This week, because we literally had our hands full with eggplant, the challenge to creatively utilize this purple bounty continues. We walked away from the farm with not only a sizable Rosa Bianca, but also a few Long Purples (depicted above) and a Casper, which is a small, white eggplant with a very sweet flavor. None of the recipes in the weekly CSA newsletter called for such a massive amount of eggplant in one dish. And since eggplant loses its texture and firmness with each passing day, we needed to use them all up quickly.

Our saving grace was a French dish called ratatouille, originally a poor farmer’s solution to excess summer produce. Ironically, the original recipe didn’t include eggplant, but today, ratatouille is almost unrecognizable without it . Zucchini, tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, onions, and garlic were used to make the first manifestations of this dish, and luckily for us, we had all these ingredients in stock as well.

There are a variety of ways to make ratatouille but all agree on one thing: the ingredients are cooked in stages, then combined and left to stew. Slow cooking allows the flavors to interact, and the final product makes a unique contribution to any dinner table (as well as fantastic leftovers!).

4-6 servings

• 2-3 lbs eggplant, 1″ cubes (we recommend using several varieties of eggplant if you can)
• 1.5 lbs tomatoes, in chunks
• 8 oz tomato sauce (homemade directly from tomatoes, if possible)
• 1 zucchini, 1″ cubes (use more as desired)
• 1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic (more or less as desired)
• 1 tbsp Herbes de Provence (basil, thyme and parsley)
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Place Dutch over medium heat. Add 1-2 tbsp olive oil, adjusting as needed. (Ratatouille usually contains a good deal of olive oil, but we prefer to keep it lighter.)

2. Add the ingredients in stages, allowing one to cook briefly before adding the next, as follows: onions, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, tomato sauce, eggplant, zucchini, herbs, salt and pepper.

3. Stir constantly until eggplant and zucchini become tender.

4. Allow to simmer for 1-2 hours. Taste it regularly and monitor the moisture content. Add water, vegetable broth or tomato sauce if necessary until the dish is ready to serve.

The order in which you cook the ingredients varies across recipes. We suspect it’s because different ingredients demand different cooking times, and how you order them affects their texture in the final dish. We were pleased with our version of ratatouille, but if you know of any other way to make it, please share!

Eggplant are practically coming out of our ears at the farm. A minor miscalculation resulted in way too many transplants this year, and recently the CSA members have been receiving more eggplant than they ever bargained for. Well, the prolific production has finally caught up to us, and we’re now faced with the same challenge as the members: what to do with so much eggplant!

Luckily, though, the weekly CSA newsletter contains several recipes. Our eyes immediately gravitated to the rolled eggplant tapas, an appetizer served in Spain. Not only did it seem like a great way to use our eggplant, but it also called for tomatoes and basil (both of which are bountiful at the farm as well). And since we both love goat cheese, how could we resist?

The variety of eggplant we had on hand is called Rosa Bianca, which you can see in the photo above. Its flavor is milder than the darker variety you’re probably used to, but it’s also sweeter and, in our opinions, tastier. We’ve been told these eggplant don’t do well at the farmers’ market because people are hesitant to cook with a lighter colored eggplant. Well, they’re missing out.

2 servings

• 1 medium eggplant (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 4 plum tomatoes, finely diced (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 6 oz goat cheese (we recommend mild and spreadable)
• thyme, a generous pinch, dried (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• rosemary, a generous pinch, dried (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• black pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp dried basil (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• balsamic vinegar, to taste
• garnish – arugula, watercress or fresh basil

1. Cut the eggplant lengthwise into 1/4″ slices. Discard slices with excess skin. Sprinkle both sides of each slice with salt and let drain on a paper towel for 10 minutes.

2. Remove eggplant slices from paper towels and pat dry, removing excess salt. Brush each side of the slices with olive oil.

3. Fry the slices in a pan over medium heat until cooked. Alternatively, you can broil them in the oven or cook them on the grill. Allow the slices to cool.

4. Mix goat cheese in a small bowl with thyme, rosemary and pepper, adjusting seasonings as you see fit.

5. Spread cheese mixture evenly over each eggplant slice and roll ‘em up.

6. Toss tomatoes in a medium bowl with basil, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil (if you wish).

7. Divide the tomato mixture between two plates and top each plate with eggplant rolls. Garnish and serve.

The Rosa Bianca eggplant’s slightly sweet flavor provided a nice contrast against the salty cheese and acidic tomatoes. But the overall dish was quite strong. We used feta cheese because it was what we had, but next time we plan on using a softer, milder goat cheese to even out this sharp Spanish appetizer.

On our way back home from blackberry picking at San Patricio Berry Farm in the cool, green mountains near Ruidoso, we came across a farm store on the side of the road. At first, we were just interested in the freshly pressed (and apparently widely known) cherry cider advertised on the outside, but after trying a few pints and deciding to take home a gallon, we spotted some other delicious goodies just a few feet away.

Peaches, apples, plums, and cherries were among the several fruits available, but we had our eyes (and our appetites) set on the nearby corn. Grown in Artesia, NM (less than 200 miles away) this corn is made possible by a unique water source known as an artesian aquifer–the same one that feeds Roswell, of extraterrestrial fame.

We decided to highlight the subtle but refreshing flavor of the corn and accent it with a splash of heat from the many, many chiles we’ve gotten from the farm lately. It all came together in a wholesome and inviting corn chowder.

2 servings

• 3 ears of corn, kernels removed and 1 cob saved (our source: The Fruit Stand in Glencoe, NM)
• 1 potato, 1/2″ cubes
• 2 C milk (adding more if needed)
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped
• 2 Anaheim chile peppers, chopped (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1/2 C onion, chopped
• 1 strip bacon
• 1/2 tsp thyme, dried (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a large Dutch oven, cook bacon in 1 tbsp of butter for 5 minutes.

2. Add onions, celery and chiles, cooking until slightly brown in the Dutch oven with bacon.

3. Add milk, corn cob, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

4. Add potato and corn kernels. Cook until the potato is done. Add corn starch as needed, until a desired consistency is achieved.

5. Remove the cob, bay leaf, and the bacon. Enjoy!

Our corn chowder was thoroughly relished. Next time, we plan on making some cornbread and serving it with a side of okra from the farm–local ingredients with a Southern twang. We’ll let ya’ll know how it turns out!

With how well the chiles are doing, we’ve got a constant supply of these red and green beauties in our refrigerator. It’s a good thing we love peppers and appreciate the subtle heat, because we’ve been putting chiles in just about everything we can think of (except for our morning cereal).

Our dilemma isn’t new. Latin Americans have been finding creative ways to eat their chiles for thousands of years. One of the classic ways to eat a chile is to stuff it. “Chiles rellenos,” Spanish for “stuffed chiles,” is a localized twist on what many people are familiar with as stuffed bell peppers. The biggest difference between the two is the method of preparation and, of course, the resulting flavor. We adapted a Mexican recipe that uses poblano chiles and substituted with our distinctly New Mexican Joe E. Parkers instead.

2 servings

• 6 chiles, roasted and whole (we roasted ours on a gas stove like this–just don’t split them open) (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1/4 C onion, chopped
• 2 small tomatoes, chopped (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1 egg, beaten
• flour for coating

1. Brown the onions in a pan over medium heat until translucent.

2. Add the ground beef and cook until done. Remove from heat, set aside, and allow to cool.

3. Mix ground beef and onions with tomatoes in a bowl, with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Cut a 2″ slit in the peppers and carefully scrape out as many seeds as you can with a butter knife. Some people choose to leave the seeds in if the chiles are mild enough. We left ours in.

5. Stuff each pepper gently with the ground beef mixture.

6. Close the slits with toothpicks. It’s not going to be perfect, but it’s just to keep all the beef from falling out during the following steps.

7. Dredge the chiles in the egg and then roll in flour, shaking off excess. Set them aside until all are coated.

8. Heat oil in a large pan over medium to high heat. Add chiles, turning as they brown.

We plan on making this again, but next time we want to change up our batter to more closely resemble the original recipe and see how that turns out. One lesson we learned while consuming this dish is that chiles are hotter towards the stem, so consider yourselves forewarned!

Here in New Mexico, green chiles are a staple. Their deep, dark, and smoky aroma, when roasting over an open flame, is unlike any other you’ve experienced.

On the farm, they’re just about the most successful crop we’ve had so far. In the past, there have been problems with blossom end rot, but this season the farmer decided to give the peppers another chance. To his surprise (and much to our delight), the Joe E. Parker variety we planted took off in full swing.

In order to preserve the recent bounty of these slightly hot chiles, roasting is the way to go because they can be frozen immediately afterwards. The red ones are usually dried and ground into chile powder, but we particularly enjoy the full smoky flavor that roasting produces. Since we don’t have a grill, we turned to our gas stove as a makeshift roaster, and it worked like a charm.

1. Turn gas stove to medium-high or high. You want a fairly large flame to ensure the quickest roasting time and sufficient blackening. Lower temperatures will require more gas and time to roast the peppers.

2. Place the peppers on the burners, making sure they are close to the flame. You can use tongs, but we experimented with using chopsticks as skewers.

3. Leave the peppers over the flame, constantly monitoring them and listening for cracking noises. These noises simply tell you the skin is cracking and that the peppers are roasting. This is a good sign.

4. Rotate each pepper once the skin has blackened in a certain area. You should rotate the peppers so that the entire surface is black and crispy. Don’t worry about that pitch black color. The flesh underneath will be perfectly fine.

5. Remove peppers from the heat once they are totally blackened and plunge them immediately into an ice water bath. The ice water will stop the cooking process and facilitate the removal of the peppers’ skins.

If you want to freeze the chiles for later use, this is the time to do it. Seal them in a bag and pick up where you left off in these steps whenever you’re ready to use them.

6. Rub the peppers between your fingers, or scrape off the skin with your hands to remove the charred skin. You may want to do this under running water to make sure all the skin is washed away. Once all the skin is off, remove peppers from water and place on cutting board.

7. Cut the tops off each pepper and slice down one side, exposing the inner seed cavity. Scrape off the white membrane and seeds and discard.

8. Add them to the dish of your choice. They taste great in stews, soups, stir-fry, and even in your sandwich, adding a deep flavor and dimension to any dish. We’ll also be posting more recipes that refer to this technique as a starting point, so grab a glass of milk (if you’re really sensitive to chile heat) and fire up your grill or stove!

With the recent planting of winter squash came yet another wave of weeds, this time the ubiquitous amaranth, also known as redroot pigweed. As we were pulling up the younger plants to prevent them from crowding out the germinating squash, we remembered that in some cultures (e.g. Jamaica) this invasive weed is actually savored as a leafy green, much like spinach or chard.

Instead of tossing all of the pigweed in the compost pile, we saved a bunch in a glass of water, put it in a refrigerator, and then wrapped the roots in wet paper towels for the drive home.

We prepared it simply so that the distinct flavors of the amaranth could shine through. It reminded us of spinach, but the texture was superior and the color was an especially vibrant shade of green. There was a freshness to it that spinach can’t rival, and a tenderness that was afforded by harvesting these plants at less than eight inches tall (anything bigger gets tough and bitter, so be quick because this stuff grows fast!).

Depending on your individual taste, you may or may not detect some bitterness. One of us could, while the other chomped happily away, without noticing at all. If you’re one of those people whose taste buds are blissfully oblivious to the bitterness, this is a wonderful year round substitute for spinach.

2 servings

• 1 1/2lbs amaranth/redroot pigweed (presuming roots are attached) (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1/3 C onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp butter
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Remove leaves from the rest of the plant, reserving the leaves and discarding the rest. Some people include the stems, but they tend to be more bitter and fibrous.

2. Steam the amaranth leaves until tender. Because the leaves are so young, this process is quick. Taste test a leaf. If you find it too bitter, you may want to boil the leaves instead, though some flavor, nutrition, and color will be lost.

3. Melt 1/2 tbsp butter in a pan over medium to high heat, and sauté onions until golden brown.

4. Melt remaining butter and add amaranth, along with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté for 1-2 minutes and serve.

What makes this worth trying is that you could get this unique ingredient for free. You might be able to convince a local farmer to put some aside for you, since they need to be weeded anyway. Or you can offer to harvest it yourself–the farmer will surely appreciate it. So we say: If you can’t beat ‘em, eat ‘em!

What better way to celebrate our last harvest of Swiss chard than by using the colorful stems to make a hearty pasta dish? The flavors found in this recipe aren’t your typical American variety. They’re reminiscent of northern European fare, weaving together smoky sausage with tangy apple cider vinegar and sweet yet earthy caraway seeds.

After finishing this meal, we knew that we had come up with a dish that could serve as a main course, without leaving any stomachs unsatisfied. This is definitely not a lunch meal. It’s best enjoyed at the dinner table, perhaps with a cold glass of beer, a side of brussel sprouts, and a hungry group of friends.

4 servings

• 1 C dry penne, cooked al dente
• Stems from 1 1/2 lbs of Swiss chard, cut in 1-1 1/2 inch pieces (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 8 oz Kielbasa or turkey sausage, 1/2 inch slices then quartered
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 1 small tomato, chopped (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 C beef broth
• 1 tbsp caraway seeds
• 1 tsp dried rosemary (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 C Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Boil the stems with a teaspoon of white vinegar and a few pinches of salt if you find the stems to be tough and/or bitter. (Ours were a little bitter, so we boiled them.) Otherwise, you can steam them. Once cooked thoroughly, drain and set aside.

2. Brown the sausage in a pan over medium heat. Remove sausage, leaving drippings in pan.

3. Sauté onion in sausage drippings, adding oil or butter as needed. Cook until translucent and add garlic during last 2 minutes of cooking.

4. Add Swiss chard stems, broth, caraway seeds, and rosemary and simmer 2-3 minutes.

5. Add sausage, pasta, Parmesan cheese, and apple cider vinegar, tossing until everything is evenly distributed and coated.

6. Mix in tomato at the very end, to prevent it from cooking too long and losing its flavor and texture in the dish.

Eating this was especially gratifying after working up a healthy appetite at the farm. We recommend you spend a day helping out a local farmer to burn off the calories from this dish…it’s a win/win situation, don’t you think?

Another influx of chard challenged us to come up with not only one dish, but two: one using the actual greens, and the other using the stems. We like to separate them because of their different textures, flavors, and cooking requirements.

Our bounty of chard was accompanied by the arrival of our potted tomato plant’s harvest, so we hoped to make something that could incorporate the sharp flavor of a homegrown tomato.

Lately, our cravings have leaned towards pasta dishes, so we adapted a linguine, spinach and gorgonzola recipe from Cooking Light 2004 to suit our circumstances.

It’s been too hot to grow spinach here in the Mesilla Valley for over a month now, but Swiss chard is holding on. Not for long, though. The summer heat’s getting to be too much for the chard as well, so we might be making our last Swiss chard dishes until the fall. Let’s make the most of it while it’s here!

4 servings

• 1 C dry penne, cooked al dente
• 1 1/2 lbs Swiss chard, stems removed (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 12 oz can evaporated milk (we substituted with powdered milk, making it twice as concentrated)
• 4 oz Gorgonzola cheese (or blue cheese)
• 2 tbsp onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced (our source: a farm in Mesquite, NM)
• 1 tomato (our source: our container garden)
• 1/2 tsp fresh basil, finely chopped (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Steam or boil the chard. (We usually boil ours, sometimes twice, with salt and white vinegar to minimize bitterness.) Drain and set aside.

2. Sauté onion and garlic in 1/2 tbsp butter over medium heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. In a medium saucepan, melt 1 tbsp butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook for approximately 1 minute, stirring constantly with a whisk.

4. Slowly pour in milk, continue stirring. Turn heat up to medium-high, bring mixture to boil and continue stirring. Reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes.

5. Remove from heat, stir in cheese, salt, pepper, tomato, basil, onion and garlic. Toss with pasta. Then add chard (so that the noodles get evenly coated with sauce before the chard can soak it up).

Gorgonzola is usually pretty strong by itself, but when it’s cooked and part of a sauce, the flavor mellows out a lot. Also, it becomes slightly grainy, resembling Ricotta. So if you prefer a sauce with a smoother texture and a more pronounced cheese flavor, you can substitute the Gorgonzola with a combination of Fontina for smoothness and Parmesan for flavor. Try it, and let us know how it turns out!

As we drove home from the farm with a patty pan and more crookneck squash in the backseat, it dawned on us that it might be nice to make “pasta primavera,” a simple Italian dish prepared with pasta and fresh vegetables. Although “primavera” means “spring” we decided to bend the rules by using summer squash!

The crooknecks and patty pans contributed a soft, nutty flavor that fit perfectly with our seasonings: fresh basil and Parmesan cheese. At the last minute, a creamy sauce came to mind as the perfect way to meld all the flavors together. It made this dish substantial enough to hold its own as a light summer meal.

4 servings

• 2 C dry bow tie (Farfalle) pasta, al dente
• 1 patty pan squash, 1/2 inch cubes (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1 crookneck squash, 1/2 inch cubes (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1/2 large tomato, 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 cloves garlic (our source: a farm in Mesquite, NM)
• 1 tbsp fresh basil (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1/2 C milk
• 1 1/2 – 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (because we like heat)
• 1/4 C Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (or to taste)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, or to taste
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Steam the squash until tender.

2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onions and pepper until onions are translucent.

3. Add steamed squash to onions and peppers. Cook for about 5 minutes.

4. Add tomatoes and garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.

5. Stir in pasta, vinegar, red pepper flakes, and basil, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Mix cornstarch and milk, then stir into pasta mixture until slightly thickened.

7. Add half the Parmesan cheese, reserving the rest to sprinkle on pasta at the table.

This dish is also very tasty and even more substantial if you add chicken. And since we used summer vegetables, we jokingly refer to this recipe as “pasta di estate,” meaning “summer pasta.” Delizioso!

We love international cuisine, but we also love fresh, local food. Fortunately for us, we certainly don’t see why we can’t have the best of both worlds!

As we were browsing through Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2004, we came across a Split Pea-Spinach Dal with Cauliflower recipe and started wondering how we could adapt it to what we brought home from the farm and what we had in our pantry. This week, our options included a couple of zucchini, a crookneck squash, a bag of split peas, and a few miscellaneous farm goodies.

A dal is a spicy Indian dish traditionally made with legumes and seasoned with a variety of spices and other flavorings (e.g. mango, tamarind, cumin, ginger, etc.) , depending on regional preferences. So we decided to make a “Las Cruces Dal,” named after the city we live in.

6 servings

• 3 1/2 C water
• 1 C dried split peas
• 1 medium or large zucchini, 1/2 inch cubes (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1 crookneck Squash, 1/2 inch cubes (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1 to 4 C Swiss chard (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1 Casper eggplant, 1/2 inch cubes (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1 C onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (our source: a farm in Mesquite, NM)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds (or 1 tsp ground cumin)
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds (or 1 tsp ground mustard)
• 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves

1. Combine 2 1/2 cups water, split peas and bay leaf in a large Dutch oven or pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 50 minutes or until peas are tender.

2. Add 1 cup water, zucchini, squash and salt. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer partially covered for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and discard bay leaf.

3. Heat oil in a pan over medium to high heat. Add onion, ginger and garlic. Sauté for 3 minutes, then add cumin, mustard, coriander, turmeric, paprika and cloves. Cook over a low heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

4. Add onion mixture and eggplant to peas and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or until thick.

5. Stir in chard, cook for 5 minutes or until chard wilts.

“Las Cruces Dal” isn’t as good looking as its Indian counterparts, but it sure tasted good. If you can get your hands on yellow split peas or lentils, it’ll kick the aesthetics up a notch.