This week your basket contains: cucumbers, summer squash, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes OR BEANS, eggplants (half shares), sweet peppers and basil. At long last, it is ratatouille season.  This is one of our favorite versions.  The ingredient list is only a suggestion.  Adding eggplant and/or beans is a great idea.

BUDDY’S RATATOUILLE

1 cup chopped onion

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cups chopped zucchini

¼ cup olive oil

2 Tbs Balsamic vinegar

Basil pesto

1 cup diced tomatoes

Oregano

Salt

Pepper

¼- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large sauté pan heat the oil and cook the garlic and onion until the onions are translucent.  Add the zucchini, oregano, tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.  Cook until zucchini is tender.  Add basil and Balsamic vinegar.  Stir in Parmesan cheese and serve.

We’ve given the beans the first time once-over picking.  As I’m sure you know, beans go from a trickle to bucket loads in an instant, so there are many beans for you in the near future.

We gave some larger summer squash today (100+ temperatures kicked them into overdrive).  Whatever color you got, they would be great in zucchini bread or cake.  This is my favorite version 

LONNIE’S CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI CAKE

½ cup soft butter

½ cup cooking oil

2 eggs

1 ½ cup sugar (can be reduced)

1 tsp. vanilla

2 ½ cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup buttermilk

4 Tbs. cocoa

2 cups grated zucchini

¼ cup chopped nuts

1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix oil, butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla and milk together.  Add cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Mix well. Add flour and mix well.  Add zucchini, chocolate chips and nuts and mix. Divide the batter into 2 well greased loaf pans or one well greased 13 x 9 in baking dish. Bake at 350⁰ for 45 minutes or until a tooth pick poked into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

This soup is great served cold on a hot day.  It also uses a lot of cucumbers, which comes in handy about now! 

CREAM OF CUCUMBER SOUP

2 lbs. Cucumbers

2 Tbsp. butter

1/3 c. chopped onions or shallots

5 c. chicken broth

1 Tbsp. wine vinegar

½ c. chopped dill

¼ c. farina or ½ lb. Cubed potatoes

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 c. sour cream

Peel and roughly chop cucumbers, reserving ½ a cucumber to slice into paper-thin slices.  Melt butter, cook onions or shallots until wilted.  Add chopped cucumbers, broth, vinegar and 1/3 c. of the dill.  Bring broth to a boil, whisk in farina or add potatoes.  Cook until soft.  Puree.  Before serving, reheat and thin if necessary with water.  Whisk in half of the sour cream, garnish with cucumber slices and a sprinkling of dill.  If you wish, this can be served cold, chilling instead if reheating.  Serve remaining sour cream at table as a garnish.  From The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash