What's in the Box? July 28, 2015

Micro-greens! After all of the salads we ate at our house at the beginning of the season, I can't believe how excited I was to open our box this week and discover salad greens again. It has only been two months since they were in rotation, but I can't recall having had a single green salad in the past two months, unless it was maybe in a restaurant somewhere. I hadn't really missed them—I was too busy enjoying the other delights of the season—but I am really glad to see them again.

That's the funny thing about eating locally, for me at least: You don't miss what you don't have. Like salad greens, strawberries were so plentiful during strawberry season this summer that I don't think I will mind waiting until next year to eat them again.

However, maybe you are getting a little tired of eggplants? Will says that happens for a lot of people this time of year. (He also says there are more eggplants still to come.) So this week, I'm putting together an Eggplant Round-up of tips about eggplants, the eggplant recipes I have used and loved, and a few new eggplant recipes I am still hoping to try out. So I hope that will see you through the next couple of weeks of eggplants, until they disappear for another year.

Here's what was in the box this week:

1 bag micro-greens
1 bunch basil
1 pint Juliet tomatoes
1 pint Roma tomatoes
4 slicing tomatoes
4 chili peppers
1 bell pepper
4 eggplants
4 onions
3 peaches
2 apples
1 cantaloupe

Here's how I plan to use it:

Wednesday breakfast
Sliced peaches with cottage cheese

Wednesday lunch
Eggplant Parmesan*
Baked Apples
Microgreen Simple Salad

Thursday dinner
Spaghetti with Homemade Tomato and Basil Sauce*
Cantaloupe and Mint Granitas

Friday dinner
Homemade Pizza with Tomatoes, Mozzarella, and Homemade Pesto

Saturday lunch
Tomato Soup

Saturday dinner
Steak with Roasted Tomatoes

*I'm using this recipe for Stewed Tomatoes from the Brooklyn Farm Girl. I've used it several times already this summer, and I love it! It makes a wonderful base for soups, salsas, and tomato sauce. I'll probably make extra to freeze, too.