Union Square Revisited

I went into the city on Saturday for the first time since moving (three months ago). I had fun doing my old routine -- swimming at the Y on 14th Street, getting sushi at Whole Foods Union Square, trekking down to Chinatown for won ton soup, and walking through the Union Square Greenmarket. I realize now I really took the greenmarket for granted. Living in the land of indoor markets, it'll be late spring before the vendors venture outside again. So I grabbed shallots and fingerling potatoes and about 8 lbs. of apples to haul back with me (after first taking them on a trip downtown through Soho and Chinatown. My left shoulder may never be the same). Since I got a mix of eating apples and cooking apples (at $3 a 4 lb. bag, I was willing to take my chances with the "slightly imperfect" ones), I settled on making apple sauce muffins with half the haul. The recipe, which is based on one in the Moosewood Low-fat Favorites cookbook, combines apple sauce with fresh whole cranberries and walnuts for a tart-sweet breakfast treat. With a mix of white and whole wheat flour, and only two tablespoons of oil, this muffin beats the low fat options at your favorite coffee shop hands down. And helps justify buying a grande mocha latte to wash it down.

Apple Cranberry Muffins

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

Ingredients

1 C. White Flour

1 C. Whole Wheat Flour

1 T. Baking Powder

1/2 t. Salt

1/2 t. Cinnamon

1/4 t. Nutmeg

1 Egg

1 Egg White

1 C. Applesauce (Homemade or commercial)

1/3 C. Brown Sugar

Zest of one Lemon

2 T. Canola Oil

2 T. Skim Milk

1/2 C. Walnuts, Toasted and Chopped

1 C. Cranberries (Whole or Chopped)

Method

Preheat oven to 400; spray or grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

Sift together dry ingredients.

In another bowl, beat egg and egg white until frothy; add applesauce, brown sugar, lemon zest, oil and milk and beat until well incorporated.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mixed until just combined; fold in walnuts and cranberries.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill the muffin tins to just below the rim.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Monday: A New Twist on the Boiled Dinner

Technically, New York is not in New England. But that doesn't mean we don't enjoy the boiled dinner every now and again. Particularly when it's too hot to turn on the oven, but just cool enough to stand in front of the stove for 12 minutes or so. And particularly when you're boiling pasta, shrimp and fava beans instead of meat and potatoes. I've apparently led a sheltered life since the first time I had fresh fava beans was a few months ago while on vacation. Ever since then, I've been looking for them in the market. Fava beans are supposed to be spring vegetables, and given the cool and wet summer we've been having, I guess it's no surprise that I just found them. Some people complain that prepping the beans is a lot of work. It is a multi-step process: 1. First, split the velvety pods to unearth the beans 2. Then, sort the beans by size (small, medium, large) to help facilitate even cooking 3. Next, throw the beans in boiling water (first the large ones, then, after about 30 seconds, the medium beans, and then the little guys) 4. Drain the beans and shock them in some ice water to stop the cooking process 5. Finally, pinch off the outer membrane using your thumb nail to uncover the bright green prize inside Unless you're cooking for a crowd and have a mound of beans to get through, it actually doesn't take too long. Especially if you fish the beans out using a skimmer/strainer, and bring the water back up to a boil to cook your pasta, and then repeat the process to cook the shrimp. Finished with some olive oil (or in the case of last night, sundried tomato bruschetta), a little crumbled goat cheese and mint and voila, dinner is served in far less time than it would take for pizza delivery.

Fava and Shrimp Pasta for One

I used Lemon Pepper Pappardelle from Trader Joes, but if you want to use plain pappardelle or another pasta, consider adding a bit of lemon zest to the recipe. The shrimp, goat cheese and bruschetta were from TJs as well, but the fava beans and mint were direct from the greenmarket.

Ingredients

2 oz. Uncooked pasta

8 oz. Fava bean pods (or 3/4 c. of beans)

8 large raw shrimp, defrosted

1 t. Olive oil or 1 T. tomato bruschetta

1 T. Goat cheese crumbles

1 t. Spearmint, chiffonade

Salt

Pepper

Method

Bring a small pot of water to a boil.

Separate fava beans from pods, sorting by size.

Add large beans to boiling water, followed by medium and small beans. Cook for a minute or so before removing from pot with a skimmer and shocking in ice water.

Bring the water back to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, remove outer membrane from fava beans and place bright green beans into a medium sized bowl.

Using tongs, remove cooked pasta from water, drain well and toss with fava beans, oil or bruschetta and goat cheese.

Bring the water back to a boil and cook shrimp for two minutes.

Toss warm cooked shrimp with pasta/fava mixture, sprinkle mint on top before serving.

Sunday: Stuffed Round Zuchini

I'm a sucker for cute packaging. I judge a book by its cover, a store by its window display and a vegetable by its shape. So when I saw round zucchini in the market on Saturday, I had to have some, especially since the last time I came across them was in Bologna. In my mind, a round zucchini is a zucchini made for stuffing. And so when I spied some early sweet corn, inspiration struck: I would make a riff on the corn gratin featured in the New York Times a few weeks ago and use it to fill the squash. So despite the semi-heat (hey - it hit 80 yesterday), I cranked the oven to 375 while merrily sauteing veggies on the stove top. Since each squash only held about 4 tablespoons of gratin mixture, I baked the leftovers in a small dish.

Although I wished I used more cheese in the mixture, the end result was tasty: an eggy custard studded with corn and red pepper. But perhaps because of the cheese I used (or maybe the extra egg white, or the fact I used 1% milk), the custard did have a bit of a gray tinge.

However, the gray was barely noticeable in the gratin I baked in the squash. In fact, it looked very impressive, and would make a great brunch dish (but only for those who will appreciate the cute factor!).

Green and Yellow Squash Stuffed with Corn Custard

Although you can cook the squash in a baking dish or cookie sheet, I was paranoid about them collapsing and used large ramekins. Remember to season the inside of the squash before filling.

Ingredients

1 t. olive oil, plus extra for rubbing on squash

1 Cippolini onion, diced

1/2 Red pepper, chopped

1 Clove of garlic, roughly chopped

2 Ears of corn, de-kerneled

1/4 c. Milk

1 Egg

1 Egg white

1/4 c. Grated or shredded cheese (I used a combination of Romano and Swiss, because that's what I had)

Salt

Pepper

Spices (the original recipe called for cumin seed, I used some ground cumin and chili powder)

Method

Prepare the squash for stuffing by slicing off the top third, reserving the stem end. Using a pairing knife, carefully hollow out a first chunk of squash, taking care not to puncture the sides of the vegetable. Then, with a teaspoon, continue scooping out the squash flesh until all sides are smooth and even; chop the flesh and set aside.

Rub the interior and exterior of the squash cups with a bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Rub the reserved stem ends with olive oil and set on a piece of foil.

Prepare the vegetable filling by sauteing the onion, garlic and red pepper in olive oil until soft. Add the chopped squash flesh to the pan; season with salt, pepper and any additional spices and pepper; and saute until most of the water from the squash has evaporated. Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the kernels from one of the ears of corn.

Prepare the custard base by combining the remaining corn kernels, the milk and egg and blitzing in a traditional or immersion blender until smooth.

Add the sauteed vegetables and cheese to the custard base along with extra salt and pepper. Spoon approximately 4 tablespoons of the filling into each squash cup; bake the remaining filling in an oiled dish.

Put the filled squash cups, stem ends and extra gratin in a 375 degree oven. Check the stem ends after approximately 20 minutes and the extra gratin after about 35 minutes. The stuffed squash will take the longest to cook, but should only require a total of 40 minutes.

Market Week (Or a Plan for My Farmers Market Haul)

After I transplanted the tomato plants I bought upstate, I started worrying about their future -- they were so small, was that normal? What kind of life would they have on my fire escape? Would they ever bear fruit?!

Needless to say, I spent a lot of time Googling for tips. And that's when I found the blog eat make read.

The more I read, the more I realized that eat make read was my kind of blog (and not just because some of the pictures used an Orla Kiely for Target tea towel as a backdrop!).

So when I saw the author, Kelly, was encouraging the food blogosphere to commit to a solid week of cooking based on seasonal farmers market finds, I knew I had to join in.

So I dropped $40 at the Union Square Greenmarket, loading up on staples like red onions (cipollini this time) and shallots and radishes, but also walked away with some prizes, including fava beans, round zucchini and black raspberries.

My plan is to use the produce in combination with what's in my cupboard and freezer, as well as the small order I got from Trader Joes this morning. Yes, I am cheating slightly.

Partially because of availability (no red peppers spotted yet), partially because of cost (while the $5 pint of Ronnybrook cream is likely far superior to the $1.99 half pint carton I purchased, a half pint is all I need) and partially because I just love TJ's stuff! But I am committed to featuring the "bounty of summer" upfront in each dish.

Right now, I have a corn gratin bubbling away in the oven for Sunday night supper. How will it turn out? Will I truly find ways to use all the produce? Stay tuned for the next installment!

P.S. Had a "foodie celeb" sighting at the greenmarket on Saturday. Food Network personality and chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli was buying a flat of cherry tomatoes from Stokes Farm, the place I get my tomatoes and persian cucumbers.

Must be June: Strawberries at Union Square

You can tell summer is right around the corner when you realize strawberry "fields" have taken over Union Square. After much deliberation, I finally bought a box from Cherry Lane and ate them all as is, so no recipe suggestions this week! Just a suggestion to run out and enjoy before the season ends.

More Ideas for Using Ramps

Fun video on The Feedbag this week. Chef Marco Canora - where were you last week when I was ramped out? Now I have a bunch of new ideas for using ramps (and asparagus). In fact, grilled tenderloin wrapped in ramp leaves sounds really good right now. Now all I need to do is pick up a couple of bunches of ramps -- and get a grill. Or maybe just dine at Insieme (which, ironically, is steps away from my office).

The Feedbag goes to the Greenmarket with Marco Canora from The-Feedbag on Vimeo.

I was glad to see that they visited two of my favorite Union Square stands -- Cherry Lane and Mountain Sweet Berry (which should look familiar). I was also glad to see that they touched on the issue of price. Farmers market produce is not always cheaper, but you are paying for quality.

Seasonal Spotlight: Ramps and Asparaus Scramble

Getting up and out to the farmers market around 8:00 a.m. has its perks: namely fewer shoppers and the first pick of produce. But last Saturday, the greenmarket was teeming with good stuff, including piles upon piles of ramps. Taking my cue from the area chef making a produce run, I chose the $2.50-a-bunch stand. As I was picking over the pile, two different women stopped me asking what they were. "Oh, ramps? They're like wild leeks. You can saute them, you can grill them," I said authoritatively. Bet neither guessed I had never cooked them before! I also picked up some green and purple asparagus. This time, it was the guy at the stand (I'm guessing NOT the farmer), who asked me if the purple tasted any different from the green. I admitted I had no idea but that the purple sure looked pretty. However, after doing a little research at home, I learned that purple are supposed to be more tender and sweeter. My final haul consisted of two bunches of ramps ($5), a bag of red onions ($1.50), a seedless cucumber ($2), some fingerling potatoes ($.85), and 3/4 lb. of mixed green and purple asparagus ($3).

Back home, I Googled "Bitten + ramp + egg" trying to find The New York Times Bitten food blog

posts about ramps last week. However, I stumbled across a recipe for scrambled eggs with morels, asparagus and ramps at The Bitten Word. The recipe originally from Bon Appetit, was really simple. With some slight tweaking based on the contents of my fridge, I was enjoying breakfast in less than 10 minutes. Now to decide what to do with the rest of my haul...

Spring Scramble Inspired by The Bitten Word and Bon Appetit I steamed the asparagus to speed up the cooking time and learned the hard way that the purple stalks discolor easily (which is why most recommend using them raw in salads). Ingredients 3 Ramps, bulbs and greens 2 Asparagus stalks, cut into 1 inch pieces 5 Button mushrooms, sliced 2 Egg whites 1 T. Grated Parmesan Butter Salt Pepper Method In a small skillet over medium-low heat, melt a blob of butter and start the mushrooms; do not season until they start to brown. In the meantime, steam asparagus on the stove top or in the microwave. Wash ramps very well (as you would leeks); chop and separate whites and greens. Once the mushrooms have some color, add ramp whites and sauté until softened. Add steamed asparagus and greens to skillet, season with salt and pepper; sauté until greens are wilted. Add egg whites and cook until just set. Season with extra pepper; finish with a grating of Parmesan.

Summertime in the City: Urban Gardening

Perhaps it was a little overly optimistic of me, but I planted a container herb garden this weekend. Union Square's Saturday market was awash with plants of all kinds, so I figured now was a good time. And figured weekend temperatures in the 80s and 90s couldn't hurt either.

With full-sun Southern exposure, I have had great success growing herbs in the past. I typically stick with those that "keep on giving," like basil, mint and chives as opposed to things like cilantro and parsley, which don't tend to keep growing new leaves throughout the season (at least in my container). My other tip? Miracle-Gro (I use the kind formulated for tomatoes). I always buy a mint plant, since they are apparently harder to grow from seed. And although I was tempted to try growing basil from seed this year (and even purchased a packet), by buying two $2 plants at the green market, I also got instant gratification: a small handful of the bigger leaves perfect for rounding out an Asian-style noodle salad. Now if those smaller leaves would just start growing... In this heat, I could really use a mojito or basil-infused cocktail.

Peanut Noodle Salad

This is a nice variation of the standard summertime pasta or macaroni salad and goes great with all types of protein - chicken, shrimp, steak, tofu. Feel free to make the dressing in advance but don't toss with the noodles more than a few hours ahead as the acid will sometimes break down the pasta.

Ingredients For the dressing .5 c. Lime juice 1 T. Peanut butter (creamy or chunky is fine) 2 T. Sesame oil 2 cloves of Garlic, peeled and roughly chopped 1 t. of Ginger (fresh grated or fresh from a jar, not powdered) 1 T. Low sodium soy sauce 1 T. Tomato paste (or sauce or whatever tomato product you have around 1 packet Splenda or 1 t. brown sugar* Hot sauce or Sriracha (to taste) *Depending on how acidic the dressing tastes, and what kind of tomato product you used, you may want to add a bit of sweetness for balance For the salad 8 oz. Soba or whole wheat spaghetti, prepared to packaged directions, drained and cooled .5 c. Snow peas or sugar snap peas, julienned .5 c. Zucchini, shredded and drained/water squeezed out .24 c. Carrots, shredded .5 Red bell pepper, julienned 2 Scallions, thinly sliced .25 c. Unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped 2 T. of Basil leaves and Spearmint leaves, cut into long thin strips (chiffonade) Method For the dressing, using a standard or immersion blender, blitz the first seven ingredients (lime juice through tomato paste). Sample and add sweeter and hot sauce to taste. For the salad, combine pasta and vegetables. Toss with dressing a few hours before serving. Serve chilled with hot grilled chicken, shrimp, beef or tofu.

Bread and Oscars

Bread + cheese = award winning combo. At least that's what I think. And at least that's what I brought to my friend Laura's annual Oscars Party. Laura, a consummate hostess, gets very into the Oscars: not only does she do a themed menu, she does a three-plus-course, three-plus-selections-per-course themed menu -- it's practically a Top Chef finale. So to complement a menu that included chips and salsa, raw veggies, chutney, turkey chili, naan, jambalaya, cheeseburgers, sausage and kraut, German chocolate cake and milk and cookies, I brought an homage to the best picture nominee Milk: a round of cranberry pecan sourdough bread from Our Daily Bread, stuffed with melted double cream brie and topped with extra dried cranberries and chopped pecans. Served with slices of honey crisp and granny smith apples from Terhune Orchards, it took less time to assemble than most award acceptance speeches. And, come to think of it, barely lasted longer than one once I put it out on the coffee table.

Easy Baked Brie

I cut the rind of the brie before cutting into cubes and found a serrated knife did the trick.

Ingredients

1 round loaf of bread (sourdough or other flavored bread recommended)

1 T. Olive oil

12-14 oz. of brie, cut into rough cubes

1-2 T. of chopped nuts/dried fruit/herbs, to complement your flavored bread

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Slice off top 1/3 of round; hollow out remaining loaf leaving 1 inch border all around.

Eat small amount of bread right away. Cube top of loaf and "innerds" for later dipping.

Drizzle Olive oil inside of bread bowl. Add herbs if using.

Stuff brie into bread bowl, packing down to get as much cheese inside as possible.

Place bread on cookie tray covered with an extra large piece of foil. Bake, uncovered for approximately 35 minutes or until cheese is oozing but not browning. If exposed edges or cheese appear to be burning, cover loosely with foil.

During last 10 minutes of cooking, top with nuts and dried fruit, if using.

More 'Props for Fingerlings

I actually ended up watching the Super Bowl alone this year. Well, “watch” may be the wrong word. I had it on in the background and would stop and watch a commercial or a play every so often. What can I say? I am not a big football fan. But I did feel honor-bound to eat football party food for dinner. Digging around in the fridge and freezer, I found fixings for Ellie Krieger’s Buffalo Chicken Salad recipe. While not quite the same as a greasy batch of chicken wings, it was actually a good substitute, particularly as I have never been a fan of skin-on chicken on the bone, miniature or otherwise.

To accompany the salad, I whipped up a personal sized batch of potato skins, using Russian Banana fingerling potatoes from the Union Square farmers market. Since I was already trading salad for wings, I couldn’t really justify frying potatoes, so I baked them instead, using a technique recommended by Elise at Simply Recipes. Even with low fat cheddar and Oscar Mayer ready serve bacon, the end result was gooey and delicious – so worth the minimal effort.

Better than Foam Finger[ling] Potato Skins Adapted from Simply Recipes

By nature, a fingerling potato has very thin skin. Ironically, I found it easier to scoop out the smaller fingerling potatoes, so try to choose ones that are uniformly narrow and scoop out “flesh” using your smallest measuring spoon.

Ingredients 3 fingerling potatoes (I like Russian Banana fingerlings) 1 t. olive oil Coarse salt 1 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded or finely diced 1-2 strips bacon, diced 1 T. finely chopped scallions Method Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare fingerlings for baking (scrub, prick with fork, rub with oil and salt); bake for 20 minutes or until soft. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise across narrower side to ensure maximum surface area for toppings. Scoop out most of potato “flesh,” rub interior with a little oil and return to oven. Bake another 10 minutes or until interior starts to brown and crisp. Sprinkle with cheese, bacon and scallions; return to oven until cheese is melted. Serve with sour cream or blue cheese dressing (like the one from Ellie Krieger’s Buffalo Chicken Salad).

Quinoa Calling

I did it again – spent almost $50 at the green market. I went with the best intentions of only spending what was in my pocket ($23) but was seduced by produce and actually hit up the ATM mid-shopping spree. Can you tell the one thing I was not able to buy? If you guessed Persian cucumbers, you’re right! The season is almost over and what the vendor had, they were saving for an unnamed restaurant. Hmph. But since I could barely carry what I had, perhaps it was for the best. Four days later and I’ve actually used up a good chunk of my purchases – in cauliflower leek potage and baked eggplant mozzarella and several servings of an autumn salad based off of one I had from Marks & Spencer’s Simply Food last January. Marks & Spencer’s Simply Food has the best concept – a majority of the space is dedicated to high quality prepared foods for people on the go. If they would only open across the pond, as I have only seen them in Europe. When I was in London last winter, the exchange rate was even worse that it is now, so I picnicked from M&S SF several times. The best dish was a Moroccan Chicken Salad prepared with grains, roasted sweet potato, pine nuts, pomegranate seeds and two kinds of dressing (chermoula and a lemon mint yogurt) served over greens. I actually preserved the label from the container so I could recreate it at home, and when I saw that pomegranates were reappearing in the markets, dug out the scrap. The ingredient list is pretty daunting: quinoa and bulgur, rocket (arugula) and baby spinach, mint and coriander (cilantro), preserved lemon, sunflower oil and more – oy! So I simplified a bit. I still made a tabouli-style mixture of bulgur and quinoa with chopped mint, cilantro and scallions, but I subbed olive oil for the sunflower oil and lemon juice and zest for the preserved lemon. To me, adding butternut squash was somehow more appealing than adding sweet potato, although the sweet potato may have the nutritional edge. And I didn’t bother making a separate chermoula and a lemon mint yogurt dressing. Served over arugula with a sprinkle of rice wine vinegar, and it was almost like I was back in London…without the £9 M&S price tag.

Mock M&S Salad I noticed that the October issue of Bon Appétit has a similar recipe. I actually think the addition of grains makes for a heartier main dish salad, which is the intent of this recipe. Ingredients About 2 c. of butternut squash, peeled and diced into .5 inch cubes 2 T. olive oil, separated 1/3 c. uncooked quinoa 1/3 c. uncooked bulgur 1 c. water or broth, divided 2 T. cilantro, finely diced (more to taste) 2 T. fresh mint, finely diced (more to taste) 3 scallions, diced ¼ c. pomegranate seeds ¼ c. pine nuts, toasted 1 lemon, zested and juiced Paprika Salt Pepper Salad greens (optional) Method Preheat oven to 400 Place squash cubes and 1 T. of olive oil in baking or roasting pan; season liberally with salt, pepper and paprika Roast squash in oven for 20-minutes until edges start to crisp Boil ½ c. of water or broth, combined boiling water and bulgur in a large mixing bowl, cover Boil remaining ½ c. of water or broth, add quinoa and cook until water is absorbed[i] Add quinoa to bulgur bowl, along with herbs, pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, lemon zest, lemon juice and remaining olive oil; toss well Add roasted squash cubes and stir to combine Serve over greens or eat as is [i] I like to add the plumped bulgur to the cooked quinoa during the final minutes of cooking so bulgur can absorb any excess water from quinoa

Guilty Pleasures

Green market items don't necessarily equal healthy items. Oh sure, you can get your salad greens and bean sprouts and wheat grass juice, but you can also get ice cream and cookies and scones -- lovely, sugar encrusted scones -- at my local farmer's market.My guilty pleasure at Union Square are scones from Our Daily Bread (their chocolate chip cookies, Sunflower Millet Bread and Whole Wheat Sourdough Baguettes are pretty darn good too). And on Saturday's ODB sometimes sells bags of day-old scones for 3 for $2.50. Magically, the presence of flaked coconut and chocolate chunks really make a day-old scone taste, well, maybe half a day old. And a short spin in the microwave takes even more age off. Alas, not every Saturday is a scone Saturday, so recently I tried to recreate the flavors in an untraditional way – using my ice cream maker.I was late to the ice cream maker craze. Really late. In fact, I only bought one on September 6 of this year (yes, after summer). I actually inherited an ice cream maker and it sat on top of my cabinet for two years until a steamy July day when I pulled it down, inspired to make frozen yogurt based on David Lebovitz recipe. Unfortunately, it wasn't until I had the yogurt mixture in the freezer canister that I realized the top would not go on. Yep, the canister was warped (it was my first foray as an ice cream chef. How was I supposed to know the bottom of the canister should be flat?). Williams-Sonoma to the rescue. Within days I had churned out a blackberry frozen yogurt, a mango strawberry frozen yogurt and honey ice cream. But I soon realized that it’s pretty much impossible to make low cal ice cream at home that tastes as good as Edy’s Slow Churned. Eggs, cream, fruit: all expensive for the wallet, and waistline. But then I saw a recipe calling for coconut milk and evaporated skim milk on Chocolate & Zucchini. By subbing light coconut milk, and adding some chopped bittersweet chocolate chunks at the end, I had a creamy, low fat scone in ice cream form.

Calorie and Cost Conscious Coconut Chocolate Ice Cream (adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini’s Glace Coco du Placard) Ingredients 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted 14.5 oz. can of light coconut milk 14.5 oz. can of evaporated skim milk 1 T. rum 2 t. of almond extract (you could also use vanilla) 1/2 cup sugar 6 oz. of bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped Method Toast the coconut by placing in dry pan over medium heat until fragrant and light brown, cool completely. Wisk together remaining ingredients and chill well. Add liquid mixture to your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Add cooled toasted coconut flakes approximately 10 minutes before freezing cycle is complete. Add chocolate pieces approximately 5 minutes before cycle is complete. Note: The end product will be very soft and will require “ripening” in the freezer.

Surplus "Squash"

I was at Union Square this weekend juggling an armload of red pepper, squash and cucumbers when a lady stopped me and said "that's a lot of zucchini." But look close, that's only three zucchini. The other six? Persian cucumbers.

As a child, I was always a pickle eater but hated cucumbers and related fruits, like tomatoes, for the longest time because of their watery, slimy seeds. It wasn't until I was in high school that I learned how to scoop the seeds out of your standard cuke. For some reason, I don't remember the English or seedless variety being available back then. But once I started life in my own kitchen, and using Fresh Direct, I discovered the Persian cucumber. Crunchy, sweet and compact -- easy to use up all in one sitting so none is left moldering in the crisper.

My Fresh Direct days are long over (because of the increasing price of Fresca, but that's a story for another day), but thanks to Oak Grove's green house growing, I have at least a few more Persian cucumber days...

Savory Cucumber Yogurt Salad

While most of my Persian cukes end up in salads, I do like this savory yogurt dish alongside Indian curries or a Trader Joe's Vegetable Masala burger.

Ingredients

1 Persian cucumber, peeled and shredded

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 c. red onion, finely diced

1/2 c. Greek-style yogurt (I use Trader Joe's brand 2% Greek Yogurt)

1 t. cilantro (optional)

Salt

Pepper

Other spices (I like a dash of Penzey's Turkish spice blend)

Method

Pile shredded cucumber in a kitchen towel or small strainer, squeeze out all the liquid you can. Combine shredded cucumber, minced garlic, red onion and yogurt. Season liberally with salt and pepper and an other spices desired. Chill for at least 30 minutes to let flavors combine. Use as is or use as a sandwich spread, dip or topping for spicy food.

Turn, turn, turn...

A few weekends ago, I spent $40.05 at the Union Square Greenmarket. I blame it on the season -- summer's ending and fall's beginning. The last of the tomatoes nestled next to the first of the winter squash. So I bought it all. And I actually used almost all (full disclosure:the scallions are currently lingering in the bottom of my crisper). But most of the veggies made their way into salads, the kernels from all six ears of corn are tucked in the freezer (ready to be pulled out on a bleak winter's day), the fingerling's were roasted and also used in soups, and the chocolate chip and coconut scones, well, I may have a piece of one left the freezer (which, after two weeks, shows admirable restraint, I think). The squash and eggplant received special treatment, however. Since the nip of fall in the air made turning on my oven actually tolerable, I made not one, but two batches of ratatouille oven-style. Not a bad way to say "hello autumn."

Roasted Ratatouille I like how roasting the vegetables gives them an almost meaty texture. I actually made this twice with my haul, as zucchini and eggplant have a more shelf life that you might think. Try eating the ratatouille over Israeli style couscous and consider sprinkling with crumbled goat or feta cheese before serving. Ingredients 1 med. zucchini 1 med. yellow squash 1 med. Italian-style eggplant 1 small red onion 2 cloves minced garlic (optional) 2 t. olive oil Italian herbs and spices .5 cup tomato sauce (I like to use Trader Joes’ Starter Sauce) Method Preheat oven to 400 degrees Chop zucchini, squash, eggplant and red onion into uniform pieces Toss with olive oil and minced garlic, if using, and spread into 9x13 baking dish Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, dried oregano and dried basil; add a few red pepper flakes if you like a bit of heat Roast for 30-35 minutes, stirring vegetables at the half way mark Turn off oven; add tomato sauce and stir Leave in cooling oven for another 10-15 minutes