I dream about being the type of cook who wanders through a farmers market, gets inspired by whatever is in season, and runs home to make something simple and delicious without consulting a single recipe.
The reality is that I am extremely recipe-bound. I shop with a detailed list, rarely impulse-buy, and often have meals planned weeks, sometimes months, in advance between recipe development and content planning. Ask me to freestyle a farmers market dinner and I immediately forget every vegetable I have ever encountered.
That is why I signed up for a CSA: to bring a little more spontaneity into my cooking, eat more locally, and force myself to figure out what to do with a giant bunch of dill before it starts growing legs in the crisper.
Every couple of weeks, I’m sharing what came in my boxes, what I made, what worked, and what I would make again.
For weeks 7 & 8, my box included: TOMATILLOS – THAI BASIL – HUSK CHERRIES – HEIRLOOM TOMATOES – JALAPENOS – POBLANOS – CANTALOUPE – CHERRY TOMATOES
TOMATILLOS
Tomatillos are an ingredient I’ve only worked with a couple of times – usually for a salsa verde. Tomatillos may look like small green tomatoes, but they have a firmer texture and a bright, tangy flavor.
What I made:
Sohla El-Waylly’s Seared & Braised Chicken Thighs with Zucchini & Salsa Verde | Start Here, page 174
This one-pan dinner is perfectly suited for using up multiple late-summer vegetables: jalapeños, tomatillos, zucchini and poblano peppers. Crispy-skinned chicken thighs are nestled in a tangy salsa verde with sautéed poblanos, onions and zucchini. The vibrant sauce has just enough zing to balance the richness of the chicken.
We had plenty of vegetables and sauce left over, so I blended them with sour cream and cilantro to make a chilled, very spicy soup. Those farm-fresh jalapeños were nothing like the ones from the grocery store!
Other ideas:
- My Easy Weeknight Pozole Verde–Style Chicken Chili
- J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s No-Waste Tacos de Carnitas With Salsa Verde
- Bricia Lopez’s Salsa Asada de Aguacate (Avocado Salsa)
No-recipe route: For an easy salsa verde, broil husked and rinsed tomatillos with a jalapeño, a few garlic cloves and wedges of white onion until softened and charred in spots. Blend with cilantro, lime juice and salt, leaving it as chunky or smooth as you like. Spoon it over tacos, eggs, roasted vegetables, grilled meat or fish.
To preserve: Freeze the husked and rinsed tomatillos in an airtight bag. They’ll soften once thawed, but will be perfect for salsa, soups and braises. You can also make a batch of salsa verde and freeze it in small containers for an easy dinner shortcut later.
THAI BASIL
I was today years old when I learned that Thai basil and holy basil aren’t the same thing with different names! Purple-stemmed Thai basil has a slightly spicy, anise-like flavor, while holy basil is more peppery and harder to find in the States. If you’ve ever had pad ka-prao, ka-prao actually means holy basil!
What I made:
J. Kenji López-Alt’s Thai-Style Stir-Fried Ground Pork with Basil | The Wok, page 112
Kenji simply calls for fresh basil in this recipe, saying to use whatever you can find, though holy basil is the most traditional. This quick stir-fry combines ground pork, green beans, garlic and Thai chiles with a savory-sweet sauce made from fish sauce, soy sauce and oyster sauce. A generous amount of Thai basil is folded in at the very end, wilting just enough while retaining its distinctive flavor. Served over rice with a crispy-edged fried egg and nam pla prik, a spicy Thai fish sauce condiment, it’s an easy and incredibly flavorful dinner.
Other ideas:
- RecipeTin Eats’ Thai Basil Chicken
- Jessie YuChen’s Thai Basil Sauce Noodles with Jammy Eggs
- Gabriel Frasca and Amanda Lydon’s Thai Basil Sangria
No-recipe route: You can easily make a similar stir-fry without a recipe. Cook ground pork or chicken with garlic and sliced chiles, then add a splash each of fish sauce, soy sauce and rice vinegar. Remove the pan from the heat, fold in a large handful of Thai basil and serve over rice with a fried egg.
To preserve: Thai basil loses some of its texture when frozen, but its flavor holds up. Chop the leaves, pack them into an ice-cube tray, cover with a neutral oil and freeze for adding to stir-fries, curries and soups later.
HUSK CHERRIES
My friend Meredith introduced me to husk cherries last year, and now I can’t get enough of them. Also known as ground cherries, these small, golden fruits are hidden inside papery husks similar to tomatillos. Their sweet-tart flavor lands somewhere between a tomato, pineapple and vanilla.
After posting about husk cherries coming in my CSA, several people asked what they should do with theirs. I didn’t have a good answer because I always just snack on them! The next time I get some, I’ll be trying one of these recipes:
Other ideas:
- Food52’s Grilled Corn, Basil and Ground Cherry Salad
- Canadian Living’s Tomato and Ground Cherry Salsa
- Nicole Gaffney’s Ground Cherry Torte
No-recipe route: Remove the husks, give them a quick rinse and eat them by the handful!
To preserve: While I haven’t tried it myself, husk cherry jam seems like the best option if you have a large amount.
HEIRLOOM TOMATOES
Big, juicy, and actually better when you don’t do much to them. I’m usually slicing them for sandwiches or salads, but they’re also great in tarts, quick sauces, or honestly just sprinkled with salt and eaten over the sink.
What I made:
My Avocado Egg-in-a-Hole
For my summer version of egg-in-a-hole, thick slices of heirloom tomato and creamy avocado are piled onto toast with a crispy-edged fried egg cooked right in the center. The tomato’s acidity cuts through the richness of the avocado and runny yolk, making this feel a little more substantial than avocado toast without requiring much more work.
Other ideas:
- Ina Garten’s Heirloom Tomato and Blue Cheese Salad
- Meredith Hayden’s Heirloom Tomato Galette
- Nisha Vora’s Heirloom Tomato Salad With Ricotta and Chile Oil
No-recipe route: Cut it into thick wedges or slices, season generously with salt and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Add good olive oil and a splash of vinegar, then whatever sounds good: torn basil, mozzarella, feta, Parmesan, avocado, or toasted bread
To preserve: If you have more tomatoes than you can eat, freeze them whole. Once thawed, the skins slip right off and the softened tomatoes are perfect for sauce, soup or stew.
JALAPENOS
We like heat, so lately we’ve been swapping in more reliably spicy serrano peppers whenever a recipe calls for jalapeños. Many grocery-store jalapeños have gradually been bred to be less spicy, so I was very excited to receive a few in my CSA that were actually HOT.
What I made:
Chris Morocco’s Corn and Chickpea Bowl with Miso-Jalapeño Tahini
I’ve made this recipe more times than I can count. It’s a late-summer favorite, and this time it helped me use three ingredients from my CSA: red leaf lettuce, corn and jalapeños. The miso-tahini dressing with cilantro and jalapeños is the star, but the za’atar-spiced chickpeas, seared corn and crumbled feta are pretty perfect, too.
Other ideas:
- Eric Kim’s Soy Sauce Fried Chicken with Jalapenos
- Smitten Kitchen’s Three-Ingredient Summertime Salsa
- Ina Garten’s Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
No-recipe route: Finely chop a jalapeño and stir it into Greek yogurt or sour cream with lime juice, grated garlic and salt. Use the sauce on tacos, grain bowls, roasted vegetables or grilled chicken.
To preserve: Make quick-pickled jalapeños.
POBLANOS
Poblano peppers are incredibly versatile, with a mildly spicy, earthy flavor and more nuance than your standard bell pepper.
What I made:
Lidey Heuck’s Sweet Potato and Poblano Hash with Eggs | Cooking in Real Life, page 241
I adore a hash, and this was no exception. Lidey’s starts with a base of sweet potatoes, onions and poblanos seasoned with chipotle powder and cumin. Once the vegetables are browned and tender, you crack four eggs into the hash and bake until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Finish it with crumbled cheese, sliced scallions and hot sauce. Just don’t make my mistake: I set a timer for the eggs, checked them when it went off, saw they needed another minute, then got distracted and left them in for five more. No runny yolks for me!
Other ideas:
- Ina Garten’s Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
- Nicole Kindelsperger’s Baked Chile Rellenos with Corn and Crema
- Joshua Bousel’s Grilled Chorizo-Stuffed Poblano Peppers
No-recipe route: Roast the poblanos until blackened, cover and steam for 10 minutes, then peel and slice. Sauté with onions and corn, add a splash of cream and finish with lime. Serve in tortillas with Cotija or Monterey Jack.
To preserve: Roast, peel and seed the peppers, then freeze them whole or sliced. They’ll be ready to add directly to soups, sauces, casseroles and tacos.
CANTALOUPE
I can’t say I’ve always been a huge fan of cantaloupe. Most of the ones I’ve had have been underripe and flavorless. But that wasn’t the case with the one from my CSA! Instead of simply snacking on chunks, I went the savory route with the two recipes I made.
What I made:
James Park’s Limey Cantaloupe Salad with Chili Crisp–Fish Sauce Dressing | Chili Crisp, page 139
Cantaloupe is tossed with lime juice, fish sauce, and chile crisp for a salad that hits just about every note: sweet, salty, sour, spicy, and savory. Finished with mint, feta, slivered almonds, and red onion, it was such a great and unexpected combination.
Mamrie Hart’s Savory Pickled Cantaloupe
All I Think About Is Food, page 155
The idea of pickling cantaloupe was fascinating to me, so I had to try this with the remaining half of the melon. Cantaloupe balls are soaked in a sweet vinegar mixture flavored with peppercorns, cloves, and cinnamon. Once the pickling liquid has cooled, you add the melon and let it sit for 1 to 12 hours, after which the texture starts to change. I loved the vinegary sweetness and subtle hints of fall spices.
Other ideas:
- Shilpa Uskokovic’s Salted Melon Salad With Jalapeños and Feta
- Alice Hart’s Crab and Cantaloupe Salad with Ginger and Mint Dressing
- Lisa Fain’s Cantaloupe Ice Cream
No-recipe route: You can’t go wrong with slices of cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto.
To preserve: Purée ripe cantaloupe with lime juice and freeze it in popsicle molds, or turn it into granita.
CHERRY TOMATOES
Cherry tomatoes are one of the easiest parts of summer produce to use up. They’re sweet, juicy, and perfect for tossing into salads, pastas, and grain bowls, or piling onto toast. Half the time, I just eat them straight from the container, saving myself the trouble of deciding what to make with them.
What I made:
Calvin Eng’s Steamed Egg Custard with Vinegary Marinated Tomatoes | Salt, Sugar MSG, page 122
I love a creamy, luscious steamed egg custard, and Calvin’s simple mixture of water, eggs, MSG, and salt is perfection. I could eat it on its own, perhaps drizzled with sesame oil and sprinkled with scallions. But Calvin tops his with cherry tomatoes marinated in sherry vinegar, salt, MSG, sugar, and olive oil, giving the creamy eggs the perfect burst of sweetness and acidity. He also says that, if you really want to go all out, you can torch the tomatoes to peel them, as if I needed an excuse to break out the blowtorch!
Other ideas:
- My Summer Farro Salad with Roasted Veggies and Pistachio Pesto
- Ina Garten’s Israeli Vegetable Salad
- Yewande Komolafe’s Coconut Fish and Tomato Bake
No-recipe route: Sauté whole cherry tomatoes in olive oil with sliced garlic until they blister, burst, and release their juices. Toss with pasta and Parmesan, spoon over ricotta toast, pile onto creamy polenta, or serve alongside chicken or fish.
To preserve: Samin Nosrat’s Cherry Tomato Confit gently cooks tomatoes with basil and garlic in plenty of olive oil until tender and just beginning to burst. Keep them refrigerated in their oil for up to five days, then use on pasta, eggs, ricotta toast, chicken, or fish. And definitely save the tomato-infused oil for vinaigrettes or another batch.
