Many of the summer crops are starting to come in well - cukes, zukes, eggplant, and peppers are not far behind.  There are a lot of tomatoes, not quite ready yet, in the hoophouse and so far (knock on wood) late blight, the dreaded tomato and potato disease, is not on the farm.  Unfortunately, the floods damaged the cherry tomatoes and beans so that we don't have much of those crops to speak of, but the flowers are recovering and starting to be nice picking.  We're having a lot of trouble keeping up with the weeds right now that really took hold during the rains when we couldn't cultivate with the tractor.  We welcome volunteers to help us out during our volunteer hours on Wednesdays (7:30-10:30 am or 6-8 pm) , Fridays (7:30-10:30 am), Saturdays (8 am-noon). 

Eggplant is starting to come in, my favorite!  It comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes which all taste very similar.  I didn't grow up with eggplant and my early attempts to cook with it were quite unsuccessful until I discovered that however you prepare eggplant, it should be cooked thoroughly - it's best mushy!  I like to toss it with a little oil and salt and bake it in the oven until a fork goes through it easily, pan fry it with garlic, or add it to stir-frys.  (I add it first, after onions to make sure it is good and cooked, no rubbery eggplant for me!).  A classic eggplant dish is Babaganoush.  Friends who spend time in India taught us how to cook them directly on the gas range a few years ago and since then we have enjoyed a nice smoky babaganoush.  Here is one recipe that explains how to do that.

Kohlrabi has been very abundant this season.  I generally just dice it into salads. Sam has been eating raw slices with peanut butter, describing it as a little "celery-like" and similarly good with peanut butter.  There are also a number of cooked kohlrabi recipes.  I know my father-in-law grew up eating kohlrabi in soup in Hungary. A few recipes from the New York Times that look delicious are Kohlrabi home fries, Vegetarian Spring Rolls with Shredded Kohlrabi, or Kohlrabi Risotto

A friend recently told me about making Swiss Chard patties, made with egg and parmesian cheese.  I haven't managed to get her recipe yet but a quick internet search shows several recipes.  Here is a wordy but interesting one that looks very tasty and another take on the patties that looks a little less oily

We hope that you are finding tasty ways to prepare your produce! Recipes are always very welcome so that we can pass on cooking tips to the rest of the CSA.