eat the blackberries immediately, which will be no problem at all. As usual, all I really know is that nothing will go to waste. 

*I feel compelled to announce that my tardiness was not my fault. The 6 train has recently taken to having major issues during Monday evening rush hours, which is only to be expected, since Monday evenings are the only day I really HAVE to be home at a certain time.

What’s in the Box, week 7

Summer Squash-2 pounds

Eggplant-1 

Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage-1 head

Chiogga Beets with Greens-1 bunch

Scallions-1 bunch

Sage-1 bunch

Lemon Basil-1 bunch

Early Tomatoes- 2 each

Fruit Share

1 bag of Nectarines

1 basket of Peaches

1 basket of Blueberries

Judging by my attention to this blog, you might well guess that I have been spending most of the last several weeks in restaurants, or possibly fasting. That is not the case. Nearly everything has been put to good use, and I have been eating very well. Some dinners were repeats (like spicy hippie cabbage), some were made so quickly & so late in the evening that photographing them was just not in the cards (there was a particularly good bacon-and-cabbage dish, inspired by a Bittman recipe), and some will be chronicled in due course. Last week was full of bridal showers (1), houseguests (4), weddings (1), flights through LaGuardia (2), and the chaos one would expect from a schedule like that. I am fully expecting that the coming days will give me the leisure time to write up a few interesting things and tell you what I’ve been eating. Because I know you’ve been itching with curiosity on that count…

The beets have already gone into a David Tanis borscht recipe, which I made a few summers ago but apparently did not write about. C. loved it just as much as I was hoping she would, and yes, there are pictures. And the greens, it turns out, go very nicely with lemon basil.

The tomatoes went into the aforementioned hippie cabbage, with last week’s cabbage, so I still have to think up a dinner for this week’s. I am thinking of doing stuffed squash with the sunburst ones, or else these grilled squash “steaks” with Italian salsa verde from the Times. The sauce calls for a pile of parsley, which is conveniently exactly how much I have left in the fridge.

Eggplant is a favorite of C.’s, which fact is causing me to freeze up about how to cook it. That is kind of silly, because I think she’ll love it in just about any form. I’m not sure I’ve made her my favorite roasted eggplant salad yet, so that’s one idea. 

The peaches are all gloriously ripe, and the nectarines are not far behind, so there might be a clafoutis in the mix, too. And then it will be next Monday, and it will begin again.

What’s in the Box, week 6

Summer Squash-2 pounds

Cucumbers-2 pieces

Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage-1 head

Red Leaf Lettuce-1 head

Parsley-1 bunch

Summer Spinach-1 bunch

Leeks-1 bunch

Dill-1 bunch

Fruit Share

Sugar Plums-1 basket

Peaches-1 basket

Blueberries-1 basket

Apricots-1 basket

The peaches are here! This is equally exciting as when the tomatoes start, and almost as exciting as the fact that my girlfriend moved in this week.* Which is wonderful not only because we’re no longer in a long-distance relationship, but also because she can help me eat all those lovely peaches before they rot (and before another helping arrives next Monday). 

A full share in most CSAs is not really meant for one person, but as you can see from this blog, I have managed pretty well, by eating mostly at home, bringing my leftovers for lunch, and inviting people over to dinner on a regular occasion. The strategies going forward will be simpler, as we are now a household of two.

That said, aside from last night’s quick & easy salad, I have no specific plans for these veggies. I’m sure there’ll be some grilled squash in the picture. Ooh, orzo salad with grilled squash & grilled peaches & feta… 

*Technically, she’ll be moving the bulk of her stuff here in October, but she is here, which is the part that counts. And aside from going home to pack up the rest of the aforementioned stuff, she’s here for good.

What’s in the Box, week 5

• Bright Lights Swiss Chard-1 bunch
• Red Leaf Lettuce-1 head
• Napa Cabbage-1 head
• Scallions-1 bunch
• Baby Red Ace Beets with Greens-1 bunch
• Summer Squash-2 pounds
• Red Lake Currants-1 basket
• Parsley-1 bunch
• Okra-take if you like

Fruit Share

• Blueberries-1 basket
• Apricots-1 basket
• Sugar Plums-1 basket

Also pictured: two bunches of dried savory, which I somehow missed last week, and M. set aside for me; jars of pickles, pear butter, and salsa, products of the farm available to order a la carte.

I’m not really thinking straight this week. I had a lovely weekend at the shore, away from the 100F asphalt jungle, and it’s Tuesday now but my head still isn’t in the game. I took a lot of okra, and I think I’m going to slice it and freeze it for when the weather becomes more appropriate for making gumbo. The fruit will go very quickly as breakfast, faster still if I give in to the temptation to just stuff my face with fistfuls of blueberries. Everything else I’m going to have to figure out as I go along. Suggestions welcome.

What’s in the Box, week 4

Red Lettuce-1 head
Green Lettuce-1 head
Escarole-1 head
Sugar Snap Peas-1 pound
Summer Squash-1 pound
Golden Purslane-1 bunch
Summer Spinach-1 bunch
Summer Savory-1 bunch

Hoop House Cucumber-1

The purslane is something new this year. You would think that as someone who has resisted for years the urge to pick the wild purslane growing along the East River Walk (between the FDR Drive polution and years of dog pee, it is not really appetizing), I would have some recipes in mind already. So far what I’ve come up with is a tzatziki variation, which will also be good for some of the cucumber. I also suspect that there will be some cucumber agua fresca happening this week.

I have promised to bring the peas to J.’s for July 4th. We’re going to make dinner and watch the fireworks, which she can mostly see from her 28th floor west side apartment. Some of the lettuce will also go towards that dinner, I think. (It has to. I still have at least one meal’s worth of lettuce left from last week, and some arugula.)

Last week’s escarole was a victim of the fact that I washed it first and stuck it in the fridge. The tiny bit of water that was left clinging to the leaves was enough to rot the whole head before I got around to cooking anything with it, so I still have those Martha Stewart recipes to try this week.

The weather this past week was apparently not conducive to summer squash, which is why we only got a pound each. And since some of the individual pieces were over a pound, we kind of ran short. I think mine is slightly less than a pound, but I’m sure I’ll have no problem finding something to make with it. (Maybe a first zucchini bread of the summer?)

Then I’m going to the shore (at last!) this weekend, so anything left will come with me to share with mom.

What’s in the Box, week 3

• Hoop House Cucumber-1
• Summer Squash-2 pounds
• Garlic Scapes-6
• Red Lettuce-1 head
• Romaine Lettuce-1 head
• Escarole-1 head
• Arugula-1 bunch
• Bright Lights Swiss Chard-1 bunch
• Summer Spinach-1 bunch
• Oregano-1 bunch

I actually kept on top of things pretty well last week, but THIS is when my fridge is going to get out of control. I just have too many weeknight plans. It is a big week for birthdays and member events at the Met and being other people’s +1s at corporate cocktail parties. Which is not exactly something to complain about. 

Anyway, some vague recipe ideas: a Caesar salad, egg-based dressing be damned, with either chicken or tofu or possibly tempeh on top, for the Romaine lettuce.

I treated myself to Nigel Slater’s book Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch recently, and he’s got some excellent uses for both chard and spinach. He even discusses the “summer spinach,” aka perpetual spinach, that we get, which he says is a relative of chard anyway. Many of the recipes are quite simple, but their adorable British-ness keeps them from seeming commonplace. 

Why is it that the most interesting vegetable-centric cookbooks are coming out of the UK lately? Between Slater and Ottolenghi, they’ve got kind of a lock on that area. His courgette & cobnut salad (aka zucchini & hazelnut, which I prefer to do with walnuts) might make a repeat appearance. So simple & so good. Even C., who claims to hate zucchini, liked that recipe.

I also might try garlic scape pesto for the first time. And/or arugula pesto. The arugula is quite spicy, which makes me wish even more than I already do that C. were here this week. She has a passion for arugula that far exceeds my own taste for it.

And I suspect the cucumber–an early one this year, thanks to a grant the farm received to build a greenhouse–will be incorporated into any number of salads, leaving me without the opportunity to be more creative with it. But there will be other cucumbers.

And then the escarole. Martha Stewart has a great list of escarole recipes on her site. The currant/garlic/almond/anchovy one is especially intriguing. I love unfamiliar flavor combinations that are described as classics of one cuisine or another.