This past week, while harvesting carrots, we found bees… or rather, they found me. Maybe it was the lavender soap I had used that morning, maybe it was my sweet disposition, but whatever it was the bees seemed to swarm to it. Each time the carrot harvester made a lap around the edge of the field with the bee boxes I would pick up a stinger or two. I had just about had enough when Janaki hooked me up with a nice bee keepers hat. After which, I was able to complete the harvest much more comfortably than it had begun.
While I was communing with the bees, most of the other crew members gathered around the barrel washer to sort, clean & taste the carrots as they came from the field. The colder nights we had last week really seemed to help bring out their sweetness, and it was great to get them out of the ground before the heat sapped their flavor!
It’s starting to be that time of year when some of the summer crops start to slow down. The outside cucumbers have wrapped up, while the zucchini are hanging on for just a little longer. We were hoping to hoard some melons for the weeks to come, but decided to send what we have for fear of them going bad before they make it to the shares.
We have an exciting new addition this week, however, in the Carmen pepper. Carmen is a unique sweet pepper variety known for its distinctive shape. Unlike the traditional bell pepper shape that most people associate with sweet peppers, Carmen peppers have a more elongated and tapered form, which lead some folks to mistakenly believe they’re hot (there are also green Jalapenos in the share today, and they are hot!) Carmen peppers exhibit their sweetest flavor when they ripen to a vibrant red, but they are also very sweet when they’ve just begun to turn color. Other sweet peppers (like the bell) tend to be more bright and grassy, rather than sweet, in their green state.
In your share this week:
Beans – Beets – Carrots – Cilantro – Cucumbers – Kale – Melons – Onions
Hot Peppers – Sweet Red Peppers – Potatoes – Tomatoes – Zucchini
When Catherine sent the “best guess” email for the share this week, my mind initially jumped to vegetable enchiladas. This would be a great bounty to prepare something like that, but after melting in the heat all day yesterday, I decided that hot enchiladas was not the move. In an effort to keep the oven off this week, I decided to share a recipe for gazpacho along with a zesty salad dressing that would pair nicely with the kale this week.
Gazpacho, from cookie & kate
2 ½ pounds ripe red tomatoes (about 4 large or 9 small)
1 small sweet yellow onion (½ pound), peeled and cut into rough 1″ chunks
1 small cucumber (½ pound), peeled and seeded
1 medium sweet red pepper, cored and seeded
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, plus extra for garnish
1 large garlic clove, peeled
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
- To prepare your veggies, place your blender bowl, a medium serving bowl, and a small bowl on the counter. Core the tomatoes and cut them into rough 1″ chunks. Reserve about ¼ cup of the juicy tomato seeds and place them in your small bowl (we’ll use them as a garnish later). Add half of the tomato chunks to the blender, and the other half to your serving bowl. Add all of the onion chunks to the blender.
- Cut off about one-fourth of the cucumber. Finely chop that piece and place it in the small bowl. Slice the rest of the cucumber into rough 1″ chunks, and divide them between the blender and the serving bowl. Cut off about one-fourth of the bell pepper, finely chop that piece, and add it to the small bowl. Slice the rest of the bell pepper into rough 1″ chunks and divide them between the blender and the serving bowl.
- To the blender, add the basil, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt and about 10 twists of black pepper. Securely fasten the lid and blend, starting on low and increasing to high speed, until the mixture is completely smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Pour the contents of the serving bowl (the remaining chunks of tomato, cucumber and bell pepper) into the blender. Fasten the lid and blend for just 10 to 20 seconds, until the ingredients are broken up into small pieces. Stop there, or blend a little longer if you prefer smaller pieces.
- Add a small pinch of salt to the small bowl of garnishes, stir, and store it in the fridge. Chill the soup for at least 2 hours, or up to 24 hours.
- Before serving, taste, and add additional salt (I sometimes add another ¼ teaspoon) and/or black pepper if necessary. To serve, divide the soup into small bowls or cups, and top with the reserved cucumber and bell pepper. Top with a few tiny or torn basil leaves and a light sprinkle of pepper. Leftover servings keep well, covered and refrigerated, for 3 to 4 days.
Jalapeño Honey Mustard Dressing, from kroll’s korner
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1/2 jalapeño, diced
2 teaspoons thyme, chopped
Salt & pepper, to taste
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk all ingredients together until well combined. Or you can combine all ingredients in a mason jar and give it a nice shake until combined so you don’t have to dirty a bowl! Taste and adjust ingredients as desired. Store in a mason jar or airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. Makes ~1 cup.
For the farm crew,
Charlie
Food Farm 