Week 5 of the Redfearn CSA includes (beginning in the top left of the pictured large share): Cabbage, New Potatoes, Eggplant, Sweet Bell Peppers, Candy Onions, Garlic bulbs, Tomatoes, Lettuce heads.
Cabbage: Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. Cabbage can be eaten raw, as slaw, or cooked in numerous ways. Our family enjoys this Kielbasa and Cabbage Recipe and often serve it with boiled new potatoes with butter. Cabbage can also be roasted in the oven, either chopped or in wedges, tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper and roasted at 425 till tender. Here’s a recipe for Roasted Cabbage Wedges with Bacon.
New Potatoes: 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.
Sweet peppers: Store in plastic bag, in refrigerator. Meal idea: sauté sliced candy onions and sweet pepper for a tasty Philly Cheese Sandwich . Stuffed peppers are also a favorite main dish at our house; zucchini/ yellow squash can also be stuffed using the same recipe.
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. Here are additional tomato recipes: Fresh Tomato Pie, Caprese salad, Tomato Basil Chicken
Eggplant: Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator, but use quickly, because eggplant doesn’t store well. The best tip I have for tasty eggplant is to salt and drain the prepared (sliced, cubed, etc) eggplant for 20-30 minutes before cooking (this takes away any bitterness and also, helps the eggplant to absorb less oil during cooking). Eggplant can be sauteed, grilled or roasted. It is great combined with zucchini and other vegetables and grilled for a summer side dish. For eggplant recipes from Italy to China, check out these: Global Eggplant Recipes.
Onions: store at cool room temperature.
Garlic: store at cool room temperature.
Lettuce: store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. Make a salad!
If you would like more recipe ideas, I have a pinterest board devoted to CSA vegetable recipes: http://www.pinterest.com/sheriredfearn/csa-veggies-recipes/