In This Week's Box

When you get your box home this week, take the beets greens off of the beets. Both go in bags in the crisper drawer, as do the carrots and the zucchini. The fresh onions should go in the crisper drawer, but they don’t need a bag. Garlic gets a dry, cool spot (easier this week than last!), and the tomatoes go out on the counter.

Round Red Greenhouse Tomatoes

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes

Golden Zucchini

Green Top Beets - The earthy flavor of beets comes from the same chemical compound that soil organisms secrete to make the characteristic smell of freshly-tilled soil. If you are reluctant to try beets because of some leftover trepidation resulting from canned and boiled conventional beets from you childhood, then please try our beets. The best simple preparation is to bake them in a covered baking dish at 425 for about an hour. The beet greens have a pleasant flavor, different than spinach but close enough that they will work in most spinach recipes.

Basil – Again, keep this warmer than the rest of your produce by double-wrapping it, or putting it in the door, or both. A member of the mint family, basil seems to have originated in India, although some evidence seems to indicate that it originated in China. Throughout the world, it has a range of symbolism, from a symbol of mourning in Greece to a symbol of engagement in Romania. A good Hindu goes to rest with a leaf on his breast as a passport to paradise.

Carrots – Still loving our carrots this year.

Fresh Red Onions – By next week, we should be into our more regular storage onions. In the meantime, enjoy the fresh reds for their mild flavor and juicy texture.

Garlic

One of several other items: salad mix, purple broccoli, or red peppers. We didn’t have enough of any of these for all of the boxes this week, so we have used them up by spreading them around.