CSA Week 18

Howdy, folks! Here's what's in the basket this week:

-Tomatoes:

Red slicer and Black Krim slicer

Romas

Sun gold cherry

Chocolate cherry and yellow pear

-Peppers:

Bell

Hot and Sweet banana

Cayenne and habanero

-Sweet Corn

-Watermelon

-Cucumbers

-Eggplant

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Tomato and Eggplant Shakshuka

Ingredients:

-2-3 Eggplants, sliced about 1/2 inch thick

-3 tbsp olive oil

-1/4 cup chopped mint

-1 white onion, chopped coarsely

-4 cloves garlic, minced

-2 tsp paprika

-1 tsp cumin

-1 tsp red pepper flakes

-5 ripe tomatoes, chopped (Romas work best for this)

-1/2 cup tomato puree

-4 large eggs

-1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

-2 pitas, toasted and halved (these are optional- pita chips are good with this too)

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 375.

-On a baking sheet, brush eggplant with 1-2 tbp oil and season with salt. Roast until soft and golden brown, about 25 minutes, flipping once halfway through. Chop coarsely and toss with about 2 tbsp of the mint.

-Raise oven temp to 425. In a large ovenproof skillet, heat remaining oil on medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook for 5-7 minutes, until starting to brown.

-Stir in spices and cook, stirring, for just a minute. Add the tomatoes and the puree, and cook until tomatoes soften, about 15 minutes.

-Add eggplant and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper to taste.

-Remove from heat. With the back of a spoon, create 4 indentations in the cause. Carefully crack an egg in each divot.

-Transfer pan to oven and bake until the whites of the eggs are set but the yolks are still runny. Top with feta and remaining mint.

*I make different versions of this dish a lot- Italian style, Mexican style, whatever suits your fancy. It's easy to modify and goes well with rice, fried potatoes, pita bread, basically anything.

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The farm had a fun delivery this week! I ordered some new chicks from the hatchery and they came in the mail last Friday. I don't usually order baby chicks in September, but this year has had some pretty weird circumstances, and the hatchery that I order from was having a sale that was too good to pass up. A lot of my ladies are getting up there in age and are sliding more into the "pet" category rather than "livestock." I never sell my old hens, they always stay with me their whole lives, well into their retirement!

They are so cute, y'all. They were a brown egg layer assortment, so I'm unsure of breeds as of right now, but as they start to grow their real feathers I'll have a better idea. I'm pretty certain they are about half Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire Red. The others I'm not so sure on quite yet.