Tag: eggplant

Categories
*In the box

In the Box: Autumn, Week #22

bok choi - GEOF
Bok Choi. Image via GEOF

Golden Earthworm Veggie Share*
Kale – Red, Green or Toscano – 1 bunch
Swiss Chard – 1 bunch
Beets – 1 bunch
Bok Choi – 1 bunch
Broccoli – 1 head
Cauliflower – 2 heads
Carrots – 1 bunch
Long Peppers – 7+ pieces
Eggplant – 1 piece

Fruit Share
1 bag mixed Apples (Jonagold & Red Delicious)
1 bag mixed Apples (Fuji & Cameo)

Milk Not Jails
Dairy share pick-up

Village Fishmonger
Fish share pick-up **Don’t forget  your fish!**

A few friendly reminders & updates: 

VEGGIE STORAGE TIPS
In a bag in the fridge: Kale, Swiss Chard, Beets, Bok Choi, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots, Peppers

Lewis Waite Farm CSA Extras
Order your next Lewis Waite products for delivery on Thursday, November 7th. Note the NEW ORDER DEADLINES. Please be sensitive to the busy farmers and order on time. Late orders may not be filled. Place your order now!

Fish Shares
Fresh seafood, delivered weekly with your CSA bounty via Brooklyn-based Village Fishmonger! ORDER DEADLINE is 11/4 for delivery on 11/7. Low-mercury options are available. Sign-up today! Questions, Contact Us!

NEWS FROM THE FARM
Ok, so this is the last week of Peppers!  (I promise.) We’ve had a bumper crop of peppers this season and as is typical in CSA, you’ve received the bounty of the harvest over the past couple months.  Luckily peppers are easy to roast and freeze for use in recipes over the winter!  Check out the instructions under the Recipe section in this newsletter.The Cauliflower is a real treat this week!  This crop is not especially easy to grow and we haven’t had it for several seasons, so enjoy!
Bon appetit! – Maggie

CONNECT WITH YOUR FARM
Golden Earthworm welcomes you to explore their website to learn more about our farm and the wonderful things you can do with your weekly share.

+ FIND RECIPES + VEGETABLE INFO & STORAGE TIPS

If you have questions or concerns about your share, please do not hesitate to contact the farm. That is one of the benefits of knowing where your food comes from!

RECIPES FROM THE FARM
Wondering what to do with all the peppers?  Try Roasting & Storing them!
Parmesan-Roasted Cauliflower
Roasted Beet Salad with Orange & Beet Greens
Chickpea Stew with Swiss Chard

Cauliflower and potato soup
In a heavy bottomed soup pot, saute a chopped onion and 1 clove of minced garlic in some olive oil.  Add a head of cauliflower (roughly cut into 1″ chunks), 2-3 small potatoes and 1 carrot (all peeled and cut into 1/2″ chunks) and saute for a few minutes.  Add water to just cover the veg, put a top on the pot and boil, then simmer until the potatoes, carrots and cauliflower are tender.  Use an immersion blender to puree smooth and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Categories
Veggie Box Videos

Veggie Box Videos #1 – Going Italian

Introducing a new video series by Sunnyside CSA featuring local chefs giving you tips and demos on what to do with your CSA vegetables!

Up first is Gianna Cerbone-Teoli, chef and owner of Manducatis Rustica in Long Island City! In just a few minutes she whips up three delicious dishes with a few veggies for your eating pleasure.

Watch it, share it, spread the word!

If you know of local chefs who you think would be perfect for this project (and would want to get on camera for us), contact us.

Enjoy!

Categories
*In the box

In the Box: Summer, Week #14

GEOF-butternut squash
Butternut squash! image via GEOF

Golden Earthworm Veggie Share*
Green Beans – .75 lb bag
Butternut Squash- 1 piece
Parsley – 1 bunch
Lettuce Mix – .5 lb bag (not washed)
Long Green Peppers – 2 pieces
Eggplant – 1 piece
Tomatoes – 4 lb. Bag
*Contents of the share may fluctuate over the week.

Fruit Share
1 bag Bartlett Pears
1 bag Yellow Peaches

Herb Share
Dill – 1 bunch
Cilantro – 1 bunch

Milk Not Jails
Dairy share pick up

A few friendly reminders & updates:

STORAGE TIPS
In a bag in the fridge: Green Beans, Zucchini, Parsley, Lettuce Mix
In the fridge: Peppers
On the counter: Butternut Squash, Tomatoes
FRUIT: Ripen peaches in a paper bag on the counter, then refrigerate.  Ripen pears on the counter, then refrigerate.

Tomato Share Mania!
Yes, beefsteak tomato shares came and went—and fast! While we can’t make promises plum tomato shares will happen, if they do, we can promise to let you know in the most fair way possible—EMAIL! If you are interested in tomato shares, please keep an eye on your email and act fast! Remember, join the Sunnyside CSA Yahoo Group to receive our emails!

Veggie Box Videos #1
We debuted a new video series featuring local chefs that give tips and demos on what to do with your CSA vegetables! Up first: Gianna Cerbone-Teoli, chef and owner of Manducatis Rustica in Long Island City! In just a few minutes she whips up three delicious dishes with a few veggies for your eating pleasure.

Lewis Waite Farm CSA Extras
Deadlines to order your next delivery of Lewis Waite products start tonight and go til, Monday, September 9th for delivery on Thursday, September 12th. Note the NEW ORDER DEADLINES. Please be sensitive to the busy farmers and order on time. Late orders may not be filled! Place your order now!

NOTES FROM GOLDEN EARTHWORM
Even though Labor Day has come and gone, today’s share reflects our summer bounty: squash, salad, beans, tomatoes, and my personal favorite garnish, parsley. The tomatoes may be a varying degree of ripeness, and we will have a mix of red and orange beefsteak varieties. The red tomatoes should be a deep shade of red when they are ripe, and the orange should be a bright almost neon color. Unripe tomatoes can be left on the kitchen counter to ripen. Many of the tomatoes will have cracks due to the moisture and rain, but they should still be delicious!

CONNECT WITH YOUR FARM
Golden Earthworm welcomes you to explore their website to learn more about our farm and the wonderful things you can do with your weekly share.

+ FIND RECIPES
 + VEGETABLE INFO & STORAGE TIPS

If you have questions or concerns about your share, please do not hesitate to contact the farm. That is one of the benefits of knowing where your food comes from!

Save the Date:
Golden Earthworm’s Harvest Festival on Sunday, October 20th
This year’s Harvest Festival promises to be a delicious and fun outing! If enough people are interested, we’ll organize a bus trip, as we did last year! Stay tuned for more info. Save the date! October 20th ~ 11am-3pm

RECIPES FROM THE FARM
Baked Orzo with Tomatoes, Roasted Pepper and Zucchini
Spiced Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

 

Categories
*In the box

In the Box: Summer, Week #10

cherry tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes! Image via GEOF

Golden Earthworm Veggie Share*
Scallions – 1 bunch
Swiss Chard – 1 bunch
Cucumbers – 4 pieces
Batavian Lettuce – 2 heads
Eggplant – 1 piece OR Green Frying Peppers – 3-4 pieces
Garlic – 1 head
Tomatoes – 1 red OR Cherry Tomatoes – .5 lb bag
*Contents of the share may fluctuate over the week.

Fruit Share
Yellow Peaches – 1 bag
Donut Peaches – 1 bag
Ripen peaches in a paper bag on the counter, then refrigerate.

Herb Share
Summer Savory
Oregano

Milk Not Jails
Dairy share pick up

Lewis Waite Farm CSA Extras
If you ordered, pick up your LWF items

A few friendly reminders & updates:

UPDATE: The farmers had intended for each box to contain a bunch of Purslane, but there will only be a handful of bunches available for our most passionate purslane fans—Please ask for it! Here’s what the famers have to say: “The purslane has developed a leaf spot (probably a nutrient deficiency of some kind) and we’ve decided to replace it with eggplant or peppers (long green frying peppers). However, we did pick some (37 bunches) anyway for your most ardent purslane fans. It will be a separate white crate.”

NOTES FROM GOLDEN EARTHWORM
Storage Tips
-In a bag in the fridge: Scallions, Swiss Chard, Lettuce, Purslane
-In the fridge: Cucumbers
-On the counter: Tomatoes, Garlic

This week’s share reflects the ongoing transition from mid-summer crops to late-summer produce; Tomatoes have started to come in, albeit slowly, and we have Cucumbers galore! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous and relatively cool, particularly in comparison to July’s heat and humidity, but the trade off is that crops like tomatoes are taking a long time to ripen. As a result, the contents of this week’s share may fluctuate more than usual – please be sure to check back frequently for updates! And don’t forget, if you do not receive an item this week, we will work hard to try to provide it for you in the weeks to come.

A few more specific notes about this week’s share: We continue to have plenty of Batavian Lettuce, Scallions, and Swiss Chard, which have all done very well this season. The cucumbers have really taken off in the past week, and you may notice that they’ve increased in size due to the recent rain we’ve had. The water also helps to make them crisp and crunchy! Purslane is new this week, and is a personal favorite for many of us here at the farm. We will continue to distribute Garlic periodically; it’s such a beautiful sight to see it hanging/drying from the rafters in our front barn and we’re just a little sad to see it come down (though we’re always happy to provide it to our members!). Finally, please be aware that many of the tomatoes have cracks or crevices. Much of this is directly attributable to the wet and cool period we had during pollination. They are still very tasty despite the occasional deformities, and we hope to have many more tomatoes in the coming weeks.

CONNECT WITH YOUR FARM
Golden Earthworm welcomes you to explore their website to learn more about our farm and the wonderful things you can do with your weekly share.

+ FIND RECIPES
 + VEGETABLE INFO & STORAGE TIPS

If you have questions or concerns about your share, please do not hesitate to contact the farm. That is one of the benefits of knowing where your food comes from!

RECIPES FROM THE FARM
Purslane Salad
Cucumber Purslane Yogurt Salad

Categories
*In the box

In the Box: Summer, Week #9

GEOF-watermelon
Hot weather is ripening mid-summer crops—expect these guys soon! (image via GEOF)

Veg Share*
Zucchini – several pieces
Cucumbers – several pieces
Green Cabbage – 1 head
Walla Walla Onions – 1 bunch
Asian Eggplant – 1 small piece (see note below)
Bell Pepper – 1 piece
Green Long Peppers – 3 pieces
Red Potatoes – 1 quart
Basil OR Chives – 1 bunch
*Contents of the share may fluctuate over the week

Fruit Share
UFO Peaches – 1 bag
Yellow Peaches -1 bag

Herb Share
Orange Mint
Tarragon
(Everyone always asks what to do with the orange mint. GEOF recommends making tea or chopping and sprinkling on top of fruit!)

Milk Not Jails Dairy Share
Dairy share pick up is weekly. Don’t forget your milk!

Lewis Waite Farm CSA Extras
Pick up your Lewis Waite extras today! Forgot to order? The next deadline is August 5th for delivery on the 9th.

Friendly Reminders

CSA BBQ *This Saturday* July 28th, 4pm
Join your fellow CSA’ers for an evening barbeque at Sunnyside Gardens Park! Bring your friends and family, grilling items and a dish to share. Please RSVP by July 25th.

Winter Veg & Fruit Shares via Winter Sun Farms
Early bird signup for the Winter Sun Farms 2012-13 winter share season continues online. The total price is $137. Read more and sign up online.

Continue reading “In the Box: Summer, Week #9”
Categories
What the veg?

Eggplant


Eggplants belong to the nightshade family of vegetables, which also includes tomatoes, sweet peppers and potatoes. They grow in a manner much like tomatoes, hanging from the vines of a plant that grows several feet in height. GEOF grows several varieties of eggplant, including long Asian, Rosa Bianca, and the traditional black/purple.

Nutrition:
Eggplant is a very good source of dietary fiber, potassium, manganese, copper and thiamin (vitamin B1). It is also a good source of vitamin B6, folate, magnesium and niacin. Eggplant also contains phytonutrients such as nasunin and chlorogenic acid.
Eggplant also contains important phytonutrients, many which have antioxidant activity.

Storage:
Eggplant does not like severe cold, so store in the front part of the refrigerator where the temperature is around 46°F to 54°F. Eggplant is ethylene sensitive, so store it away from ethylene-producing produce such as apples.
If kept in a plastic bag (to retain moisture,) eggplants will last up to five days.

AKA:
Aubergine

Origin
The ancient ancestors of eggplant grew wild in India and were first cultivated in China in the 5th century B.C. Eggplant was introduced to Africa before the Middle Ages and then into Italy, the country with which it has long been associated, in the 14th century. It subsequently spread throughout Europe and the Middle East and, centuries later, was brought to the Western Hemisphere by European explorers. Today, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, China and Japan are the leading growers of eggplant.

Cooking tips:
Eggplant can be eaten with or without the skin. However, the larger ones and those that are white in color generally have tough skins that may not be palatable.
To tenderize the flesh’s texture and reduce some of its naturally occurring bitter taste, you can sweat the eggplant by salting it. After cutting the eggplant into the desired size and shape, sprinkle it with salt and allow it to rest for about 30 minutes. This process will also pull out some of its water content and make it less permeable to absorbing any oil used in cooking.
Simply rinse the eggplant after “sweating” to remove most of the salt.

Eggplant can be baked, roasted in the oven, steamed, grilled, fried, stewed or pureed into dips.
If baking it whole, pierce the eggplant several times with a fork to make small holes for the steam to escape. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 25 minutes, depending upon size. You can test for its readiness by gently inserting a knife or fork to see if it passes through easily.
Eggplant also make a very good meat substitute for vegetarian or vegan cooking.