Yay, rain.  The plants are glowing green now!  We love reaping the harvest in the garden.  Enjoy and cheers to healthy eating.

Week 9 July 10th, 2012

This Week’s Box:

Tomatoes- The very first week of tomatoes. Hurray!  More to come.

Tender Bush Beans- Wow, so many tender beans.  So wonderful and fresh. Cooking idea below.

Beets- So rich and earthy! Recipe below. You must try the delightful Orange Beet Salad recipe.

Cucumbers Check out the link to 10 cool recipes below.

Squash/Zucchini. My oh my. It just wouldn’t be a great summer without getting tired of squash and zucchini!  Here is a link to 15 garden fresh squash and zucchini recipes.  http://www.thekitchn.com/summer-squash-15-recipes-for-z-120015  Try the Zucchini Garlic Soup.  It is good cold.  http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-zucchini-1-32520

Sweet Peppers-Here they come! Most of the peppers are nice and big! All of the varieties of the peppers in your box are sweet, even the longer skinny types.  Those are an Italian frying type called Carmen.  Plus there are lots of bell peppers now.

Garlic-  The garlic has dried nicely, so it should keep for 3-6 months at room temperature now.

Scallions- Last week of scallions.  We’re really going to miss them.

Carrots- Last week of carrots, enjoy.  Sweet, crisp. Garden carrots are the best!  

Did you check out the following links yet? So many great recipes to try!

15 wonderful garden-fresh Squash and Zucchini recipes.

     -from www.Thekitchn.com

 http://www.thekitchn.com/summer-squash-15-recipes-for-z-120015 

Cool as a cucumbers: 10 Fresh Recipes for Summer

     -from www.Thekitchn.com

http://www.thekitchn.com/cool-as-a-cucumber-10-fresh-re-150520

Orange-Beet Salad

From Better Homes and Gardens annual Recipes 2001

Marie’s notes: I used olive oil instead of walnut oil and plain chevre instead of feta cheese. I also omitted the orange peel (the peel of conventional citrus have a high concentration of pesticides) and used 1 extra tablespoon of orange juice.

Tip: Roll the plain goat chevre or feta cheese in a black pepper and thyme mixture (coat the cheese in herbs)  to keep the red juice of the beets from staining the cheese.  I let the beets marinate overnight in the dressing, drained the beets, and then topped the beets with the walnuts and cheese on the dinner plates.   It was delicious!

3 medium beets (about 9 oz)

3 Tbsp. walnut oil or salad oil

1 tsp. shredded orange peel

2 Tbsp. orange juice

1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar or white vinegar

2 Tbsp. broken walnuts toasted

3 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese

¼ coarsely ground pepper

1.      Wash beets well. Cut off and discard root tails and all except 1 inch of stems.  Do not peel.  Cook, covered in lightly salted boiling water for 40 to 50 minutes or until just tender. Drain.  Let cool until easy to handle.

2.     Slip skins off beets under running water.  Carefully slice each beet into 1/4 inch thick slices, removing and discarding remaining stem ends.

3.     Meanwhile, for dressing, in a screw-top jar combine walnut oil or salad oil, orange peel, orange juice, and vinegar.  Cover and shake well.

4.     In a medium mixing bowl gently toss the beet slices with the dressing. Cover, and chill to marinade for 2 to 24 hours. 

5.     To serve, let mixture come to room temperature. Gently stir walnuts into beets. Sprinkle with feta cheese and pepper. Makes 4 servings.

 Green Bean Cooking Idea: Heat a large skillet to medium high. Add about 2 tablespoons of your choice of oil to the pan, and stir fry the beans. Stir often to avoid burning the beans. Add occasional splashes of water and lemon juice (1 tablespoon of each) while stirring quickly. The liquid should steam and evaporate. After about 4 minutes, add 1-2 cloves of minced garlic to the pan. (Adding it later prevents the garlic from burning) Cook for another 3 minutes, turn the heat off, and add a hearty sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.