Some of the contents of last week’s CSA box

There’s no question that having organic produce delivered means a little more work. The produce comes straight from the farm, dirt and all, and usually needs a good scrubbing. I use a produce wash –effective on pesticide residue but also a smart idea for organics. Whole Foods has several brands; that’s where I bought mine. I wash everything, including melon rind. Yes, melon: the knife goes through the rind and into the flesh, so bacteria can enter the flesh. Same with avocado.

Rosa Bianca eggplant

Anyway, what a delight to get lovely purple and white Rosa Bianca eggplant. I’d never seen them before, so I did a little online reading and I decided to make a hearty vegetarian spaghetti.

A good sous chef is integral to a kitchen

My trusty sous chef, M. cut the eggplants in small pieces, and also thinly sliced those lovely yellow sweet peppers in the photo. I sauteed them all until there were quite well cooked. This took quite a while, I have to confess, because there was quite a bit at the start. It reduced down nicely, though, as it cooked. I refrigerated it for the next night’s dinner.

The next night, I took some of my own personal-secret-recipe-sauce that I always have on hand (if I told you, I’d have to kill you) and added it to the cooked veggies. This is what it looked like: nice and thick.

I heated it all up and also added (here is a secret I WILL share) a couple big tablespoons of ricotta (it’s not ri-caaah–ta, it is rrreee-coat-a). The ricotta makes the sauce just a bit creamy, which I love.

Pretty sure the colander gets more use in a Sicilian woman’s kitchen than anything else

Cooked up some whole wheat spaghetti, poured the veggie sauce over spaghetti (doesn’t take much), add a little grated cheese and voila–delicious dinner!

The peppers were a tiny bit tangy, the eggplant was tasty and added some bulk. Didn’t miss meat at all. Try it!

We’re eating a lot less meat these days, so it’s lovely to have fresh-off-the-farm CSA produce and craft great tasting vegetarian meals.

Got a good vegetarian recipe to share? Would love to see it in the comments.