Cucumbers « Two Fat Bellies

Posts Tagged ‘Cucumbers’

CSA2 Week #12

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 by virginia

We feel pretty lucky this week because we found out that the farms that source our CSA share weren’t too affected by the hurricane, though many farms in the area were pretty devastated by the weather and flooding. Apparently a lot of CSAs around the city have been cancelled because of this, so we definitely count ourselves to be one of the fortunate groups. Hopefully all those farms will be able to recover, though their losses from this season are pretty heartbreaking.

This week our share contents included:

Greens – 0.75 lbs
Squash – 3 lbs
Cucumber – 1.8 lbs
Mini Bell Peppers – 0.25 lbs
Watermelon – 1 each
Tomatoes – 3 lbs
Husk Cherries – 0.2 lbs

Kale, squash, tomatoes, mini bell peppers, cucumbers, husk cherries, watermelon

We got a new item today – husk cherries. I’ve seen pictures of these but I’ve never tasted them before. I think they’re meant to be eaten raw and are supposed to be slightly sweet and exotic tasting. I guess you just peel off the papery husk and enjoy? I’m pretty excited to try them.

I was also excited to see kale as our option for greens. Hooray for kale chips!

The watermelon we got today is probably the largest that we’ve ever gotten from the CSA. The little ones have tons of seeds in them so I’m curious if these will be equally as inundated. Nevertheless, the melons we get are always super sweet and juicy.

We also got a handful of tiny bell peppers. These are about the an inch or two in diameter, so not a whole lot of flesh to use. I wonder if these are spicy or sweet, since the last time we got mini peppers they definitely had a kick to them.

And yes, we got tons more tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers again. I did pick out these weird nubbly, small yellow cucumbers instead of the regular green kind. Something different, I guess. I’ll need to look into whether these should be eaten like regular cucumbers, or if they should be peeled first. Anyone have any ideas?

Tags: Cucumbers, Greens, Husk Cherries, Kale, Peppers, Squash, Tomatoes, Watermelon
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CSA2 Week #11

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011 by virginia

I was a bit concerned about our CSA share this week, as I’ve been reading about the devastation at a lot of area farms caused by the hurricane this weekend. We didn’t get a farm report along with our share list but I hope that means everything is ok. We didn’t get a lot of variety this week but we certainly got a massive quantity of each item. This week our share contents included:

Cabbage – 1/2 head
Tomatoes – 4 lbs
Carrots – 0.7 lbs
Cucumbers – 4 lbs
Squash – 3.1 lbs
Cherry Tomatoes – 0.6 lbs
Greens – 1 lb

Chard, cucumbers, cabbage, grape tomatoes, tomatoes, carrots, squash

Watermelon was also on our original list but when we showed up at the distribution site it had been erased from the boards. I don’t know if that means they ran out of watermelons by the time we got there, or if none were delivered to begin with. Oh well.

I was happy to see carrots finally coming in, as I made a terrific carrot ginger soup last year that I’m hoping to recreate. Carrots also keep pretty well, and we are definitely struggling to keep up with eating all of our veggies.

We got a lot of tomatoes this week that are super ripe so we’ll need to eat those quickly. I’m hoping Josh makes some more gazpacho, since these are already bursting out of their skins. We also got some cherry tomatoes, a new item for us. Those are also pretty soft so we’ll probably eat them tonight in a salad with the half head of cabbage that we got.

We also got more squash of course, plus chard. I’m starting to get upset about the lack of kale! Oh well. And I can’t believe we got four pounds of cucumbers – what am I going to do with them? We still have a few pounds left in our fridge from the last few weeks. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know! I’m getting desperate…

Tags: Cabbage, Carrots, Cucumbers, Squash, Swiss Chard, Tomatoes
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CSA2 Week #10

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 by virginia

We had another heavy week of produce, so I was glad that Josh was the one to pick up our CSA share this week. The tote bag we use to carry our stuff was packed to the brim. I was glad to see a lot of variety though, and not just multiple pounds of one item. This week our share contents included:

Cucumbers – 1.75 lbs
Squash – 1 each
Asian Melon – 1 each
Napa Cabbage – 1 each
Shisito Peppers – 0.6 lbs
Tomatoes – 2 lbs
Tomatillos – 0.35lbs
Greens – 1 lb
White onion – 1 ea.
Broccoli – 0.8 lbs

Chard, onion, cucumbers, tomatillos, broccoli, tomatoes, Asian melon, squash, shisito peppers, napa cabbage

I’m intrigued by the shisito peppers because when I was looking for padron peppers in NYC, I read that shisitos are a common substitution for padrons. Maybe we’ll pan fry these in olive oil and sprinkle them with sea salt to make our version of pimientos de padron, on of our favorite tapas.

The napa cabbage we got this week is HUGE. I still hope to make (and post about) lions head meatball stew with it. It’s such a tasty meal served over white rice, and the leftovers usually last me a week.

I was kind of disappointed that we got chard again this week for our greens. I had commented early on in the season that we got a lot of kale last year and not so much chard, and this year we’re getting lots of chard but not a lot of kale. We made collard chips one week but I have still yet to make any kale chips!

I still haven’t used the tomatillos from a few weeks ago, and so I hope they’re still good. Combined with this week’s batch, hopefully I’ll have enough to make a decent amount of salsa verde. They’re really quite small. We also didn’t get a ton of broccoli this week, just two small heads. Maybe I’ll try stir frying them with some green beans.

I’m not sure what to do with all the cucumbers. We still have some from last week as well, and I’m a bit pickled out at this point. Any suggestions?

Tags: Asian Melon, Broccoli, Cucumbers, Napa Cabbage, Onions, Peppers, Squash, Swiss Chard, Tomatillos, Tomatoes
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CSA2 Week #9

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011 by virginia

We weren’t expecting to pick up our CSA share this week but due to unforeseen circumstances, our trip was unfortunately cancelled. Not a big deal, as we plan on redoing the same trip next year. And this means we have more time to eat our veggies, as I was starting to get worried about the state of our fridge again. Hey, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right? Well in this case, we got a ton of tomatoes this week, so Josh is making gazpacho, one of my favorites. This week our share contents included:

Greens – 1 lb
Peppers – 3 each
Squash – 1.15 lbs
Cucumber – 1.5 lbs
Tomatoes – 4.5 lbs
Watermelon – 1 each
Mint – 0.12 lbs
Perslaine – 0.12 lbs

Chard, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, purslane, squash, mint, watermelon on top

Spaghetti carbonara with chard is one of our favorite dishes, and so easy to make. It’s always a quick standby dinner for us. Other simple suppers include pureed zucchini soup, or zucchini pancakes with smoked salmon and poached eggs.

I was surprised to see purple peppers, since we’ve been getting a lot of green peppers. I wonder if they taste the same, or if they’re any sweeter. I might just eat those fresh with a salad.

We also got more purslane, which I’ve been using as a garnish. It adds a citrusy, almost sweet bite to every dish. This batch will be the perfect topping for Josh’s garlicky gazpacho.

As for the mint and watermelon, maybe we can combine those for a refreshing salad or an interesting dessert? So many possibilities!

Tags: Cucumbers, Greens, Mint, Peppers, Purslane, Squash, Swiss Chard, Tomatoes, Watermelon
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CSA2 Week #8

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 by virginia

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. We were in Hilton Head for a long weekend and ended up staying an extra half day when our flight was cancelled due to weather here in NY. At least we had great weather down there, lots of sun, though it was pretty hot and humid. I sat by the pool while Josh golfed in the morning. Not a bad way to spend a few days. Now we’re back and have lots of work to catch up on before we head off on our next trip, next week.

Josh picked up the share this week, which was another heavy load. This week our share contents included:

Cucumbers – 1.75 lbs
Tomatoes – 1.9 lbs
Squash – 1.5 lbs
Greens – 1 lb
Beets – 0.75 lbs
Purslane – 0.4 lbs
Eggplant – 1.75 lbs
Peppers – 1.25 lbs
Melon – 1 each
Basil – 0.2 lbs

Kale, purslane, eggplant, tomatoes, beets, cucumbers, squash, peppers, basil, melon on top

This was the first week that we got tomatoes, and they’re pretty ripe. I’m sure we’ll get more in the next few weeks, and while these are standard red tomatoes, I can’t wait for the heirlooms to come in. I’m not sure if we’ll make a gazpacho with these, or just pair them simply with the gorgeous basil leaves we got.

For the greens, only kale was available, which is always fine by me. We also got some more purslane, which I’m still not sure is the best way to prepare. There’s also a wonky looking yellow melon, which I don’t know if it’s sweet or savory. I guess we’ll just have to cut into it to find out!

As usual, we got more squash and cucumbers, as well as a bunch more peppers. I’ve also got a big supply of eggplant now, though Claire’s idea of baba ganoush is definitely up my alley. I love smokey eggplant dip, and the few recipes I’ve looked up look pretty simple to make. We just don’t have much time to use up all our veggies, since we’ll be away for a week and a half starting next Wednesday. I’m pickling cucumbers as I write!

Tags: Basil, Beets, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Greens, Kale, Melon, Peppers, Purslane, Squash, Tomatoes
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CSA2 Week #7

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011 by virginia

It was a pretty hectic CSA Wednesday for me, as Josh was out of town and I had a work function to attend at 5:30. I ended up running out of my office at 3 to pick up the share, then running back to work right afterward. It was also tough because our share was so HEAVY this week, though the farm reports warn us that shares later on in the season will be smaller because things are ripening so fast right now due to the warm weather. This week our share contents included:

Cucumbers – 2.5 lbs
Squash – 2 lbs
Greens – 1 lb
Eggplant – 1 lb
Peppers – 3 each
Purslane – 1/2 lb
Basil – 1/3 lb
Watermelon – 1 each
Dandelion – 1/3 lb
Tomatillos – 0.4 lbs
Beans – 2/3 lb
Corn – 2 each

Ruby chard, dandelion, squash, beans, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, watermelon, cucumbers, basil, corn, purslane

There were two new items for the season this week – corn and tomatillos. We got corn last year, but the tomatillos are brand new to us. I’d love to make a salsa verde with them, but we really don’t have a whole lot to work with. I can’t wait to try them out though, and experience their tanginess.

For the greens, we got ruby chard again. Beautiful stems though, so I’m excited. The leafy portion we’ll probably mix with dandelion and either eat them sauteed with garlic, or mixed into a spaghetti carbonara.

For the beans, I picked ordinary string beans rather than yellow or green pole beans. I prefer the tender crispiness of string beans. I’m not sure what to do with the squash and eggplant, since we get those fairly often. Maybe mix them with the peppers for a nice ratatouille? I might also try to stuff the peppers, since we still have a few from last week to use up.

As for the basil, I have a batch of pesto already in the freezer, since we’ll be away this weekend and then for the next two weekends after. Hopefully another batch will keep just as well. With regard to the purslane, we ate a simple salad of purslane and parsley greens mixed with a bit of lemon juice and olive oil. Refreshing and delicious. It’s a bit intense, so a little goes a long way. The purslane has a nice lemony flavor to it. It’s a great accompaniment to something rich – try it out! Lots of omega-3s are just a bonus.

Tags: Basil, Corn, Cucumbers, Dandelion, Eggplant, Peppers, Purslane, Squash, String Beans, Swiss Chard, Tomatillos, Watermelon
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CSA2 Week #6

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011 by virginia

Josh was in charge of picking up our CSA share this week, which was good because there was A LOT of stuff. I guess the warm weather has really rushed the ripening of a lot of the vegetables. Even so, I was pretty happy to see so much variety in addition to the quantity. This week our share included:

Squash – 2.75 lbs
Cucumbers – 2 lbs
Peppers – 0.8 lbs
Eggplant – 0.8 lbs
Basil – 0.5 lbs
Lettuce – 1 each
Greens – 1 lb
Purslane – 0.33 lbs
Beans – 0.6 lbs
Pole Beans – 0.75 lbs
Parsley – 0.15 lbs

Cucumbers, basil, string beans, collards, pole beans, peppers, lettuce, eggplant, parsley, purslane, squash

It’s the first time that we’ve received purslane, and I’m curious about it. I’ll have to do some research on how it should be prepared – anyone have any ideas? I’m also intrigued by the purple string beans, though I suspect they probably taste like regular string beans. Supposedly they turn green when cooked; that seems pretty cool.

I plan on turning the cucumbers into Chinese style garlic pickles, which are delicious and super quick to make. As for the squash, I foresee some zucchini pancakes with smoked salmon and sous vide eggs – one of my favorite brunch dishes.

I was disappointed again that we didn’t get kale for greens, but collards make good chips as well. I’m not sure how to prepare the eggplants though, which are the thin Japanese style. Maybe in some sort of garlic sauce? So many possibilities, too little time. We’ll have to make a good dent in the veggies this week though, as Josh will be on a business trip next week and then we’re off to Hilton Head for a long weekend. We did a decent job cleaning out the fridge last week so we’re almost all caught up on our veggie shares, finally!

Tags: Basil, Collard Greens, Cucumbers, Eggplant, I, Lettuce, Parsley, Peppers, Pole Beans, Purslane, Squash, String Beans
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CSA2 Week #5

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011 by virginia

Wednesday is upon us once again, which means it’s CSA time! This week, Josh and I picked up our share together, which made things go a bit more quickly. We were pretty excited that we got a few new items this time. Our share contents included:

Beets – 1 lb
Napa Cabbage – 1 each
Fennel – 1 each
Greens – 1 lb
Peppers – 3 each
Squash – 3 lbs
Cucumber – 1 lb
Broccoli – 3/4 lbs

Chard, peppers, cucumbers, fennel, napa, broccoli, squash, beets

I was a bit disappointed that we only had chard for our greens, as I was looking forward to getting some more kale. Nevertheless, the chard is gorgeous as usual, and I made a gratin last week using the chard stems. It was a big hit with Josh and a great way to use up the stems we would otherwise throw away.

For the squash, we picked out a big, round green squash and a flat UFO squash. I’ll probably end up roasting those and making a soup out of them. The beets will also be roasted, and perhaps the fennel.

I’m hoping to make a lion’s head meatball stew with the napa cabbage. I made some last year but never posted about it, and I think it’s a delicious recipe worth sharing. I know I keep saying that I want to post recipes, and I promise I’ll get around to it eventually!

Tags: Beets, Broccoli, Cucumbers, Fennel, Napa Cabbage, Peppers, Squash, Swiss Chard
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CSA2 Week #4

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 by virginia

We were in Grand Cayman last Wednesday for the wedding of our friends Sean and Claire (more on that soon!) so we missed out on last week’s CSA share. No worries, the veggies didn’t go to waste as our Aussie friends L & R took our share for the week. I hope they enjoyed everything!

According to the report we got from the farm this week, the heat has caused a lot of the veggies to ripen quickly, meaning that they had to be harvested sooner than expected. While that translated into a large share for us this week, it may also mean that shares later on in the season will be smaller. I just feel bad for the farm workers who have to be in the heat all day, and we definitely appreciate their efforts.

This week our share contents included:

Garlic Scapes – .25 lbs
Cucumbers – 1.1 lbs
Red Kale – .25 lbs
Swiss Chard – .65 lbs
Dandelion – .25 lbs
Turnips – .5 lbs
Fava Beans – 1 lb
Lettuce – 1 each
Squash – 2.3 lbs
Beans – .5 lbs

Kale, squash, fava beans, turnips, lettuce, pole beans, cucumbers, dandelion, swiss chard, garlic scapes

I was happy to see that we were getting both kale and swiss chard this week, so that I wouldn’t have to choose between the two again. Sadly, we only got 1/4 pound of the kale, which isn’t very much once you account for the inedible thick stems. Hmm.. Josh is currently out of town on business.. maybe I can make kale chips for one? Just kidding – he’d be upset with me if I did that!

I was glad that we got a lot of fava beans – I’m still trying to decide if we should make more Egyptian falafel with them, or if we should try something new. I’m also not sure how to prepare the turnips, dandelions, or the pole beans. Usually we just roast the turnips, but I’d be interested in doing something different. The pole beans we typically just saute with garlic and olive oil. The dandelion greens are tough to prepare because they can be extremely bitter. I’ll need to do some recipe research!

We didn’t get enough cucumbers for me to make pickles, so I think we’ll just eat them fresh with the lettuce. Josh made a great curry vinaigrette yesterday for the red leaf lettuce we got two weeks ago (yes, it was still good!) using a recipe by Thomas Keller. He forgot to half the recipe so we still have lots of dressing left, which I think will go nicely with the young head of romaine we got this week.

The squash will either go into a ratatouille or a pureed squash soup. Both are some of my favorite recipes, and I’m glad that we always get a lot of squash each week. As for the garlic scapes, we have quite a stock pile right now. I tweaked a garlic scape pesto recipe that I liked a lot better than my first attempt at scape pesto, so I’ll need to write a post about that.

I definitely have a lot of catching up to do, post wise. I’ve got so much to write about and not enough time. I’m happy to report though that we’ve been sticking to our workout regiment. Having the CSA share has only made it easier for us to eat more healthfully, and more importantly, everything is fresh and delicious. I may finally be starting to see some results from all of our hard work!!

Tags: Cucumbers, Dandelion, Fava Beans, Garlic Scapes, Kale, Lettuce, Pole Beans, Squash, Swiss Chard, Turnips
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CSA2 Week #2

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 by virginia

It’s Wednesday again so you know what that means – CSA day! We were back at our normal pickup location this week so I ran there after work to get our veggies before heading back out for a softball game. We got a wide variety of items in this share, and so far the crops have been looking great. This week our share contents included:

Garlic scapes – 0.4 lb
Lettuce – 1 head
Broccoli rabe – 0.5 lb
Fava beans – 0.5 lb
Greens – 1 lb
Mint – 2 oz
Cucumbers – 0.65 lb
Squash – 0.9 lb

Broccoli rabe, mint, garlic scapes, lettuce, fava beans, ruby chard, squash and cucumbers in front

Josh and I were both super excited to see broccoli rabe on the list. It’s something that we’ve never gotten before from the CSA, and we know exactly what we want to do with it. A few months ago we were at Becco, my favorite restaurant, and ordered a special appetizer of the day. It was burrata served on top of braised broccoli rabe and grilled bread, lightly dressed with olive oil and salt. The combination was heavenly. The burrata was rich and creamy and just melted across the broccoli rabe. The bread added a nice crunch, and it was a wonderful dish that we hope to replicate at home.

We were also happy to see fava beans, though we probably don’t have enough to make a batch of Egyptian style falafel. I’m sure we’ll figure out another good use for the beans though. Same with the cucumbers and squash – we didn’t get a whole lot of those but we can probably just prepare them simply and enjoy the freshness of the vegetables.

This week we didn’t have much choice for the greens, as all the boxes had swiss chard in them. There were a few different colors available but I stuck with the gorgeous ruby chard, since those looked the nicest. Josh and I made a delicious spaghetti carbonara with the ruby chard from last week’s share, which I plan on posting about. We also got another head of lettuce, red leaf this time, and more garlic scapes.

As for the mint, mojitos anyone?

Tags: Broccoli Rabe, Cucumbers, Fava Beans, Garlic Scapes, Lettuce, Mint, Squash, Swiss Chard
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