This week your basket contains: sweet corn, zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, beans, cherry tomatoes,tromboncino squash (half shares),  basil, beets, sweet peppers, and tomatoes.

The recipe below is one of our favorites.  While it calls for golden beets, we use red beets as well.  The red beets make the couscous a gorgeous color!  We often skip making our own ponzu sauce since bottled ponzu is widely available.

PONZU GRILLED SALMON WITH GOLDEN BEET COUSCOUS

Couscous:

1  teaspoon  extra virgin olive oil

2  tablespoons  thinly sliced shallots (about 1 large)

8  ounces  golden beets, thinly sliced, peeled, and quartered (about 1 1/2 cups)

1  cup  uncooked Israeli couscous

2  cups  water

1/4  teaspoon  salt

1  cup  raw spinach leaves, trimmed

Sauce:

1/2  cup  fresh orange juice

2  tablespoons  brown sugar

3  tablespoons  low-sodium soy sauce

2  tablespoons  sake (rice wine)

1  tablespoon  fresh lime juice

1/2  teaspoon  cornstarch

1/8  teaspoon  crushed red pepper

Remaining ingredients:

4  (6-ounce) salmon fillets with skin (about 1 inch thick)

Cooking spray

Lime wedges (optional)

To prepare couscous, heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and beets; sauté 5 minutes or until shallots are tender and just beginning to brown. Stir in couscous; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add water and salt; cover and simmer 8 minutes or until couscous is tender. Remove from heat; stir in spinach. Toss gently until combined and spinach wilts. Keep warm.  To prepare sauce, combine orange juice and next 6 ingredients (through red pepper) in a small saucepan, stirring well with a whisk; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 1 minute.  To prepare fish, brush cut sides of fillets with 1/4 cup sauce; place, skin sides up, on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill salmon, skin sides up, 2 minutes. Turn salmon fillets; brush with remaining 1/4 cup sauce. Grill 3 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or desired degree of doneness. Serve with couscous and lime wedges, if desired. Yields 4 servings.  Adapted from Kathryn Conrad, Cooking Light, JUNE 2005

We’ve been making a version of the salad below for the past couple of weeks and just can’t seem to keep it on hand for very long!

BLACK BEAN SALAD WITH CORN, RED PEPPERS AND AVOCADO

2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained

3 ears fresh cooked corn, kernels cut off the cob

2 red bell peppers, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons minced onion

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons sugar

9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil,

1 teaspoon lime zest

6 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish

2 Hass avocados, chopped

Combine all ingredients except for avocados in a large bowl and mix well. Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight. Right before serving, add avocados and mix gently, being careful not to mash avocados. Garnish with a more chopped cilantro if desired. Serve at room temperature.

FLOWER BOUQUETS are still available!  Polly will put together a beautiful bouquet of approx. 25 stems for only $10.  Just email to order and enjoy the beauty of summer while it lasts.

We are running low on EGG CARTONS.  If you would like to send us paper or pulp cartons (no plastic please) just leave them in your empty basket and we will reuse them.