Week 8
- 2 Beefsteak Tomatoes – PF
- 1 bunch Spinach – CO
- 1 bunch Red Chard – CO
- 1 pound Green Beans – CO
- 1 bunch Basil – CO
- 1 bunch Sweet Onions – CO
- 2 hallets Blueberries – CO
- 1 1/2 pounds Rose Finn Potatoes – CO
CO – Certified Organic
PF – Pesticide Free
Letter from Hedlin Farms
August 5, 2014
Week 8
August! Other months have a certain feel to them—color, light, sound, texture, even a certain heft…but August…August is a great, empty maw, a vortex, a giant sucking sound, a black hole from which we cannot escape—the center of gravity around which the rest of the months rotate, each of their respective motions just a wake, a ripple, a side effect of the tremendous, incalculable forces that must occur each year in August.
Not to calculate the incalculable, but just to give you some idea, we are cutting cabbage seed in preparation for harvest, just as the plants for next year’s harvest are transplanted out to the field. The cucumbers from the high tunnels appear to have finally hit peak…cucumber, and from what I can tell are springing from flower to fully formed cucumber in a matter of hours. Leave them on a day too long and you will have a long, hard gourd ready to be carved, cured, and put into service as a one-person racing canoe.
We’ll have to carve our sea-going vessels from cucumbers (sea cucumbers, ha!) because their other, more commonly prolific cousin, the zucchini, we appear to finally have dialed in to a level of production that we can stay on top of. Gone are the days of three foot long zucchini fountains ballooning from the side of the bushes. No more, the giant gourds luring on doorsteps and piling out of car windows. It always starts off innocently enough, “Oh, our plants just starting coming in and we picked a little more than we can use this week, would you like some? They’re so tender…”
“Oh here, let me give you these, they’ll be perfect for zucchini bread.”
Then they stop asking altogether.
The recipe below steers well clear of summer squash, but it may use up any stray cucumbers rattling around your crisper drawer. This is a recipe that multiplies up or down easily depending on how much of what you have and how many people you are aiming to feed.
CHICKPEA PANZANELLA
Adapted from theclevercarrot.com
via huffingtonpost.com
INGREDIENTS
For the Salad
- 1 – 14 oz. can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 C cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 C bread chunks, torn and lightly toasted (day old is best)
- 1 C cucumbers, thinly sliced
- ¼ C sweet onion, thinly sliced
- ¼ C Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
- ⅓ C feta, crumbled into large chunks
- 1 lemon, zested
- handful of celery tops
- handful of basil, torn up with your hands
For the Dressing
- juice of ½ lemon + more to taste
- ¼ c. good quality olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Get yourself a rather big bowl.
2. Dig out your mandoline if using (I highly recommend) and thinly slice your cucumbers and onion.
3. If you do not have day old bread, simply tear some up into bite size chunks.
4. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and toast until lightly browned in a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes or so.
5. While bread toasts, zest your lemon and set aside.
6. Add all of the salad ingredients to the bowl, except the feta (Add the lemon juice and olive oil.
7. Season with salt and pepper and toss until well mixed.
8. Add the crumbled feta and toss lightly.
9. Taste your salad and adjust seasoning to taste with more lemon, olive oil and seasoning.
Serves 4
That’s it for this week, we’ll see you deeper in the vortex!
-the chardmonger