THIS WEEK YOUR BASKET CONTAINS: broccoli, eggplant, turnips, carrots, tomatillos, WINTER SQUASH, basil, BABY BOK CHOY, and sweet peppers

November means THANKSGIVING & feasting, which means we will be delivering EXTRA LARGE BASKETS prior to Thanksgiving day.  Your Thanksgiving basket will arrive on FRIDAY, Nov. 21^ST .  We will then SKIP DELIVERY on Nov. 28, and be back delivering on Dec. 5^th.  Please email if you have any questions or concerns.  Along with your Thanksgiving basket, you can ORDER PEARS FROM BIG BARN ORGANICS in Hood River. Prices and details are on our web site in the blog post section.

This is a bit of a “cleanup week” harvest-wise.  This extended frost-free weather (we expect first frost by Oct. 15, but have yet to have one) means that several crops that normally would be finished are still putting our veggies, though not in great quantity.  Thus you have some small eggplants, and a small harvest of tomatillos this week.  The recipe below can be made with all tomatillos, all green tomatoes, or a mix depending on what you have on hand.

TOMATILLO & GREEN TOMATO SALSA VERDE

2 pounds Tomatillos + Green Tomatoes

1 medium Onion roughly diced

3 cloves Garlic

2 tablespoons Fresh Lime Juice

1 medium Jalapeno Pepper or other spicy pepper

1/2 cup Fresh Cilantro Leaves

1 teaspoon Salt

De-husk and rinse your tomatillos and place them on a baking sheet. Then core the green tomatoes and add them to the pan along with the jalapeño pepper.  Place your pan on the top rack and broil on high for 5 – 10 minutes, until the tomatillos begin to color. Then flip the tomatillos and jalapeño and place back under the broiler for an additional 5 minutes, until the tomatillos, tomatoes and jalapeño are beginning to blacken. Remove from the oven and let cool while you prepare the rest of your salsa.  Meanwhile, dice the onions and add them to your food processor or blender. Next add the lime juice, garlic cloves, cilantro leaves and 1/2 tsp. salt. Once the jalapeño has cooled, de-seed it and add half to the processor along with the tomatillos, tomatoes and their juices. (You can also add some or all of the seeds if you like your salsa extra spicy.)  Pulse the food processor until you have blended the salsa to your liking. Now, taste the salsa and add the remaining salt and jalapeño (and seeds if you like it extra spicy) if needed. From whatisonkatesplate.com

This week you either have a Butternut squash or a Kabocha type squash.  Either would work well with the recipe below.

ROASTED SQUASH WITH LEMONGRASS, PEANUT, AND LIME

1 large winter squash

5 Tbs. olive or coconut oil

2 Tbs. coriander seeds

4 cardamom pods; seeds removed

4 sticks lemongrass, chopped

3 red chilis, chopped

4 limes

1 ½ inch chunk of ginger, peeled

1 cup Greek yogurt

1 cup peanuts, chopped

Chopped cilantro

Salt

Heat oven to 400⁰ . Slice squash into thick slices or boats.  Peels the squash slices and lay on a roasting tray then drizzle with oil.  Grind coriander and cardamom seeds in a mortar and pestle, add lemongrass (we used lemongrass paste from the grocery store) and mash.  Scatter half of this mixture over the squash with salt and chopped chilis.  Zest 2 of the limes over the squash then squeeze their juice over the squash as well.  Bake in the preheated oven until golden (approx.. 45 minutes).  Meanwhile, put remaining lemongrass mixture in a bowl with the zest and juice of the final 2 limes, and finely grated ginger.  Add the yogurt and mix well.  When the squash is cooked, transfer to a serving platter, sprinkle with peanuts and cilantro.  Serve with the yogurt mixture on the side.  Adapted from One: Pot, Pan, Planet by Anna Jones

In the past, we have grown Napa cabbage for this time of year, but as things change we have lost the last few crops to new pests that we haven’t been able to get on top of.  This year we tried baby bok choy as a substitute with good results.  The recipe below is a great sauce for stir fry or sauteed bok choy.

THAI PEANUT SAUCE

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons soy or tamari sauce

1 tablespoon sherry, optional

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon brown sugar

In a small bowl, blend peanut butter, water, soy sauce, sherry, lemon juice, and brown sugar. You can heat the peanut butter in the microwave prior to adding other ingredients to “liquefy” it. It blends much easier that way. You can marinate tofu in 1/2 the peanut sauce over night. Cut the tofu into thin strips length wise and then in half width wise. This coats the tofu nicely for pan searing the next night. Reserve the other 1/2 the marinade to pour over the stir fry.