Tips for Storing Produce

Slimy greens. Moldy tomatoes. Sprouting potatoes. I know how it is: the schedule gets hectic or I was overzealous at the market. It’s a very sad day when I have to throw out food that has gone bad. But did you know that you can prolong the veggie lifespan by using proper storage methods?

For example, salad greens keep much longer when stored in a salad spinner. It lets them breathe and stay dry. It’s probably one of my best kitchen gadget purchases. If you don’t have a salad spinner, slip a paper towel in with the greens to absorb moisture and make sure the container or bag is vented. This chart has thorough recommendations for produce storage, including fruits or vegetables that are particularly sensitive to ethylene—a gas emitted most notably by apples that hastens ripening in other produce.

Some fruits and vegetables are more flavorful and juicier when they are at room temperature. I’m thinking especially of tomatoes and peaches. What do you think? I keep this chart [pdf] handy in my kitchen as a quick reference for determining produce storage.

Even more information is here and here.

Do you have any tips for storing produce?

Edible Landscaping

We have a beautiful color combination from the amaranth, sweet potato vine (serving as ground cover and food source), and magnolia tree. Later this fall we’ll explore amaranth and its uses.

Eggplanterrific

Cheesy Roasted Eggplant Bake
from Oklahoma Living
2 large eggplants, sliced lengthwise, 3/4-inch thick
3 T olive oil, plus more for baking dish
1 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta cheese
3 large eggs
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 c mozzarella cheese, grated
3 T chopped fresh or dried oregano, divided
1 1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
2 t fresh or dry basil
red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450˚. Arrange eggplant slices in a single layer on two, rimmed baking sheets. Brush both sides lightly with oil; season to taste with salt and pepper. Roast until eggplant is tender and golden, about 25 to 30 minutes, turning halfway through. Set aside. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta, eggs, Parmesan, 2 T oregano, 1 1/2 t salt, and 1/4 t pepper. In a separate bowl, combine sauce, basil, 1 T of oregano, and salt, pepper, and pepper flakes to taste. Brush an 8-inch square baking dish with oil. Lay a fourth of a roasted eggplant slices in bottom of prepared dish; spread with half of tomato sauce. Top with another fourth of eggplant; spread with half of ricotta. Repeat layers, ending with ricotta; sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake until bubbling and golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

The Sunflower Cycle

Peeking at the world.

In full bloom.

Birdseed.

Variations on Green and Purple

Crookneck, zephyr, pattypan, cucumbers, lemon cucumbers, zucchini

imperial black beauty, ichiban, rosa bianca, and casper

Onions with Balsamic Glaze

Onions with Balsamic Glaze
from Gourmet

1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
3 T unsalted butter
2 pounds medium Spanish onions, halved
1 c regular balsamic vinegar
1 c water
1 t chopped, fresh rosemary

1. In a 10- to 12-inch saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the butter and cook until the foam subsides. Add the onions cut side down and saute until light golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Add the sugar, vinegar, water, and rosemary and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook the onions, uncovered, until they are just al dente and the liquid has reduced to a glaze and the onions are tender all the way through, about 20 minutes. If the liquid evaporates too quickly, add more water, 1/4 cup at a time. Serve warm or at room temperature.

These are delicious on their own or on a burger! Ooooh, or as a condiment with bread and soft cheeses.
I used the small-to-medium sized onions from the Guilford Gardens CSA.

Makes 4 servings.

Guilford in Bloom

Moonflower, amaranth and sunflowers, zinnias, more amaranth and sunflowers

Another Gem from Pollan

Have you seen Julie & Julia? I haven’t yet, but I got a good introduction from Michael Pollan’s most recent piece in the New York Times Magazine. After reading “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch,” you won’t look at cooking shows (or “eating shows” as he calls them) the same. Here are some excerpts I particularly enjoyed:

“Already today, 80 percent of the cost of food eaten in the home goes to someone other than a farmer, which is to say to industrial cooking and packaging and marketing.”

“Cooking’s fate may be to join some of our other weekend exercises in recreational atavism: camping and gardening and hunting and riding on horseback. Something in us apparently likes to be reminded of our distant origins every now and then and to celebrate whatever rough skills for contending with the natural world might survive in us, beneath the thin crust of 21st-century civilization.”

“The path to a diet of fresher, unprocessed food, not to mention a revitalized local-food economy, passes straight through the home kitchen.”

Do the recipes Kam sends with the CSA help you feel more comfortable preparing some of the less-common produce? Do cooking shows inspire or intimidate you?

CMV and Other Ailments

Cucumber mosaic virus, fusarium wilt, and spider mites (oh my!) have afflicted our crops this summer. We do our best to ward off pests by growing strong plants in nutrient-rich soil. We’ve enlisted help from an entomologist, but sometimes it just comes down to having the time to scrutinize the plants and soil for the little buggers. The entomologist said we have several species of predatory insects, so that’s a boon!

Willy’s Tomatoes

May 28

June 18

July 9

This past winter we expanded Guilford Gardens by purchasing the adjacent lot. Willy raised an organic garden there for twenty-something years, so it only makes sense that the field tomatoes planted on that land were dramatically more productive than the surrounding plants. The smaller, original Guilford Gardens doesn’t have as much organic matter built up in the soil, but we’re working on it!

And for some eye candy:

What have you done with the tomatoes you received this season? I made gazpacho for the first time.