July 8, 2024
Eggplant, Tomatillos and More
by Linda Dansbury

Summer is showing it's fierceness in it's early weeks, and the new veggies are representing the heat.

Eggplant - you will see quite a variety of eggplant types in the pick up room - over the summer, try them all. The "globe" varieties are great sliced and grilled, made into Eggplant Parmigiana, grilled until blackened and soft and turned into Baba Ganoush, and countless other preparations. The Japanese type are great grilled, and a couple of my favorite dishes with these are Thai Style Eggplant Salad and Eggplant and Green Beans in a Spicy Garlic Sauce. The eggplant from the farm is not treated with anything to extend shelf life, so needs to be used fairly quickly - within a week is best.

Tomatillos - this is such a fun u-pick crop. Find a spot in the row in which they have already fallen off the plant. If you pick them, make sure they are getting yellow or purple and the husks are drying out and split. Then they are ripe - the ones you find in the supermarkets are picked early and are typically bright green. To prepare them, peel off the husks and rinse off to take the stickiness away. They can be used raw in salads or salsas, as in the raw version of Salsa Verde or the cooked version - Grilled Salsa Verde or the Stewed Chicken with Tomatillo Sauce. Tomatillos store well in a plastic bag in the fridge, keeping for at least 2 weeks.

Celery - Everyone knows celery and how to eat it raw with other veggies (such as carrots, cucumber, string beans) in a crudite platter - perhaps with your own Baba Ganoush or in the Celery and Mushroom Salad. Celery is also delicious cooked as in Braised Celery. The leaves are delicious chopped up and added to a salad. Don't throw anything away - freeze in bags, along with other parts of veggies you aren't using (stubs of onion, carrot tops and/or peels, etc) to use in veggie stock.