CSA Adventures: Fuzzy Food

I was away 2 weekends while I was visiting family. My husband did the pick up. He wasn’t as diligent as I in storing the fresh picked vegetables. I am saddened to report there was some vegiside that occurred.

While I was gone, he discovered a liking for okra! Okra is one of those foods I have not previously encountered in the raw. I have had it bathed in stew and coated in battered and fried. Until we joined the Wild Onion CSA, I had never seen it in its natural state.

Okra is fuzzy. It looks like a tiny octagonal fuzzy genetically altered green zucchini. I can’t tell you what it tastes like because I do not consume fuzzy food. I peal peaches before eating them. While I was away, my husband hit allrecipes.com and found one for sautéed okra that he then made, ate and enjoyed.

Cut the tops off the okra. Heat way more oil than a health conscientious person should use, into a frying pan, sauté okra for a few minutes. Drain on paper towels; add salt, pepper and hot red pepper flakes to taste. Enjoy.

We have been receiving a bevy of multi colored peppers. The girls have taken to eating them raw. Since colored peppers are pricy, I only buy them to use in a specific recipe. There were never enough around just to eat like you would an apple or a carrot. We don’t wax poetic about them like we did the cherry tomatoes from earlier this summer but having extra colored peppers around has been a treat.

Tropical Storm Hanna was threatening our area with rain and high winds. We could use the rain, it’s the winds we can do without. The farmers market was closed this past weekend. The few sellers that showed did a bang up business but we were not able to pick up this week’s box. There were supposed to be butter beans in the box.

What exactly is a butter bean?