It's been such a fun cooking week, with the first of the fall crops coming on and all the lovely lovely roasting vegetables still peaking. Hopefully you mastered roasting in the last box, experimenting with the eggplant and tomatoes! Now we've got beets and kohlrabi for you to play with in the oven. See how to roast them both on the Farmer Kriss Pinterest Page. Do visit the page this week - I found so many wonderful ideas for the kale and beets and kohlrabi, I've been a Pinterest-postin' fool!

Notes: Oh, I love this recipe! Many thanks to Jean-Margret, my neighbor, friend and fellow shepherdess, who passed this along to me at church after a lengthy conversation about my bumper crop of eggplant. Hooray for fellow gardeners!

Bottom layer:
Cover the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan with 1 pound and then some eggplant that's been sliced lengthwise and fried in olive oil and garlic until soft.

Middle layer:
Fry together 2 pounds of ground lamb, 1 C chopped onion, 1/2 lb mushrooms (opt),  1 pint of tomatoes or 1 C puree.  Add a little red wine and 1 t oregano, 1/4 t allspice or cinnamon, 1 t salt, 1/2 C fine bread crumbs.

Top layer:
Make white sauce of 1/3C butter, 1/3C flour, 3 C milk (or 1 of them 1/2 & 1/2), 1 t salt.  When thick, beat in 4 eggs, 1/2 C grated romano or parmesan, and some chopped parsley.

Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes - until topping is lightly browned and set.  Let stand 20 min before serving.

INGREDIENTS
1 medium onion, chopped 
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 
2 teaspoons garam masala 
1 (15 oz.) can no salt added diced tomatoes 
1 bunch collard greens, thick stems removed and 
leaves sliced into 1 inch ribbons 
1 cup red lentils 
DIRECTIONS
Bring 1/2 cup water to simmer in a large deep skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook 5 minutes or until onion is translucent. Stir in garam maslal and cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes and their juices with 1 cup water and bring to boil. reduce heat to medium low and stir in collards. cover and simmer 20 minutes. Meanwhile, combine lentils and 2 coups water in a medium pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook about 8 minutes or until lentils are tender. Stir lentils into skillet with collards and serve. 

2 cups quinoa, cooked
1-2 large roasted beets, peeled and roughly chopped
1 15-ounce can chick peas, drained
5 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
1 tsp dried or fresh thyme
2 tablespoons mustard
¼ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Combine quinoa, beets, chick peas, feta cheese, pine nuts, and thyme in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, oil, a dash of sea salt and a couple turns of a black pepper grinder. Pour over the quinoa mixture and toss to coat. Taste, adjust salt and pepper, as needed, and serve immediately or keep covered in the fridge until needed. Serves 6-8.

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons snipped fresh basil
3 cups sugar
1 1 3/4ounce packagepowdered fruit pectin for lower-sugar recipes or 3 tablespoons powdered fruit pectin for low- or no-sugar recipes

DIRECTIONS
Seed, core, and finely chop tomatoes. Measure 3 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes; place in a 6- to 8-quart stainless-steel, enamel, or nonstick heavy pot. Bring to boiling, stirring occasionally; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Measure 3 1/3 cups tomatoes; return to pot. Stir in lemon juice and basil. In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup of the sugar and the pectin; stir into tomato mixture. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the remaining 2 3/4 cups sugar. Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and quickly skim off foam with a metal spoon. Ladle hot jam into hot sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving a 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids and screw bands. Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 5 minutes (start timing when water returns to boiling). Remove jars from canner; cool on wire racks. Makes 5 half-pints.

INGREDIENTS
1 large eggplant (1 1/2 pounds)
Good olive oil
2 red or green bell peppers
1/2 cup large green olives, pitted and chopped
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
3 tablespoons minced parsley
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons drained capers
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Toasted pita triangles, for serving

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Place the whole eggplant and peppers on the pan, prick with a fork in several places, and rub with olive oil. Roast for 45 to 50 minutes, until the eggplant is very soft when pierced with a knife. Set aside to cool. Halve the eggplant and peppers, peel, and discard the skin. Place the eggplant, peppers, and olives in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until coarsely chopped. Pour into a mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add the onion and red pepper flakes and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the onion is lightly browned. Add the garlic, cook for 1 minute, and add to the eggplant mixture. Add the parsley, pine nuts, lemon juice, capers, tomato paste, vinegar, salt, and pepper and mix. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to develop. Taste for seasonings and serve at room temperature with toasted pita triangles.

• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
• 2 medium kohlrabi, peeled, thinly sliced on a mandoline
• 2 small heads lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces (about 6 cups)
• 1 crisp red apple (such as Pink Lady or Honeycrisp), thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, divided

Toast caraway seeds in a small dry skillet over medium heat, tossing often, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.  Whisk caraway, oil, vinegar, and mustard in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper.  Add kohlrabi, lettuce, apple, and 2 tablespoons chives to bowl with dressing and toss to coat; season with salt and pepper.
Top salad with remaining 2 tablespoons chives just before serving.

Large kohlrabi root (stems and leaves removed– you can sautee those parts, if you want)
2 Tbs. melted coconut oil, ghee, or olive oil
salt
chili powder and ground cumin

Preheat your oven to 425F.  Wash the kohlrabi, then use a sharp paring knife or good vegetable peeler to peel them.  Cut them into matchsticks. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the kohlrabi sticks with the oil and sprinkle very generously with salt and chili powder, and sprinkle on a smaller amount of cumin.  Spread the kohlrabi in a single layer. Bake in the oven, flipping once, until they are soft and getting blistered and dark on the outside, about 30 minutes. Remove and eat warm with ketchup or with ranch or yogurt dressing.

Roast, roast, roast. You could roast everything in your box this week and be very cozy and happy. Especially consider roasting those bodacious beets. We’ve also packed your share with loads of healthy, hearty, cleansing greens. Seems like all the sturdy greens are looking wonderful this week – inviting us to assemble a thick stew with a rich tomato base. And don't toss those beet greens! We must need something from this combination of tomatoes and greens right now. Tonight we had collards cooked ‘til tender in roasted tomato sauce. Seasoned with caramelized onions and small bits of smoked pork loin, it was a divine dish.  Indulge in these early fall flavors and don’t overdo the fat.

Source:  Isabella (farm member)
Notes: This is a super easy sauce that doesn't need any extra equipment like a sauce machine or blender.  It works better with paste tomatoes.  

Source:  Think like a Chef, by Tom Colicchio
Notes:  This recipe is a starting point. When you are done you'll have roasted tomatoes, roasted tomatoes juice and roasted garlic. You'll be able to use all of them in recipes and you can combine them into sauce, too. I use the juice to saute vegetables when I want to use less oil, I use the garlic on toast or in sauce, I use the roasted tomatoes as a bed for poached eggs. Blended together in the consistency you like, they work well for pizza sauce or pasta sauce. Be creative, taste a lot, have fun.

Source:  Isabella (farm member)
Notes:  We love juice here at Circle M because you can do anything with it all winter long. We cook with it all year, though, and always have some in the fridge. To use minimal oil in sauteeing veggies, we use a little oil and then keep the veggies from sticking by adding tablespoons of tomato juice as we go. This recipe works best with extra slicing tomatoes but any will do.  It makes a lot of juice but can easily be cut in half or smaller portions.  Cutting it by 1/3 makes enough for a few glasses to drink and a half-gallon leftover to keep in the refrigerator.  The basic recipe is delicious but feel free to add peppers, garlic, and any herbs such as basil or dill.  This can also be used as a base for tomato soup.

Source: Susan Meier (farm member)
Notes: I was at a meeting of the Blanchardville Womens Club and had the great fortune to have a slice of this terrific tart. Wow!  This is a low-fat, low-cal recipe (though you can certainly substitute the full-fat versions of the ingredients) and has only about 280 calories in 1/4 of the pie plate! Amazing. But terrifically tasty, too. 

Make sauce! That is what the gardens are saying this week. When one is kneeling in the towering trellises grasping the hot, firm flesh of gorgeous, perfectly vine-ripened paste tomatoes, it is very nearly an audible sound.  I can only describe it as though the tomatoes have been absorbing the sun for us all summer, and now they are giving that energy and life back in the form of their thick, almost dry pulp. The paste or Roma tomatoes in your box are the oblong-shaped ones. Go ahead and keep munching away on the round and mini tomatoes, but take the big pastes and use the recipe below, check out the Farmer Kriss Pinterest Page or follow these links to other directions: Roasted Roma Tomato Sauce, Oven Puttanesca, Crock Pot Tomato Paste.  We have given you almost everything you need in the box - herbs and garlic - everything except onions, which we are sorry to be missing. Our onion harvest looks like it will be bleak, if anything, this year, which is a mystery to us. Everything else looks so good!

Source: Think like a Chef, by Tom Colicchio
Notes: This recipe is a starting point. When you are done you'll have roasted tomatoes, roasted tomatoes juice and roasted garlic. You'll be able to use all of them in recipes and you can combine them into sauce, too. I use the juice to saute vegetables when I want to use less oil, I use the garlic on toast or in sauce, I use the roasted tomatoes as a bed for poached eggs. Blended together in the consistency you like, they work well for pizza sauce or pasta sauce. Be creative, taste a lot, have fun.

Source: A Taste of Provence, Leslie Forbes
Notes:  If you’ve never enjoyed this French celebration of high summer produce, you maybe haven’t had it made well. From most accounts, the best versions of Provence’s signature dish involve individual roasting or sauteeing of each component, then gently combining them and letting the flavors meld through the olive oil for a half hour before serving, or even overnight. Instead of thinking of Ratatouille as a quick stew you can throw together, think Old World Slow Food.  Make it on a weekend. Enjoy the prep, enjoy the smell in your kitchen, enjoy the finished product with a nice crusty bread and some wine. Some good ones from the region include: Palette from Chateau Simone, Chateau Vignelaure red, Domaine Tempier red , Domaine Les Bastides.

Delicious Shots has a terrific Ratatouille recipe and tutorial online, if you you like pictures.

Notes: Many regions of the world have a version of this soup, though the most well-know is probably the Zuppa Toscana made famous by the Olive Garden! This combo is always yummy. See a nice vegetarian version at Amy's Cooking Adventures blog. We tend to really like this with some kind of sausage. There's a great light Kielbasa version at Blue Kitchen.  Or you can just go for it and do the whole cream-and-sausage-with-bacon zuppa thing we have below. Rich and amazing on one of those chilly nights coming up.

Notes: This recipe is something you're going to have to just start with and then mess around until you like what you've got. We LOVE this in August when the grill is in use so much and we can just pop the eggplants on at the end of a dinner and get them roasted and ready to prepare whenever we feel like it. Lately, it's come in handy for car trips as we've been taking kids off to college - prepare it so it isn't soupy and it's a no-drip delicious treat on crusty bread, pitas,  tortilla chips or even cut veggies like cucumbers and carrots.

Notes: With fresh string beans I generally recommend cooking for as short a time as possible. We saute lightly in a skillet most of the time, adding whatever seasoning is called for in a particular dinner. Sometimes coconut oil and soy sauce with sesame seeds, sometimes olive oil with thyme and lemon juice. Here's a nice Southern twist.

Source: Farm Member Pat
Notes: A million thanks to Pat, who passed this recipe on to us years ago. We’ve published it multiple times since, and made it even more. The recipe was on the Box 6 blog, but I think I put it up after the local folks got their boxes. Trust me. It's amazing.

Notes: It's even better with the whiskey, as noted.

Source: Adapted from Saveur
Notes: No, you don't need two terrific chocolate cake recipes in one week, but you just might want to take advantage of these fresh ingredients. We closed out our recent Farm-To-Table dinner with this one, and it was incredible. We didn't use the sour cream frosting, though it seems nice, we used the cocoa whiskey icing above.

Source: Prevention Magazine (via Farm Member Julie)
Notes: Makes 6 servings