This week your basket contains: zucchini, cucumber, beans, scallions, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, eggplant, sweet corn, elephant garlic, and sweet peppers.

As we continue into autumn, one of the tasks we look forward to is harvesting potatoes.  This is a great group task (who can resist sifting through the soil for potatoes after the digger has turned them up?), so this year we are inviting interested subscribers out THIS COMING SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25^TH AT 10:00 AM for a potato harvest party.  If you are interested, please RSVP by email with the number of people you will be bringing (so we can plan lunch).

ROASTED GREEN BEANS WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES, GOAT CHEESE AND OLIVES

Roasting is a great technique for tenderizing and sweetening larger, late-summer beans. Adding this sauce further enhances this dish.

For the beans:

1 lb. green beans, stem ends snapped off

1 Tbsp. olive oil

Salt and pepper

For the sauce:

1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 c. drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes  (rinsed, patted dry, coarsely chopped)

1/2 c. kalamata olives (quartered lengthwise)

2 tsp. minced fresh oregano

For topping:

1/2 c. crumbled goat cheese

An aluminum foil liner prevents burning on dark nonstick baking sheets and facilitates cleanup. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spread beans on lined baking sheet. Drizzle with oil; using hands, toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. salt, toss to coat, and distribute in an even layer. Roast 10 minutes.  Remove baking sheet from oven. Using tongs, redistribute beans. Continue roasting until beans are dark golden brown in spots and have started to shrivel, 10 to 12 minutes longer.  While beans roast, combine sauce ingredients in a medium bowl. Add beans; toss well to combine, and adjust seasonings. Transfer to serving dish, top with goat cheese and serve. From Cook’s Illustrated.

This is a tip that a subscriber sent along a few years back.  We’ve used it so much that it is now the way we prep all of our tomato sauce for canning.  It also makes a great sauce for immediate use.

VERY EASY TOMATO SAUCE

I just quarter the tomatoes (any that don’t get eaten within four or five days), cherry and sungold tomatoes I leave whole, quarter an onion or two and place these in a baking dish. Then I peel and add four or five garlic cloves, fresh basil, rosemary, etc. and drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil all over everything. Then I roast it all in allow oven – 300 to 325 degrees, for three or four hours or until everything is mushy. Once it’s cooled, I dump it all in the food processor and voila! thick rich roasted tomato sauce. The most recent batch included a smallish fennel bulb and a coarsely chopped eggplant. The roasting seems to bring out the natural sweetness of those delicious tomatoes.

Do you hve dinner plans for this SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24^TH?  If not, please consider attending a “pop-up dinner” sponsored by PACSAC (the local CSA farmers’ group that we have been involved with over the past 20 years).  Details and tickets can be found at https://www.facebook.com/events/512992105563721/