Midsummer Farm CSA  

Weekly Newsletter:  

Share Pick Up #10

Hi all - We've had a really great growing week and it feels like the produce is just growing like crazy!

Lots of cucumbers this week! I just love cucumbers  - I just saw a great set of recipes posted by a friend of ours - here's the link to her site: Food and Style.  I'm looking forward to trying them out this week~

Purslane & Papaya
And in our second planting of summer squash, I found that a bunch of beautiful purslane has come up.

Purslane is a wild plant and sometimes is condiered a weed. It has been cultivated in gardens in Europe for many centuries though. I put a bunch in each basket this week - it has small but succulent leaves and thick juicy stems. It may be a little hard to get used to texture-wise, but the flavor is mild and fresh. It is also known as the green with the highest amount of Omega 3 fatty acids, which is pretty cool - a great addition to the diet as something very diverse!

And it seems that purslane season corresponds with the Hawaiian Papaya season, and they make a wonderful nutritious summer salad together! So I ordered a case of certified organic papayas and put one in each basket this week. They are ripe and ready to eat now. A Note: it is important to buy only certified organic papayas; 95% of America-grown papaya is genetically-modified!

Anyway - here's what I do with the Purslane and Papaya:

Papaya & Purslane Salad
Rinse the purslane and pop off the leaves and small sprigs.  Peel and deseed the papaya, but retain the seeds. Cut the meat of the papaya up into bite sized pieces and mix in with the purslane. Taste a papaya seed - they are actually chewable and taste quite a bit like black pepper. In a small bowl or pyrex cup, put about 2 tbsp of vinegar - like a champagne or white wine or light balsamic, sea salt, and one tbsp of olive oil. Add whatever number of papaya seeds and seed pulp as you feel with work for you. Mix it well, and toss it in with the purslane and papaya meat.  
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It seems Purslane just goes great with fruity summer flavors ...  Here's another recipe I love making with it: 

Tomato Purslane Salad with Peach Dressing 
~2 tablespoons peach puree
~1.5 tablespoons olive oil
~1 tablespoons champagne vinegar
~1/2 teaspoon sea salt
~1/4 teaspoon black pepper or again you can use the papaya seeds
~about 1 pound assorted tomatoes either cherry- sized cut in half, or larger ones cut into bite-size pieces
~1 hand full of purslane, thick stems removed 

Make the dressing by whisking together the peach puree, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Put the tomatoes in a large bowl, add 3/4 of the dressing and toss to coat. Put the purslane in a different bowl and toss with the remaining dressing.

Plate the tomatoes, then top with the purslane. Finish with a sprinkle of some sea salt to taste. Serve immediately.

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