In the CSA Share this Week:
- Spinach
- Lacinato Kale
- Asian Pears
- Carrots
- Eggplant
- Sweet Peppers
- Tomatoes
- Yellow Onion
- Broccoli
On Rotation:
- Romanesco
- Purple Cauliflower
Dinner, Last Minute
Dinner in our household is usually dictated by whatever new vegetable is coming out of the field on that particular day, and I often come up with (or don't come up with) a meal idea on my five minute drive home from the farm at around 7 pm. I've always wished I could be that kind of put-together person who figures out the entire week's menu on Sunday and have half of it already prepped for lightning fast weeknight meals. But alas, I've never been able to pull that off. Maybe because I've already spent all of my planning energy on the farm crop plan for the whole year, which in a way becomes the family dinner plan as the season unfolds. Or maybe because I'd rather use my Sunday to go on an adventure with the kids, or tackle a project around the homestead. The result of this extemporaneous, last-minute approach to making dinner is that it's always vegetable-dominant, the whole thing is built around what's in season, and we never eat early. I like to justify it by explaining that we're on an old world schedule, ala España, where they never eat dinner before 9 pm :). Part of what makes the 11th hour dinner plan work is that we have a deep pantry at home, plus a big chest freezer, so we're fairly well-equipped to make meals from whatever we have on hand. And good thing, because I'm rarely (er, never) home in time to pick something up at the Langlois Market before they close at 6 pm.
Tonight I'm inspired to do something with the purple cauliflower that's just starting to come out of the field and this is exactly the kind of recipe that I gravitate to: Roasted Purple Cauliflower with Crispy Chickpeas and Lemon Herb Tahini. It's all about vegetables, but has the added protein from the garbanzos, plus a zesty sauce (gotta love a good sauce!). I'll probably make a pot of quinoa and a spinach salad studded with sweet peppers to go along with it. You can use whatever herbs you have on hand, and if you don't have the middle eastern spice blend known as za'atar, there are various subsitutions you can use instead. You'd probably consider most of what we eat "slow food" - homegrown, prepared from scratch - but canned chickpeas are one of the "fast food" staples we keep on hand in the pantry. They can transform a chopped salad of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers from a side dish into a hearty main course, or add dinnertime heft to roasted sheet pan meals like this one. I think of them as a secret weapon for vegaholics like us who also need to slip some extra protein onto the plate. I especially love them "spiced" and then roasted or fried.
Believe it or not, strawberry u-Pick is still going! Flowers, too!
Yup, it's true. This warm, dry weather is encouraging the strawberries to keep pumping out sweet red fruit, and our u-pick flowers (especially the dahlias) are the best they've been all summer. U-pick is open on Wednsdays only from 11:30 to 2:30 during our farmstand, and the crowds are minimal. This is your moment ot have the run of the patch and to fill buckets to your heart's content. If you still want to make jam, fill your freezer, or make a batch of strawberry fruit leather, come on down! We'll be tearing out the berry patch by late October in time to get our cover crop planted, so get 'em while you can!
