Sage

After a week away from home, I’ve been overjoyed to spend two days in the kitchen; we needed to stock up on all of the homemade staples that we used up at the beach! Yesterday we focused on bread, granola, and yogurt, and today has been about trying new things: hazelnut plum shortcakes, a cardamom-rye cake, and a new-to-us cheesy squash casserole.

Irony: this week’s CSA share is the first of the summer that doesn’t contain any squash. Thankfully we had a large patty pan leftover from last week and adapted the casserole for it. Speaking of the share…

What’s In The Week Nine CSA Share

Vegetables

• Beets, 16 ounces
• Garlic, 1.5 ounces
• Green Beans, 16 ounces
• Miniature Purple Eggplant, 16 ounces
• Onions (1 red, 1 white), 10.5 ounces
• Peppers (Bell, Bull Horn, and Hot), 34 ounces
• Sage, 0.5 ounces
• Savoy Cabbage, 44 ounces
• Swiss Chard, 8 ounces
• Tomatoes (Heirloom, Slicing, Roma, and Cherry), 79 ounces

Other

• Eggs, 1 dozen

Leftovers and Market Gleanings

We did have a few things left over from last week, and peak local produce is available at our supermarket; we love to support the local farms who can supply grocery stores, so have quite the haul of “additions” this week.

• Asparagus, 12 ounces
• Avocado, 1
• Bananas, 3
• Blueberries, 48 ounces
• Butter Lettuce, 8 ounces
• Carrots, 10 ounces
• Celery (stalks and leaves), 10 ounces
• Corn (on the cob), 4 ears
• Crimini Mushrooms, 8 ounces
• Green Pepper, 6 ounces
• Jalapeno Pepper, 2 ounces
• Lemon, 1
• Lime, 1
• Red Plums, 20 ounces
• Savoy Cabbage, 30 ounces
• Slicing Cucumber, 8 ounces
• Strawberries, 35 ounces
• Yellow Onions, 16 ounces
• Yellow Peaches, 50 ounces

That’s 30 pounds of produce for two people! Yikes.

What To Make With This Week’s CSA Share

Omelets

My mom taught me a new method for making omelets which I quite enjoy, so we’ve had delicious egg-and-vegetable concoctions for breakfast several mornings in the last week. Any vegetables can become a terrific omelet filling as long as we balance bitter and savory flavors, fill it out with a bit of cheese for structure, and add some acid in a sauce.

Squash Casserole

The patty pan squash and a bit of red onion have become a fabulous-smelling miniature take on a popular online casserole recipe. We substituted stone-ground wheat crackers for butter crackers, jack cheese for cheddar, and salted butter for unsalted butter + salt, and it smells like a perfect accompaniment for charred corn and grilled steak (tonight’s dinner plan).

Eggplant Parmesan

With a fistful of fresh mozzarella in the fridge, a quart of homemade marinara sauce in the freezer, and a box of pasta in the pantry, the eggplant is crying out to become eggplant parm. We’ll be able to add a little heft to the dish by tearing the chard into super fine pieces and sautéeing it as an add-in for the sauce, and making a tomato-pepper-cucumber salad with a zippy dressing to serve alongside.

Burgers and Sides

I am strongly hopeful that the avocado, butter lettuce, and a slicing tomato might turn into the fixings of an excellent made-at-home-on-the-grill burger, alongside some roasted beets and fingerling potatoes dredged in sage, and another glorious coleslaw. I’m not sure what Clay’s plans are for Tuesday’s supper, but that’s my vote!

Pork Chops with Mushrooms

Any chard that isn’t consumed with the eggplant parmesan will be a lovely side dish to pork chops with mushroom sauce – especially if they’re tossed with some cold roasted beets dressed in a citrus vinaigrette.

Yogurt Parfait

The weather has cooled enough that a pre-set yogurt parfait will survive my commute, so on-or-after-the-train breakfasts this week will include fruit + yogurt + granola combinations.

Roasted Pepper Hummus with Crudité

We really enjoy making Alton Brown’s from scratch hummus, and with all of the peppers available, and the nuts stocked in our fridge, we’ll be able to make a well-flavored one. I usually take “last night’s dinner leftovers” as packed lunches during the week, but hummus with fresh veggies is Clay’s go-to summer lunch, so I’m sure he’ll make a large dent in the stock of green beans, carrots, celery, and cherry tomatoes.

Salsa Fresca

With the beautiful salsa spices we have from Penzey’s, I’ll turn the tomato, onion, garlic, hot peppers, and any leftover corn into a fresh salsa.

Blueberry Peach Buckle

The peaches are a little underripe; when they are ready, I’ll make a pair of blueberry peach buckles to share with friends. One will be for dessert with dinner guests on Saturday, and the other will be for the casting team at one of the theater companies Clay works with for their season general auditions on Sunday.

Baked Treats

I’ve spent this afternoon making cakes which will serve for tonight’s dessert with the plums. In addition to that and the buckles we’ll make a loaf of banana bread for breakfast toast at mid-week (when the bananas have ripened), and if we have any other fruit left by Saturday morning I’ll turn all of it into a freeform tart.

And suddenly it seems that we’ve made short work of the overwhelming bounty we were struggling to put away a few hours ago!

This garlic is so delicate…