2020 Produce CSA Week 20

Butternut bounty, indeed. There were four butternut squash in our box this week. How about yours? As always, I send you to our butternut squash recipes at grassfedcow.com. Dozens and dozens of ideas there. Maybe you will find inspiration in one of those. And of course, the squash will keep so no rush to use them up the way you’ll want to eat up that slicer, the cucumbers and the radishes..

I used the last bunch of radishes in a pretty untraditional (at least at my house) way. I diced them into tuna salad. I diced them the same size as some sweet pickles and just tossed them in. Pretty good.

And I missed okra last week so am delighted to have it return. I’ve just been craving it sliced, tossed in cornmeal, and pan sauteed in some olive oil. Sprinkled with a little coarse salt, I eat it like peanuts.

I’d toss in that squash, diced to the same size as the okra pieces. Not sure what else to do with one squash except saute it with onion, a treatment I’ve also been craving this summer. Although we sure didn’t get the bounty of onions this year that has graced the boxes in the past. Wonder what happened to the onion harvest.

But maybe you want to do something different with your squash and okra.. How about this recipe from Southern Living back in the day? I’ve got some pepper jelly that needs eating up. I’m going to make this over the weekend. And hope for okra again next week so I can do my cornmeal-okra thing then.

Grilled Chicken Vegetable Kabobs

1/2 cup red pepper jelly
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2/3 cup red wine vinegar, divided
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 1/2 pounds skinned and boned chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium-size red onion, cut into 8 wedges
Summer squash, cut into 1-inch pieces
Okra, cut in half if large
8 (12-inch) metal skewers
1/4 cup olive oil

Whisk together pepper jelly, red pepper, 1/3 cup red wine vinegar, and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper in a shallow dish or zip-top plastic freezer bag. Add chicken, turning to coat. Cover or seal, and chill 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Thread onion pieces, squash and okra alternately onto 5 skewers, leaving a 1/8-inch space between pieces. Place skewers in a shallow pan. Whisk together olive oil and remaining 1/3 cup vinegar, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Pour over vegetables.

Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade. Thread chicken onto remaining 3 skewers, leaving a 1/8-inch space between pieces.

Grill kabobs, covered with grill lid, 6 to 8 minutes on each side or until chicken is done and vegetables are crisp-tender.