Summer Besties: Green Beans & Tomatoes

The flavor and texture of some veg simply excel in summer, in season. Green beans of any kind and a good ol' dirt-grown tomato are chief among these. No wonder they taste so good together.

Add garlic, onion, some fresh herbs, and it's divine. I'll have you know, the oregano grows wild in our driveway. Not intentionally at this point, but it smells so good when you walk on it.

This version is good stovetop as done here, but is equally tasty roasted. I've used convection roasting on this, give the beans a little char, up the sweetness on the maters... mmmm.....

This post was previously shared on my On the Table page. 

What's in the Box? CSA Week 6

The box this week has a wide range of goodies. The store of veg we have around is starting to pile up, so I'm going to have to get creative. With geekMan back from his work-ly travels, I will have some help eating it.

This week's box contains: strawberries (1 qt),  rhubarb (1 lb), snap peas (1 lb), snow peas (0.5 lb), green leaf lettuce, collard green, broccoli (1 smallish head), zucchini (about 2 lb), cilantro, garlic scapes. I'm excited about the additional rhubarb - more fodder for perfecting the rhubarb meringue pie. The cilantro is a big bunch; I feel some cilantro pesto coming on.

Garlic scapes (see right) are the flower spikes of garlic bulbs. Our farmer Beth tells us these are snapped off, forcing the plant's energies into the bulb. They have a milder garlic flavor, like the green garlic earlier this year.

It strikes me that we eat a lot of flowers as veg. Chive blossoms, broccoli, artichoke come to mind. Scapes are a nice treat. Outright flowers too like zucchini blossoms, pansies & violas, nasturiums. I've heard day lily blossoms are also edible (tasty? I don't know). Perhaps this is a way to combat the overgrowth in the yard.... I'm not sure how to prepare them. Yet.

What's in the Box? CSA Week 1

Today was the first delivery for our CSA subscription. One week early due to nicer than normal Spring growing conditions (not that we've noticed; our house is coastal - Lake Michigan has its own ideas about weather...). We're excited that the season has started. Chats with co-workers resulted in several people confessing to CSA memberships, but ours is the first to start (score!).


 Tipi farmers Beth & Steve send a newsletter on Thursdays by email so you know what to expect. It never really prepares you for the sight of these gorgeous veggies.


This week's box contains: asparagus (about 1lb), green garlic, green leaf lettuce, radishes (and radish greens), arugula, Gold Rush potatoes (3lb), parsley, and rhubarb (1.5lb).

So, we're off and running to use all the veg in every box, one way or another. I'll keep you posted on how we manage.