Week 19 CSA basket

Expect the following in this next-to-last basket:

Butternut squash, pie pumpkins, potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, leeks, greens (a variety of them), parsley, scallions, peppers, eggplant.

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These baby pam pumpkins we're giving you (courtesy of PJD's growing) are meant to be eaten! Their flesh is sweet and smooth. Nothing beats a pumpkin pie or some pumpkin tacos.

Week 18 CSA basket

This is the last of the corn - and likely last of the tomatoes, too. But we still have a lot of squash for you and plenty of greens.

Speaking of greens, our turkeys seemed to take a liking to them. When I went out this morning to harvest our perfect-looking bok choy, I found them in there helping themselves to some for breakfast. Sadly, that means that those flawless leaves now have a few nibbles in them. Still delicious, though.

Still on greens... we've lopped off the tops of our Brussels sprouts plants. This encourages the sprouts to grow rather than the plant to grow taller. So we're giving out B. sprouts tops this week (Friday members got them last week). We eat them like cabbage or make them in the style of kale chips.

Expect the following this week:
Tomatoes, corn, peppers, leeks, potatoes, arugula, bok choy, chard or kale, scallions, parsley, cilantro, spaghetti squash, delicata squash, butternut squash.

Week 17 CSA basket

All that squash and corn you've been receiving has come from the fields of Boscobel, farmed by one of your fellow neighbors and CSA members. Many thanks! And this week we've harvested the remaining winter squash there: spaghetti squash, butternut squash and pie pumpkins. There's a break in sweet corn this week, but more to come next week. And all those fall greens we planted in August should start being ready then, too.

Expect the following this week:
Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, peppers, spaghetti squash, lettuce, arugula, braising mix, parsley, cilantro, basil.

Recipe w/ spaghetti squash

Roasted spaghetti squash

Ingredients: Spaghetti squash, butter, garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, parsley or cilantro or chives

Preparing: Slice the spaghetti squash in half along the meridian. Scoop out seeds. Place a 1/4 inch of water in a roasting pan, add squash cut side down and roast squash at 375 for about 40 minutes. Once squash is out of the oven, melt butter in a pan and add 203 cloves minced garlic. Then add cumin, coriander and cayenne (in a 2:1:pinch ratio) and salt to taste. Turn off heat once garlic is lightly browned. When squash is cool enough to handle, hold over a the garlic-spice pan and use a fork to scrape out the spaghetti-like strands. Stir and saute more if you'd like a little brown to your squash. Stir in chopped parsley or cilantro or chives at end.

Eating: Delicious side dish.

Dish history: I remember seeing this recipe on smittenkitchen.com, a great cooking blog.

Recipe w/ delicata squash

Delicata squash rings

Ingredients: delicata squash, salt, oil, spices of choosing (I'd go either sweet, e.g., cinnamon, nutmeg and a touch of brown sugar, or savory, e.g., cumin, coriander, cayenne)

Preparing: The skin on delicata squash is edible! So just slice your squash into 1/2 inch rounds, scoop out the seeds and admire those pretty fluted circles. Then salt the rounds and let sit for ~30 minutes. Rinse squash. Then re-sprinkle with salt. Heat oil in a heavy cast iron pan or otherwise and add squash rings. If you keep enough space around them, they'll brown and crisp nicely. If you crowd them you'll get more of a steaming effect. Both good, depends on your intention. Takes about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from heat to a platter and sprinkle with your spices of choosing.

Eating: You could even top these rings with a relish or slaw. Or make use of the seeds that you removed: sprinkle them with salt and cumin, bake them for ~20 minutes and then put them on top of the rings.

Dish history: I think I've seen this in a Thanksgiving menu or two. Very versatile and easy since there's no peeling of the squash.

Week 16 CSA basket

Delicata squash

Fall crops are beginning to make their appearance - we harvested the delicata squash and the spaghetti squash this week - while the tomatoes are holding on strong.

Expect the following this week:

Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, corn, potatoes, shallots, onions, peppers, eggplant, chard, parsley, arugula, lettuce, delicata squash and spaghetti squash

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Here are two easy recipes for delicata squash and spaghetti squash. Enjoy!

Spaghetti squash

Week 15 CSA basket

Another happy pepper

Our ancho (poblano) peppers are our most successful pepper this year. They are very mildly spicy and stuffing them with a delicious rice mixture (maqluba, but any rice mixture would work, vegetarian or meat-based) and then baking them for about 30 minutes @ 400F. Then we serve them with a tatziki or labneh-style yogurt dish as a topping. Recipe here...

We'll be checking the field this morning to see if the next batch of corn is ready. Otherwise, expect the following in this week's basket:

Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, edamame, leeks, kale, radicchio (tender green/red leaves, not the usual round red head), lettuce, parsley, basil, cilantro, dill

Recipe w/ peppers

Stuffed poblano peppers

Ingredients: poblano peppers (i.e., ancho pepper; could also use a sweet pepper), rice mixture (we used , but you could use any of your favorite rice dishes, leftovers are best)
maqluba

Preparing: Make your favorite rice dish (we adapted the maqluba recipe from the Jerusalem cookbook, using basmati rice, eggplant, delicata squash, veal/pork meatballs, tomatoes, onion, garlic, turneric, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom). Slice the tops of your poblano peppers off and remove seeds and membrances and then stuff them with the rice mixture. Poblanos are very mildly spicy and have a lot of depth once roasted. Place the stuffed peppers in an oiled baking dish and roast for 40 minutes @ 400F. A broil at the end will nicely blacken the peppers if they haven't already.

Eating: We served these with a yogurt/cucumber topping dish (grate a cucumber into some greek-style or strained yogurt; smash a garlic clove in salt until you get a fine paste; combine all with olive oil and garnish with a sprinkle of sumac or paprika).

Dish history: Poblanos have been our most successful pepper this season, so with the abundance - and with the delicious leftover maqluba - we decided to try the classic stuffed pepper.