This week’s box included: beets, zucchini, potatoes, lettuce head, kale, tomatoes, yellow squash, Kirby cucumbers. 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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I was looking at the Riverview blog and realized I’ve been thinking about what to do with the contents of my Riverview CSA box for nine years now. Nine years! Ouch. Also, yay! I wonder if anyone has counted up the number of recipes we’ve shared on the Riverview recipes and storage suggestion site over all these years.
Nine years of enjoying the freshest vegetables (and fruit) from the Swancys and their farm friends. How lucky are we?
I am guessing most everyone unpacked this week’s box and knew exactly what they wanted to do with the first potatoes of the year – always a treat. But if you’re looking for inspiration, check out the Riverview potato page. Cold potato salads including one for cucumber potato salad perfect for this week’s box. And speaking of cucumbers, I highly recommend the Cucumber Agua Fresca below. I love having a jar (or three) of agua fresca in the refrigerator all summer. If you have a juicer, it’s particularly easy, but the directions below are for using a blender. I buy bushel boxes of limes and juice them, then freeze the juice in pint containers, so I always have fresh (frozen) lime juice on hand for making agua fresca. When the melons arrive, I’ll be making agua fresca again.
If you were puzzled about what to do with the beets, may I recommend the Honey-Glazed Beets with Orange below? There’s a reason that’s such a classic combination of flavors. And the beets in today’s box are just beautiful. It reminds me that I cannot wait until we have fresh garlic in the box. Soon, I hope! If that recipe isn’t appealing, I think there are about three dozen other options on the Riverview beets page.
For those gorgeous tomatoes and squash, I’m making the Tomato and Squash Gratin off the website. A few of our tomatoes were huge so I’ve got enough to also make the Grated Tomato Pasta below. A different take on pasta with tomato sauce. Our basil plants have outdone themselves with all this rain so we have plenty for this recipe. And yes, I’ll put some in my cucumber agua fresca in place of mint.
Cucumber Agua Fresca
Cucumbers, peeled and seeded
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more if needed
1/3 cup lime juice, plus more if needed
Mint leaves (optional), for garnishing
Put the cucumbers, sugar and lime juice in the jar of your blender and process with 3 cups cold water. Blend on high until smooth. Then pour them mixture through a sieve into a large bowl. Taste and season with sugar or lime juice if needed. If you’re serving the agua fresca over ice, maybe use a little less water. This will keep about 3 days although it never lasts that long here.
Honey-Glazed Beets with Orange
From “A Middle Eastern Pantry: Essential Ingredients for Classic and Contemporary Recipes: A Cookbook” by Lior Lev Sercarz.
1 medium orange
1 pound beets, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1/4 cup honey
3 cardamom pods, cracked
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 garlic clove, smashed
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest of the orange in large strips; set aside. Trim the top and bottom of the orange so that it sits flat on the cutting board. Remove the pith by following the round shape of the orange with a knife, cutting from top to bottom. Finely dice the orange; discard any seeds.
In a large heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven, arrange the beet wedges in a single layer and add the honey, cardamom, Aleppo pepper, salt, garlic, and reserved orange zest. Fill the skillet with enough water to cover the beets by 1 inch. Bring the water to a boil, then adjust the heat so the water simmers. Cover and cook until the beets are tender, about 10 minutes.
Remove the cardamom pods and garlic. Add the vinegar and increase the heat to high. Reduce the liquid until it glazes the beets, swirling the pan as the liquid thickens so the beets are coated evenly. The time will vary depending on the dimensions of your pan and how much water was needed, but it may take up to 45 minutes or longer.
Garnish with the diced orange and cilantro and serve warm.
Grated Tomato Pasta
From The New York Times
Salt
12 ounces spaghetti
4 large ripe beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup basil leaves, plus more for garnish
Over high heat, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta to the water and boil 1 minute less than package instructions, or until the spaghetti has a very tiny dry core when cut in half.
While the pasta cooks, trim the bottom of the tomatoes and core them. Using the large holes on the box grater, grate the trimmed side of the tomato into a large bowl until nothing but skins remain. Discard skins.
Transfer the pasta to a colander to drain, then return the pot to medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and garlic and cook, frequently stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the grated tomatoes and season with a large pinch of salt. As soon as the mixture comes up to a simmer (about 3 minutes), turn off the heat and add the spaghetti and half the Parmesan. Stir vigorously until the spaghetti is coated in sauce and the Parmesan has melted.
Add the rest of the Parmesan and the basil leaves and stir vigorously until the rest of the cheese has melted. Taste the sauce and adjust with more salt as needed.
Divide among four bowls, spooning over any tomato liquid left in the pot. Top with more Parmesan and basil and serve immediately.