Eggplant Mini Pizzas

Don’t be afraid of cooking with eggplant! If you’ve never used it before, here’s a very simple recipe to try it out.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggplants

• 4 Tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 cup pizza sauce or marinara

• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

• small package of pepperoni

• 3 leaves fresh basil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease pan well or use parchment paper. Cut eggplants into 1/2” rounds. Brush both sides of each round with oil. Bake for 10-15 minutes until soft. Remove from oven, spread 1-2 Tbsp sauce on each round, then sprinkle with cheese and add toppings. Return to oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Garnish with freshly chopped herbs.

Substitutions:

• I didn’t have marinara or pizza sauce, so I stirred some tomato paste into spaghetti sauce.

• Try parmesan instead of mozarella cheese.

• Use any toppings you like: mushrooms, bell peppers, sausage, etc.

• Try this in an air fryer and let me know how it works!

Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

Last spring one of my friends was preparing for a surgery and was on a very restrictive diet. To liven things up, I offered to make supper with lots of fresh ingredients from the farm. It was a really fun challenge to prepare a 5-course meal that was under 1000 calories.

This is the first course in the Asian-themed, low-calorie, five-course meal: shrimp lettuce wraps as an appetizer.

ingredients

• 2 Tbsp lime juice

• 1 to 2 Tbsp gochujang (which is a Korean hot pepper paste), or your favorite hot sauce

• 1 Tbsp oil (try sesame if you have it)

• 2 tsp honey

• 1 green garlic, grated (or 1 clove garlic)

• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger

• 1 lb small shrimp, peeled and deveined

• 1 head romaine lettuce (or other head lettuce), leaves separated

• 1 cucumber, cut in small cubes

• several radishes, sliced (or substitute salad turnips)

• several leaves fresh mint (or basil, or cilantro), cut in small ribbons

directions

Combine lime juice, gochujang, oil, honey, garlic, ginger, and shrimp in a bowl, stir, and let marinate in the fridge for an hour.

Preheat oven to 425. Arrange shrimp on a sheet pan and roast until just opaque throughout, about 10-15 minutes.

Allow shrimp to cool slightly, then lay out lettuce leaves and fill with shrimp, cucumbers, radishes, and mint.

Caprese

There is no better way to capture the flavors of summer than this super easy and super beautiful dish. I took this to a family reunion potluck last weekend and returned with only 3 slices of tomato left!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 or 4 tomatoes, sliced 1/4” thick (use both red and yellow tomatoes for extra color)

• Small package fresh mozzarella, sliced 1/4” thick (I found some at Sunmart/Family Fare)

• 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

• 1/2 tsp honey

DIRECTIONS

Prepare the balsamic glaze: In a small saucepan, bring balsamic vinegar and honey to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes while preparing the rest of the dish. Stir occasionally. Glaze is done when it has reduced about 50% and lightly coats the back of a spoon. If you get impatient, it’s ok—it will thicken some more as it cools.

Arrange alternating slices of tomatoes and cheese on a platter (I like to arrange them around a bowl of mixed cherry tomatoes). Stick basil leaves between some layers of tomatoes and cheese. Drizzle with the balsamic glaze. Serve immediately.

NOTES

You can also sprinkle with salt and pepper, and/or drizzle with olive oil right before serving, but I opted to keep things simple. You can omit the balsamic glaze for an even simpler dish.

Arranging hint: to fill a larger platter, cut the tomato and cheese slices in half to create semicircles and arrange with the flat side down.

Zucchini Involtini

It’s zucchini season! If you’re looking for another way to make zucchini, try this fun “involtini” (Italian rolled zucchini). Use large zucchini for making a main dish, or smaller zucchini to create mini-rolls as appetizers. Kids can get involved by helping to stir the ingredients and roll the filling into the zucchini strips.

Ingredients:

Involtini

• 1 pound zucchini (about 2 large or 3 medium)

• 1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling

• salt & pepper

• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella or Italian mix cheese

• 2 tbsp basil or parsley, chopped for garnishing

Filling

• 1 small onion

• 8 oz spinach, kale, or chard, large stems removed and chopped into small ribbons

• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

• 1/2 tsp chili flakes, or to taste

• 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

• 1/2 cup shredded Italian mix or mozzarella cheese

Marinara Sauce

• 1 jar marinara sauce (or spaghetti sauce, if that’s what you have on hand)

• optional additions: cooked ground sausage, minced garlic or garlic scapes, diced onions or green onions

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Zucchini

Trim the each end off each zucchini. Using a mandolin slicer set at about 1/8", cut the zucchini longways into as many slices as possible. (Or, stand each zucchini vertically and make 1/4-inch thick cuts down to create long slices.) You want to end up with enough slices to make 12-15 rollups, whether from individual large slices, or doubled up medium slices. Arrange the slices on the prepared baking sheets. Drizzle the zucchini lightly with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer pan to the oven and roast for 6-8 minutes, depending on thickness. Remove pans from the oven and use a fork or tongs to flip each zucchini slice over, return pans to the oven, and roast for 2-3 minutes more, or longer if needed, until zucchini strips are pliable enough to roll. Remove pan from oven to cool. Keep oven on.

Filling

Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan over medium high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of oil until shimmering. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until the onion is softened. Add the spinach and/or kale leaves, season with a pinch of salt and pepper, and sauté, until softened, about 2 minutes or until wilted. Season with nutmeg. Remove pan from heat. Let it cool slightly before adding it to the ricotta. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, shredded cheese, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and the chili flakes. When greens have cooled briefly, stir them into the ricotta mixture. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble the involtini

Spoon about 2 cups of the marinara sauce into a 9×13-inch baking dish—the bottom of the dish should be covered in a good layer. Place a heaping tbsp of filling at one end of each of the zucchini slices. If using smaller zucchini slices lay two side by side, slightly overlapping them. Roll the slice into a tight coil and nestle it seam-side down on top of the tomato sauce. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Transfer to the oven and bake until the sauce has reduced slightly and is bubbling, and the rolls are lightly golden on top, about 10 minutes. Take the pan from the oven and top evenly with shredded cheese, then return to the oven for another 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and garnish with chopped parsley or basil.

Recipe adapted from The Lemon Apron

Simple Snacks

Simple snacks with local veggies

If you’re trying to incorporate more healthy food into your routine, here are some easy ways to eat healthier snacks.

The quickest and easiest is to simply eat raw veggies with your favorite dip, like Ranch, honey-mustard, or homemade beet hummus like in the photo below. (For more delicious dip ideas, check out this collection.)

To make healthy snacking easier, have your veggies washed and sliced, and in an easy-to-grab container so you’ll be more likely to choose them over the bag of potato chips.

Veggies in the photo above include:

• carrots

• cucumbers

• multi-colored green beans

• kohlrabi

• multi-colored bell peppers

Other great veggies for raw snacking include:

• cauliflower

• broccoli

• radishes

• salad turnips

• cabbage

• snap peas

• cherry tomatoes

And fruits and berries are great for snacking! You can find local:

• strawberries

• raspberries

• blackberries

• cantaloupe

• watermelon

• apples

• peaches

• pears

You can freeze or dehydrate fruits and berries to make them last longer.

To step up your snacking game a bit (or for fancy appetizers), try incorporating vegetables into dips, spreads, or the beautiful tomato-basil bruschetta pictured below, crafted by one of our CSA members.

photo by Jen Amor