Dear Farm Partners and Friends,
It is all summer today in your Harvest Baskets with Tomatoes, Eggplant, Sweet Peppers, Onions, Leeks, Carrots, Cucumbers, and Parsley. We are excited finally to be able to share these summer favorites with you!
Especially high on my personal list of favorite vegetables is the eggplant. They are beautiful and quirky to behold, and so delicious and versatile that I am constantly amazed at how many uses there are for them! Eggplant is loved all over Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and recipes abound, sure to please everyone. We have two types of Eggplant this year, a European-style and a Japanese, and you may have one or the other (maybe a mix). They might differ slightly in flavor but mostly in shape: the European is larger and rounder, while the Japanese resembles a purple banana.
The type you have will help you determine how to use it. If you would like to do a dish that requires more volume, like eggplant parmesan or a dip, then the European is a good choice. The Japanese is a great slicer for rounds or half-moons in stir-frys, sauces, and casseroles. I love a teriyaki eggplant over white rice with a little carrot salad. Both types are wonderful on pizza or slapped on the grill, and pair well with tomatoes and peppers (they are in the same family, after all!) Classics like ratatouille and caponata can be used as sauces, side dishes, and spreads. Eggplant makes wonderful dips: Baba ghanoush, Eggplant caviar, Persian eggplant and caramelized onion dip. I know, I am suggesting far more recipes than you have eggplant to make them with, but the versatility of the eggplant really deserves to be praised now and again!
As for your other items: the tomatoes and peppers are getting better and better as the season progresses, and you can look forward to many more of them. The peppers really are all sweet peppers, even the severely pointy ones that look like giant cayenne peppers (I tried to tell someone this last week and I think he was still skeptical). They are “frying” peppers rather than the more familiar bell pepper, and in my opinion superior in flavor and texture.
If you are having trouble making it through your carrot bunches try this recipe: Moroccan-style Spicy Carrot Dip. It combines softly caramelized carrots with warm spices, fresh herbs, pickley olives, and (one of my very favorite things) harissa for a really killer-sounding spread. Thanks again to our CSA member Sydney of Spoiled Foodie for bringing another great dish to our attention!
I think we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief (for the present, that is) that temperatures have gone back to normal for this time of year. It really does make me long for autumn, though! I always start craving the fall right about now.
Remember that CSA members are always welcome to visit us on the farm! We love connecting with you personally when possible, as this is a fundamental value of the CSA system.
All the best to you,
Ashli and Jeremy
The Excelsior Farm Chronicle 