Fattoush Salad

Fatoush is a wonderful Lebanese salad made with many of summer's best vegetables: tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. And we got all of them in today's box!


The thing I love most about fattoush is that it has toasted pita chips in it to give it a fabulous crunch. You can buy pita chips at most markets; or you can make them yourself by separating the two halves of the pita bread, brushing them with a little olive oil, and toasting them in a 375 degree oven until brown and crisp. I like using the whole wheat sesame pita, but you can use any flavor you like.


Another wonderful things about this salad is that you can use a variety of greens. I like using romaine lettuce and mixing in some arugula or dandelion greens. Sorrel, with its bright, lemon-y flavor, also goes nicely in the mix.


Fattoush Salad

4-6 C washed and dried salad greens, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 large tomato chopped
1 cucumber, quartered, seeded and chopped
1/4 C chopped sweet onion
1-2 green onions, chopped
1/2 C chopped bell pepper (green, red or yellow - your choice)
3/4 C cubed feta cheese
2-4 T chopped Italian parsley
1-2 C pita chips
salt and pepper to taste
dried Moroccan olives or Kalamata olives, optional


Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl, except the pita chips, salt and pepper.

Mix up the dressing:

2-3 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 T finely minced shallot or 1 T mashed roasted garlic
1/4 t salt
pepper to taste


Mix all ingredients together until well combined. Pour over salad and toss. Add pita chips and toss again. Serve immediately.


By the way, sumac is a wonderful herb to add to a fattoush salad. Get some at the Spice Station on Sunset.


Today's bounty included:

From Underwood Family Farms: romaine lettuce, bi-color corn, orange carrots, Hungarian bell pepper (pic above), yellow zucchini, cucumbers, bok choy, and avocados.


From Sage Mountain: Broccoli florets, collard greens, dandelion greens, arugula, and chard.


Cottage Grove provided the tomatoes - Early Girls pictured above. And Sweet Tree Farms provided peaches, plums, and nectarines.


And Silver Lake Farms provided arugula and mustard micro-greens, as well as new basil and cilantro micro-greens (cilantro pictured above). Sprinkle some of those basil micro-greens over your next Caprese Salad.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Fresh Quick Sweet Cucumber Pickles

Pickling Cucumbers. See Shelley's recipe below for how to pickle them.


















Spaghetti Squash. (In my fuzzy head it was a watermelon, sorry! Best I get back to flowers... Tara)
















Here's what Farmer John had for us in Silver Lake this week:

Oranges
Brown onions
Patty pan squash
Iceberg lettuce head
Green chard
Green peppers
Dandelion greens
Mixed herbs: sage, thyme and sweet marjoram
Dill
Garlic chives
Broccoli

And here's what Tara picked up from Underwood Family Farms today:

Sharlyn melon
Corn
Valencia oranges
Candy beets
Yellow zucchini
Green leaf lettuce
Purple carrots
Red peppers
Pickling cukes
Pink Brandywine tomatoes
Spaghetti squash (err, sorry, i called it a watermelon before Mr. Loewen straightened me out. Thank you Bret! Tara)

Fresh pickles, also known as quick pickles, are quite the rage now and for good reason. They're super easy to make and delicious to eat. They're quick because they don't involve any canning. This cuts the time it takes to make them, but also means they don't last for months on the shelf and they require refrigeration.

You can pickle many different vegetables, but cucumbers are among the most common. You can pickle some fruits, too, just make sure you select something that can stand up to the process without turning to mush.

Here's a simple recipe that I modified to use with the four cucumbers we got in our CSA box today. You'll probably get more brine than you actually need, but it's important that the cukes are covered with the brine during the pickling process. if you want to add more cukes, be sure to get pickling cucumbers, as the regular, eating variety don't work quite as well.

Fresh Quick Sweet Cucumber Pickles

Prepare the cucumbers:
4 pickling cucumbers, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 T kosher salt
1 C ice cubes
water

Place sliced cucumbers in a non-reactive bowl. Sprinkle with salt. Add ice cubes and enough cold water to cover. Let stand 2-3 hours at room temperature.

Prepare the brine:
2 C white vinegar
1-1/4 C granulated sugar
1 t each turmeric, whole cloves, yellow mustard seeds, black mustard seeds, and red pepper flakes (optional)

Combine all brine ingredients in a non-corrosive pot and bring to a boil. Drain and rinse cucumbers. Add to hot brine. Bring to a simmer, but do not boil. Turn off the heat and allow cucumbers to soak in the hot brine until they reach the desired pickled-ness. I like to let mine soak about 45 minutes. When done, drain and chill uncovered in the fridge until cold. Cover and keep in fridge up to 1 week.

Enjoy!

Silver Lake Farms would be happy to host a class on pickling, either quick pickles, canned pickles, or both. We would need a minimum of eight people (though we'd happily accommodate more). The cost would be $48 per person. Let Tara know if you're interested. Home-made pickles look great on a holiday table and they make beautiful and delicious holiday gifts.

Shelley