Zucchini Plan

Yesterday, with 16 zucchini/summer squash on my kitchen counter, I made a plan. How about zucchini soup?? I could cook it up now, freeze it, and then pull it out of the freezer this fall/winter. I hit the computer and found this recipe:

Creamy Zucchini Soup

I tasted it and it's GREAT. I did not do the herb thing on top because:

a) I despise the taste of parsley;

b) I'm freezing the soup; and

c) I buy herbs very cautiously (except cilantro, which is the King of Herbs)... If I can't use up all of it, I try to find a way around it.

I do plan on serving this with bread... maybe a garlic-rubbed charred bread (ala Rachel Ray). This recipe took up 8 of the zucchinis. Only 8 to go! My freezer is already full of shredded zucchini from past co-op weeks... we'll be enjoying lots of zucchini bread throughout the fall :) But, I'm sure I'll end up shredding more. Luckily, Matt likes to eat zucchini raw so I keep slicing it and sending it to work with him.

Co-op This Week

Matt picked up our share this week... and we got 12 zucchinis!!! We also received:

• 5 summer squash
• 2 egg plants
• 4 green peppers
• raspberries
• bag of peaches/nectarines
• arugula
• tomatoes (cherry and regular)
• basil

I have NO idea what I'm going to do with that zucchini... any help??

Co-op

I have loved being apart of our food co-op. We get a wide variety of fresh, organic, locally grown produce delivered to our town weekly. It keeps me focused on trying new ingredients and recipes, and our meals are more diverse.

That's not to say that it's easy doing a co-op. Menu planning has changed since I get the produce on Wednesday: instead of planning on Sunday (after I've had a chance to research this week's circulars/coupons), I'm trying to plan a bit on Sunday and a bit on Wednesday. It's not the most efficient use of my time, but it's working- I think. And, you need to be flexible with what you get. Lucky for me, Matt eats ANYTHING. So, I know that whatever we get will likely be eaten if I take the time to prepare it. We've also had to be a bit understanding of how many crops the farm is yielding. Like most of the East Coast, Long Island has had a crummy summer. That translated to lots of lettuce in June (more than 2 people can eat) and no tomatoes, yet. But overall, we're happy with it- it's been the right decision for us!

This week we got:

3 red onions

3 green peppers

2 zucchinis

1 bunch of parsley

1 bunch of carrots

2 lbs of purple potatoes

1 bag of mixed lettuce

1 eggplant

1 bag of UFO peaches

We usually get more fruit, but we have tons of these cute, little peaches to help us get through the week! Not quite sure how I'm going to use all of this throughout the week, but I'll let you know!!

Summer Squash

Matt and I are about 6 weeks into our farm co-op program and we are slowly getting the hang of everything... for the first few weeks we were overwhelmed with large amounts of random produce. We get our deliveries on Wednesdays, so I'll explain more then.



Last week, we received some summer squash, aka: zuchinni. It looks like a cucumber but when you hold it, you can tell it's not as dense. Having never even purchased a zuchinni before, I didn't have a clue what I was going to do with it. Luckily, our co-op has a recipe site:

Golden Earthworm Recipes



Here is the recipe I used last night for our summer squash and Matt LOVED it. While I was preparing it, I was bit neverous... oil spattered everywhere and I was convinced I had somehow messed up this seemingly easy recipe. But, apparently it worked! Matt said he has several dishes like this before and this one was done perfectly.

Zucchini with Garlic and Dried Crushed Red Pepper



Enjoy!