This week’s box includes: lettuce or kale, zucchini + yellow squash, watermelon, eggplant, cucumbers (slicers aka salad cucumbers and Kirbys), one even larger white onion, potatoes, bell pepper, heirloom tomatoes, garlic. 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 Ward Cameron over the years.
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Ah, summer! The kale and lettuce can’t be long for this heat. I imagine this might be the last that we’ll see until the fall.
I’ve got a few tips for you this week. First, the kale.
Some boxes got kale, some lettuce. If you received kale, it may have been on the wilted side. Revive the bunch now by giving the leaves a cold water bath. Trim the stem ends first, then let the leaves soak for as long as it takes for them to plump back up. You could also chop the leaves before soaking, though they won’t store as long if you need to make them wait until later before using them.
Try the kale in one of these no-cook salads: Kale and Peach Salad or Marinated Kale Salad with Fruit and Nuts.
Tip #2 is one of my favorites – a quick way to destem those hearty greens. If you’re still trimming the stems out individually, give this a try. Turn the leaf so that the stem-prominent side is up. Grasp the end of the stem securely in your right hand. With the thumb and index finger of your left, firmly pinch the base of the leaves toward each other underneath the stem. The stem will be loose in the space between. In one movement, pull the stem and leaf away from each other. You should be left with a ragged stem in your right hand, the intact leaf in your left. It takes much longer to describe than do this. Once you get the movement down, you can destem buckets of greens in seconds.
On to summer! Our box had the cutest little watermelon ever. Cube that sucker up and put it in the refrigerator for a cooling treat. We have lots of watermelon recipe ideas here, including watermelon gazpacho which would make use of cucumber, pepper and onion from this week’s box.
Heirloom tomatoes, if you haven’t already eaten them, are one of the first items on my agenda this week. Mine had some soft spots – nothing terrible, but heirlooms aren’t tough like their grocery store cousins who have been bred to take abuse at the expense of flavor. Check out Conne Ward Cameron’s brilliant suggestion for processing tomatoes from the box on this page.
Tonight, we’ll be enjoying this week’s tomatoes along with the bell pepper and cucumbers in bread salad—Salad of the Week! Panzanella is Italy’s way of making a delicious meal from leftover stale bread and other odds and ends. Bonus points if you’re using Decimal Place Farm’s tuma, a refreshing goat’s milk fresh mozzarella with a clean finish.
This recipe was first shared by Alisa Barry with Georgia Organics 20 years ago. My paper recipe card has the patina of a well-loved favorite. Bella Cucina’s artisan pestos are available online. In line with Italy’s ethos, use what you have on hand.
Panzanella Bread Salad
Alisa Barry, Bella Cucina
4 cups toasted herbed focaccia croutons
1 cup cucumber, peeled and diced
½ cup red onion, diced
½ cup radishes, sliced
1 cup Olives, pitted and cut into halves (any combination of Italian or Kalamata)
1 cup heirloom tomatoes (grape or pear tomatoes cut in half, or larger tomatoes cut into large dice)
½ cup fresh milk mozzarella pieces, torn
6-8 fresh basil leaves
For the vinaigrette:
½ cup red wine vinegar (or less for sweeter)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons Olive pesto (optional)
To make the croutons: Cut an 8×11” piece of focaccia in half separating the top from the bottom of the loaf. Dice both halves into 1” cubes. Bake in 350 F oven until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Since focaccia is made with olive oil, you won’t need to add more before baking. Let cool and store in a cool dry place until ready to use.
To assemble the salad: Whisk together vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil until emulsified.
Place all prepped salad ingredients in a large serving bowl. Pour vinaigrette over the salad and toss until the ingredients are coated. Let the salad sit for 5-10 minutes before serving, until the croutons begin to soften.
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Can the onions get any larger? It’s fun to see the progression of growth from week to week. Such suspense. Will there be *even larger* onions next week? Wes & Charlotte’s son Graham, who did our Instagram unpacking yesterday, said, it’s “cabbage-sized.” True that. The onion in my box rivaled the size of the watermelon.
Rest assured that onions will be coming to their end. There is no CSA box in your future that contains a single, gleaming 20lb onion. Which leaves me wondering how much this week’s onion weighed. Answer? Almost 2 ½ pounds! Whopper.
Onions are one of the best storing vegetables. Whatever you have in the refrigerator will last you weeks. This beautiful bounty does have me thinking about recipes that feature onions. Or caramelizing a crock pot full of them to have on hand. Or pickling onions to top salads, pizza, sandwiches, etc. I believe I have a little frozen roasted beet that I’ll pickle along with the onions to give them that pretty pink hue that would normally be imparted by using red onions.
Tip #3: If you’re leery of using raw onions in recipes due to their occasionally pungent vapors, soak chopped onions in ice water for 15 minutes, drain and use. This tip comes from the Cooks Illustrated’s recipe for Real Greek Salad (Horiatiki Salata)— another summer salad that features tomatoes, raw onions, cucumber, and bell pepper.
Finally, cucumbers and squash got you down? This is the perfect week to peel, cube and freeze cucumber cubes or slices to make icy beverages that keep you cool. Try this Cucumber Agua Fresca recipe that adds mint, lime and sugar.
I’ve been saving this recipe from Melissa Clark of the NY Times that features zucchini. Feel free to sub in yellow squash instead. The recipe claims to make 2-3 servings. Adjust upward as needed by using more squash! Leftovers will be terrific cold topped with a sprinkle of parmesan.
Zucchini Pasta With Tuna and Chile Paste
NY Times Cooking
½ teaspoon fine sea or table salt, more as needed
8 ounces long, thin pasta, such as bucatini, spaghetti or linguine
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
4 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
1 pound zucchini, trimmed, halved lengthwise and sliced into ½-inch-thick half-moons
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons drained capers
½ to 3 teaspoons chile paste, such as gochujang, harissa, aji amarillo, sambal oelek or Sriracha, more to taste
1 cup roughly chopped fresh herbs, such as cilantro and mint
1 (5- or 6-ounce) can tuna, drained
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, more to taste
In a well-salted pot of boiling water, cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain, saving ½ cup pasta water.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the oil over medium. Add scallion whites and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add zucchini and ½ teaspoon salt, and cook until golden brown and tender, 7 to 12 minutes. Add garlic, capers and chile paste, and cook, 1 to 2 minutes, or until the garlic is fragrant. Taste and season with more salt if needed.
Add ½ cup pasta water, let it reduce until there is just a little left in the pan, 3 to 4 minutes, then add pasta and ½ cup herbs, and toss well to coat. Stir in tuna and lemon juice, tossing well. Taste and add more chile paste, lemon juice or salt as needed.
Serve, topped with remaining ½ cup herbs, scallion greens, and a drizzle of olive oil.
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Wishing you a cool week in this heat dome.
~Suzanne