Oh no…..its actually happening. The end of summer and fall is in the air. We are gearing up for shorter days, longer nights and cooler temperatures. “Back to school” already last week and marks the beginning of new routines and signals a change in the way many cook from summer BBQ’s to fall stews, pot pies and soups. What foods should we be eating in autumn? Based on traditional Chinese medicine, its about eating seasonally and locally. The following should now be part of your fall diet: root vegetables, whole grains, legumes, green vegetables, hearty greens, fruit, fish and herbs.
Here is what you can expect this week:
Fredonia Grapes – The final sampling from our certified organic partner Clayton Farm, the last of our grape series. Great flavour for juice, jellies, wine or eating. They have a sweet taste with a hint of spiciness.
Heirloom Tomatoes – If you are not able to eat all the tomatoes fresh, its easy to preserve them for later. They can be frozen whole by slicing the top of each tomato with a shallow X to prevent from bursting and place them on a cookie sheet to freeze until solid. Bag them according to how you will be using them. Because we are so busy during the summer, Marc and I like to stew them up, pour into glass canning jars (not too full) and freeze them. Whatever works best for you.
Stir Fry Mix – A mix of greens for stir-frying, braising, blanching or eating raw in a hearty salad. Wilt into soup, add to scrambled eggs or omelets.
Sweet Banana Peppers – Use them in all sorts of ways. Chopping and sautéing them as part of your mirepoix, making salsas, tossing them into salads or pickling them. One of our favourite ways is stuffing them because they are just big enough to hold whatever stuffing you’re in the mood for. Their walls aren’t very thick, yet they offer a bit of sweet crunch when eaten raw and soften up nicely in the cooking process.
Eggplant – Are you an eggplant skeptic? The best way to learn to love them is to make eggplant parmesan. Bread thickly sliced eggplant, then arrange on cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 400 until tender. In a casserole dish start with tomato sauce on the bottom and layer eggplant slices, more sauce with shredded mozzarella. Repeat layers until full but finish off with cheese on top. Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes (until cheese starts to bubble). Turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes to cheese start to brown in places. Let rest and slice. Top with fresh basil (we have some in the store) and dig in.
Green Onions – You can never get enough of these sweet and mellow onions because they are so versatile. They add a wonderful fresh flavour to salads and sandwiches when sliced and eaten raw. They have a delicious sweet, savory and mild flavour when cooked. Store in a vegetable bag in the fridge and use within five days.
Sunflower Bunch – If you read our weekly newsletter you know all about our cover cropping to add nutrition to our soil. In one of our new mixes is sunflowers, and what a lovely surprise to see these happy yellow sunflowers peppered throughout our fields. They make beautiful cut flowers that should last a week in water at room temperature.
Enjoy
