• Green Beans
• Tomatoes
• Savory
• Swiss Chard
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Salad Mix

News from the Farm
By Rebecca Claypool

 It’s hard to believe that August is right around the corner. Due to the cool weather this year I feel like summer has just begun, but actually it’s progressing quite rapidly. The tomato harvest has officially started. We had a fabulous Farmer’s Market Saturday with our first significant amount of tomatoes to sell. We sold out of all our heirloom, cherries and greenhouse tomatoes! The heirlooms are a little late this year, as many things are, but every time we pick there are more and more. We are still keeping busy with potato digging, bean, zucchini and basil picking for the store orders, and soon we will be moving into the watermelon, cantaloupe, and sweet corn harvest. Last week we started the garlic harvest, and hopefully we’ll be finishing it up this week. In order to harvest garlic you need to dig the bulb out of the ground, and we use a tractor to cut the roots bellow the garlic bulbs. Then the crew goes through and pulls up each garlic plant, shakes out the dirt, and piles the garlic on a wagon for transport to the barn. The garlic gets bunched and hung in a dry and dark place to cure so it will keep through the winter.

By Rebecca Claypool

Green Beans: These are more Jade green beans. They are great raw as a snack, and even better blanched.

Carrots: These carrots can from Steve Pincus, a farmer in Wisconsin. We don’t grow carrots at Featherstone, but they are still a musy have for our CSA members.

English Cucumbers: We also have cucumbers this week from Rock Spring Farm. Our cucumbers will be coming on late in the season, and Rock Spring does a great job of growing beautiful greenhouse cucumbers. They are longer than must varieties seen in the grocery stores because they are an English type.

Salad Mix: This is the first harvest from our summer planting of salad mix. Usually we only plant salad mix in the spring and fall because the weather suits it better then, but we are trying to outfit the CSA and Farmer’s Market with some throughout the entire season.

Swiss Chard: We have lots of chard early this year, and won’t have any this fall so savor it now.

Savory: This herb was grown by Jan Taylor, a Zephyr Valley Co-op member.

Tomatoes: This is the first of our heirloom tomatoes. The varieties that are ripe now are Cherokee Purple (dark purple/brown), Genovese (red), and a few Brandywines (pink). 

Swiss Chard and Tomato Frittata
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low Fat Favorites by The Moosewood Collective

• 1 lb Swiss chard, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 6 egg whites
• 2 whole eggs
• 3 tbl chopped fresh basil
• 1⁄4  tsp pepper
• 1 medium tomato, sliced
• grated Parmesan cheese

1. Saute garlic and onions in 1 tsp of oil for 3 minutes. Add Swiss chard, stir, cover, lower heat and cook for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and drain if needed.
2. In a large bowl beat egg whites, eggs, basil, salt and pepper until blended.  Stir in the sautéed Swiss chard.
3. Coat a skillet with olive oil and bring to medium heat.  When the skillet is hot, pour in Swiss chard-egg mixture and arrange tomato slices on top.  Cover and cook 5-8 minutes, until the edges are firm and the bottom is golden and beginning to brown.
4. Place a large plate over the skillet and flip so the frittata falls onto the plate.  Slide the frittata back into skillet and cook 5 minutes, until eggs are fully cooked.  Serve immediately or at room temperature, topped with grated Parmesan.

Asian Cucumber and Carrot Condiment
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low Fat Favorites by The Moosewood Collective

• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and halved lengthwise
• 1⁄4 cup peeled and shredded carrots
• 1⁄4 fresh chile, seeded and minced
• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice or 3 tbl rice vinegar
• 1 tbl brown sugar
• 1 tbl Asian fish sauce or salt to taste
• 1 tbl chopped fresh cilantro

1. Slice both halves of the cucumber crosswise on the diagonal to make thin crescents.  
2. In a large bowl combine the cucumbers, carrots and minced chile and set aside.
3. Whisk together the lime juice, brown sugar, and fish sauce or salt, and stir until the sugar completely dissolves. 
4. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss well.  Add cilantro, chill for 30 minutes.

Green Beans with Slivered Almonds
Adapted from The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer,  Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker

• 1 lb green beans, trimmed
• 1 tbl olive oil
• 1⁄4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 1 tbl lemon juice

1. Steam green beans until tender, 10-15 minutes.
2. Heat olive oil in a large non stick skillet, add green beans, almonds and lemon juice.  Cook and stir until heated through. 

Tunisian Style Carrot Salad
Adapted from The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer,  Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker

• 4 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
• 2 red bell peppers, cut into matchsticks
• 12 Kalamata olives, pitted and quartered
• 2 radishes, diced

Dressing:

• 1⁄2 cup orange juice
• 2 tbl olive oil
• 1 tbl fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1⁄4 tsp cinnamon
• 1⁄4  tsp red pepper flakes, to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine carrots, bell peppers and olives.  Add dressing and mix well.  Stir in radishes just before serving. 

Pasta with Uncooked Tomatoes and Cheese
Adapted from Fast Vegetarian Feasts by Martha Rose Shulman

• 3⁄4 lb fettuccine
• 8 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1⁄2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1⁄4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 3 tbl chopped fresh parsley
• 3 tbl chopped fresh savory
• 1⁄4 cup capers, rinsed
• 1⁄2 lb mozzarella cheese, diced
• freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 3-4 tbl olive oil
• 1 1⁄2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Warm a large casserole dish. Cook pasta according to directions.  Meanwhile, toss tomatoes, nuts, herbs, capers and mozzarella in a bowl. Season with pepper.  Spoon cooked pasta into the casserole.  Toss with olive oil.  Add tomato mixture and 1 cup Parmesan.  Serve at once on warm plates.  Pass the additional Parmesan in a bow

Carrot and Raisin Salad
Adapted from The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer,  Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker

Combine in a medium bowl:

• 4 large carrots, crisped over ice for one hour, then peeled and coarsely grated
• 1⁄2 cup raisins
• 1⁄2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or unsalted roasted peanuts, toasted
• 2 tbl grated lemon zest
• 1 tbl fresh lemon juice
• 1⁄4 tsp salt
• pepper to taste

Pour over:
1 cup full fat yogurt

Toss well and serve.

SavoryVinaigrette

Mash together until a paste is formed:

• 1 small clove garlic, peeled
• 2-3 pinches of salt
• Add and whisk until well blended:
• 1⁄2 cup red wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard,
• salt and pepper to taste
• Add in a slow steady stream, whisking constantly:
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbl walnut oil

Stir in

2/3 cup finely minced summer savory

Tomato Salad

• 2 cups salad mix
• 1 1⁄2 lbs ripe tomatoes, sliced thin
• Savory Vinaigrette (above)
• Sprigs of savory for garnish
• pepper

Prepare a bed of salad mix on a platter and place sliced tomatoes on top. Pour over Savory Vinaigrette, sprinkle on freshly ground pepper and garnish with sprigs of savory.  Serve immediately.

Fattoush
Adapted from Fast Vegetarian Feasts by Martha Rose Shulman

• 2 cucumbers, chopped
• 2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 4 green onions or 1⁄2 red onion, minced
• 1⁄4 cup chopped fresh savory
• 1⁄4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1⁄4 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1⁄2 cup salad mix
• 1⁄2 cup lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup bite side pieces French bread or pita, lightly toasted

Toss the cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, savory, parsley, mint, and greens together in a glass or wooden salad bowl.  Mix together the lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic and yogurt.  Whisk in the olive oil.  Toss with the herbs and vegetables.  Just before serving, add bread and toss again.