Eggplant Heaven

I received an email from one of our CSA Members telling me how she is dealing with all of the beautiful eggplants she has been finding in the CSA Box. I will admit to using a lazier version of Eggplant Parmesan precisely because of time constraints. However, I do lots of “batch cooking” and will try this in the future.

“We love eggplant Parmesan and the most time consuming part is breading/baking the eggplant before assembling. So I’m prepping big batches of the eggplant and freezing it for later in the fall/winter when I want to assemble the eggplant parms! (Have to make some homemade marinara to go with it!)”

If you want to try this, I suggest quick freezing the eggplant slices on parchment paper and then stacking in an airtight container or freezer bag. Putting a piece of parchment paper in between the layers of slices will prevent them from sticking to one another. This is a great time to Consider Stashing Away.

Next, I have a bean story to relate! One afternoon while Robert was harvesting beans, a dog appeared outside of the garden fence. He had a collar, but no name tag to call his family. He was friendly, so Robert petted him through the deer fence and then tossed a bean over the fence. The dog devoured the bean instantly, so Robert tossed another. This time the dog jumped to snatch the bean in mid-air! He was obviously hungry, so Robert continued tossing random beans over the fence as he continued harvesting. After about an hour, this “vegetarian” visitor went on his way with a full tummy. It has been a great season for beans and not a single one has been wasted. It seems all creatures love our Heavenly Beans!

In the box this week, you will find beans, tomatoes, eggplant, sweet bell peppers, cabbage, carrots and potatoes. The carrots keep growing larger! This is our last wave of cabbages.