CITY Issue 57

SWEE T YELLOW PEPPERS If you live on the West Coast or anywhere in the South, chances are you’ll have enough peppers to make one of those useful chili varietal posters they have in restaurants. I knew hot peppers could go in salsa or Thai food, green bell peppers could be stuffed or put on salad, but long, yellow sweet peppers were more confusing. My fellow CSAers offered the helpful advice to just “fry ‘em up” — which left me with just one question: Who fries a pepper? Surprisingly, when cut into ringlets, lightly breaded and fried, sweet peppers make a crispy, Southern-style side. Without the breading, they’re still a crunchy garnish for tacos or enchiladas, and they’re also mild enough to hold up in a salad. SWISS CHARD GARLIC SCAPES Farmers seem to like Swiss chard because of its long growing season and its showy, stoplight-colored stems and veiny leaves, which are like a garden’s version of peacock feathers. Translation: you’ll get a lot of this. Use the leaves only, which have a similar texture to spinach, but a brighter, more intense flavor along the lines of beet greens, though not as strong as collards. Try it wrapped around a piece of fish, or stuff it tortilla-style with ground beef, diced squash, and feta. When coarsely chopped, it will also work in place of spinach in omelets and ravioli. If all else fails, douse it with vinegar and braise. Garlic scapes are the green, curling, alien tubes sent up by the bulb of garlic in the early part of the growing season. Lending a crunchy, fresh, and — yes — garlicky taste without the sheer heat of raw garlic, they’re ideal worked into pastas, pestos, and any other dish you would normally employ garlic. Chop finely and use liberally — the flavor is milder and doesn’t linger as aggressively as its mature counterpart. Also, don’t bother looking in grocery stores — garlic scapes are a CSA/ farmers market exclusive. SPAGHETTI SQUASH Unlike most of your CSA haul, squash — and spaghetti squash in particular — will keep forever, which means you don’t have to Google “ways to cook spaghetti squash tonight” the second you get home. Stored in a cool, dry place, squash keeps for months. Bake spaghetti squash in the oven for an hour, or boil for 30 minutes, and the formerly hard flesh falls off the skin in comical, noodley strands. Serve it with a dollop of marinara, or cover it with a cheese roux for a vegetable nod to macaroni and cheese. Spaghetti squash doesn’t have a strong or distinctive taste, so almost any herb or seasoning inspiration will most likely prove successful. BROCCOLI RABE FENNEL I’ve always thought of broccoli rabe as the puppy version of broccoli — all skinny, awkward limbs where the solid florets should be. Their flavor is a bit more intense than true broccoli, but happily, still quite lovely steamed and buttered, or drizzled with olive oil and spritzed with lemon. (Broccoli rabe is also a common ingredient in rustic Tuscan fare, which is great for surprisingly simple entertaining.) It works well paired with white beans and a soft fontina cheese in pasta, or as a leafy side to spicy sausage. I never saw a ton of fennel in my CSA bag, but it always seemed to me like a chef’s ingredient, and that anything I did with it would be like making Grey Goose Jello shots instead of martinis. Wrong. Raw fennel cut in thick slivers and dipped in hummus classes up crudités; when diced and thrown in a salad, it works like a sweeter, more delicate celery. Fennel has an affinity with citrus, so try it sautéed with lemon or orange juice, or add raisins and push it all the way to a reduction, which makes an unexpected chutney for pork or lamb.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CITY Issue 57

City Issue 57 Contents Letter from City Our Friends Action Wanted City Moment Temporary Contemporary In Rouge Fast Food The Amused Bouche How We Live/The Kitchen Taste Test Dessert Wine Going Local Expert Opinion Travel Employees Only Summer Showers Wild Things Be There at 10 P.M. Sharp If... Where To Buy It Icon

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