Weekly Share August 24 – 30

black eyed peas

okra

onion, carrot, celery, & jalapeno

zephyr summer squash

sweet peppers (yaglik, giallo di asti, & corno di toro)

red slicing tomatoes

cut greens (lettuce, arugula, or mizuna)

parsley

We are so excited that this week’s share includes black eyed peas and okra along with an assortment of other items for making Cajun, southern, or African influenced dishes. Over the past three years we have struggled to get a really good yield from our black eyed pea crop and this year we feel quite satisfied. Some of you will get dried pods and others fresh pods, but all should be treated as fresh and used soon. Below we have included a few recipes that call for either dry or canned peas. The cook time for these fresh ones should be somewhere in between with no soaking necessary. Small portions of celery, onion, carrot, and jalapeno have been included as aromatics for making hoppin john, pea salad, gumbo, or the like.  This is a difficult climate for celery, we are too hot and humid and it prefers well draining sandy soil, but we have heavy clay. So our celery is much smaller, with more concentrated flavor and less big succulent stalks. We love it but use it raw finely minced or cooked. Please make sure to use the leaves as well, they are fabulous as an aromatic in a sauté. Have fun cooking and enjoy the share….Brian and Autumn