Week 16

Hi everyone,
It's hard to believe it's the last weekend in September! The weather outside is more like the end of July. The heat is on, so it looks like some of the summer vegetables may make a reappearance. The last planting of beans is blooming and setting pods, and the peppers may produce something yet. But at any rate, nothing about the weather this year has been normal or predictable. It creates some benefits and some set backs, and you can never be quite sure which it will be.
We have some nice vegetables for you this week, with a few new additions. There are 4 more weeks of the CSA after this one.

In Your Bags
VegSwiss Chard
Cauliflower (if you don't get it this week, you should get it next week)
Carrots (ugly but tasty!)
Assorted Hot Peppers
Leeks
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Cilantro
Basil (Thai & Cinnamon)
Red-Skin Potatoes (Red Maria

I love leeks! They are such an elegant vegetable. And perfect for fall dishes, be it soup or gratin or roasted vegetables. Of course, you might want to want to use them until the heat breaks and it feels a bit more like fall. To keep with the heat, you have some hot peppers, cilantro, tomatoes and basil. And we gave out some interesting looking carrots. If you have kids, they might be able to use them as action figures. They certainly have a lot of character! But don't be put off by extra limbs and unexpected angles. These carrots are tasty, crunchy, and perfect for roasting! Or slicing onto salads, or just munching on. These would never be sold at the store, but for purely cosmetic reasons. We expect carrots to be long, slender and sleek, but really, like any root vegetable, they send out side shoots and grow around rocks in their way, and generally don't conform to our opinions of what they should look like.
Here are some recipes to try:

I've posted this before, but it's a great way to use unlovely carrots.
YUM. I don't have much to add.
The perfect soup for fall.
4) Gallo Pinto
We eat a lot of beans and rice at my house. And while that often sounds like a measly dinner, I consider it some of the best comfort food. And it's actually quite healthy, so that's a plus, too. This is a traditional Costa Rican way of preparing beans and rice, with a healthy amount of cilantro, of course!
I love this dish. It's perfect for a crowd and it's quite tasty. It's not terribly traditional Indian, but it's Joy Of Cooking's Americanized version. And Joy never steers me wrong! I like it especially because it calls for some apple and ginger in addition to the curry powder, which adds a certain something to the dish.
That's it for this week. Take care!
Sarah VanNorstrand
for Lucky Moon Farm
Do you see the frog? This is my home garden, and I've had a family of leopard frogs take up residence.
