This recipe for Okra Cornbread Fritters is a decade old, but it’s still delicious.
collards
(2021) Cucumber Basil Gazpacho
I think it was last week I shared a quick tomato gazpacho recipe. Here’s one from Aluma Farm that’s a cucumber version. I’m going to use yogurt and I’m sure it will remind me of tzatziki sauce. I love the combination of yogurt and cucumbers, but had never considered making it into a soup. Farmers do the smartest things with their produce.
(2021) Le Grand Aioli
This week’s box has me primed to cut those slender little crookneck squash (what happened to the zephyr squash of years past?) into long strips and dip them into the aioli made from the recipe below. Also all those cherry tomatoes, rounds of cucumber, strips of red pepper …. and maybe boiled eggs with those popular “jammy” yolks? Sometimes I’m tempted to use olive oil in aioli, but olive oil can be bitter (there’s lots of good info on the internet about that) so the suggestion for grapeseed oil or canola oil that came with this recipe when it was published in the Washington Post is good, but I’ll be using Oliver Farms sunflower seed oil instead.
This recipe calls for steady whisking, but I’m going to make mine in a food processor.
(2021) Grilled Corn Salad with Hot Honey-Lime Dressing
I know I am fickle, but maybe fresh corn is my favorite CSA vegetable. We were late picking up our box yesterday and it was time for dinner so instead of sitting down to ponder recipe ideas and share them with you, I went right to the grill to cook that corn and make the Grilled Corn Salad from Bryan Furman of B’s Cracklin’ Barbecue. See the recipe below.
I consider the avocado optional and made mine without it. And I skipped the serrano and used one of the red peppers from the box. I have no idea what variety they are!
(2021) Shakshuka
The box also prompted me to find this non-recipe recipe from the folks at Aluma Farm for Shakshuka. We have at least one version in the tomato recipe section of grassfedcow.com. But some may prefer this no-recipe approach using the tomatoes, the onion, and a pepper or two from the box. Add eggs, and it’s dinner. Add toast and it’s a delicious meal.
(2021) Speedy Summer Gazpacho
For a recipe that won’t heat up the kitchen, I’m considering this easy gazpacho published in a story called “Eat to Beat Illness” by Rupy Aujla. It calls for a few more tomatoes that were in the box, but …. you could use some cherry tomatoes, you could just cut down on tomatoes, or maybe just like me, you bought some tomatoes last weekend at a farmers market and have a few to spare. The proportion of ingredients is totally up to you and what’s sitting on your counter. The recipe calls for serving right from the food processor, but I’m going to chill mine before serving. Which I guess defeats the “speedy” of the title, but I just like my gazpacho cold!
(2021) Rasheeda Purdie’s Juneteenth Watermelon Ramen – shared by Mark Bittman
Seems to me watermelon recipes have been particularly abundant this year. I append one I found particularly intriguing down at the bottom of this message. It’s from Mark Bittman and it’s watermelon ramen – with many components that will use up all of that cannonball watermelon that was in this week’s box. Plus last week’s melon which is still sitting in the refrigerator (don’t ask why). Definitely a weekend project, and I hope to tackle it Sunday. I’m skipping the bean sprouts in the slaw since I’m not a fan. It seems sort of daunting, but really isn’t …. but I just loved the idea that you could turn your watermelon into poke. So creative! You may not want to make it, but it’s just fun to see what smart minds and innovative palates can dream up.
(2021) Green Bean and Tuna Salad with Basil Dressing – published in Epicurious
The beautiful bag of green beans, a change from last week’s purple beans, inspires me to make a composed salad and I share this Green Bean and Tuna Salad recipe from Epicurious.
(2021) Kachumber Cooler
This one from Smittn Kitchen. We were away at the beach last week so missed the late June box, but I’ve enjoyed the cucumber lemonade recipe I shared two weeks ago over and over again.
To make simple syrup, heat 1 tablespoon water with 2 tablespoons sugar, stirring, just until the sugar dissolves. Pour into cup or bowl and 1 tablespoon ice-cold water to cool it somewhat, then chill in the fridge until needed. Scale up as needed. Leftovers keep in fridge.
(2021) Spicy Peanut Soba Noodles With Green Beans
I ran into this idea for soba noodles and green beans and since that was a big bag of beans in the box, I’ll probably split them between crudité and this recipe that I found in the Washington Post. It’s also a recipe that lends itself to whatever you have in your pantry. For example, they suggested if you don’t have soba noodles, try another thin noodle, such as vermicelli rice noodles or angel hair pasta. And that sriracha could substitute for the chili-garlic sauce, or that you could just whatever hot sauce you have on hand. And finally, that any mild vinegar could substitute for the rice vinegar called for here.