I am tempted to just chop everything up and make a big salad with a little of everything in it – yes, raw corn, and YES, raw okra. And that will be dinner tonight. But eventually we’ll want something else, so I’ve got three ideas here – two from my go-to New York Times (cold noodles with tomatoes!) but one that was demonstrated at the Decatur Farmers Market. I have to say that I truly miss restaurant chef demos at local farmers markets. At once time that was a mainstay of the markets and always a source of creative inspiration … now they’re extremely rare, but the Community Farmers Market folks have local cooks who do demos most every week, and their recipes are perhaps a bit more practical and maybe easier to pull off.
So here’s the loosely written recipe for “summer skillet corn, with peppers, eggplant, tomato and za’atar” that was demonstrated at the Decatur Farmers Market. We don’t have eggplant in this week’s box, but you’ve got everything else and if there’s no za’atar at your house, just use whatever seasoning mix is on hand.
Ingredients:
Oil Onion (I still have a huge red onion from an earlier box) Corn Mixed peppers Eggplant (another week!) Cherry tomatoes Garlic – minced or microplaned Za’atar seasoning Dried red pepper flakes Salt
Preparation:
Chop the onion and cook it in a skillet with a little oil. Then start adding the other vegetables maybe corn first, then peppers. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Once things are almost cooked through, add the garlic. Added this late in the cooking it will keep its bright, fresh flavor. If you like, save out half the corn and tomatoes and add them at the end so they’re not cooked, but add a different texture. Remove from heat and season with whatever you have on hand. Add red pepper flakes if you like, and check for salt.