Week 9: Thinking inside the farmbox

The turnips turned a delightful shade of bright pink during their two-week soak in brine. Straight from the Mason jar, I thought they were a bit salty. However, their salt and sour flavors were a great complement to grilled meat.

Pink pickled turnips

Pink pickled turnips

I must be lucky this summer. I’ve stumbled upon two fantastic grilled chicken recipes—the spicy sambal chicken that, to-date, I’ve made twice, and the Moroccan chicken brochettes I prepared to accompany the pickled turnips.

Moroccan chicken brochettes

Moroccan chicken brochettes

This week, the box contained Japanese eggplant, purple cauliflower, haricot verts, assorted cherry tomatoes, English telegraph cucumbers, onions, red cabbage, Temptation bicolor sweetcorn, and red fingerling potatoes.

When brainstorming what to do with cabbage, I often hit a wall. Although I’ve made many different cabbage recipes over the years, when I see a head of cabbage, my first thoughts are kimchi (see Week 7 post) or slaw. And what goes with slaw? For those of us who grew up in North Carolina, pulled pork, of course. But I wanted something a little less time consuming. So, a spicy slaw went on top of grilled fish tacos with lime sour cream and chipotle pico de gallo.

Japanese eggplant is excellent grilled. As it cooks, it gets both crispy and soft at the same time. I also grilled the green beans and tossed them with what I’m pretty sure was mizuna. Every once in awhile, I receive something in the box that is an addition to the list the farmers sent out earlier in the week. Sometimes I know exactly what it is, and sometimes I have to guess.

Grilled Japanese eggplant

Grilled Japanese eggplant

I’ve never grilled green beans, but a page in a recent Bon Appétit that encouraged grilling green beans, snap peas, snow peas, and the like inspired me to try it. I might put them in the grill basket next time so they could get a little more charred, but they turned out just fine wrapped in a packet of foil. I also have to credit Bon Appétit for the corn recipe. I was flipping through the July issue while thinking I wanted to make a Mexican-style corn. I looked down at one of the pages and there was the recipe for Charred and Raw Corn with Chile and Cheese.

Last week’s green peppers were delicious in a spicy watermelon salad. I’ll confess that I don’t think I’ve ever made the flank steak portion of this recipe, but I make the watermelon salad several times every summer. It’s spicy, sweet, and cooling.

Hopefully I’ll receive an abundance of tomatoes and eggplant in the weeks ahead. These summer staples can be a jumping-off point for so many tasty meals. This week’s tomatoes were roasted with a sticky garlic honey glaze. They went straight from the pan to our plates, but they’d also be great on top of toasted bread.

Roasted tomatoes with garlic and honey

Roasted tomatoes with garlic and honey

Do you have a favorite recipe for cabbage? I’d love to try it.