Week 17 of the Redfearn Farm CSA includes Green Beans, Zucchini/ Yellow Squash, Tomatoes with Basil, CHOICE of Arugula or Swiss Chard, New Potatoes (Full Shares Only), Cucumbers, Candy Onions, Sweet Peppers, Radishes and Spicy Peppers. Partial shares will also get a small eggplant.
Pictured below is Swiss Chard on the left and Arugula on the right.
Green beans: store in plastic bag in refrigerator. Basic cooking instructions: trim the stem end off and leave beans whole or snap into shorter pieces. Heat a pot of salted water to boiling, add beans, and boil 2 to 3 minutes, until almost tender- crisp. Drain beans very well (if you will be finishing the beans later, cool the bean beans to prevent further cooking). Heat butter and olive oil in a skillet (about 1 T each, can be increased or decreased to taste) over medium heat, add beans and salt and pepper to taste, and stir until tender, toward the end of cooking add 1 or 2 cloves garlic (chopped) if desired. Additions: crumbled bacon, toasted slivered almonds, stirred into the beans after cooking. See the “New Potato” section below for instructions about Green beans and New Potatoes.
Zucchini/ summer squash: store in plastic bag in refrigerator. Zucchini is great sauteed, grilled, eaten raw, or baked into zucchini bread (my kids favorite way to eat zucchini!). Zucchini (sliced and broiled or pan fried) can take the place of pasta in lasagna. If you want more ideas, you can try Baked Zucchini Fries, Squash baked eggs or Zucchini Fritters (these were very good) or Chocolate Zucchini Bread. One of our favorite recipe for a main dish of zucchini is this Cheesy Zucchini Casserole (which we make with shredded sharp cheddar, instead of Velvetta; chopped sweet peppers and sliced fennel can be added to the onion while sautéing ). Here’s a couple other zucchini recipes, recommended by CSA members: Curried Zucchini Soup, Sauteed Zucchini with Cherry Tomatoes (don’t overcook the zucchini!), and Zucchini Chocolate Rum Cake.
To preserve zucchini/ yellow squash: option 1: shred and freeze in freezer bags, to use in zucchini bread or soups or sauces. Option 2: dehydrate in dehydrator until dry like a chip. I usually store in the freezer, if not perfectly dry. Use the dried zucchini in winter soups or sauces (make sure to add them early enough for them to rehydrate).
Tomatoes: Store at cool room temperature, in a single layer if possible, not in a plastic bag. Here is a website that gives many different Tomato Salad Ideas. This Roasted Tomato Tart recipe is a favorite of mine. Another favorite is baking thick slices with a cheese topping like these Parmesan Tomatoes (I made them without the spicy brown mustard, and really liked them).
To preserve tomatoes: you can freeze them by cutting out the core and any bad spots and putting them in a freezer bag. To use after freezing: thaw slightly in water and the tomato skin can be easily peeled off. The tomatoes can them be used in soup, sauces or other cooked tomato recipes (after freezing the tomatoes will be very soft, but still have good flavor). You can also dry (sliced) tomatoes in a dehydrator following your dehydrators instructions. Or roast tomatoes until desired dryness and then freeze. Tomatoes can also be canned whole, chopped, as salsas or tomato/ pasta sauce (make sure to follow a recipe that is designed for home canning!).
Here are a few more tomato ideas:
Swiss Chard: store in plastic bag in fridge. Both the stem and the leaves can be eaten and I usually use both together; chop the stems like you would celery and begin cooking the stems before adding the greens. Our family really likes this Swiss Chard, Sausage, White bean casserole (which also uses a little fennel bulb, and I use the stems and leaves of the chard). This Swiss Chard and Ricotta Crostata is a wonderful recipe, and one of my all-time favorites.
Arugula: store in plastic bag in fridge. This slightly spicy salad green is wonderful in this Roasted Sweet Potato Arugula Salad!
New Potatoes (FULL shares): store in a cool, ventilated place, but not in the refrigerator. Store apart from onions (not in the same container). New potatoes are most commonly boiled or roasted, and are normally cooked with their skin on. Basic cooking instructions (boil method): Wash potatoes and cut into uniform sized pieces (or leave smaller potatoes whole). Cover with cold water by 2 inches, add plenty of salt, bring to a boil and cook until just tender. Drain potatoes and top with melted butter and chopped herbs (such as parsley or rosemary). In addition to the boil method, new potatoes can be roasted, like this recipe for Roasted Potatoes. Our family enjoyed this recipe for green beans and new potatoes (we cooked a half recipe and used bacon instead of salt pork, and less salt and butter): Paula Deen’s Green Beans and New Potatoes (adapt the cooking time based on the tenderness of the beans; this week’s tender beans can be cooked for a much shorter length of time than older, tougher beans).
Cucumbers: store in a plastic big in fridge. Smaller cucumbers have tender skin and small seeds, larger cucumbers have thicker skin and larger seeds. Larger cucumbers can be cut lengthwise to scoop out the seeds. To crisp cucumbers, place in ice water for an hour, or more. For cucumber salads or to make cucumber sauce (tzatziki sauce), I peel cucumbers, slice lengthwise, scoop out seeds, slice or chop (depending on recipe), lightly salt the cucumber pieces, and let drain 15 to 20 minutes, and sometime even pat dry. Salting and draining the cucumbers removes a lot of their water and allows them to absorb more “dressing”. Here are a couple cucumber salad ideas: Cucumbers with Sour Cream, Cucumber and Tomato Salad. Smaller cucumbers make great pickles, like this Dill Pickle recipe. Also try cucumber soup; such as this cream of cucumber soup or cold cucumber soup.
Sweet peppers: Store in plastic bag, in refrigerator. Meal idea: sauté sliced candy onions and sweet pepper for a tasty Philly Cheese Sandwich . This has become a family favorite!
Radishes: a new crop of radishes is ready for harvest! The roots and greens are both very good to eat. Store in plastic bag in refrigerator, the roots separate from the greens. Crisp radishes in ice water. You can just eat them straight with butter and a sprinkle of salt. There are many variations of radish salads, here are a couple: Radish and Mint Salad (I have made variations of this dish and really like it) Smitten Kitchen’s chopped salad
Here’s a recipe utilizing both the radish roots and tops: Radish and Radish Top Soup
Hot peppers: Store in plastic bag, in refrigerator. Chop and add to salsa, or use in this Jalapeno Popper Chicken.