This week’s box included: Okra, Heirloom tomatoes, Eggplant, Yellow Squash, Garlic, Red onion, Cabbage, Cucumbers (European-style seedless + Kirby), A variety of peppers (poblanos included)
We are so excited that this week’s box was an extravaganza of melons with hardly room for anything else. That long watermelon … we haven’t cut into it but I’m guessing it’s pink and seeded … the slightly-smaller-than-last week cantaloupe … so fragrant …. and the crenshaw … which we enjoyed last night, amazing sweet.
Right now we’re generally consuming melons straight up. But when I have a minute, I cube a bit of each and mix them into a salad with some feta and a few leaves of fresh mint. Drizzled with lime juice and a little extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled with coarse salt …. I can easily make a dinner of that salad. We do have cantaloupe recipes online including a melon sorbet from Miller Union. If you have a fig tree or access to a pint of figs, this is fabulous and easy to make.
There are also plenty of watermelon recipes. Tomorrow the AJC will publish my story about frozen drinks. Emily Chan of JenChan’s in Cabbagetown shared her watermelon slushie recipe with a great tip about using the white part of the rind to help cut the sweetness of the watermelon flesh. Check it out. It’s online today, but honestly, I’m not sure if it’s behind a paywall.
And offering one more tomato recipe – a totally crazy one that I saw in Garden & Gun magazine – Tomato Cracker Salad. They credit it to Lance Williams of Mallery Street Café on St. Simon’s Island and suggest you make it right before you serve it. I’m mixing my slicer tomatoes with some chopped grape tomatoes for this one. It’s kind of nice to be reminded that parsley is an herb that marries nicely with tomatoes, just like basil.
Tomato Cracker Salad
3 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 heaping tbsp. chopped parsley
1 cup mayonnaise
1 pinch garlic powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 sleeve saltine crackers, plus more if necessary
Add tomatoes and parsley to a large mixing bowl, then fold in mayonnaise. Season with garlic powder, salt, and black pepper, keeping in mind that the crackers will add more salt. Crumble the crackers in their sleeve and then fold them in until the salad is the texture of thick mashed potatoes. Serve immediately.