Friday, July 2, 2010

CSA Week ... I have no idea

Okay, so I stopped telling you about what I've been getting in my CSA. My bad. I just kept forgetting to take photos before I used the goodies. That being said ... I have totally lost count of what week this is ... perhaps I can figure it out before next week. Oh, and I still didn't take a photo. But this week I received:

-kale
-2 zucchini
-1 eggplant
-basil
-potatoes
-whipped cinnamon honey

So ... I have never liked eggplant. Or zucchini. But one of my goals for this CSA was to try new things, despite my previous perceptions of them. Zucchini has been a tough one - I never really know what to do with it. And I currently have FIVE zucchini at home (3 were leftover from last week's CSA share!) that I'm struggling to figure out what to do with. I have already made zucchini chocolate chip bread, and Lucy gave me some other ideas, too. Do you have any good zucchini recipes? If so ... can you please share them with me? I have freaking FIVE zucchinis, friends. FIVE. Help me.

That being said ... I knew I had to try the eggplant. It was so pretty, and well ... I wasn't just going to ignore it. So, I made something up. I thinly sliced the eggplant and sauteed it in a little bit of olive oil. Meanwhile, I cooked some gluten-free pasta and made basil pesto. My pesto was delicious! Made with farm-fresh basil and 3 cloves of farm-fresh garlic, some olive oil, and a sprinkling of grated parmesan. I threw it all in the food processor and let it run until the garlic was minced. Then I threw everything together! It looked like this:

Okay, so maybe it isn't the prettiest meal. But guess what? It was freaking AMAZING. I am officially taking eggplant off my list of things I don't like. The eggplant was perfectly cooked and had a great flavor, the pesto was so fresh and green and had a kick thanks to the fresh garlic. YUM! The bottom line is that anything with fresh pesto just screams summer.

What are your favorite eggplant recipes? And zucchini! Don't forget zucchini!

4 comments:

Ashley said...

Oh I loooooooove zuchinni (sp)

You can eat it raw with dip (so good) or grate it and put it in lasagna or manicotti. I like mine sauteed with mushrooms, garlic and olive oil.

Jane said...

Whipped cinnamon honey??? That sounds like the MOST AMAZING THING EVER!

Zucchini ... dip it in egg, roll it in yummy bread crumbs, and bake it. Num num num!

AEOT said...

Slice it about 1/4 inch thick, sautee until soft and golden on edges in olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes, sprinkle shredded parmesan on top and eat for dinner! I usually do half zucchini half yellow squash, but I've done it with just zucchini too. My aunt adds one can of chopped tomatoes and then throws it over pasta- it's good that way too.

If you have a few you aren't going to eat now, shred them and squeeze out the water. Throw them in a freezer bag and then the next time you make spaghetti, lasagna, etc just throw the shredded stuff in for an added nutritional bonus.

Anonymous said...

what about ratatouile? with tomato sauce, onions, garlic, and zucchini (yellow and green mix is my fave!), and let it slow cook and simmer for a while, it's delish! I like it over pasta or in a salad with some grilled chicken.

And girlfriend, what'd you do with the whipped cinnamon honey? It sounds amazeballs!