This week’s box included: cherry tomatoes, red potatoes, cabbage, romaine lettuce, fresh garlic, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber, tomatoes, red & white onion. You can see a photo that can help with identification on our Facebook page or check out our weekly video on Instagram.
Need storage instructions? Visit our fruit & veggie home pages. Click on the pic and a new page opens with storage instructions and a list of recipes curated by Conne over the years.
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Bringing home the contents of my box this afternoon, all I could smell in the car was lettuce. While I expect lettuce to have some fragrance … like celery, like tomatoes, like apples and other fruits … I didn’t expect it to fill my car with its green aroma and to be so tantalizing. I hear it may be lettuce’s farewell appearance this spring/summer, so maybe it just wanted to make sure I recognized how much I was going to miss it when it’s gone.
And I will miss it. When I got it home, I spent a few minutes trimming leaves and stem ends and lovingly wrapping up those trimmed leaves in a damp dishtowel to keep them crisp and then a vented produce bag. I have leftovers to consume tonight so the lettuce is stored away, but tomorrow lettuce will wrap another batch of laab (recipe from two weeks ago) and my husband will enjoy it in a salad. And then there will be a few BLTs before the lettuce season is truly gone.
Another huge cabbage, this one with a split in the core which makes me think we will soon be seeing the end of cabbage in our boxes (and the arrival of those sweet little watermelons and cantaloupes and other melons). Last week I hosted dinner for neighbors and served the last of my previous cabbage in a coleslaw with chipotle-honey dressing. I chopped the cabbage in the food processor to make small (maybe 1/4-inch?) chunks instead of shreds. That’s something I learned from the guys who own The Po’Boy Shop on Clairmont. We are running their coleslaw recipe in the AJC in a few weeks and they firmly believe that small diced cabbage is the key to really excellent slaw. Their version has a mayo/vinegar/sugar dressing, but next week the AJC will publish my feature on what to do with some of those leftover condiments in your refrigerator and pantry. I made this chipotle-honey vinaigrette for the story and since I needed to use it up, I poured it over the cabbage (and a few chopped carrots). To a person, everyone at the table raved about it. I thought those who aren’t fans of smoky heat would leave it on their plates, but they ate it all. It’s sort of a recipe but you really have to taste it and adjust every single ingredient to suit your palate. I wanted more honey in mine.
Chipotle-Honey Vinaigrette
In the jar of a blender, combine 3/4 cup vegetable oil, 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons honey or maple syrup, 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and 2 garlic cloves. Process until smooth and taste for seasoning adding salt and pepper as needed. Store finished dressing in a covered container for up to 3 days. No need to refrigerate.
I don’t know why but I’m always so surprised when the first potatoes of the season show up. These days I often take the amazingly lazy way of cooking little potatoes like this (and even big russet potatoes) by rinsing them and then putting them with that little bit of water clinging to them into a slow cooker. On goes the lid, the heat goes on low, and I go about my day. At some point later, they’re tender and ready to enjoy with just a little bit of butter, salt and pepper, or to use in a recipe. It’s mindless cooking at its best and since my husband is an aficionado of potatoes in any form, he’s perfectly happy to dish up a little bowl of them to satisfy his potato craving. If you want a recipe, we’ve got more potato recipes than I can count posted on the website and I admit to being partial to the squash and potato torte that makes a sort-of dressy main dish or side dish for company.
Last week Suzanne suggested hiding squash in taco filling if you have a family that winces when they see the zucchini and crookneck squash begin to appear. No wincing at summer squash here. I love them cut into spears and dipped into a yogurt dressing I make on the spur of the moment with whatever seasoning mix I’m testing for the paper at the time. Who needs carrot sticks when you have squash sticks? Accompanied by those little plum tomatoes (there’s probably a name for those!) and I’ve got a healthy lunch in just minutes.
One more squash recipe though. A raw zucchini salad that uses up some of those anchovies that are hiding in your refrigerator. As often is the case, it’s a recipe from the New York Times. You could skip the breadcrumbs, but they make such a great contrast that it would be a pity if you did. We have a simpler version of a raw squash salad already posted as well as a summer squash slaw recipe that apparently I liked so much we posted it in 2018 AND in 2019. Oops.
Zucchini Salad With Breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)
2 oil-packed anchovies, chopped
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 zucchini or summer squash, diced into ½-inch pieces
Salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons capers, patted dry
1/2 cup panko or stale breadcrumbs
1 large garlic clove, grated or minced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
In a medium serving bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, anchovies, mustard and 2 tablespoons oil. Add the zucchini, season lightly with salt and pepper, then toss to coat with the dressing. (It will appear quite wet, and that’s OK!) Set aside to marinate; stir occasionally.
In a medium skillet over medium-high, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil until shimmering. Add the capers and cook until they start to crisp and brown, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring halfway through and lowering the heat to avoid scorching if necessary. Reduce the heat to medium, add the breadcrumbs, season lightly with salt and stir often, until the crumbs start to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the garlic and stir continuously, incorporating the garlic into the breadcrumbs until they are a deep golden brown, about 1 minute; set aside.
Shower the marinated zucchini with the Parmesan, season with a few grinds of pepper and top with the breadcrumb mixture. Serve immediately.