Summer Squash and the Cherry's last stand

“This magical, marvelous food on our plate, this sustenance we absorb, has a story to tell. It has a journey. It leaves a footprint. It leaves a legacy. To eat with reckless abandon, without conscience, without knowledge; folks, this ain’t normal.” – Joel Salatin

Yellow Squash, COG, Milliberger                          1 pound
Calabacitas, ORG, Antonio Garcia, Alamosa            1 pound
Mixed Greens, COG, Ring a Ding Farms, Howard  0.5 pound
Tomatoes, Graber's Produce, Alamosa                      1 pound
Cucumber, Ab Yoder Family Farm, Alamosa              1 cuke
Beets, COG, White Mountain Farm, Mosca              1 bunch
Grilling Onion, COG, WMF                                  1 bunch
Cherries, Conner Orchards, Hotchkiss, CO                1 pound
Purple Carrots, Hobbs Family Farm, Boone, CO         1 pound

From Megumi's Kitchen:
Cucumbers are great…. Mediterranean Salad (diced cukes, tomomatos, onions, crumbled feta cheese, olive, lemon juice, oregano, parsley, & salt…olive oil optional) is an easy way to eat a lot.  If you have fresh dill, don’t forget thinly sliced cucumber with yogurt and dill dressing.  Thinly sliced cucumbers are great on sandwiches and bagels too.  I think many CSA members would do things like these anyways.

So below are some that may be a little different.

---- Simplified Cucumber & Ginger fried/baked wanton  ---

1) julienne cucumber (match size) and ginger (thinner and shorter)
2) season with generous salt and pepper. add a little mayonnaise, mix well and drain liquid
3) place the cucumber mix in the center of wanton wrap, wet the edges with water, fold the wrap in half.
4) in a frying pan, head oil.  when the oil is hot, place the wantons, fry them crisp on both sides. (optional bake in the oven at 350 for a few minutes)
5) serve with mustard

— Cooked cucumber with easy Thai style peanut sauce --

This peanut sauce can be served with many things including spring roles, satay, baked tofu, and Vietnamese style sandwiches.  
Here, it is served with seared cucumber sticks. Cucumber sticks were coated lightly with corn starch before searing to avoid oil from splashing.



peanut sauce
1 can of coconut milk
approx 1/4 cup of thai curry paste (green or red)
3/4 cup unsweetened peanut butter
salt
approx 1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1) put everything into a pot and bring to a very gentle boil over medium heat, stir constantly, add water if desired
2) let it simmer for 3-5 minutes over low heat
3) taste and adjust the amount of curry, sugar, vinegar and salt to your liking
4) take it off the heat and let it cool till room temperature

— Japanese style cucumber seaweed(wakame) salad (sunomono)
Some of you might have had this “salad” at a Japanese restaurant.  It is surprisingly easy to make… though I must admit it is best if you can get skinny cucumber like the one used for pickles.

- thinly slice the cucumber, salt lightly, set aside
- reconstitute dried wakame, wash off excess salt and dirt, drain and cut in small pieces
- in a small bowl, combine rice vinegar, sugar, and a pinch of salt… taste it and add more sugar if you prefer. at this point it is probably quite strong tasting.
- mix in cucumber and wakame (thinly julienned ginger, optional), chill it in the refrigerator for 30 mins or longer

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