This week’s box included: the first of the peppers, watermelon (yellow on the outside) or maybe you got a cantaloupe, along with potatoes, purple onion, purple spring onions, green beans, garlic, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash eggplant.
The first of the summer melons has arrived. I hope this will be a long, long melon season. There’s just nothing more refreshing in this hot weather. Did you get a watermelon or a cantaloupe? Cantaloupe here.
For down the road when (we hope!) there are lots of melons in our boxes, I’ve been eyeing slushie recipes and found the watermelon slushie recipe down below that I look forward to trying one week soon.
The first eggplant appear this week (I was expecting okra) and big bell peppers. From our archive of recipes, you might consider Pricci’s Rigatoni Alla Norma or Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches for that eggplant or St. Cecilia’s Summer Bread Salad or these Meat and Rice Stuffed Peppers from Jerry Slater for those peppers. Our peppers were huge, but I’d probably cut that filling down to about half since there weren’t six peppers in our box.
I’m loving having potatoes and green beans and for that summer squash, I think this week I’m serving Charlotte’s Favorite Sausages and Veggies in Rice that Suzanne added to the archive last year. Loved her note that it was a great way to hide 3 cups of squash. 🙂
I enjoy browsing through the options of companies like Garnish & Gather not so much to purchase a meal kit but for inspiration. They buy local and always include brilliant ideas on how to use local produce. This week’s menu options include Crispy Thai Beef and Green Beans with sliced cucumbers in a sesame-ginger vinaigrette. Here’s the link to their recipe for Ginger Salad Dressing which they served with potstickers but would be just as delicious on sliced cucumbers. That same list of menu options includes a pizza with Italian sausage and summer squash and pan seared salmon with a cucumber-peach dressing.
WATERMELON SLUSHIES from https://sarahcopeland.substack.com/. She includes about 2 tablespoons of collagen powder in her slushies. I have never tried collagen powder so I leave it to you to decide if that’s something you want to add. I can’t see that a slushy would need that.
- Chop or dice watermelon and discard the rind.
- Pack into zip-top bags and freeze overnight, or up to 2 weeks.
- Blend 4 cups frozen watermelon in a Vitamix or blender with 2 cups water, 1/4 cup lemon or lime juice, 1 knob fresh ginger (about 2 inches, peeled), 2 scoops (about 2 heaping tablespoons) unflavored collagen powder. Pulse and blend until frothy.
- Drink as a slushy or pour into popsicle molds and freeze again until firm, about 3 hours and up to overnight.