Hi friends!
I have a funny story for you. On Sunday when I went to Rosh Hashanah at Sean’s house, I made a funny oopsies. One of the guests and I were discussing our love of local produce and the CSAs we were signed up with. I was telling her how much I loved Gruber Farm and blurted out, “I love picking up my box each week. It’s like Christmas every Tuesday!”
I made a Christmas reference at a Jewish event. Derrrrrrrrrr.
As soon as I said it I thought “REALLY? Of all the cool things to compare something to you chose that? Tonight?” The woman probably thought nothing of it, but I laughed in my head thinking how typical that was for me.
Thank heavens my teddy bear challah came out well or else I would have just had to excuse myself from the festivities. After telling the story to another Jewish friend later, he remarked “You should have said it was like Hanukah every week.” Oh, really? Thanks for the tip.
CSA Week 2:
- cantaloupe
- zucchini
- eggplant
- beets (!!)
- red potatoes
- Muscadine grapes
- green beans
- red pepper
- cucumbers
- onion
That cantaloupe was the largest I’ve ever seen. Annabel, who is also signed up with Gruber Farm, asked me, “Do you have a size DDDDD cantaloupe in yours too?” Yep. I did.
Back to business. Before ultimately deciding on the pumpkin challah for Rosh Hashanah, I borrowed a Jewish cookbook from the library called The Hadassah Everyday Cookbook.
This book has so many recipes I’d love to make that I might actually buy it. I’m not kidding, there are recipes for pumpkin bread, asparagus avocado salad, white bean hummus, muhammara, greens and orzo soup, grated beets with toasted hazelnuts, and more. Get excited for lots of these being featured on the blog. The first recipe I made was…
Eggplant and Red Pepper Salad
Ingredients:
- 2 medium eggplants
- 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 scallion, sliced
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. tahini
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Turn stovetop gas burner to high and place eggplants, one at a time, directly over burner grate, turning occasionally with tongs until all sides are charred and eggplant is soft, about 5 minutes per side. Remove to a baking sheet and let cool completely. Drain juices, remove skin, and place eggplant pulp in the bowl of a food processor. *If you do not have a gas burner at home, you can broil the eggplants (turning them just as you would on the flame) until their skin is blistered and the inside is creamy and soft.
- Pulse eggplant 10-15 times until well chopped but with a few remaining chunks. Add red pepper, garlic, scallion, oil, tahini, lemon juice, cayenne and salt, pulsing to incorporate all ingredients. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until serving.
Two things to note: 1. I omitted the olive oil because I thought it was unnecessary. 2. I pulsed mine a bit more and it turned out like a spread. Regardless, it was very tasty and made for a great veggie burger topping. It would also be so good in a pita with veggies, black beans, and feta. Heck, it’d be good with chips too!
What’s your favorite dip or spread? Hummus? Olive tapenade? Roasted red pepper dip? Black bean dip? Baba ghanoush?
Do you find yourself sticking your foot in your mouth like I did? Shoot, sometimes it’s my whole leg.
