Chicken with Cabbage, Carrots and Celery (Crock Pot Style)

Roasted Veggies

Sidewalk Salsa

Sauteed Greens with Pierogies

Broccoli Breakfast-for Dottie

Baked Acorn Squash

Pumpkin Soup (from Farmer John's cookbook)

Tim's Roasted Potatoes

Beet Salad

Chicken Sausage Pasta with Kolhrabi, Carrots and Peppers

Week 18's Vegetables

ROOTS
Celeriac-Perhaps saute steamed celeriac with onions and sprinkle with salt and lemon juice
Carrots-Ginger, Carrots and Daikon.
Daikon Radish
Potatoes-We don't wash these. They store better when unwashed
COOKING GREENS
Swiss Chard-bunched, You can curry any of the cooking greens with potatoes.
Red Russian Kale-young
BRASSICAS
Cabbage-Fermentation Class coming up at the Learning Center if you would like to learn to make live sauerkraut
Broccoli
ALLIUMS
Garlic
Onion(s)-maybe; yellow storage
FRUITING CROPS
Winter Squash-a butternut; always pay special attention to the ripeness of the squash; if a particular squash begins to become overripe and has a soft spot, cut off that portion, bake the squash, and use for pie or quick bread or freeze for winter use.
Popcorn-an ear; This popcorn was just harvested and likely needs more drying time before all of its kernels will pop fully. We suggest putting it in a windowsill for a couple of weeks and then removing a few kernels and test popping it to see if its ready.
Eggplant-maybe
HERBS
Cilantro-likely
SALAD GREENS
Lettuce- 2 heads from among the following varieties: Red Salad Bowl (a red oakleaf), Magenta (a red summercrisp), Cherokee (a red summercrisp), Winter Density (a green bibb-romaine) and/or Jericho (a green romaine)

Week 17's Vegetables

ROOTS
Beets-with their greens
Potatoes-We don't wash these. They store better when unwashed
Radishes-with tops which are good for cooking
COOKING GREENS
Spinach
Winterbor Kale
BRASSICAS
Kohlrabi
Broccoli
ALLIUMS
Onion(s)-yellow storage, maybe.
FRUITING CROPS
Winter Squash-an acorn and a pie pumpkin or a delicata; always pay special attention to the ripeness of the squash; if a particular squash begins to become overripe and has a soft spot, cut off that portion, bake the squash, and use for pie or quick bread or freeze for winter use.
Heirloom Tomatoes and/or Tomatoes-green or just beginning to blush
Peppers-some of the last for season
HERBS
Parsley
SALAD GREENS
Lettuce-heads ofBlack Seeded Simpson (a green leaf), Magenta (a red summer crisp) and/or Two Star (a green leaf)

Week 16's Vegetables

ROOTS
Celeriac-with their tops which you can cook just like you do with celery
Carrots
COOKING GREENS
Redbor Kale or Collards
Spinach-tasty cooked or in salads
BRASSICAS
Cabbage-red or green; a few red cabbage recipes at this link, or Cauliflower
Broccoli
ALLIUMS
Onion(s)-yellow storage
FRUITING CROPS
Winter Squash-delicata and sweet dumpling, these are not good storage squash, use soon! Heirloom Tomatoes and Tomatoes-green or just beginning to blush
HERBS
Basil - the final harvest; just before the cold.
SALAD GREENS
Lettuce-heads of New Red Fire (a red leaf) and Black Seeded Simpson (a green leaf)

Cauifower Pasta with Parmesan Broth

Week 15's Vegetables

COOKING GREENS
Helvetican Spinach-See week 12 NL if you missed Bob writes.
Toscano Kale-New York Times recipe for toscano kale
ROOTS
Potatoes-dark red norland, kennebec and/or carola
Beets
BRASSICAS
Kohlrabi
Broccoli
Cabbage or Cauliflower-maybe
ALLIUMS
Garlic
Onion(s)-yellow storage
FRUITING CROPS
Winter Squash-pie pumpkin and a sweet dumpling
Peppers
HERBS
Lemon Balm or Anise Hyssop-try in baked goods, fruit or vegetable salads, or fish
Cilantro
SALAD GREENSLettuce-heads of Red Salad Bowl (a red oakleaf), Magenta (a red summer crisp) and/or Two Star (a green leaf)

Chicken with Leeks and Carrots (Crock Pot Style!)

Mashed Caulifower

Week 14's Vegeables

ROOTS
Beets-Decent beet greens; use these greens like you would spinach or chard
BRASSICAS
Broccoli - At least 2 heads; perhaps a quiche for Sunday brunch?
Cauliflower-maybe
FRUITING CROPS
Winter Squash-acorn(s)
Peppers
Heirloom Tomato(es) -maybe; not bagged.
ALLIUMS
Onion(s)-yellow storage
Leek(s)
COOKING GREENS
Swiss Chard-Stacey likes to eat her chard in scrambled eggs with some sort of cheese.
Spinach-You can eat it cooked or in a salad.
HERBS
Dill
Cilantro
SALAD GREENS
Lettuce-likely; baby heads of Nevada (a green summercrisp, Cherokee (a red summercrisp), and/or Two Star (a green leaf).

Eggplant 4-eva!

You want eggplant? This is eggplant! Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a nine-inch baking dish. Cut up one large eggplant into half inch slices and decoratively place on a cookie sheet (or baking sheet, whatever you like to call it), sprinkle some salt on top, and then brush some olive oil on top. Bake for 20 minutes and then put it on a plate. You will be tempted to eat the eggplant as is, but don’t. More deliciousness awaits.

Set the oven temp to 350 degrees.

Cut up a red or green pepper and coat with olive oil. Bake for ten minutes and then set aside. Don’t eat these either, although you probably won’t be as interested.

Now, mix together 1 cup ricotta cheese, 3 lightly beaten egg whites, ½ cup of Parmesan cheese, 2 tbsp basil, 2 tbsp parsley, a lil’ bit of cayenne pepper, and some salt until thoroughly blended.

Layer half of the eggplant slices on the bottom of the baking dish. Then distribute the cheese mixture on top. Spread ½ cup tomato sauce over the cheese. THEN put the peppers and 1/3 cup sliced black olives on top of that (can you HANDLE how delicious this is going to be???). Then put the rest of the eggplant on top, as if you were tucking the cheesy goodness in for a long winter’s nap. Lightly dust the eggplant with Parmesan cheese like you were Tinkerbell, and then bake for forty-five minutes.

Eggplant Mash Note

I love eggplant! And I love this recipe for forcing me to use the broiler. I never knew what the broiler was or how to use it before this recipe, so thank you, eggplant, for pushing me in new and exciting directions.

Oil the broiler sheet or a baking sheet and fire up the broiler. Cut up an eggplant and lightly coat the slices with mayonnaise. Then dip both sides in grated Parmesan cheese. Bake in the broiler three minutes on each side, or until the sides are golden brown. If you are the kind of person who serves h’ors d’ouevres, serve them now.

Puke-umbers

We have gotten a ton of cucumbers this summer and I have had little to no idea as to what to do with them. I have little use for the cucumber. If I was a poet, I would write a poem entitled “I have little use for the cucumber.” It would get published in “The New Yorker” and I would smile demurely when people brought it up, and then return to my day job teaching English at a small New England prep school. If my vegetables held an awards ceremony, cucumbers would sweep the “Most likely to rot in the vegetable bin” category. That being said, here is a recipe I used with cucumbers from the Farmer’s cookbook. We mixed ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp water, 1 tbsp honey, and ¼ tsp Dijon mustard. I then sliced up one of the ginormous cucumbers we had gotten that week and an onion (the onion was supposed to be cut into six thin slices) and added them to the bowl. You can either marinate the veggies for a half hour at room temperature or refrigerate overnight. Either way, I didn’t fall in love with it. But then, I do not have much use for the cucumber.

Choi!

Choi is a great vegetable with a strange name because it reminds me of Steve Choi who I went to school with. He is a smart wonderful guy who just happens to be a lot shorter that me. Steve and I were very competitive when it came to grades. But he won out in the end and was our Valedictorian. I also went to the senior prom with him. He should not take offense to this but I called him my "Boy Choi " I guess like "Boy Toy." Oh God he should be horribly offended. Sorry Steve.
Anyway, my current prom date and I made Choi last night. We had to wash it a lot but it was worth the extra effort. I sauteed it with some sliced mushrooms, and one clove of garlic. Then I added about a tablespoon of soy sauce and sweet chili sauce.

Week Twelve's Vegetables

BRASSICAS
Cauliflower
FRUITIING CROPS
Melon-an orange honeydew
Heirloom Tomato
Tomatoes
Peppers
Hot Pepper
Sweet Corn
ALLIUMS
Onions-Red storage
COOKING GREENS
Collards
HERBS
Parsley
SALAD GREENS
Choi
Lettuce-heads of Green Star (a green leaf), Nevada (a green summercrisp), and/or Red Salad Bowl ( a red oakleaf)

Fried Rice

Since we've been back from Canada I have been trying to cook a lot of good healthy food to cleanse my body of all the cheese curds, beer, dill pickle chips, poutine, spicy hot dogs and other terrible things I ate and drank.
I made some fried rice when I had a some egg whites left from Dorothy's dinner one night (she just eats the yolks). Here's what I used:
green pepper
1/2 sweet onion
1 c. cauliflower
sliced mushrooms
chard
ginger
1 c. tofu
chicken (1/2 breast, cooked)
2 c. brown rice
egg whites
I sauteed the onion and peppers until soft, then I added the cauliflower, mushrooms and chard and cooked for another few minutes. I seasoned this with 1 tsp. curry powder, 1 tsp. black pepper, red pepper flakes, 1-2 tbsp. soy sauce and 1 tbsp. grated or finely chopped fresh ginger. Then I added the tofu and chicken (both cut in small cubes), combined well and combined it all with the hot rice. I made a two inch hole in the middle of the pan and added the egg whites. I let them cook for a few seconds and then incorporated with the rice mixture. I ate this with some extra hot sauce and soy sauce.

Week Eleven's Vegetables

Sweet Corn
Dill
Cilantro
Tomatoes
Heirloom tomatoes
Cucumbers
Chard
Beet greens
Beets
Red peppers

Week Ten's Vegetables

FRUITING CROPS
Sweet Corn
Heirloom Tomatoes-2 or 3
Tomatoes-Hybrid
Peppers-Bells
Hot Peppers-jalapeno, Hungarian hot wax, and/or hot paper lantern; bagged with tomatoes
Eggplant
Melon-Asian sun jewel or muskmelon
STEMS
Fennel
ALLIUMS
Leeks
COOKING GREEN
Red Russian Kale or Pac Choi-young
HERBS
Basil
Sage-maybe
SALAD GREENS
Lettuce--A beautiful Jericho (green romaine) and New Red Fire (red leaf)

Week Nine's Vegetables

(I actually cut and pasted the list from our Angelic news letter. We may not have recieved ALL of the vegetables listed)

FRUITING CROPS
Melons- yellow watermelon.
Sweet Corn
Heirloom Tomatoes-maybe
Tomatoes
Peppers-Bells
Hot Peppers-jalapeno, Hungarian hot wax, and/or banana peppers
Eggplant
Cucumber
Zucchini & Summer Squash
STEMS
Celery
See last year's newletter for more information on our celery.
ALLIUMS
Leeks
Sweet Onions
ROOTS
Carrots
COOKING GREENS
Toscano (Dinosaur/Lacinato) Kale
Oregano
Summer Savory
SALAD GREENS
Lettuce--Heads of New Red Fire(a red leaf), Cherokee (a red summercrisp) and/or Two Star (a green leaf)

Week Eight's Vegetables

Tomatoes
Sweet Corn
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Summer Squash
Sweet Onions
Carrots
Parsley
Lemon Balm
Swiss Chard (yellow)
Eggplant (Italian)
Green Peppers
Lettuce

Cucumber Salad with Dill

I may describe the same kind of recipe but with varying ingredients countless times on this blog.

This is because I will be making cucumber salad as long as we are getting cucumbers. Tim likes it, I like it and dammit it's always good no matter what else you put with it. My cousin Patty makes a version by layering tomatoes and cucumber on a plate and topping with fresh dill, oil and vinegar and crumbled blue cheese. My version this week kind of riffs off that. I took the cucumber and peeled about half the skin off with a vegetable peeler (the skin on these organic cucumbers is pretty tough, I'm sure it's wildly good for you but I can't take it). Then I sliced it in half and with a spoon scooped out the seeds. Sometimes I keep them but if the salad is going to sit for a while removing the seeds will keep it from getting too watery. I made half moon like slices about a 1/4 inch thick and put them in a bowl. To that I added about 1 tsp. olive oil, 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp. chopped fresh dill, and a sprinkle of salt, pepper and garlic powder. The salad kind of tastes a little like pickles if you let it sit for a day. I took slices from this salad (day 2) and put them on a ham sandwich with yellow mustard. Tasted very "Cuban sandwichy."

Meatloaf and Confetti Squash

When I made this I looked at a few recipes to check oven temp and cooking time, but it got me in my head and I didn't trust my own version of meatloaf (which is a pseudo-version of my Mom's and Aunt's). I'm going to describe this recipe as I would make it NEXT time. The hybrid version I made was okay but I think I'll go back to my old version. Okay so take 1.5 lbs ground beef or turkey or a combo but don't use the super lean turkey unless you want super lean meatloaf-which translated means super DRY meatloaf. To the meat add 1 small onion, 1 small carrot, 5 or so mushrooms and 1 stalk celery that have all been super diced in a food processor (almost pureed) or grated or diced by hand super small. For spices I add about 1/2 tsp salt and pepper, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, a squirt or 2 of Worcester sauce, hot sauce, Dijon mustard, ketchup and/or BBQ sauce, fresh parsley is good if you have some as is a little curry powder if you like your food to bend that way. In another bowl put two pieces of bread (you can pulverize this in the processor too for bread crumbs but I usually just break up the bread when it's wet) or about 1/3 cup bread crumbs, pour a couple of tablespoons of milk on top just to wet it the bread but not so much that it pools, and an egg. With a fork mash up the milk-bread-egg, then add it to the meat-veggie-spice bowl and mix the whole thing gently with your hands until it's combined. It should be sticky but not watery and if it seems too dry add a little more milk. On a sheet pan lined with foil make a nice mound about two inches high and 8-9 inches long. Bake at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes until a meat thermometer reaches 160. Half way through the cooking baste with ketchup or BBQ sauce if you like and again just before it's done. DON'T BLINDLY TRUST my cooking times, my oven is a little wacky, so trust the meat thermometer. Serve this with mashed potatoes. This part is not negotiable. I made mine with boiled red potatoes which I mashed with chicken broth. This makes great potatoes that are not full of butter and cream (which also make great potatoes).

The confetti squash was two medium or large zucchini and/or summer squash cut into very small cubes a little larger than the size of a pea. I sauteed that squash with some olive oil, salt pepper and fresh or dried Thyme. The size of the squash doesn't matter at all, I just cut it up this small for Dorothy. But I will say it was super fun to eat, kind of like a yummier version of mixed vegetables, you know, the pea, lima bean, carrot cubes that haunted us all as kids. If you liked them you are weird but I understand.