Oh pshaw, on Tue 04 Jul 2006 07:22:01p, Bob Terwilliger meant to say...

> This is what was in my CSA box of goodies today:
>
> Potatoes: some yellow, some blue, some red; about two pounds in all
> Red onions: 2 oblate, 1 small prolate
> Purple string beans, just over a pound
> 2 heads leaf lettuce
> 4 squash: 1 each zucchini, pattypan, zephyr, and yellow crookneck
> 1 bunch of cilantro
> 1 bunch of collard greens
> 1 bunch of parsley
> 1 bunch of basil
> 1 bunch of pretty radishes with greens
> 1 bunch of dill
> 1 bunch of carrots with greens
> 3 kohlrabi
> 3 cucumbers
> 1 pint yellow cherry tomatoes and six full-sized red tomatoes
> 1 watermelon about 9 inches in diameter
> 1 pint blueberries
> 3 bunches seedless red grapes -- they look like those tiny "champagne"
> grapes
>
> I also stopped off at the Roseville Tuesday-morning farmer's market and
> got figs, peaches, and nectarines.

Lots and lots of goodies! Sounds yummy!

> My girlfriend is out of town, so I shared with my ex-girlfriend and her
> mother. They took a head of lettuce, some of the parsley, some of the
> radishes, some of the basil, the entire bunch of dill, a couple peaches
> and nectarines, one of the cucumbers, about a third of the carrots, and
> a couple red tomatoes. That still leaves me with plenty of stuff!
>
> I gave away the entire bunch of dill because I haven't found any recipes
> (other than ranch dressing) where I really like dill. But I'm continuing
> to think about it.
>
> I'm cooking ribs today. I put a dry rub (brown sugar, salt, and spices)
> on them last night and let the spices permeate them until I got home
> from my morning errands. Then I wrapped them in foil, poured in a
> braising liquid (white wine, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, honey, and
> garlic), and sealed the foil packets. They're cooking very slowly in my
> grill now. When they're falling-off-the-bone tender in a couple hours,
> I'll take them out of the foil, brush with a glaze (made by reducing the
> braising liquid to a syrup), and put them onto the grill to get crackly
> and smoky.

Sounds exactly like the Alton Brown recipe I made today. Very tasty!

> To go along with the ribs, I'm going to make vegetable salad: This is
> like potato salad, only it includes vegetables besides the potatoes. In
> this case I'll cook a couple potatoes, a kohlrabi, and some carrots.
> I'll also peel, seed, and chop one of the cucumbers to put in there, and
> I'll use an onion left over from last week. The string beans would be
> good in there also, but I have other things in mind for them. (In
> particular, they were REALLY good in a Thai salad a couple weeks ago.)

I only made coleslaw and oven-fried potatoes, but it was more than enough
with the ribs.

> I'll also make a tossed salad with about half the lettuce, halved cherry
> tomatoes, small cubes of Monterey Jack cheese, and a vinaigrette using
> the marjoram vinegar I made back around the beginning of June. I'll have
> watermelon cubes and frozen grapes for dessert.
>
> I'm going to try making that recently-posted coffee cake with dried
> apricots and fresh blueberries, though I plan to add a fair amount of
> honey. I'll make that sometime tomorrow. I'll also have a Caprese salad
> tomorrow, one of the all-time great summertime salads: It's just tomato
> slices, basil leaves, and fresh mozzarella cheese, but it's an awesome
> flavor combination. I usually have it with focaccia, extra-virgin olive
> oil, balsamic vinegar, coarse salt, and freshly-ground pepper.
>
> As to the remainder of the stuff, I only have vague plans. At some point
> I plan on making Jill's summer squash casserole, using bread crumbs (or
> cornbread crumbs, depending on what I have that day), eggs, Parmesan
> cheese, onions, and spices.
>
> I have a couple pounds of carrots accumulated; I'll probably just juice
> them. I love fresh carrot juice. And I'll eat the radishes plain, maybe
> just with salt and pepper. That's what I did with the last bunch, and it
> was a very refreshing snack at work. I've also got some parsley left
> over from last week, and along with this week's parsley it's starting to
> pile up. I'm thinking of making tabbouleh but I don't have any bulgur
> and I don't want to run out and buy some just for that, so maybe I'll
> try it using couscous, orzo, or brown rice instead.

I haven't made tabbouleh in a long time, and I love the stuff. Somehow I
don't think I'd like it without the bulgur.

> I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the collard greens. I just had
> them slow-cooked with sweet spices and cornbread last week, so I'm
> considering stir-frying them with garlic this week, but my mind isn't
> made up.

Do collards really get tender in a stirfry? I've only slow-cooked them.

> I'm also not sure what I'm going to do with the cilantro. I'm a bit
> disappointed with it: Last week I sent an e-mail to the farmer asking
> that whenever we get cilantro we also get the roots, since cilantro
> roots are a frequent ingredient in Thai cooking. But this bunch of
> cilantro doesn't have roots. Oh well. If I make the Thai salad again
> (with the purple string beans), the cilantro can go in there. Or it can
> go into hundreds of other dishes; I don't think I'll have any problem
> using it up.
>
> Comments, recommendations, and suggestions will be gratefully received.

Sound well rounded to me. I'd like to know how the stirfried collards come
out.

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬
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