The Weekly Share

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Here is a great recipe for salsa made with lots of yummy stuff from your garden or share.  It is easily adaptable to your own tastes.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup finely diced onion (red onion is really pretty in this recipe!)
• 5 serrano chiles, finely chopped – or as many as you’d like (I use 1-2 with the seeds removed)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• additional ingredients can include fresh garlic, garlic scapes, and tomatillos

In a medium bowl, stir together fresh vegetables, cilantro, salt, and lime juice. Chill for one hour in the refrigerator before serving.

For this batch of salsa, I used 3 different colors of tomato (red, orange and purple), plus a sweet onion (store bought ), a tomatillo, 2 cloves of pressed garlic, 1 jalapeno pepper, 1 purple (jalapeno?) pepper, 1 oz. of cilantro and 2 tsp. of lime juice.  I removed the seeds from the hot peppers to reduce the heat.  I am a “mild” salsa person, but I like the flavor of the hot peppers.  All of the ingredients, except the onion and the lime juice, are from our share.

This recipe is SO easy, but it creates an explosion of flavor with every bite.  People will ask you for this recipe.  I make it for summertime pot lucks and it is always a hit.

We are getting LOTS of tomatoes from share each week, plus our garden plants are starting to produce.  We’ve harvested a few ripe tomatoes in the last week, and there are lots and lots of green tomatoes, just waiting to all turn red at the same time!  Here is a great basic recipe for fresh tomato sauce.  It is easily adaptable to the ingredients you have on hand, and – VERY IMPORTANT – it freezes well!

Here is the recipe:

• 10 ripe tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped (I used a yellow pepper because I didn’t have  green)
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I didn’t use this, but I did add parsley, onion powder and Old Bay – my secret ingredient to everything!)
• 1/4 cup Burgundy wine (I didn’t add this, either!)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (I did not add this as I wanted to use all fresh vegetables)

I tripled the recipe to use all of my tomatoes and I also added 1 zucchini (shredded), and 1 yellow squash (shredded).  I like that this recipe does not call for 40 lbs. of tomatoes like some canning recipes I have seen!

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have ready a large bowl of iced water. Plunge whole tomatoes in boiling water until skin starts to peel, 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon and place in ice bath. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then remove peel and squeeze out seeds. Chop 8 tomatoes and puree in blender or food processor. Chop remaining two tomatoes and set aside.
2. In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook onion, bell pepper, carrot and garlic in oil and butter until onion starts to soften, 5 minutes. Pour in pureed tomatoes. Stir in chopped tomato, basil, Italian seasoning and wine. Place bay leaf and whole celery stalks in pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 hours. Stir in tomato paste and simmer an additional 2 hours. Discard bay leaf and celery and serve.

I blanched the tomatoes and pureed them last week, then froze them until I was ready to make the sauce.  After 2 hours of simmering it, I did NOT add the paste, but instead just took the cover off and simmered it for 3 more hours to reduce it.  It is still a little thinner than I like it, but I think I can thicken it up as I use it.  I used it for a baked rotini recipe last night and it was delicious and just the right consistency.

homemade tomato sauce

Mine sauce looks more orange than red because I used a yellow pepper instead of green and some of the tomatoes I used were yellow.  I think the zucchini and yellow squash washed out the color, too.  BUT the important thing is that I used what I had and it tasted good!  Which is good because I have SOOOOO much of it!

Last week, our CSA newsletter contained a recipe for Vegetable Chowder (adapted from the Simply in Season cookbook).  Tonight I fixed a pot of it to accompany our BLT’s.  I used lots of share vegetables and some herbs from our garden.  Here’s how I did it:

BLT & Garden Chowder

Garden Chowder

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 – 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 1-2 cups green beans, chopped
• 1-2 medium zucchini, chopped
• 2-3 green onions, chopped
• 3 Tbsp fresh herbs, chopped (basil & parsley in original recipe)
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3 cups water
• 3 bouillon cubes (chicken or vegetable)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 cups tomatoes, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk (1 – 12oz. can)
• 2 cups corn
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• sugar to taste

In a big pot, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add and saute until tender: carrots, green beans, zucchini, green onions, fresh herbs.  Stir flour, salt, and pepper into vegetables.  Gradually stir in water to make a smooth stock.  Add bouillon and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes.  Add tomatoes, evaporated milk, and corn.  Return to boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes until corn is tender.

Just before serving, add cheddar and Parmesan cheeses.  Stir until melted.  Add a pinch of sugar to taste and garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

I made a few adjustments to the recipe based on what I had or didn’t have on hand.  I used  the following share vegetables: 2 carrots, 1 cup of green beans, 1 zucchini, 1 squash,  and 2 cups of tomatoes.  I added 1 share eggplant.   I used 3 store-bought green onions and 2 cups of frozen corn.  I used fresh basil, parsley and chives from our garden.  I only used 2 bouillon and 1 cup of cheddar cheese because that’s all I had.  Oh, and I topped it with crumbled bacon!  Mmmmm – bacon and cheddar – what could be better? 

Chowder ingredients

chopped tomatoes

The chowder was wonderful!  My kids were skeptical when I set it in front of them.  My youngest decided he didn’t like it just from looking at it!  But then they tasted it…  It got thumbs up from both boys!  What more could I ask for?

It took quite a bit of time to prep all of the ingredients.  I didn’t plan on it taking so long, so we had a late dinner tonight.  Now I know for next time!  And there will be a next time – this recipe’s a keeper!

Swiss Chard A La Terry

Here is a swiss chard recipe from my mother-in-law, Terry.  She made it up as she went along.  I made some modifications to it based on what I had (or didn’t have) in the fridge.

Swiss Chard A La Terry (adapted by Amy – serves 4)

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (Terry only used 2 slices, but we really like bacon!)

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp butter

2 garlic scapes, chopped (Terry used minced garlic)

2 spring onions, chopped

1 carrot, sliced

5 large swiss chard, stems chopped and leaves torn

1 med. yellow squash, peeled and sliced (Terry used 2 squash, but I only had 1)

I did not have the following ingredients, but Terry used them in her recipe:

chopped red bell pepper

Simply Organic seasoning

chopped hazelnuts

Heat oil and butter in a large skillet.  Add garlic scapes (or minced garlic, as Terry had used), spring onion, carrot, and swiss chard stems.  Saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add red bell pepper and squash.  Saute another couple of minutes, until squash starts to brown and carrots are crisp-tender.  Add seasoning.  Add swiss chard leaves, stir to wilt, remove pan from heat.  Top with crumbled bacon and hazelnuts.

Dave and I really enjoyed this.  The boys were not so enthusiastic. I think the hazelnuts would have been a really nice accent.  I’ll get some for the next time I make this.  Dave and I ate this as our lunch.  It would also make a good side dish.

That’s right – I used “cookie” and “vegetables” in the same sentence!  Last night I made Martian Cookies with the zucchini from last week’s share.  Guess what?  The cookies are good…really good!  And the kids love them!  Yay!  Yes, they ARE a dessert, with butter and chocolate and sugar.  But they also have shredded zucchini, oatmeal and walnuts – you know, good-for-you stuff!

Here is the recipe as I made it:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar (I use Demerara sugar, also known as Turbinado sugar)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour (I used 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose & 3/4 cup whole wheat)

Martian Cookie dough

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt (I use kosher)
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 cup grated zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips because that’s what I had)

• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips (I used white chocolate chips because I did not have butterscotch)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until soft.  Add sugar and beat until fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla, beat well.  In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.  With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture.  Beat until well mixed.  With a wooden spoon, stir in oats, zucchini, walnuts, chocolate and butterscotch pieces.  Drop by rounded teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool sheets and then cookies on a cooling rack.

My batch made 39 cookies.  We still have a few left…Mmmmmm!

Martian Cookie

This is how we used our share items last week:

• Tortellini with Bacon, Greens, and Brown Butter (spinach) – sorry, no picture!
• Basil Chicken over Angel Hair Pasta (basil, garlic scapes)

Basil CHicken over Angel Hair Pasta

• Fish with Parsley-Buttered Potatoes

Parsley-Buttered Potatoes

• Fresh salad with cucumbers (salad mix, cucumbers, green onions)
• Sauteed yellow squash with green onions, garlic scapes, and swiss chard (yellow squash, green onions, garlic scapes)

Sauteed yellow squash

• Fresh salad with radishes and cucumber (head of lettuce, radishes, cucumber)
• Martian Cookies (zucchini)

Martian Cookie

That leaves us with 2 radishes from 2 weeks ago and 4 radishes from last week.  We harvested our own radishes 3 weeks ago and had to use those up first.  I found a recipe for steamed radishes that I will try this week.  All in all, I think we did really well using up our share products.  Hopefully we will do as well this week.