This week’s box includes: Sweet corn, watermelon, heirloom and slicer tomatoes, okra, sweet Italian peppers, garlic, potatoes, Asian eggplant. 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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What? No cucumbers and summer squash this week? My sweet relish-making last week cleared out every last one of my cucumbers. How many? More than a dozen of them, diced into tiny cubes while in a meditative trance, netted me a little less than a quart of relish. Cucumbers, and probably more summer squash will be back next week.
As you contemplate what do to without cucumbers and summer squash this week, let’s chat about the other goodness that arrived in your kitchen yesterday.
First, a word about those heirloom tomatoes. The tomatoes in your box may have been a bit, well, mushed. Don’t throw them out! Conne’s suggestions for using mushed tomatoes are brilliant. On our tomato recipe & storage page, she shares her tips for dealing with any of the tomatoes that suffered in transit:
“Rinsed, any questionable parts cut off, those tomatoes can go into the food processor, some with a clove of garlic, some with some onion, to be coarsely chopped. The chopped tomatoes, onions, and garlic and go into a big refrigerator container and now you have a fabulous start to a whole range of dishes. Stewed okra, stewed corn, a start for gazpacho or for a hot soup, zucchini and tomatoes, salsa … the list is endless and all you have to do is ladle out a cup or two as needed.”
Heirloom tomatoes just aren’t cut out for traveling long distances. Hybrid tomatoes had that fragility bred out of them so that they could weather abuse. The tradeoff was losing flavor. We do what we can to get these beauties to you intact, but the jostling and vibration might leave them sinking lower into the box where, because it’s summer, a bowling ball of a watermelon lurks ready to steamroll them. Ouch.
Some ways to make some “lemonade” are listed in our recipe archives including Roasted Corn & Tomato Salsa, Penne with Roasted Tomatoes & Corn, and this speedy Gazpacho that calls for throwing all of the ingredients into the blender.
Speaking of corn, I’m thrilled about another week with sweet corn! Have I shared this recipe recently? Bartaco’s Street Corn is one of the most visited pages on our website. If you somehow have more sweet corn than you can eat in one week, cut the kernels off of the cob and freeze them on a parchment-covered tray, then transfer to a bag. Or, consider making this Elote appetizer from Sedona’s Elote Café.
Elote Appetizer
6 ears corn, husks intact
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon cholula brand hot sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1⁄4 cup chicken stock
1⁄4 cup Cotija cheese, crumbled for garnish
2 teaspoons cilantro, chopped, for garnish
pure ground red chili pepper, for garnish
crispy tortilla chips, for scooping
Over a medium-high grill, roast the corn until the husks are well charred, about 5 minutes. Turn occasionally so as not to burn the side contacting the direct heat.
Set the roasted ears aside until cool enough to handle, then shuck them. Cut the kernels off the cob.
When ready to eat, mix the mayo, hot sauce, lime juice, pepper, salt and chicken stock in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the corn kernels and warm through,.
Pour into a bowl and garnish with the cheese, cilantro and ground chili.
Serve immediately with crispy tortilla chips.
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The return of potatoes is another cause for celebration in my kitchen. I’ve been missing them. Picked up a couple of five pound bags of russets in the grocery store the other day, looked at them, and went “nope.” They just look tired, and few things are more vile than a rotting potato. (Between potatoes going bad and a glut of cucumbers, I think you see the kind of kitchen I run. Not proud.)
Ah, but these potatoes! Fresh from the ground, crisp like apples so you know why the French word for potatoes translates to “apples of the earth.” This week, I’ve petitioned my husband to make his potato salad. It’s crave-worthy. There is no recipe. Here’s my guess, for this week’s Salad of the Week.
Tom’s Midwestern Potato Salad
4-5 large potatoes, scrubbed
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream
4 hard-boiled eggs
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste
Dice potatoes into approximately 1” chunks. Cook in boiling water until tender, 20 minutes. Drain and let cool.
Meanwhile, peel eggs and cut in half. Remove the yolks to a small bowl. Mash the yolks to a smooth consistency. Mix in mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, salt and pepper. The resulting “custard” should be smooth and yellow.
After the potatoes have cooled, cut them into smaller cubes, if desired. Put potatoes and chopped egg whites into a larger bowl. Mix in the custard, mashing some of the potato cubes in the process. Taste and adjust the salt level. Finish with freshly ground pepper. Cool fully in the refrigerator before serving.
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Finally, here’s an eggplant recipe I have queued up from Eric Kim of the, you guessed it, NY Times. Gochujang! Kroger has it near the sriracha. Life is good.
Gochujang-Glazed Eggplant With Fried Scallions
1 pound Asian eggplant (about 3 large; preferably Korean, or Chinese or Japanese), halved lengthwise and cut into 4- to 5-inch segments
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons gochujang
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 packed teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
½ cup olive oil
4 scallions, trimmed, cut into 3-inch segments, then very thinly sliced lengthwise, white and green parts separated
Place the eggplant in a colander set inside a large bowl or the sink. Sprinkle with the salt, toss to combine and let sit for 30 minutes to remove excess moisture.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, add the gochujang, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and garlic. Whisk to combine, then set aside.
To a large nonstick skillet, add the olive oil and the white parts of the scallions. Turn the heat to medium and fry the scallions, stirring often, until crispy and evenly browned, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried scallions onto a paper towel.
Reserve a small handful of raw scallion greens for garnish, then fry the remaining scallion greens in the oil until crispy and lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer fried scallion greens onto a paper towel.
Remove the skillet from the heat and carefully pour the hot scallion oil into a glass container or measuring cup.
After the 30 minutes of salting, dry the eggplant segments with a paper towel. Place the skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of the reserved scallion oil.
When the oil starts to shimmer and you see a wisp of smoke, add half the eggplant, cut sides down, and fry until browned and starting to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip once and cook another minute on the other side. Transfer to a plate, add 2 more tablespoons of scallion oil back to the pan, and repeat to fry the second batch of eggplants. (If you are lucky enough to have any scallion oil left, use it to fry eggs or to dress a salad.)
Finally, sauce the eggplants: Add the first batch of eggplants back to the pan alongside the second batch. Reduce the heat to medium-low and pour the reserved gochujang sauce over the eggplants. Toss until evenly coated and the gochujang starts to caramelize, about 1 minute.
Plate the eggplants on a large platter and garnish with the fried scallions and the reserved raw scallion greens. Serve immediately. (To store for later, transfer to a resealable container and keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. This dish tastes great cold, straight out of the fridge, or at room temperature.)
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Lastly, have you had watermelon sprinkled with Tajin? The tangy, lime-tinged and salty spice reportedly boosts the perceived sweetness of the melon. If you’re tiring of plain old delicious crisp and sweet watermelon, give it a try. Or, rim some glasses with it for Watermelon Basil Margaritas.
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Summer! It’s the best.
~Suzanne