By Bonnie S. Benwick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
You think it's so easy getting those recommended daily servings of fruit and vegetables this time of year? Dodging cars as they head to Honk Your Horn 4 Corn roadside stands; extracting yet another round of crisp twenties from the ATM as you prepare to be swept away at the farmers market; swabbing those juice stains on your shirt front.
There's an embarrassment of riches, ripe and colorful and unbound by shrink-wrapped foam trays. Ich bin ein Vegetarian, eh? At least until the burgers come off the grill.
So you pick what beckons, and the stuff comes home in heaps. Or better yet, it comes in a box each week, straight from the community-supported agriculture membership you signed up for in the winter.
You keep things simple; you make what you know. As the weeks go by, however, small demons run amok. Those chef contestants on television aren't doing Zucchini Four Ways. And the ingredients outside your comfort zone: What's to be done with them? Everything does not fall into either the "slice thinly for a salad" or "saute in olive oil" categories, does it?
Well, the very folks who bring you all that farm-fresh tsoris are the ones who can help solve the problems. Local growers are used to handing out recipes, but increasingly, they're playing Answer Man. They try new varieties; some go over like gangbusters, some do not. They do a lot of explaining. So we asked a few to share their stories and strategies.
MIKE KLEIN, Good Fortune Farm in Brandywine, who is in his third season as a full-time farmer:
Stumpers: Green radicchio, daikon radishes, giant kohlrabi, two-pound zucchini.
Strategies: The radicchio is "a novel crop that none of my CSA clients had seen before," he says. "It didn't form heads. Kind of bitter, but not as much as arugula and Batavian endive. It's kind of good for salads, but not great. We're telling people to marinate it with a sweet vinaigrette, or grill it."
About kohlrabi: "I tell people to roast it, or shred it and make coleslaw. Use small ones, as you would turnips."
About radishes: "You can eat only so many radish chips," he says. "We've told people to try making daikon coleslaw, or to pickle them."
His squash harvest began rolling in early. Klein admits that some zucchini might have gotten a bit larger than he'd intended: "Some days, we didn't look under the right leaf. But I haven't saturated anybody's appetite yet, it seems."
BECKY LATANE, Blenheim Organic Gardens in Washington's Birthplace, Va., who has been selling at farmers markets for seven years and to CSA members for four years:
Stumpers: Vitamin green (a leafy green in the bok choy family), Costata Romanesca and pattypan squash, eggplant overload.
Strategies: "The vitamin green looks like a cross between a choy and a chard, with a white stem. Chop up the stem and cook it first, then add the leaves later. It's good with shrimp; or onions, garlic and carrots.
"Costata Romanesca, an Italian variety of zucchini, has more of a light green skin with a stripe, and people don't know whether to treat it the same as the regular kind. You do. It's nuttier-tasting, with a better texture that doesn't get as mushy when it's sauteed. Grill it with everything.
"Some older folks call the pattypan 'simlin' [cymling]. I tell people to stand the pattypan up and slice it in little sections as they rotate it, because the core has all the seeds.
"I don't consider myself much of a cook, but I make these eggplant chips that people seem to go crazy over -- even those who say they don't like eggplant. It'll take care of however much eggplant you have."
CARRIE VAUGHN, Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Clagett Farm in Upper Marlboro, who has been vegetable production manager there since 2001:
Stumpers: Eight ball zucchini, okra, even tomatoes.
Strategies: The zucchini are "round, about the size of an eight ball, and people don't really know if they're the same. They're good for stuffing. It's good to know how young/old they are; if they're young, you don't need to scoop out the seed cavity. If they're more mature, the seed cavity is more pronounced. Cut them into rounds and they won't fall through the slats of the grill. I tend to put them in stir-fries.
"Okra is still a stumper for Northerners. People from the South know what to do with it. I like to tell folks to roll okra in seasoning, like Old Bay or whatever they like, and drizzle it with a little oil, then pop it in the toaster oven or under the broiler until it gets soft. Left whole, the okra doesn't get as slimy. Or they could put it in a pan with squash, peppers and tomatoes. The tomatoes kind of disguise okra's texture.
"One customer was convinced that we'd bought our tomatoes from the store, because they had no aroma. So here's a tip: Just look at our stained clothes and you'll know. We grow them! And if the tomato still has its stem, that's what you'll be smelling."
Do you have ways of dealing with unusual fruits and vegetables that you'd like to share? Join us for the Food section's Free Range online chat today at 1 p.m. Go tohttp://www.washingtonpost.com/food.
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