P i c k l i s t
Melon - saucey/jammy/smoothie Blueberries - Green Pepper - Cilantro or Parsley - Beets - Cabbage - Red Potatoes - Cherry Tomatoes - summer squash
Oh goodness, the blueberry gleaning did so much for my very tired -high summer- heart! So great to se e those that came out to pick! It is not lost on me how wonderful it is to be a part of your kitchen meals and table scraps, and I often wish there was time for more farmy events in order to make connections and just say hello to your faces. The gleanings hold space for those moments to connect farmer to people, and I was so pumped just to say hi. MOREOVER, yall took home some serious fruit!
Thanks for making the trek up the Meriden Hill.
As for other Edgewater news, this will be an abbreviated check in because even farmers have sick kiddos that need to go home “early” from the farm and just take rest. So with that, we exit blueberry season, enter the extreme run-around pick ‘everything everywhere all at once’ vibe that is mid-August, and hope that our immune systems don’t deplete before the Cornish Fair.
FARMY FOODIE PRO-TIPS:
BEETS!!
Our first round of beet crop got eaten by weeds back in June, so I am thrilled to welcome these baddies to the table. The beauty of the young beet, aside from the obvious earthy sweetness of the root, are the greens! You can eat the whole damn veg, and the recipe below does just that. Check it:
Vinegar & honey roasted beets with Labneh (or greek yogurt)
BY Eden Grinshpan from her book, Eating out loud
Roasted Beets
6 small beets, a mix of yellow and red, with leafy tops removed and stems reserved, well scrubbed
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
3 strips of orange zest
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Beet Stem Gremolata
¼ cup finely chopped reserved beet stems
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 small garlic clove
grated Grated zest of 1 small or ½ large orange
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Serving 1 cup labneh, store-bought or homemade (see page 52) Sumac Easy Peasy Pita (page 150) or Nan-e Barbari (page 146)
ROAST THE BEETS: Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large bowl, combine the beets, vinegar, honey, orange zest, coriander seeds, salt, and 1 tablespoon water. Toss to coat. Arrange the beets on a rimmed baking sheet and cover the tray tightly with foil. Roast until the beets can be easily pierced with a knife, about 45 minutes. I like to wait until almost all the liquid has evaporated and you get to roll the beets around in the sticky juice that forms on the bottom. Roast for another 5 minutes until the skin carmelizes and forms and almost candied shell. Once the beets are cool enough to handle, cut them into 1-inch-thick wedges.
MAKE THE BEET STEM GREMOLATA: In a medium bowl, combine the beet stem, parsley/or cilantro, garlic, and orange zest. Mix gently to combine. Dress the mixture with the olive oil, vinegar, and honey, season with the salt, and toss until evenly coated.
TO SERVE: In a large bowl, combine the beets and gremolata and toss to coat. Spread the labneh (or greek yogurt) on a platter and place the dressed beets on top, including any juices that have accumulated in the bowl. Add a sprinkle of sumac and serve with flat bread.
YOUR BLUEBERRIES:
End of season berry queens have reached the point of exhaustion. This pint, while just fine for fresh eating, will be even better for smoothies, icecream sauce, jam, cake, etc…
Or, because your grill is turned on, try out the below BBQ sauce :)
Servings 4
Blueberry BBQ Sauce
1 cup blueberries
1 small onion, grated with a box grater
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2- inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely minced
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon tomato paste
½ teaspoon gluten-free tamari soy sauce
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
sprinkle of chili flakes (optional)
sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Grilled Veg & Tofu Skewers
1 block of extra firm tofu (350 grams/12 ounces)
1 bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large peach, cut into 8 wedges
1 small red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
avocado or other high heat-tolerant oil spray
sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Make the blueberry barbecue sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, grated onion, garlic, ginger, maple syrup, tomato paste, tamari, balsamic vinegar, chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Set the pot over medium heat and stir. Bring the sauce to a boil and then simmer until blueberries are broken down and sauce is slightly thickened, about 10-12 minutes. Set aside.
Preheat your grill to high.
Drain the tofu and cut it into 1-inch cubes. Thread the tofu cubes, bell pepper, zucchini, peach, and red onion onto your skewers. Don’t overload the skewers! Spray or drizzle the veg and tofu with oil on all sides and season with salt and pepper.
Grill the skewers until light char marks appear on all sides. Then, brush the skewers with about half of the blueberry barbecue sauce. Grill the sauced skewers for another minute or so. Remove the skewers and serve them hot with extra blueberry barbecue sauce on the side.
Equipment
Grill
Recipe Notes
As I mentioned in the post, I could see this barbecue sauce pairing nicely with plenty of different proteins. You could make this on a meal prep day and store it in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to one week.
I use metal skewers, but if you don’t have those, you’ll need to soak some wooden skewers ahead of time for this recipe.
Blueberry barbecue sauce with ginger and maple syrup is a simple way to make grilled summer vegetable and tofu skewers extra delicious. The sticky sauce can be made well ahead of time with under 10 ingredients.