This week’s box included: tomatoes, red potatoes, Napa cabbage, Swiss chard, fresh garlic, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber, green beans, beets, carrots, 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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Have you been paying any attention to the Salmonella outbreak linked to cucumbers that was announced last Wednesday? On that day 162 people were sick from the outbreak across 25 states and the District of Columbia, 54 of those people hospitalized.
I don’t know of a better example of why supporting your local farmer and knowing exactly where your food is coming from is so important. No epidemiologist has to track down the source of our cucumbers. We know where they’re coming from. Just because its grown locally doesn’t mean the food is immune to bacterial contamination but the food in our Riverview boxes doesn’t go through processing and packing plants and distribution centers and then store shelves, all places where contamination can occur. There just aren’t that many hands on our produce. By understanding where our food comes from and supporting the Swancys, we are making decisions that are better for the farm, the farmworkers and ourselves. So … congratulations. Here’s to safer eating.
And now I’ll get off my soapbox.
I am pleased to see beets in the box this week because I’ve been wanting to make a batch of cold “pink” soup. There are lots of recipes out there including a really complicated one I found in the New York Times, but I’m going with the simple one given below. I’ll make it tonight and enjoy it for lunch and dinner tomorrow.
I’ll chop up the beet greens along with the Swiss chard leaves (they are relatives, you know) and make one or two crustless quiches. The URL for this one is mislabeled, but I make this all the time (maybe with 4 eggs instead of 5) and it gets gobbled up slice after slice. My husband can come in from whatever he’s doing, cut a slice, and go on about his day. He’s eating greens and not thinking about them and that’s a good thing.
I’m always excited for the first green beans of the year and I’ll be making a green bean and potato salad. Or one of the many other ones posted on our green bean page. And because I can never resist a New York Times recipe, there’s a recipe for charred green beans below.
Napa cabbage is a great keeper. I’ve been known to tuck one away for at least a month. And there are almost two dozen ideas on our Napa cabbage page that may inspired you for what to do with this one.
I have people coming to dinner for Father’s Day so they will get tomatoes and cucumbers in a cold salad with a lemony vinaigrette, squash in a squash casserole (because, yes, I still have the zucchini from last week so I need to use up a bunch) and maybe some marinated carrots as a starter for that dinner party. All perfect accompaniments for the grilled marinated proteins I have to make for an AJC story. I should make them those charred green beans, too ….
Chilled Beetroot Soup
Adapted from a recipe in Food52, which adapted it from a recipe by Nigella Lawson.
2 beets (I’ll use all the beets in the box), minus their tops
About a cup of plain yogurt, more or less
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
Salt and pepper to taste
You can roast your beets, but in this weather, I’m using my microwave shortcut. I trim the beets and scrub them, then put the wet beets in a large microwave-safe glass measuring cup and cover the measuring cup. I use a silicone bowl cover. Cook the beets until they’re tender. Carefully remove the hot measuring cup from the microwave and also carefully remove that silicone cover because there’s going to be lots of steam.
When the beets are cool enough to handle, use your hands to peel off the skins and drop the beets in the bowl of a food processor or jar of a blender. Add some yogurt and process until smooth. Add seasonings, more yogurt if needed to get the consistency you prefer. Done. Put the soup in a covered jar and refrigerate. Stir in more yogurt or even sour cream when serving. If you happen to have fresh herbs around, chop some and use them as garnish.
Charred Green Beans and Lemony Yogurt
The New York Times
1 pound green beans, trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt
1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, or more to taste
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
Heat your broiler with a rack set 6 inches below the heat source.
On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the green beans with the oil; season with salt and pepper.
Broil the green beans until bright green and charred in spots, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly while you prepare the yogurt. (Alternately, you can grill the beans over medium-high in a grill basket until lightly charred, about 5 minutes.)
While the beans are cooling, add the yogurt to a medium bowl. Zest the lemon into the yogurt, then juice half the lemon over the top. Cut the remaining lemon half into 4 wedges; set aside. Add the red-pepper flakes to the yogurt, season with salt and pepper, then stir to combine.
Spoon the yogurt onto a large platter, then top with the green beans and mint. Season with more salt and pepper, if necessary, and serve with the lemon wedges.