2016 CSA Week 9

Hi everyone,
I hope you're all having a great week so far. We got some more rain yesterday, which came just at the right time. So far, we've been pretty lucky with the amount of rain we've gotten. It certainly hasn't been a deluge all summer, but we've gotten rain just in time for the crops to survive the dry spells. I know other farms haven't been so lucky; many of the rainstorms have been very localized and the rain was really hit or miss. 

Things are going well at the farm. We're getting everything spruced up as much as we can for Farm Day! It's coming up this Saturday, July 30th and will be from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. We'll be at the farm all day, so feel free to stop by and see the place! We'd be happy to show you around, answer any questions you might have, and we'll have some extra produce for sale as well. It should be a fun day! For more information, see the website: http://madisoncountycce.org/events/2016/07/30/open-farm-day

In your bags this week, you have...
Salad Mix
Summer Squash (a mix of yellow squash and assorted zucchinis)
Green & Wax Beans (aka green and yellow beans)
Tomatoes: 1 or two slicers and a few cherry tomatoes. More coming soon!
White Onions
Swiss Chard
Peas- either Sugar Snap or Snow Peas
Cilantro
Hot Peppers- if they're dark green, they're Jalafuego Jalapenos, and if they are yellow, they are Hungarian Hotwax. Both are reasonably hot, so be careful when you're cutting them. If you are sensitive (*like me*) you may want to use gloves when preparing them. 

Jalafuego Jalapeno

Ok, and now for some recipes:

1. Green Beans with Garlic Chips and Olive Oil (serves 4-6)

-from the cookbook "The Farm" by Ian Knauer

3 Tablespoons olive oil

5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced lengthwise

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1 red onion, sliced

salt and black pepper

1 lb green beans, trimmed

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1. Heat the oil with the garlic in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is golden, 5-6 minutes. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon, transferring to a paper towel.
2. Add the butter to the oil in the skillet and increase heat to medium-high. Add the onion, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper and saute, stirring, until the onion is golden, about 6 minutes.
3. Add the beans and continue to saute, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Transfer the beans to a serving dish and sprinkle with the garlic chips.

Wow, that sounds good!

2. Zucchini Parmesan

Several good-sized summer squash (zucchini, yellow, patty pan, etc)

2 beaten eggs

2-2 1/2 cups Italian style bread crumbs

Olive oil cooking spray

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1. Preheat oven to 425 and spray cookie sheets with cooking spray.
2. Slice squash into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Dip slices in the beaten eggs, then coat with the bread crumbs and place on the cookie sheets. Spray tops with oil
3. Bake for 10 minutes, flip the slices over and bake another 10 minutes
4. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray and spoon a small amount of sauce into the pan.
5. Alternate layers of squash, mozzarella, Parmesan and sauce. For the last layer, just use sauce and top with Parmesan.
6. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake fore 10 more minutes.

3. Summer Squash Saute- serves 8

2 Tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
3 Lbs assorted summer squash, thinly sliced into disks
1/2 tsp salt

1. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, combine oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the squash and salt and toss to coat.
2. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash begins to break apart.
3. Uncover the pan and increase the heat to medium. Cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the liquid is almost gone. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds.
   NOTE: I think this is a really long time to cook summer squash, especially our super tender, picked-young squash. I would recommend just sauteing the squash uncovered until tender. 

4. Chocolate Zucchini Snack Cake- 12 serving

1 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour (or just use regular flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. vanilla yogurt
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. shredded zucchini
3 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350, grease a 11 x 8 inch baking pan.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
3. whisk the eggs, sugar, yogurt, oil and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add the zucchini and 1 1/2 cups of the chips. Add to the flour mixture and stir until blended. Spread in the pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
4. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips over the cake. Spread with a spatula as the chocolate melts, placing back in the warm oven if necessary.