2016 CSA Week 16

Hi everyone!
It's hard to believe we're already to the middle of September... luckily we've been having some great warm weather, though the night-time temperature has definitely been getting cooler.
We picked some more beautiful peppers and eggplant today. They are some of my favorite vegetables to harvest- it's like picking jewels off the plants. The colors are amazing!
Things are doing pretty well at the farm. The drought conditions this summer and fall have definitely impacted some of the crops; in general the plants have been a bit less productive. But we've still been bringing in some excellent tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and squash. And there's plenty of great fall veggies still on their way. We have 4 more weeks left, so there will be lots of goodies still to come.

In your bags this week:
Salad Mix
Summer Squash (which includes zucchini and yellow squash)
Cucumbers (the last of these)
Red-Skin Potatoes
Yellow Onions
Garlic
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers (Hungarian Hot wax: red, pointed and shorter than the sweet peppers)
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Eggplant

Here are some pics of the peppers for this week:

Hot Pepper- Hungarian Hotwax

Sweet Peppers- Carmen, Escamillo, or Bell pepper

And now for some recipes:
1) Fresh Tomato Popover Pie- Kristen Byers

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. milk

2 eggs

3 Tbsp oil, divided

2 medium tomatoes

2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced

2 tsp basil

2 C. shredded mozzarella (8 oz)

1/4 C. Parmesan

1 1/4 C. sliced mushrooms

To prepare crust:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat an ovenproof 8" skillet in the oven for 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, mix flour, milk and eggs until well blended. Remove skillet from the oven and add 1 Tbsp oil. Pour batter into skillet and bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 10 minutes more. Remove skillet from the oven and set aside. Crust should be puffed golden, then fall slightly as it cools.

To prepare filling:

Core and cut tomatoes into 1/4" slices, set aside.

In another large skillet, heat remaining 2 Tbsp of oil until hot. Add zucchini and cook until sightly softened, 1 - 2 minutes. Push to one side of skillet. Add mushrooms, then sprinkle veggies with basil and cook for 3 - 4 minutes, stirring frequently but still keeping mushrooms and zucchini separated. Remove from heat.

To assemble: preheat broiler

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the crust. Line the edge of the crust with tomato slices, overlapping slightly. Arrange zucchini and mushrooms in center of popover. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Broil 3 - 4 " from the heat for 1 - 2 minutes. Makes 4 -6 servings.   

2) Vegetarian Feijoada from the Moosewood Cooks

This is the national dish of Brazil, and this vegetarian version uses peppers, tomatoes, black beans, garlic, onions, and more. A lot of the ingredients are in your bag this week. Sounds like a fun dish!

3) Eggplant Meatballs

This comes highly recommended from one of our CSA members. And it sounds really delicious! Eggplant can be very meaty, so it makes a nice vegetarian equivalent of a meatball. 

1 large eggplant (do not peel)

2 beaten eggs

1/3 cup parmesan cheese or 1/3 cup Romano cheese

1 teaspoon mixed Italian herbs

1 teaspoon garlic powder (or sauteed garlic)

1 teaspoon onion powder (or sauteed onion)

black pepper, to taste

sea salt, to taste

1 cup breadcrumbs (may need more)

Directions:

• Slice eggplant and sprinkle with salt.
• Let sit 10 minutes to draw out water.
• Rinse and pat dry.
• Saute on stovetop with a splash of olive oil and about 1/4 cup water until eggplant is soft.
• Remove and chop finely. *rough chop then use food processor
• Whisk everything but the breadcrumbs when eggplant is cool.
• Then add breadcrumbs and mix until you get the consistency you want to form the balls.
• Place in a generously olive oiled pan about l inch apart and bake at 400 degrees until golden brown, about 40-60 minutes.
• (Personal Note: Bake on the middle rack, flip at 18-20 min, take out at 25 - 30 min. 40-60 mins is too long)
• Turn halfway through baking to ensure even browning.

Have a great week!