This Week from the Farm (October 13)

This week our full share consisted of:
1/2 pound tatsoi
1/2 pound arugula
1 pound summer squash
4 heads lettuce
1 large bunch lacinato kale
1 large bunch collards
1 bunch radishes
2 pounds beets
2 pounds sweet potatoes
3 pounds potatoes
12 green bell peppers
1 garlic
PYO: We only picked up the flowers, and they are beautiful golds and pinks and reds. We passed on the 20 hot peppers and herbs because D. came home with about 40 more habaneros from the middle school garden today.

I managed to give all the tatsoi and 2 bell peppers to my dad. I was hoping to unload at least 1 head of lettuce, because red leaf is not a favorite of mine, but no luck.

Making dinner after the farm excursion is always a bit challenging because it is usually late and we are all hungry and want to get dinner on the table fast. Plus there is the question of how to fit all the new veggies in the refrigerator. I managed to put a flavorful pasta dish with minimal effort by using our leftover marinated eggplant, which also helped clear space in the fridge.

Tuesday dinner:
Whole wheat spaghettini with seitan, marinated eggplant, and kale. Since the eggplant already had a lot of garlic and crushed pepper, there was little seasoning involved. Just chopped and browned the seitan, added the chopped marinated eggplant with its oil and juices, and finally the kale. Then tossed with the pasta, and served with a generous grinding of black pepper and a dusting of grated pecorino.

Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday dinner (Matt):
Green salad with dill and light dressing. I believe he said this was from the Angelica Kitchen cookbook.
Chickpea and seitan stew over brown basmati rice. This came from a cookbook, too, but I'm not sure which one. Matt is pretty jazzed about the idea of grinding up the seitan in the food processor; he had never done this before, and new worlds are opening up.

Thursday dinner:
Chard, carrot, pattypan squash curry with seitan, served over brown bamati rice. I considered using quinoa, but I really wanted rice. The sauce was coconut-based, and had a tiny bit of turmeric, but was mostly seasoned with fresh shallot, garlic, ginger, jalepeno, then rounded out with torn basil leaves (from the porch) and scallion. Based on a Peter Berley recipe.

I was pleased that I put a dent in our share.

After dinner, we went out to hear some music and have a free salsa lesson. A bit out of character for us, but it was fun. The kids found friends and danced for a couple of hours. We all collapsed on our return home.