July 22nd, 2009 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

This week we have an unusual variety of spinach.  This is the vine of loose leaves in your basket.  Feel free to use the spinach leaves as you would any variety, either lightly steamed or sautéed, or in a salad raw.  The stems can be cooked as well as long as they are not the larger ones.  This will be my first time trying this as well except for eating it raw in the fields.

We have two types of cucumbers this week, one long Japanese cucumber and then the more common variety of marketmore.   If your cuke has a skinny middle,  that is the pattern of the rain season on your food.  When it is dry, the fruit grows very little and then when we get water, it explodes again.  Take a look at the pattern of your food.  We also have the yummy Sungold tomatoes again this week from Whippoorwill Hollow Farms.  These are like candy and don’t really last very long at my house.  I hope you are enjoying the beginning of the tomato season.  I know I am!  I took some large ones that were not up to traveling to your house and stewed them all night this week.  Oh!  Good food needs very little.  If you find yourself with an over-ripe stack of tomatoes, do yourself a favor and cook them up with a little basil, skin and all.  I have put them over my eggs, in my pasta or just eaten them alone with a spoon!

We also have a few very small peppers in our baskets.  These are cayennes so go easy with the heat.  You can cook them up or hang them to dry.  I love them both ways.  This week, I think I will cook one with some corn and squash. Below is your list of goodies for this week:

1 long Japanese Cucumber
marketmore cucumbers
Sungold tomatoes
Vine ripe tomato
Yellow squash
Potatoes (red and gold)
New Zealand spinach
Corn
Cayenne peppers
Basil

Enjoy your summer goodies.  Have a great week and remember, I am always happy to TALK FOOD!

Namaste,
Margie Thorpe