End of Summer Produce Bounty
Managing the abundance and a 🍆 recipe
Well it has happened. It is the end of summer (EOS). FINALLY. I have loved the last two summers more than any other summers of my life but it is still my least favorite season. I feel relieved to have made it to the fall months.
School has begun for many, the first day of school cookies have been baked, and I had to decide if I was going to wear a jacket in the morning only to ditch it with the 80 degree weather later in the day. I watched an episode of Gilmore Girls with a blanket wrapped around me. The chai spice mix is prepped for the season. I’ve had my first fall coffee drink. My autumn playlist has been queued up.
With the welcoming in of the new season comes the transition out of the end of another season. Before I can join the fall celebrations in earnest, I need to give the end of summer produce its due. So let’s celebrate the bounty instead of being burdened by it, shall we?
EOS Produce Storage
There is so much excellent produce right now that our farmer can’t fit everything in the boxes that is ready to eat! The boxes are heavy and bursting with goodness and abundance thanks to the hottest months of the year. We have some new veg popping up - I’m sure you’re seeing more and more eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes at the farmers market or co-op! I’m obsessed with our CSA (read more about why here), and even if you don’t have a CSA, this is how you’ll want to store and preserve your seasonal veg. Let’s dig into how to store the new veggies to keep them fresh for as long as possible.
Bell peppers - Zip top bag in the fridge
Butterhead lettuce - Zip top bag in the fridge with a paper towel to absorb moisture
Edamame - Zip top bag in the fridge
Eggplant - Zip top bag in the fridge
Green beans - Zip top bag in the fridge
Ground cherries - In a berry container in the fridge
Melons - Sliced up and stored in an airtight bowl
Potatoes - On the counter AWAY from your onions
Tomatillos - Zip top bag in the fridge with a paper towel to absorb moisture
Meal Planning/Preservation
This is how we will use the veggies we got in our CSA box this week. It’s a really intense time of year when it comes to fresh food and it takes a bit of work to make sure we are eating it all or preserving it for the winter months. With a little effort though we’ve been able to FINISH our veggies from our box early for two weeks in a row. Aren’t you proud of us?!
Friday dinner: BLT/O
uses tomatoes and butterhead lettuce
Saturday dinner: grilled chimichurri chicken skewers
uses bell peppers and potatoes
Sunday dinner: sausage, chard and beans
uses swiss chard
Monday dinner: frozen mini beef tacos and slaw
uses cabbage
Tuesday dinner: veggie stir fry
uses basil, green beans, bell peppers, cabbage, edamame
Wednesday dinner: pasta with red sauce
uses basil, marjoram, and tomatoes
We’ll snack on the ground cherries, melons, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes, plus we got more zucchini so I’ll make some zucchini muffins for breakfast this week. Any extra green beans will get their ends trimmed and then get added to the zip top bag in the freezer. Extra tomatoes will be added to the tomato bag in the freezer for a future sauce. We get kale every week which we strip from the hardy stem and add to a zip top bag in the freezer as well. If you’re thinking to yourself, this gal loves her freezer, you would be correct. Read more about that below.
Freezer Power!
Most of us have access to a freezer. Some of us may now have or grew up with a chest freezer in the garage or basement. All of us have thrown something in the back of the icy cavern only to forget about it and pull out something that looks like the vegetable mass above.
Let’s celebrate the joy of being sick of certain veggies and then find a way to bottle up the flavors we’ll miss in the dead of winter.
Gochujang Eggplant
This recipe is one I threw together last year in an effort to use eggplant in a new way. I was getting tired of the classic Italian recipes that use eggplant, and I whipped up a gochujang paste to slather onto slabs of eggplant and this recipe was born. There is no measurements because it’s based on your tastes and how much eggplant you have.
Fresh eggplant, sliced into 1” thick slabs and scored in a grid like the pic above
Gochujang, any variety
Soy sauce
Rice Vinegar
Sesame seeds for garnish
Preheat oven to 425℉
Place the eggplant on baking sheets rimmed with foil. They should be in one layer. Sprinkle them with salt while you prep the gochujang paste.
Scoop out one rounded spoonful of gochujang into a small bowl. Add a splash or two of soy sauce and a splash or two of rice vinegar. Whisk together until it forms a smooth paste texture. If it’s too thick, add more soy sauce or rice vin. If it’s too thin, add more gochujang.
Use a pastry brush, spoon or your hands to slather the paste onto the eggplant. There should be some left to use on the other side.
Bake for 10 mins. Take out the eggplant and use tongs to flip them over. Slather on more of the paste on the other sides and bake for 15-25 mins depending on how thick your eggplant slabs are.
Once a knife can easily slide through the eggplant, they are done!
Let cool for a few mins, then scoop out the flesh/cut off the skin (or not) to eat!
Serve over rice, with quick pickled veggies and soft boiled eggs.
Things I Like
Below Deck Down Under - a Bravo series that is new to me and I’m loving it!
Giving into my urges to just get the iced coffee
Athleisure pants being sneakily “professional” - affirming to my body needs
Brown nail polish
May your week be gentle and may you eat well. 🌲🥣