Bring Your Muscles!

Once again, this week brings with it several new items. The harvest is really diverse - and heavy, so plan for it by bringing a larger, or second container for your haul - watermelon, cucs, squash and more are heavy once you load them all up.

Tomatillos - one of the staples of the farm each summer. They are a very interesting veggie and you can do quite a bit with them. They look like green tomatoes and in fact, are in the same family. Tomatillos are a good source of Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Niacin, Potassium and Manganese. Tomatillos store well in the fridge - 2-3 weeks - store in an open plastic or paper bag and keep the husk on until ready to use. When ready to use, remove the husk and rinse in cool water to remove the stickiness. This veggie can be eaten raw added to salads, or made into a fresh salsa. They are also delicious cooked into salsas or stews. Two of my favorites are Slow Cooker Chicken or Pork with Chile Verde and Chicken Stew with Tomatillo Sauce. The first recipe uses a slow cooker and the second one is easily adapted to the pressure cooker, so neither one heats up the kitchen. I typically use 2 or even 3 weeks worth of tomatillos and make the sauce for the Chicken Stew and freeze it in 2 cup batches which is what the recipe uses - it comes together for an easy meal over rice or on tortillas.

The best, most ripe tomatillos are those in which their husks have become dry and papery and they often just fall on the ground. Walk the beds and look for spots where a few have fallen on the ground - right now, that is mostly in the center of the plant and near the ground. This method will provide your share in just a few minutes.

Tomatoes - ok, so everyone knows about tomatoes, but there has been a debate about whether or not to refrigerate them. I researched this a couple of years ago, and the scientific community said to store at room temperature until they are at their optimum ripeness, or are starting to soften/have soft spots - then place them loosely in the fridge. A cold perfectly ripe tomato is better cold than one that has been left at room temperature to start to become over-ripe.

Husk Cherries, aka Ground Cherries - these interesting little fruits are also in the same family as tomatoes and tomatillos. Like tomatillos, they have a papery husk on them which dries up when ripe. They are called ground cherries, because the little fruits fall to the ground when ripe, making it really easy to harvest them. Just scoop them off the ground. Ground cherries can be stored on the kitchen counter almost indefinitely, making it a great addition when your fridge is overloaded! They are very nutritious and are similar to tomatillos in the vitamins and minerals they provide. There are several recipes on this site, both sweet and savory. My favorite is the Fresh Ground Cherry Salsa - it requires a lot of chopping, but the taste makes it worth it! We don't have a specific category on the recipe site for ground cherries, so search on Summer Miscellaneous and you will find the recipes.