Wondering what to do with those CSA vegetables? Here's a great list of ideas specifically for corn, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes, and peaches. // alexandracooks.com

Blue cheese toasts with peaches

Hello! Catching up on CSA posts…I’ve been slacking. I hope you have been, too. It’s that time of year, right?

PS: All past CSA posts can be found here.

PPS: What have you been making? Any discoveries?

CSA Weeks 7, 8, 9: corn, onions, eggplant, Japanese eggplant, beets, peppers, lettuce, scallions, tomato, zucchini, melon, chard, peaches

Corn: If you aren’t steaming or boiling it, and eating it straight up, I recommend fresh corn polenta, one of my all-time favorite things to eat. The corn has been delicious. Also: Tacos with Grilled Poblano and Corn Salad and Tomato, Corn and Gruyère Galette

fresh corn polenta with poached eggpoblano-corn tacoscorn, tomato, gruyere, galette

Eggplant: About this time of year every year, I wonder where I would be without Chez Panisse Vegetables. Many of my favorite eggplant recipes come from the eggplant chapter of that book, and I recently made another one: grilled Japanese eggplant with salsa verde (recipe for salsa verde here; grill eggplant over high with olive oil, salt and pepper). A few other eggplant ideas: Pasta with Tomato, Eggplant and Caramelized Onions, Eggplant Caviar on Grilled Bread, Eggplant Involtini (a favorite!), Burnt Eggplant with Za’atar flatbread, Crispy Eggplant Rounds, Cook’s Illustrated Eggplant Parmesan

(Images link to recipes.)
eggplant involtini eggplant caviarburnt eggplant caviar with za'atar flatbreadcrispy eggplant rounds with tomato saucemaking the pastaCooks Illustrated eggplant parm

Cook's Illustrated Eggplant Parmesan

Onions: Caramelize them and use them all week in omelets, on pizza with burrata, in pasta with Marcella Hazan tomato sauce.

2-egg omeletcaramelized onion, burrata pizzapasta with caramelized onions, eggplant and tomatoes

Beets: What are you making with them? I’ve been boiling them, dressing them, and eating them with cheese. I do love this Ottolenghi beet, orange and olive salad — substituting the oranges with peaches or plums could work. Mores ideas for beets here.

Peppers: I love this red pepper and tomato pasta sauce — so easy and good. Or, make a pepperonata: sweat peppers and onions (2:1 ratio) together in olive oil with salt over low heat covered for 30 minutes. Uncover, and sauté until meltingly tender, another 30 minutes. Add garlic, capers, and a splash of vinegar. Taste. Adjust seasoning as necessary. Serve over toast.

pepperonata

Cucumber and canteloupe are a great match. Pair them together in a salad with a mint vinaigrette:
melon salad

Zucchini: The Zucchini Anchovy, Sautéed Zucchini with Pine Nuts and Mint, Zucchini Fritters

The zucchini anchovy sautéed zucchini zucchini fritters

Chard: What to do with an Overload of Swiss Chard?
Make a slab galette:

slab galette with swiss chard and gruyere

Tomatoes: Tomatoes with Grilled Bread and Homemade Ricotta, Roasted Tomato and Bread Soup, Tomatoes: Breakfast, Noon & Night

Roasted Tomato and Bread Soup tomatoes, ricotta, grilled breadtomato, cream cheese, bagel

Peaches: Is it heresy to suggest eating a peach any other way than over a sink, juices dripping down your chin? Sorry. Here’s a peach-and-blue cheese toast (pictured up top) from the Canal House ladies via Bon Appetit. Love it.

Potatoes!! The first of the season — so exciting. I am looking forward to many many many trays of the crispiest oven fries.

The crispiest oven fries

CSAweek7

Salsa verde for that grilled eggplant:
salsa verde