This week’s box includes: Watermelon, tomatoes, okra, sweet Italian peppers, garlic, potatoes, white acorn squash, delicata squash. 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 a wonderful weird intersection of summer and fall veg in the box this week. Watermelon, okra, and tomatoes juxtaposed with more winter squash – white acorn and delicatas. It’s a perfect representation of what we call the “summer lull” when the summer crops start tailing off before the fall crops kick into gear, occasionally resulting in lighter CSA boxes as the harvest tails coincide.
In the kitchen this week, I’ll be focusing on enjoying the winter squashes, and okra.
First, delicatas. There were a few years (!) when we didn’t see delicatas at all, and they were sorely missed. Delicatas are both delicious and delicate. They don’t last as long as other winter squashes, but they’ll hang on for a good month if you have a recipe that calls for more than you received this week. Note: butternut squashes will be coming in the fall. They’re the best keepers in my experience; prioritize eating the other winter squash varieties sooner.
Delicata skin is thinner so you thankfully don’t need to peel it off before cooking. Many delicata recipes call for halving them lengthwise, removing the seeds/pith, stuffing the cavity and roasting it for a party on the plate. Try Nut Stuffed Delicata Squash or Stuffed Delicata Squash. Another fun treatment slices the cleaned halves horizontally into sunny smiles, pan-fried as in Parmesan-Crusted Delicata Squash.
Delicata’s nutty sweet flavor profile shines in this pureed Delicata Soup – my favorite way to enjoy them. Need more inspiration? Check out our delicata squash recipe page.
Acorn squash made an occasional appearance on the dinner table of my childhood, halved and roasted with a pat of butter and teaspoon of brown sugar in the seed well. (Thanks, mom, for cooking from scratch! I’m sorry for those times we insisted on eating Brussels sprouts leaf by leaf, prolonging our misery.) These days I’d use a tablespoon of maple syrup for its lower glycemic index. Agave and date syrup will also heighten the natural sweetness of the squash without as much of a blood sugar spike. Add a sprinkle of salt to highlight the sweetness.
The longer okra pods this week are perfect for grilling. Using two skewers to pierce each pod creates a rack of pods that are fast and easy to flip. Grilling okra can be as simple as lightly oiling them with a touch of salt, pepper and your favorite spice or blend. Garam masala and za’atar are both winners here.
If you have a bit more time, many of our archived grilled okra recipes include side sauces. Try Chef Steven Satterfield’s Grilled Spiced Okra or Grilled Okra with Lemon Basil Dipping Sauce, or this Virginia Willis recipe for Smashed Fried Okra with Spicy Yogurt Dipping Sauce from her cookbook Secrets of the Southern Table. Smashing the okra pods creates shards that crisp up deliciously when fried.
Smashed Fried Okra with Spicy Yogurt Dipping Sauce
For the dipping sauce:
2 tablespoons chickpea four or chickpea and fava bean flour
1 ½ teaspoons cumin seeds, crushed
1 cup plain 2% Greek or 0% Icelandic yogurt
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint
Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the okra:
1 pound okra, stem ends trimmed
½ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
To make the sauce, heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the flour and cumin seeds. Toast, stirring continuously, until aromatic and slightly darkened, 2 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the yogurt, cilantro, and mint; stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
To make the okra, use a meat mallet or the bottom of a cast-iron skillet to smash the okra, starting at the tip of the pod and working toward the stem end.
Line a bowl with paper towels and have it nearby. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. When it is hot but not smoking, add the okra. Fry until crisp and browned on both sides, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain in the prepared bowl. While the okra is hot, sprinkle it with the garam masala, coriander, turmeric, and cayenne. Season with salt and black pepper. Toss to mix and combine. Serve immediately with the yogurt dipping sauce.
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I’d like to blend some pureed feta into the yogurt sauce and smear it on the plate topped with pork chops and okra from the grill, sprinkled with some small-diced tomatoes or red peppers.
While that grill is hot, may as well toss those tomatoes and peppers on, too. To grill peppers, the process is: char the skins, remove from grill when skin is blackened, place in a paper bag, seal to steam, remove blackened skins-seeds-stem-pith when cool. I freeze whorls of roasted pepper strips and tomatoes to pop in the Instapot when I cook dry beans throughout the winter.
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Wishing you cooler evenings for warming foods,
~Suzanne