Another week of heat and high humidity and the summer crops continue to come into their loveliness. We are excited to pass along bounteous tomatoes for everyone(including one heirloom variety for all which will be pink, purple, orange striped or yellow) and the first watermelon, a variety called "little baby flower" that we love because it is small, manageable and really sweet. At lunch yesterday, we shared one and my mom exclaimed, "Now that is what a watermelon should taste like!" Your box today includes: sweet onions, a red onion, garlic, carrots for every other week shares,a little baby flower watermelon, romano beans (which are flat podded and a blend of yellow and green, delicious and beany) with Italian parsley in the same bag, cukes for all including some of the variety called "lemon" which looks like, you guessed it, a lemon!, long green peppers,eggplant, purple majesty potatoes which are purple inside out for a psychedelic potato salad, sugar buns sweet corn, green curly kale, salad mix, basil galore for pesto or freezing pleasure, tomatoes galore and for premiums an salsa pack of cilantro, jalapeno and tomatilloes for some fresh salsa verde plus a mixed bag of basil that features many varieties that we grow including lemon, thai and opal purple. Fruit shares are organic peaches from the Weavers and some of Richard Allen's yellow shiso plums.

Here is a fun recipe to try that hails from a north African cookbook that Liz lent me called North Africa: the Vegetarian Table by Kitty Morse. It has a lot of recipes that feature the beauty of summer time vegetables as well as many of the fresh herbs we grow here.

AUBERGINE A L'AIL

(Garlicky eggplant salad)

-3 small eggplant or 1 large -2 TBl olive oil -4 garlic cloves, minced

-freshly ground black pepper -1 T L red wine vinegar -8 flat leaf parsley sprigs, minced

-1 TBL capers, rinsed -harissa to taste

What is harissa? This is the classic spice blend of North Africa and features the heat of chiles. To see more about harissa, check out Nancy Allen's blog: farmfoodleelanau.blogspot.com. To make your own harissa, take 6-8 dried New Mexico chiles, 2 garlic cloves, minced, ½ tsp coarse sea salt, 1 tsp tabil which is a mix of ground coriander, ground caraway, 1 ½ TBL garlic powder and chile powder in equal amounts. Seed chiles and cut up with scissors. Place in bowl, cover with warm water and soak them until quite soft, 15 minutes to 1 hour. Drain and squeeze out excess water. Place chiles in blender along with remaining ingredients. Grind to paste. Place in small glass jar, covered with a thin layer of olive oil and refrigerate for up to 4 weeks.

To make salad: Cut unpeeled eggplant into cubes. In a large skillet over medium high heat, heat olive oil. Fry eggplant, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden on all unpeeled sides, 10-12 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 1-2 minutes. Place eggplant in colander and drain for at least 30 minutes. Lightly pat eggplant with paper towels and transfer to serving bowl. Serve tossed with pepper, vinegar and parsley. Garnish with capers and serve harissa on the side.

This last week, our old farm dog Mr. Shemp, passed on to another world. He was 18 years old and he had a good long life. He died here at home, surrounded by his people and we will miss his plate cleaning skills and sweet nature immeasurably...... Love, the meadowlarks

This page last updated on 1/20/2012.

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