Veggies, Week 9

This week we got the first tomatoes (roma) from the CSA. We also got squash, cabbage, red and white onions, red chard, red leaf lettuce, shallots and green peppers. I love this time of year! I haven't bought veggies from a store in months, heck, I haven't been in a store in months. It's simply great. Last night I made my squash, zucchini, red tomato crab sauce with spinach fettuccine. It's my fallback recipe when I have so many fresh veggies. In our garden, the cherry tomatoes are ripening, the green beans are still going strong (we has some the other night with curry chicken salad and pita bread), the basil and the oregano are doing very well, I can barely keep up with them. We have one (1) squash which is an event in itself (last year, we had lots of squash blooms, but no squash.). We only buy fruit and lettuce, either from MOM's or from a farmer's stand in Jessup. This week I also made my first rice salad, inspired by Mark Bittman of NYT (check out the Dinning and Wine section). It's something free-form and easy, with plenty of room for improvisation. Basically the must-have ingredient is leftover rice. To it you add whatever veggies you have on hand , preferably things you don't need to cook (peas, beans, etc) or leftovers. The secret ingredient is coconut milk. It gives a nice flavor and creaminess to the whole thing. Add some curry, pepper and fresh herbs and you have yourself a great meal that requires no heating ( a bonus in this sweltering heat!). I had it for lunch and it was fantastic.