how i spent my summer vegetables

adventures in beet eggs.

i love beets. i unabashedly declare this love of beets pretty much every chance i get. it's true.

so when i tried pickled beet eggs for the first time a few weeks ago, i became obsessed. this obsession was only heightened by our recent trip to amish country, when i realized it's a traditional pennsylvania dutch / amish food. yay! 

i was sure to pick up a good local cookbook that had a recipe for pickled beet eggs in it, since we still get beets quite often in our farm share. and i love them.

turns out the recipe in the cookbook i bought didn't make as much sense when i actually read it in preparation to begin making the eggs than it did when i skimmed it in the shop. faaaaan-tastic. google to the rescue. only most of the recipes i found called for jarred beets. which is fine, except that a goal in making this dish was to use my fresh beets. 

to make pickled beet eggs, here's what i did:

boiled about 5 smallish / medium beets in about 3 cups water.
hard boil 8 large eggs.

when the beets and the eggs were sufficiently boiled, i removed both from their respective pans of water. don't discard the beet water. let the eggs cool and set them aside. the beets i peeled and set them aside. 

to the beet water, i added 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup sugar. i let this reach a boil, then reduced it to a simmer for about 15 minutes. peel the eggs, leaving them whole. then let the beet water mixture cool slightly, and pour it over the peeled beets and eggs in a large bowl or pitcher. let cool and then store in the fridge for 1-3 days.

any new way to enjoy beets is the best thing ever. right?

a tiny beginner guide to squash

tonight i noticed we have not one or two, but about four delicata squash (is squash the plural of squash?) in the fridge. since i've been on a bread making kick lately (well, a bagel making kick, to be more specific, but that could be a whole other post), i decided i really wanted to make a squash bread.

so i figured out what kind of squash it is we have - it's delicata. and thanks to this really helpful chart on squashes, including appropriate squash substitutions and some flavor and texture descriptions - i've narrowed my recipe candidates down to just a few. my theory on bread (or really any recipe i look for when trying to use the CSA veggies) is the fewer the ingredients, the better. simple recipes seem to really bring out the flavors in our fresh, local, organic veggies. and that's really the point, isn't it? 

post rhubarb report

thanks for all the awesome rhubarb ideas! i was torn between the awesome sweet snack brett suggested and the simple delicious recipe lauren linked to from the kitchn, but finally went with the kitchn's simple syrup. i was pretty pleased to discover that making simple syrup is, well, simple, so i've completely overcome my fear of it now. yay!

 i thought the concoction was going to end up staying this kind of gross greenish brown color that it looked in the pan, but when i strained it, sure enough it was as pretty and pink as the syrup they show in the photo. amazing!

 

and it only took a day or so before cute erik was brave enough to try working it into a cocktail. so, here are our cocktail recipes for the rhubarb syrup:

pink bubbly vodka veggie cocktail

1 shot vodka
splash rhubarb simple syrup
top with club soda for fizz
garnish with a sprig of mint (if you have one handy)

it's super summery and easy, and totally refreshing.

rhubarb vodka shot

1 shot vodka
1 shot cranberry juice
fresh lime juice to taste
splash of rhubarb syrup

we went a little crazy on the lime juice, which overpowered the cocktail just a little, but it was nicely sweet and fun to drink. the very idea of vegetable cocktails is pretty entertaining to me, so i hope you like it as much as we did.

week two: grocery list

i'm very excited to pick up this week's share this afternoon (our pick up day is thursday, and we just walk about one block away to fill up bags full of all our produce. it's so awesome.)

the list of what we're entitled to this week is:

1 head Romaine lettuce – certified organic – Riverview Organics

1 bunch white scallions – certified organic – Windy Hollow Organics

1 bunch spearmint – transitional – Elm Tree Organics

1 lb asparagus – certified organic – Maple Arch Farm

1 bunch red radishes – certified organic – Farmdale Organics

3 baby head lettuces – transitional – Taste of Nature

1 bunch rhubarb – certified organic – Farmdale Organics

i'd love some advance tips or ideas on what your favorite recipes are for all these amazing veggies. xo!