Roasted Squash Medley

The summer farm share is over now, but in the last few weeks we were starting to get winter squash. This was good preparation for the weeks and weeks of squash and root vegetables in the winter farm share that starts the week after Thanksgiving. The other night I combined 1 small butternut squash, 1 delicata squash, 1 celeriac, and about 1/2 the cloves of a head of garlic. I peeled the squash and celeriac and cut everything into about 1x1 inch cubes. I left the garlic skin on the individual cloves. I drizzled olive oil over everything and added salt, pepper, and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Our oven has been acting up lately and so we have to set it about 25 degrees higher than what we want. Luckily we have an over thermometer! I roasted these at about 400 for 20-30 minutes. Since they are in such small cubes they may cook faster than you are expecting and you probably want to avoid overcooking them and having a medley of mush!

Calabacitas

Calabacitas: squash, onions, corn, and chiles; yummy side dish or taco filling.

4-5 squash (any combination of yellow squash and zucchini will work), sliced into 1/4 inch thick medallions

1 sweet onion, halved and sliced

Corn (1 can or 3 ears)

1 can green chiles (I often get Ortega or Casa Fiesta, but don't use canned jalapenos unless you want SPICY)

4-5 strips of bacon, chopped into 1 inch pieces

In a cast iron or large non-stick skillet, cook bacon over med-high heat until done but not crispy. Add onions to pan and cook until translucent or even lightly browned (6-8 minutes). Reduce heat to medium and add squash in batches, about 1/3 at a time, to make sure it gets its fair share of bacon grease and direct exposure to the hot pan. Add corn and chiles and cook over med-low heat until everything is warm through. This dish can be prepared first and sit while the rest of the meal is cooking.

At the beach last week we used canned corn and only a few chiles because I accidently picked up canned jalapenos and we didn't want to make everyone wince and cry in pain from the heat. On Monday night when we made calabacitas to go with our tacos, we used leftover grilled corn from the night before. We had about 2 1/2 ears left and I scraped the kernels right off the cobs and tossed it in instead of canned corn. Delicious if you have the corn left over but not necessary.

Tabouli

Last night we had a mostly chilled summer dinner of grilled chicken sandwiches, grilled squash and tabouli. First, for the tabouli. I almost followed the recipe on the bag of bulgur wheat but minus the fresh mint. If I had planted the mint that I bought weeks ago, we may have had enough to add the fresh mint. Instead, I left the mint to fend for itself in its little plastic tub. I went looking for it and realized it must have gotten so dry that it was light enough to get blown right off the back deck. Ooops. Now it is happily in the ground but I had to use dried mint in the tabouli!

1/2C dry bulgur wheat

1/4C chopped parsley

1/4C chopped fresh mint (I used about 1T dried)

1 small cucumber, chopped (I used a platinum cuke from the farmers market)

1 tomato, chopped

1/4C green onions, chopped

1/3C lemon juice

2-3T olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Following the directions on the bag, I rinsed the bulgur in a strainer, set the strainer in a bowl, and covered the bulgur with boiling water. I let this sit while I chopped all the ingredients. With everything but the bulgur in a bowl, I stirred it up. I drained the bulgur, rinsed it with cold water, pressed the water out through the strainer, and fluffed the bulgur. I stirred in the bulgur and chilled the tabouli for a couple hours.

The chicken for the sandwiches was cooked on the grill and sliced up. On slices of a baguette we had chicken, lettuce, tomato, fresh mozzarella, and pesto. We used a batch of garlic scape and walnut pesto. On the side we also had grilled squash including a zucchini, a yellow squash, and several very sweet and tasty patty pan squash. All the squash came in our farm share this week.