If you like summer veggies, this is the week for you! Tuesday/Wednesday shares have garlic, onions, carrots, last of the beets, green beans, choice of okra or fresh cranberry beans (see info below), lettuce, squash and zucchini, cucumbers, cantaloupe/muskmelon, the first of the sweet corn (all non-GMO verified), tomatoes, and a choice of herb. Sustaining members receive peppers, too. Friday and Saturday shares will be very similar except no beets and there will likely be more corn, okra, and beans.
Cranberry beans: a class of bean; horticultural beans whose pods are splashed in magenta when picked for “shellies” or fresh beans. I have grown them for us for years, but this is the first time we have grown them for CSA shares. We changed varieties to get enough seed quantity to do so, and these are significantly earlier than our other variety. Both are heirlooms. I have always made the same dish with them, cooking them with water, salt, onions, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and basil for about 45 minutes until everything is cooked and makes a stew. You can serve it over crusty bread like bruschetta or over pasta or just as a side dish. You can also use them in almost anything you would used cannellini beans like minestrone soup or hummus. My next attempt is to make sopa tarasca. A traditional soup from Michoacan that uses cranberry beans, tomatoes, garlic, onions, and dried chiles. Here is a recipe for ithttp://www.eatlivetravelwrite.com/2011/01/memories-of-michoacan-sopa-tarasca/ Substitute your shelled cranberry beans for white beans as that is more traditional – do not soak overnight – and use fresh tomatoes, roasted under the broiler! The traditional soup I think typically uses epazote and oregano instead of thyme. This is another more simple recipe that looks good, too, and has great pictures. http://mayihavethatrecipe.com/2012/11/26/meatless-monday-fresh-cranberry-beans-with-olive-oil-garlic/
