Happy Day Everyone! With our  slightly cooler weather we have had this last week, we had a lot of tomatoes set and ripen. That just means more for you. This weeks baskets is quite a lovely variety of things like:

• bag of kale
• green onions,
• walla walla onion
• summer squash
• beets
• bagel peaches
• santa rosa plums
• bell pepper
• strawberries
• cucumber
• TOMATOES!

Also if there will be some extra things like more squash, peaches, plums, pepper variety, more tomatoes, etc. available in the fridge or next to it. Everyone have a fantastic weekend and stay cool!

So…… I changed my mind about the stir fry, there really isn’t much to one to begin with. Just throw everything you want in one, in a pan and cook till its tender. season with salt and pepper or lemon pepper. Vwalla! dinner is served!!!

Cody and I were watching ratatouille the other day (his new favorite show next to “good dinosaur”), and I got to thinking its like a fancy version of stir fry but how does it actually taste? the mean critic guy seemed to really like…. yes, I know it’s a movie. So Cody and I hit the cook books looking for a good recipe and settled on this one.

Roasted Ratatouille

• 1lb plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 4 large cloves of garlic
• 1 large yellow onion, halved and cut crosswise into slices 1/4″ thick
• 1 small eggplant, trimmed and cut into 1″ chunks
• 1 small zucchini, trimmed and cut crosswise into slices 1/2″ thick
• 1 small yellow crookneck squash. trimmed and cut crosswise into 1/2″ thick slices
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 1/2 inch squares
• 5 tablespoons of olive oil
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 cup finely shredded fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

preheat the oven to 425*F

combine the tomatoes, garlic, onion, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and bell pepper in a large bowl. Drizzle in olive oil, sprinkle generously with salt, and toss to coat.transfer the vegetable to a large rimmed baking sheet and spread in an even single layer.

Roast the vegetables, stirring once or twice, for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the basil and thyme. Continue to roast, again stirring once or twice, until the biggest pieces are tender when pierce with a fork, 5-10 minutes longer. remove the vegetables from the oven and season with salt and pepper.

Transfer the ratatouille to a bowl, warm or at room temperature.

makes 6-8 servings

Happy almost 4th of July everyone! I’m so excited for fireworks this year and our annual family get together/picnic feast. (but to be honest it’s just my dad-in-laws potato salad that I want.) This weeks basket gave me some awesome ideas of what I’m going to bring this year. Its like the ultimate salsa basket (minus the cilantro) for either a traditional salsa or a peach salsa, aaarrrgggg the choices! then there is all the ingredients for some awesome stir fry too. I’ll post that recipe later.

Time to tell you what you get this week in you basket:

• Carrots
• Onion
• Apricots
• Plums
• Peppers
• Basil
• Squash
• Cucumber
• Tomatoes
• Hard-neck Belarus garlic
• Very small peaches, but you saved my tree by taking them!

p.s. we would love your feedback on what you like or dont like about the baskets so week can make them even more awesome!

p.s.s. they are also ready for pick up now!

What a wonderful, crazy loud, couple thunderstorms we had this week. I don’t know about you guys, but they were loud enough at our house to rattle the pictures on the walls! Thankfully little Cody sleeps like the dead and didn’t wake up for any of them! Also it seems to make the garden a little more green and perked up after lots of lighting. Crazy sounding I know, but next time take a before and after picture and you will see what I’m talking about.

Speaking of the garden, lets see what we have in you basket this week: apricots, shallots, red onion, cherry tomatos, big tomato, thyme sprig, pluots, celery, carrots, bag of lettuce, summer squash, peppers, garlic head, blackberry, currants, micro greens, and a red bloom.

With the currants its best to use them fairly soon, they are fantastic on ice cream, oatmeal, yogurt, or dried and used in trail mix, in cookies or muffins.

This buttermilk-based sherbet tastes like decadent ice cream, but is a lot lower in fat, and get an antioxidant boost from the blackberries. It’s an outstanding source of fiber, calcium, and potassium. And it’s just plain hot, so whats better than something cold that’s good for you?

Use either fresh or frozen blackberries in this recipe. If using frozen, buy ones without added sugar, and thaw them  before using, reserving the juice.

• 2 1/2 cups blackberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1. in a blender or food processor, whirl blackberries (along with any juices from thawed berries) until smooth. Pour puree into fine mesh strainer set over bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much puree as possible (you should have about 1 cup of puree) discard solids.
2. add sugar and whisk until dissolved. whisk in buttermilk and lemon juice.
3. freeze mixture in an ice-cream maker according to manufactures instructions. transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm enough to scoop. 4-6 hours.
4. if you don’t have an ice-cream maker you can put it into a 9×9 pan and freeze until the edges start to freeze, stir and freeze until firm, just before serving transfer to a food processor; process 1-2 minutes or until smooth.

This is basic recipe that is great served on cooked fish, chicken, meat, and steamed vegetables. Pretty easy to make and only requires minimum ingredients to which is plus.

what you will need:

• 2/3 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• finely grated lemon zest
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

( see pretty minimum for big flavor)

In a small bowl, stir everything together

A little side note about garlic

“using raw garlic provides the most nutritional benefits, including anti-inflamitory, antibacterial, and antimicrobial powers. let chopped garlic stand for about 10 minutes to increase its powers and offset the heat of cooking, which diminishes them. Adding garlic later in cooking also helps retain its nutritional benefits.” Dana Jacobi, good for you cookbook

What you will need

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 6 red beets ( about 1 3/4 lb total weight)
• 2 tablespoons canola or grape seed oil
• fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

preheat oven to 350•F

in a small bowl, combine the cumin, coriander, turmeric, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and. Stir to mix well.

If the beet greens are still attached, cut them off, leaving 1/2 inch of the stems attached. (save the greens for another use like sautéing) arrange the beets in a shallow baking dish just large enough to hold them in a single layer. Drizzle with the oil and turn to coat, then rub with the spice mixture, coating the beets evenly. Roast, turning occasionally, until the beets the easily pierced with a sharp knife and the skins are slightly wrinkled, about 1 1/4 hours. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, cut off the stems and remove to skins with your fingers.

cut each beet lengthwise into wedges, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve warm or at room temperature.

serves 4

For this weeks shares we have for your enjoyment: mixed baby lettuce, mixed spicy greens, salad turnips and turnip greens (steam those greens and you will have found a new favorite) Valentine radishes, bag of spinach, and a Savoy cabbage. Oh and the herb of the week is cilantro. Fun fact about cilantro is that it helps the body eliminate metals and toxins. So toss that stuff in everything!