Newsletter August 15th

Pete's Greens
Good Eats August 15th

In your shares this week: arugula, walla walla onion, radish, tomato, tomatillas, broccoli, bell peppers, thai basil, zucchini

NOTES:
For our Burlington pick ups on Adams Ct. Don't forget that you are now picking up your shares at 25 Adams Ct.

Happy farmer writing this week. We have a great crew right now and it makes all the difference in the world. Nick handles all sales, manages harvest and packing, and is becoming more involved in crop planning and production. He is efficient and loves to start very early and work long hours. Melissa picks, washes, and packs produce and has a good eye for quality control. Laura is our only student. She will soon be starting her fall semester at Lyndon State College. We will miss her hard work and quiet (but slowly becoming more assertive!) demeanor. Steve is our equipment guy and mechanic. He has excellent common sense and judgment and I am always confident when he is operating an expensive piece of equipment that he is treating it as well as I would. Dan started this past May. He has extensive landscaping experience and has become an all around tractor operator, harvester, weeder, basically whatever needs to be done. Tim has been with us five years. He is handling most of the delivery this year, is my partner at farmers market, and helps in the washhouse. You all know about Elena’s work on Good Eats. She also built and manages the website, does the books, and takes care of lots of odds and ends. Jen is our new animal manager She comes in daily and takes great care of the meat and egg chickens and the lambs. Sally and Heather manage our farm stand, making a beautiful display. Santiago, Elena, and Maria Rosa came to us from Mexico via the H2A program. They are incredible workers and people of great integrity and gentleness. They live in the farmhouse and are a complete pleasure to have on the farm.

August is a nice time on the farm because everyone who has worked here has done their job dozens of times already. There is little training, people are fast at their tasks, and we click off projects. This frees me up to leave early to go on long bike rides and enjoy the remainder of the summer. April, May, and half of June are so busy, time is always short, weather delays are a bear, and there is never any free time so I revel in the second half of the summer and the fall.

If you are near Craftsbury Village stop by and check out our farm stand roof. It is a sod roof, but instead of grass we are growing, sunflowers, nastursiums, draping beans and bright red amaranth. It is quite a site and will become more beautiful through September. -Pete

RECIPES:

Vegetable Tacos with Roasted Tom Tom Sauce
Once the prep work is done, this can be a quick, casual supper for a late summer night. The portions are approximate, so adjust according to your family's needs. This recipe is geared towards what you have in your share this week, but it's open to suggestion. Add lemon or lime to the tom tom sauce to cut some of the sweetness that the roasting brings out of the tomatoes and tomatillos. You can add some heat with roasted poblano chiles or add chopped cucumber to cool it down and create a bit more crunch. -elena
Serves 3 or 4

Roasted Tom Tom Sauce
1/2 lb tomatillos
1/2 lb tomatoes
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup Walla Walla onion, minced
Handful of fresh arugula, chopped fine
salt and pepper to taste

Vegetable Tacos
12 corn tortillas
4 T sunflower oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 Walla Walla Onion, sliced into thin rings
1 medium bell pepper, sliced into 1/2" thick strips
1 cup broccoli florets and stem, chopped
1/2 cup zucchini, sliced into 1/2" rounds
Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Sauce:
1.Set your broiler to high. Wash and rinse tomatoes and tomatillos. Line a cookie sheet with foil, lightly brushing it with oil. Broil the tomatoes and tomatillos for several minutes, turning occasionally, until the skin turns black. Pull out and let cool until easy to handle.
2. Roughly chop the tomatoes and tomatillos, mixing with the garlic, onion and fresh arugula. Salt and pepper to taste.
For the Tacos:
1. Heat the sunflower oil in a cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
Saute the minced garlic and onion for 3 minutes until fragrant. Add the bell pepper and saute another 2 minutes. add the broccoli and zucchini, cooking until
bright green but still crunchy, about 2 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Heat the tortillas over a low flame on the stove or in the oven at 325F for until soft and hot. Serve immediately, spooning the Roasted Tom Tom Sauce over the vegetables.

SUMMER VEGETABLE FRITTATA
Works best with a well seasoned, cast iron skillet, but any oven proof skillet will do. Eat this with a fresh salad for a healthy mid-day meal. -elena
Serves 4 comfortably

8 farm fresh eggs
1/4 C milk or cream
Generous pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 medium Walla Walla onion, roughly chopped
1 lb zucchini, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
1 medium bell pepper, sliced into strips
1 C of broccoli florets and stems, roughly chopped
1 cup arugula, leaves whole and any thick stems removed
1 cup Bonnieview's Ben Nevis, shredded or sliced thin
1 large tomato, sliced into rounds

Preheat broiler.

Whisk together eggs, milk or cream, salt, and pepper in a bowl.

Heat sunflower oil in a 12 inch cast iron or oven proof skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until just fragrant. Add zucchini and bell pepper, cooking just until tender, about 2 minutes. Add broccoli and arugula, cooking for 2 minutes more. Pour egg mixture into skillet and cook, lifting up cooked egg around edge using a spatula to let as much raw egg as possible flow underneath, until edge is set, about 2 minutes (top and center will still be very loose). Sprinkle evenly with cheese and then lay tomato slices on top in a decorative manner.

Broil frittata about 6 inches from heat until set, slightly puffed, and golden, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes.

Cool frittata 5 minutes, then loosen edge with a clean spatula and slide onto a large plate. Cut into wedges.