I just love this recipe for Tzatziki from The Joy of Cooking. It’s a cucumber and yogurt salad that can be used as a dip or spread, or even eaten with a spoon. I’ve left out the step of draining the yogurt and instead specified that you use Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is much richer and creamier than regular yogurt because it has already been strained of excess whey. I’m convinced the garlic mashing step is key to the amazingly tasty and refreshing dip that this makes.

Tzatziki (4-6 servings)

• 2 cups Greek yogurt
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• salt
• 2-3 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
• 2 teaspoons snipped fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon good olive oil

Toss the diced cucumber together with 1 Tsp of salt in a colander. Let it stand and drain for 30 min, then press the excess water out, quickly rinse, and blot dry.

Meanwhile, chop the garlic, then mash it together with 2-3 pinches of salt using the flat of your knife against the cutting board, until a paste is formed.

Combine the cucumber, yogurt, garlic mash, herbs, and vinegar in a bowl, adding salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle the top with 1 Tblsp olive oil.

Serve with pita bread, fried zucchini, an indian curry, fried green tomatoes, cucumber sticks, or salmon.

Last year I would often pick up my share towards the end of distribution and would see bags and bags of leftover celery. The poor celery was so often passed on by members who just didn’t know what to do with it. I would always take my share of it only to have it sit in my crisper uneaten. Big beautiful green and purple heads with more flavor than I ever tasted before, being accustomed to  the watery white crunch of the grocery store kind.

We got this season’s first heads of celery a couple weeks ago. So in anticipation of the abundance we saw of this vegetable last year I thought I’d gather some ideas and recipes for us. 

Celery belongs to the Umbelliferae family whose other members include carrots, fennel, parsley and dill. It’s a great source of vitamin C and contains an active compound called pthalides, which can help lower cholesterol. And it’s true that celery has negative calories!

When grown conventionally, celery is in the top ten list of vegetables on which pesticide residues have been most frequently found; yet another reason to celebrate our organic and biodynamic CSA!

Storage: 

Celery is often refrigerated in plastic bag in crisper, but many swear by tinfoil wrapping for this veggie, saying it lasts much much longer.

Wilted ribs can be crisped by placing them in ice water for several minutes.Use the leaves as soon as possible as they do not keep as well as the stalks

101 Ways To Enjoy Celery

• Ants on a Log: celery spread with peanutbutter and topped with raisins
• spread with cream cheese
• stuffed with an anchovy
• try out a celery soup recipe: classic, curried, curried with miso and shitake
• diced into tuna (or salmon) salad
• use the leaves in place of parsley 
• Bloody Mary’s
• in fact, use it as a stirrer for any drink! (except an egg cream)
• add to a stir fry
• dipped into hummus
• dipped into ranch dip
• an excuse to indulge in lobster or shrimp salad (chop up a few stalks, mix it with the shellfish meat, mayo, salt & papper, eat in a hot dog bun)
• chopped into chicken salad
• cut the stalks into handy sizes, store in a baggie, use in place of nicotine gum
• use the leaves in home fried potatoes
• chop it and mix with diced radish, onion, dill, and mayo. Serve with some tasty Whitefish Salad from Russ & Daughters
• chop the base off and grow it as a house plant
• use diced stalks to add crunch to homemade salsa (or to brighten store bought)
• Make a celery, apple, pecan salad. Eat it with blue cheese dressing.
• make the classic mirepoix by using it with carrots and onions as the base of soups, sauces, stews, and stocks
• celery pilaf
• if all else fails, chop the stalks up, bag and freeze them for later use in cooked recipes (not for later raw eating as freezing will affect the texture)

Thanks to everyone who came out to our BBQ last Saturday, and especially to Kimberly and Vince for hosting the party in their back yard! It was great to see everyone and try all the delicious food people prepared, including 3 (yes, three!) different types of fruit cobblers/crisps.

Here are the links to my recipes for Roasted Beets and Peach Blackberry Crisp. If you have a recipe you’d like to share, please send it in!

Those of us with fruit shares have been inundated with plums lately! Let your plums ripen on the counter,  testing them gently by squeezing the whole fruit in the palm of your hand. When ripe, try out some of these recipes:

Those small plums with sheer, golden yellow skin are are Shiro plums originally from Japan and used here in an Artisanal Cocktail. If you can’t find the herb shiso, I’d substitute mint.

Shiro Plum Cocktail 

• 2 Shiro plums, pitted
• 2 shiso leaves (a Japanese herb also called perilla or beefsteak)
• 1 oz light rum
• 1 oz shochu (a Japanese liquor)
• 1/2 oz lemon or lime
• 1 small piece of ginger root, peeled
• 1/2 oz simple syrup

Puree plums, or simply muddle them in cocktail glass or shaker. Gently muddle shiso leaves until flavor is released. Muddle ginger root. Add ice to fill. Add rum, shochu, citrus, simple syrup. Shake. Strain into glass, over ice. Garnish with shiso leaf.

If you can bear the oven being on these Honey-Roasted Plums with Thyme and Creme Fraiche sound like a dream. 

Plum Butter

Plum Crumble

And a Mark Bittman recipe for Plum Puree Sauce for Grilled Meats

Yum!

Our first ever PLG CSA picnic is coming up on August 9th. We’ll be gathering in Prospect Park on Saturday August 9th from 1-4 pm. Come on out to meet other members, share a favorite recipe, and have some fun in the park!

Not sure what to bring? Check out Mark Bittman’s list of 101 20-Minute Dishes for Inspired Picnics. There are some great ideas here including beet salad, cold peanut noodles, and lots of other recipes that would work with our CSA fruits and vegetables.

Stay tuned for more details on the exact location, and look for a signup sheet or evite coming soon.

Poor kohlrabi. Always left in the bin.

Many members pass on this funny looking vegetable because they don’t know what to do with it, but it’s actually pretty versatile. Kohlrabi can be steamed, roasted, boiled, or baked. It can also be eaten raw - try combining it with apple, carrot, onion, and parsley to make a slaw using this recipe.

Garlic scapes are enjoying a new-found popularity. We got some in this week’s share. Not a whole lot, but enough to enjoy. The New York Times posted an article today on the virtues of The Scape (and garlic in general).

There is a recipe for White Bean and Garlic Scape dip that only requires 3-4 scapes that sounds awesome. My mother pickles them in soy sauce for a little seasonal ban chan dish.

Eat ‘em and enjoy ‘em while you can!

While I’m not vegan (or even a strict vegetarian), I often enjoy the recipes at VeganYumYum. This one for Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Wok Steamed Collards and Quinoa looks delicious, and you can substitute our CSA kale or swiss chard for the collard greens.

Tart green apple is a nice addition to traditional butternut squash soup.

Butternut Squash Apple Soup

1 yellow onion, chopped
1 rib of celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 Tbsp butter
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, chopped
1 tart green apple, peeled, cored, chopped
(squash and apple should be at a 3 to 1 ratio)
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
Pinches of nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper

Procedure:
Combine butter, onion, celery, and carrot in large saucepan. Cook for 5 minutes. Add squash, apple, and broth. Bring to boil. Simmer for 10 minutes or until squash is soft. Puree. Add spices to taste.

Serves 4-6.

from Simply Recipes

Ariella snagged this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis on
Food Network. It was excellent!

1 (3-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup basil pesto
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, plus more for greasing

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly butter an 8-inch baking dish and set aside. Fill a large pot with enough water to come 2 inches up the sides of the pot. Set a steamer rack in the pot, cover, and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the squash and steam over medium heat until the squash is very tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer the squash to a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Season the squash to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon half of the squash evenly over the prepared baking dish. Dollop half of the pesto all over the squash in the dish. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the squash. Repeat layering with the remaining squash, pesto, and cheese. Using a skewer, swirl the pesto decoratively into the squash. Dot the top with butter and bake until the gratin is heated through and golden brown around the edges, about 40 minutes.