CSA Week 5

Here's what's in the box this week:
6 ears of corn
2 zucchini
sm watermelon
eggplant
4 jalapenos, 4 small round green chiles
red onion, yellow onion
red potatoes
sm head broccoli
3 tomatoes

Extras from friends:
2 peppers (also had 1 left over from last week)

Recipes:
Pickled jalapenos
Ratatouille
Mint, feta, watermelon salad
Pickled watermelon rind
Baked potato casserole
Stuffed pepper stoup

All the peppers went into the brine. I only had 1 jar's worth, so I used 1/2 a recipe for the pickle. I also didn't have palm sugar, so I used brown sugar. And I decided to heat it up in the microwave rather than on the stove - pouring out of a saucepan is tricky and I would just get the pickle everywhere! About a min and a half was enough to warm it enough to dissolve the salt and sugar. I've been seeing a lot of recipes for jalapeno popper dip and some use pickled jalapenos...so that might be the future of these...

Ah, ratatouille! I think my mom and I make this every year. It's a great dish for using up too many tomatoes and zucchini. We also seem to have an eggplant that doesn't look too good that needs to be used...so ratatouille it is! This year I have lovely fresh veggies, but it all ends up being delicious. I didn't have peppers (they were used in another recipe), but this dish is very forgiving. I also made a half recipe and it was tons! I did add my own version of Herbs de Provence by adding in Italian Seasoning then a pinch of lavender...yum!! Planning to have this either on top of, or next to some grilled chicken.

After looking at a few recipes online, I kinda made up my own version of this salad. Watermelon, feta, mint and pickled red onion. Enjoy!

There's this great blog called Purple Kale Kitchenworks, I think they are a cooking school in Brooklyn. They have a recurring theme called "Not Trash" where they take things that you would otherwise throw out and turn into something you can eat. This recipe for pickled watermelon rinds comes from that. They then use the pickled rind in a salad, so I'll be making that next week! And yes, mom, I took the outer edge of the watermelon rind off. I looked at a lot of recipes and most have you take it off...so you were right...

Still have an excess of potatoes, so was looking for a potato broccoli casserole recipe - this one is a winner. I was a little worried since there isn't really a sauce, but there's more than enough cheese to make up for it. Yum!

This is stuffed pepper stoup. It's a Rachel Ray recipe. She says a stoup is not as thick as a stew but thicker than a soup. This recipe is a real winner, tastes like a stuffed pepper but without the work of making them. Yum!!

Oh, the corn went to my neighbor, who was sooo happy to get them. I'm a bit corned out at the moment. If I get more next week, I'll probably throw it in the freezer.