Itty-Bitty Eggplants

This week at the CSA I got some very tiny eggplants, about 1/50th the size of last weeks’ zucchini. I can hold five of them in the palm of my hand. I also got gorgeous cream colored heirloom beans with streaks of purple. I did a little research on the internet and it turns out they are poetically named Dragon’s Tongue Beans. Unfortunately, the purple stripes fade away when you cook them, but my imagination has run away with me and I wish I had the skill to carve a dragon out of vegetables (I’m picturing red peppers) and use one of these beans for the tongue. Sadly, I’m not that skilled, nor do I have that kind of time, so I’ll just show all my beautiful purple produce to you in the raw state.


The rest of my bounty is jalapeño and Serrano chiles, green bell peppers, parsley, celery, yellow squash, basil, cucumbers and tomatoes. To further challenge myself, I am hoping to clear out my freezer to defrost it and my pantry, just because I don’t like things hanging around too long. So that adds to my list ground beef, black beans, chicken broth, and some bananas and other fruit that I froze before they went bad. I’m going to make the fruit into whole wheat, nutritious muffins to freeze for breakfasts. So our menu for the week is:

Sunday: Spaghetti with julienned yellow squash, tomatoes, and basil
Monday: Shrimp Paella with Spinach and Arugula
Tuesday: Turkish Beef and Eggplant with tomatoes and peppers in Yogurt Sauce over
brown rice
Wednesday: Grilled Fish with Braised Celery Gratin
Thursday: Pita (homemade) with Hummus, Feta, Cucumbers, and Olives with Garlicky Dragon Tongue Beans
Friday: Black Bean Tacos (with homemade tortillas) and Grilled Corn with Lime and Chili Powder