2024 CSA Week 19

Suzanne pinch-hitting for Conne this week.

What an interesting collision of summer and fall produce today!  The watermelon is the icing on the cake. I can’t think of a time when we had butternut squash, sweet potato, apples and watermelons in the same box. September is a bizarre shoulder season. It matches the weather forecast for this week. Hot and dry, then cooler and wet.

I’m excited about watermelon because I haven’t yet made a watermelon salad with mint and feta this year. The Victory Sandwich Bar’s Watermelon Salad also calls for 2 cups of cucumbers and a jalapeno, conveniently included in this week’s box. Want another cool watermelon idea? Conne sourced this recipe for Watermelon Chaat which sounds fascinating and delicious. Check out the full list of watermelon recipes on our site.

Those perfect okra pods are an invitation to celebrate okra and summer one last time. The cooler wet weather is going to do the plants in, so this week’s delivery may be the last of okra for 2024.  Maybe it’s time to pickle them. This recipe for Pickled Peppers and Okra includes jalapenos, also in today’s box. Check out the full okra recipe list – there’s a Steven Satterfield pickled okra recipe there too and lots of others jewels that you won’t want to wait until next year to try.

By the time the weather turns cooler later this week, I’ll be in the mood for butternut squash soup. My favorite recipe calls for Swiss chard, but I’ll be using the leftover kale from last week’s box in place of the chard. The recipe is intended to be hearty enough to stand alone as a vegetarian meal, with some crusty bread on the side. You can’t go wrong with America’s Test Kitchen recipes.

Butternut Squash and Swiss Chard Stew
From The Make-Ahead Cook from America’s Test Kitchen

4 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped fine
4 scallions, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chili in adobo sauce
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into ½-inch pieces (3 cups)

To Finish and Serve:
1 pound Swiss chard, stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (or other greens)
1 cup canned coconut milk
Salt & pepper

1. Refrigerate 2 cups broth. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onions and scallions and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic, chipotle, and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
2. Stir in 1 cup squash and remaining 2 cups broth, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to simmer and cook until squash is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Process squash mixture in blender until smooth, about 30 seconds. Return mixture to now-empty pot. Stir in remaining squash and the chilled broth. (Make Ahead Tip: At this point, the cooled stew can sit in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Let cool uncovered for 30 minutes before transferring to the refrigerator.)
4. To finish, stir in Swiss chard/greens and bring stew to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Off heat, stir in coconut milk and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

***

I recently discovered this next recipe, a variant of the pumpkin bread, in the Green Market Baking Book by local author Laura Martin. Sure, it calls for pumpkin, and a can of pumpkin at that. Butternut squash substitutes nicely. To make your squash puree: Roast halved and de-seeded squash halves in a 350 F oven for 45-60 minutes. Scoop out cooked flesh once cooled.

I make this recipe in loaf pans instead of muffins. We gobble it up. Want to make a gluten-free version?  Check out the Note below.

Pumpkin Raisin Muffins
From Green Market Baking Book by Laura Martin

1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons hot water
1 ½ cups raisins
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup malt barley syrup and maple syrup combined
1 ½ cups pumpkin or butternut squash puree
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 ¼ teaspoons cinnamon
2 ¼ teaspoons ground cloves
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
2 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Prepare the muffin pans either with a coating of butter or by using paper liners.

Pour the hot water over the raisins and let them sit.

Beat the eggs until they are lemon yellow in color. Add the syrups until the mixture thickens slightly. Blend in the pumpkin/squash puree, vanilla extract, and almond extract.

Pour int the oil and continue mixing, scraping down the bowl to thoroughly blend. Drain the water off the raisins and add them to the batter.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and combine until just blended.

NOTE: I substitute a mixture of 1 ½ cups Bob’s 1:1 flour, ½ cup cornmeal, and ½ cup almond flour for the wheat flours to make a gluten-free version.

Fill the muffin cups or loaf pans almost full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool muffins on a wire rack.

***

We have dozens more ideas for using butternuts here. True confession: I’m ok with letting them pile up in a basket in the kitchen. Nothing lasts longer than a butternut squash. Trust me.

Finally, leaving you with this fast & easy dahl recipe that makes perfect use of a sweet potato. The recipe is from Kalee Tilli at Table Root Farm, a small farmstead in Canton. Kalee’s low-glycemic cooking class, which this recipe is from, helped retool my cooking – a work still in progress. This is one of the featured recipes from the class. You can see her upcoming cooking class schedule in this blog post.

Red Lentil & Sweet Potato Dahl
From Kalee Tilli of Table Root Farm

1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled (keep peels)
2 cups red lentils, rinsed
1 heaping tbsp curry powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
1″ piece ginger, peeled and grated/minced
1 tsp ground turmeric
4 cups stock or water
2 tsp salt
1 can full fat coconut milk or nut milk of choice

For toppings:
1/2 large red onion
1/2 cup cashews, chopped
reserved potato peels
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more mild chili if you prefer)
pinch salt
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350F (for baking the sweet potato skins).

Cut peeled sweet potatoes into bite sized cubes.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes and cook for 5-7 min, stirring occasionally, until starting brown. To the pan, add: 2 tbsp water, curry powder, turmeric, garlic, ginger, and lentils. Stir continuously until fragrant and lentils and potatoes are well coated in the spices.

Add the broth or water and salt and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25-35 min.

While the dahl is cooking, place sweet potato peels on a parchment lined baking sheet and toss with 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. Bake for 10-15 min or until crispy, but not burnt.

Place cashews in a dry frying pan and toast on medium to low heat for 5 min while stirring every 30 seconds or so. Add the curry powder and stir continuously for another minute, then place cashews in a bowl.

In the same pan, add 1 tbsp butter and turn heat to medium/high. Once the butter has melted, add the sliced red onion. Stir to coat the onions in the butter then let cook for 3-5 minutes before stirring again. Cook onions about 10 minutes until slightly caramelized.

Serve the dahl with a scoop of each topping.

Optional Add-Ins:

Shrimp can be added to the dahl after it is cooked and then continue to simmer for 3-5 minutes until shrimp are cooked through.

Shredded, pre-cooked, chicken is also great.

© 2023 Copyright Table Root Farm

***