Tuesday, July 13, 2021

[Week 6] Farm Share Recipes & Tips: Zucchini Fritters, Crispy Eggplant, Fennel Salad, Pepperonata & More

Welcome to Week 6 of The Farm Share Newsletter!

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Somehow, too quickly, we've gotten to the point in the summer when we might find a zucchini baseball bat "gifted" at our front door or exploding in our gardens.

When this happens, don't despair! By this point in the season, you've likely put those delicate, early-season half-footers to good use:

You've julienned them and tossed them with pasta, herbs and parmesan.
You've shaved them into ribbons and dressed them with olive oil, lemon, & pecorino.
You've layered them with tomato sauce, parmesan and bread crumbs.
You've sautéed them with mint, basil, and pine nuts. (Photo above.)

With this bucket list complete, it's fritter time 🎉🎉🎉🎉

Made with 5 ingredients, including lots of scallions, which you likely have on hand, these fritters are a snap to throw together (though they do require 15-minutes of draining in a colander to remove moisture).

When I'm up for it, I'll make some tzatziki to serve alongside, but they are delicious on their own, too, with a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of flaky sea salt.

Farm Share Week 6

summer squash → Zucchini & Summer Squash Recipes
cucumbers → Cucumber Recipes
scallions → Ode to the Scallion + Favorite Egg Salad
fresh onions
Tuscan kale → Kale Recipes
basil → Herb Recipes
parsley → Herb Recipes
eggplant → Eggplant Recipes
Romaine → Salads
Bell Peppers → Pepper Recipes
Fennel → Fennel Recipes

There is a lot of overlap in this week's share with previous weeks, so please see previous newsletters for more recipe ideas. Here's an overview of the previous newsletters:

Fennel

This salad is a mix of shaved fennel and asparagus, sliced avocado, chopped parsley, red onion, dried currants, and parmesan. It's dressed simply with olive oil and lemon, and it's both refreshing and substantial. Use the recipe as a guide — the scallions, Romaine, and cucumbers from this week's farm share would all be delicious here.

Eggplant

This recipe for balsamic-roasted eggplant and arugula sandwiches is a good one to turn to when you find yourself with a single eggplant on hand. Slice it up, brush the slices with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and roast them; then layer them between slices of buttered bread with arugula. If you have more than one eggplant on hand, this recipe scales up nicely.

I love this method for making breaded eggplant from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. The beauty of the recipe is that once the breading is done, the hard work is over — there is no standing at the oven, frying the eggplant in batch after batch. Instead, you bake the eggplant on preheated baking sheets, a technique they developed to solve the oil-laden, pan-fried eggplant problem that leads to heavy, greasy eggplant parmesan.

Peppers

This red pepper and tomato pasta sauce is a favorite way to use bell peppers. Another great use is pepperonata. Here's a simple recipe: sweat peppers and onions (2:1 ratio) together in olive oil with salt over low heat covered for 30 minutes. Uncover, and sauté until meltingly tender, another 30 minutes. Add minced garlic, a tablespoon or so of capers, and a splash of vinegar. Taste. Adjust seasoning as necessary.

Lentils, Labneh, Beets

Last week I shared a recipe for black lentils with salt-roasted beets and labneh as well as some CSA tips over on Mind Body Green. This is a recipe/template I love: creamy labneh (or Greek yogurt) + cooked black lentils + sautéed greens. The greens can be anything from Swiss chard to spinach to kale to mustard greens. (Confession: I don't love beet greens.) And you can add any roasted vegetables you like, but salt-roasted beets (or steam-roasted) are particularly good.