To view Farmer John’s latest update, click here.

This week’s share will include:

• Veggies: rainbow carrots, lettuce, eggplant, peppers, beans, garlic, sweet
  corn fingerling potatoes, tomatoes, basil, either cherry tomatoes or ground cherries and watermelon or another type of melon (cantaloupe, galia, honeydew, etc.)
• Add-on shares:
  • Fruit: not this week, returning next week
  • Flowers: sunflowers
  • Mushrooms: TBD
  • Eggs: not mentioned in this week’s update from John, but assuming yes

For those with half shares, this is “B” week.

Serving Suggestions:

• Ground cherries have always been one of my CSA faves. They have an interesting flavor and are not commonly found at typical grocery stores. In John’s update today he mentioned something I had not heard before: they fall to the ground when they are ripe, hence the name. They pop up a few times during the middle of the CSA season and I try to enjoy them as simply as I can when we get them. That typically means just eating them out of hand or halved on top of salads. Somebody online suggested a salad with them, roasted beets and goat cheese — sounds delicious! Another recipe for gooseberry (another name) jam essentially sounds like my basic Thanksgiving cranberry sauce: berries, water, citrus peel/juice, sugar. I just may need to skip the out-of-hand eating this year and make a batch, with cranberries mixed in for a more familiar flavor, for the holidays.

To view Farmer John’s latest update, click here.

This week’s share will include:

• Veggies: Lettuce, Swiss chard, summer squash, beets, eggplant, peppers, sweet corn, cukes, yellow onions, beans, and choice of an herb (parsley, thyme, mint).
• Add-on shares:
  • Fruit: not this week
  • Flowers: sunflowers or a mixed bouquet
  • Mushrooms: yellow oyster mushroom
  • Eggs: not mentioned in this week’s update from John, but assuming yes

For those with half shares, this is “A” week.

Serving Suggestions:

• Every year I remind our members of the Ratatouille recipe from America’s Test Kitchen which is a quintessential CSA recipe. You’ll have just about everything you need this week (but use canned tomatoes, not the fresh!).
• We should see some hearty greens for a few more weeks. If you’re looking for a use for this weeks swiss chard, try this white pizza from NYT Cooking. I had never made a white pizza and I surprised just how good it was. I made a few swaps: CSA spinach for the kale, half & half for the cream, and a cast iron skillet for the sheet pan. It made for a great new way to use up some greens that wasn’t just a salad or sauteed.

To view Farmer John’s latest update, click here.

This week’s share will include:

• Veggies: lettuce, choice of kale or collards, Swiss chard, green cabbage, eggplant, choice of an herb (parsley, thyme, marjoram), white onions, summer squash, cucumbers, and green beans.
• Add-on shares:
  • Fruit: not this week
  • Flowers: sunflowers or a mixed bouquet
  • Mushrooms: lion’s mane mushroom
  • Eggs: not mentioned in this week’s update from John, but assuming yes

For those with half shares, this is “B” week.

Serving Suggestions:

• In his update, John called out the white onions and how you could use the inner stalks as you would the bulb for less waste. It immediately made me think of a Youtube cooking video from Andrew Zimmern that I saw today. In the video he made an onion-forward pasta that comes together with pantry/fridge ingredients. The biggest ingredient is patience: you need to give the onions time to fry and drive all the moisture out. It reminds me of another favorite, Samin Nosrat’s fried shallots. Zimmern’s recipe is behind a paywall, but between his newsletter entry and video on the dish you’ll be able to put it together. I don’t have enough onions on hand to try it today but will definitely make it soon!

To view Farmer John’s latest update, click here.

This week’s share will include:

• Veggies: lettuce, chard, choice of kale or collards, bok choy, choice of salad turnips or beets, sweet onions, Napa cabbage, eggplant, summer squash, cucumbers, and choice of herbs (dill, cilantro, parsley, summer savory).
• Add-on shares:
  • Fruit: cherries & peaches
  • Flowers: snapdragons, maybe sunflowers
  • Mushrooms: oyster mushroom
  • Eggs: not mentioned in this week’s update from John, but assuming yes

For those with half shares, this is “A” week.

Serving Suggestions:

• Getting CSA eggplant always makes me think about a specific roasted eggplant dish I adapted from a Rick Bayless recipe. The recipe calls for topping hard-roasted eggplant with a spicy chipotle-forward salsa negra. It’s the kind of sauce where a little goes a long way and you can keep it in the fridge for a long time, so make a batch and plan on using it all summer long. (I skipped the black bean part of the recipe but if you were trying to make it a more hearty main dish the added protein from the beans would be perfect.)
• Here are the recipe and video from Rick’s website to hopefully inspire you to give it a try!

To view this week’s update from Farmer John, click here.

This week’s share will include:

• Veggies: swiss chard, choice of kale or collards, summer squash, scallions, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, choice of salad turnips or beets, cucumbers, and choice of an herb (cilantro, dill, savory, or parsley)
• Add-on shares:
  • Fruit: cherries & black plums
  • Flowers: not started yet
  • Mushrooms: lion’s mane mushroom
  • Eggs: not mentioned in this week’s update from John, but assuming yes

For those with half shares, this is “B” week.

Serving Suggestions:

• In our house I often fry up our CSA eggplant but never thought to do it with zucchini. We’re sure to get a ton more summer squash over the next two months so I figured now was the time to try it. Done simply — traditional flour, egg, bread crumb mixture and pan fried in shallow oil — it was great. The interior was a bit softer than fried eggplant (which I usually salt first but this was a weeknight fry so I skipped that step for the zucchini) because of the high moisture content but the coating held well. It definitely needed a bit more salt in the flour to make sure the bite was pleasantly seasoned all the way through so I’ll remember that for next time. However, I don’t think I would salt the zucchini slices directly if I didn’t have time to press and dry them. The salt will leech out some moisture that may turn to steam when cooking and prevent the breading from sticking well. Or, if you do want to salt the slices, I would let them sit breaded for a bit to make sure any excess moisture is absorbed by your flour layer.

To view Farmer John’s latest update, click here.

This week’s share will include:

• Veggies: Lettuce (2 heads), spinach, choice of kale or collards, radishes, bok choy, summer squash, snow peas, choice of herb (cilantro, dill, marjoram, chervil), broccoli or cauliflower (or perhaps Napa cabbage) and garlic scapes.
• Add-on shares:
  • Fruit: blueberries and nectarines
  • Flowers: not ready yet
  • Mushrooms: lion’s mane mushrooms
  • Eggs: not mentioned in this week’s update from John, but assuming yes

For those with half shares, this is “A” week.

Serving Suggestions:

• Over the years, I have posted numerous updates including chervil and marjoram in the herb choice list. I’m not sure how often I’ve actually cooked with them and honestly wasn’t really sure which was which. So I did a little research for myself and figured I should share:
  • Chervil: tender leaves that look like parsley but have an anise-like flavor
  • Marjoram: fuzzy leaves that look like oregano but with a piney, citrusy flavor
  • This Serious Eats article features 24 recipes that maximize your herb usage to make sure nothing gets wasted. The tabbouleh looks especially good for a cool dinner on a hot night!
  • I also came across this cool herb flavor combination chart from 1985!

To view this week’s update from Farmer John, click here. This week’s share will include:

• Veggies: spinach, choice of kale or collards, salad turnips, kohlrabi, elephant garlic, summer squash, shell peas, choice of cilantro or dill, and lettuce.
• Add-on shares:
  • Fruit: not ready yet, should begin next week
  • Flowers: not ready yet
  • Mushrooms: oyster mushrooms
  • Eggs: not mentioned in this week’s update from John, but assuming yes

For those with half shares, this is “B” week.

Serving Suggestions:

• As a half-share member, I’m quite jealous of our “B” week friends who get to try elephant garlic this week. Looking back at old CSA website posts, we haven’t had elephant garlic in a delivery since 2017 so it’s been awhile and honestly I don’t remember what it looks like let alone how to prepare it. John shared some info in his update and I have compiled a few links to help you as well:
  • Ideas for preparing elephant garlic from Will Cook For Friends
  • Wikipedia had more helpful information than I was expecting
  • Since the cloves are so big, Cooking On The Weekends suggests slicing them thick and grilling them — very interesting!
  • If cooking your elephant garlic is a weekend project, try cooking it using the confit method. Here’s an easy to follow recipe from Kelly’s Clean Kitchen

To view Farmer John’s latest update, click here.

This week’s share will include:

• Veggies: Spinach, kale, radishes, lettuce, shell peas, garlic scapes, summer squash, and choice of cilantro or dill.
• Add-on shares:
  • Fruit: not ready yet
  • Flowers: not ready yet
  • Mushrooms: Chestnut mushrooms
  • Eggs: not mentioned in this week’s update from John, but assuming yes

Serving Suggestions:

• When I saw this week’s list, my mind immediately went to Alison Roman’s Labne dip recipe from her Nothing Fancy cookbook. I’ve made it a few times and it’s delicious and welcomes ingredient swaps. Use one of your garlic scapes in place of some scallions (I think the scapes are too potent to go for a 1:1 swap). If you choose dill instead of cilantro that will be great mixed in instead, leaning towards a ranch flavor profile. Dip your raw radishes, drizzle atop some simply grilled squash, or smear some on toast with a few raw shelled peas for a bite with a ton of texture.

To view Farmer John’s latest update, click here.

This week’s share will include:

• Veggies: Rainbow carrots, choice of arugula or tatsoi, rutabaga, choice of kale or chard, baby bok choi, broccoli, cauliflower, Napa cabbage, radishes, Japanese sweet potatoes, buttercup squash, red skin potatoes, shallots and choice of an herb (sage, cilantro or dill). There will also be some onions as an extra.
• Add-on shares:
  • Fruit:  Completed
  • Flowers: not mentioned in this week’s update, I believe we have completed all 10 weeks
  • Mushrooms: expected every week unless we hear otherwise
  • Eggs: expected every week unless we hear otherwise
• For those with half shares, this is “B” week.

Serving Suggestions:

• When I was reading through tomorrow’s list, shallots stood out for some reason, probably because I prepare a lot of them for various Thanksgiving dishes this time of year. If you need some inspiration, these are a few of the most shallot-forward recipes I could think of:
  • The crispy shallot portion of this Samin Nosrat recipe is fantastic and surprisingly easy. I previously shared it here.
  • Alison Roman’s internet-famous “shallot pasta” recipe made the rounds when people were doing a lot of home cooking during COVID. Would you believe that I still have never actually made it?! If you’re looking for something to eat in the days before or after Thanksgiving that is decidedly different, give this one a try.
  • After hearing Claire Saffitz talk about her family’s Glazed Shallots recipe I gave it a try for Thanksgiving last year. It was quite good and something I will try again but probably not for the big day since there are so many other traditional dishes that must make the table.