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The Turn Toward Soup Weather
There is something especially satisfying about the turn from summer into fall.
After months of tomatoes, squash, peppers, cucumbers, and other heat-loving crops, we start to see a completely different group of vegetables coming back into season. Leafy greens begin to return. Carrots start sizing up. Kale, spinach, radishes, turnips, and other cool-season crops begin to take their place in the harvest again.
It feels like a fresh start.
Part of the excitement is simply seeing those crops again after a long summer absence. Spinach especially feels like a marker that the season has changed. The same is true of sweet fall carrots and tender greens that are happiest when the nights are cooler and the days are shorter.
But the change is not only in the fields. Our appetites seem to change with the weather too.
In July, a sliced tomato with a little salt can feel like an entire meal. We want cold salads, cucumbers, watermelon, and food that does not require standing over a hot stove.
Then the mornings begin to cool, the evenings come a little earlier, and suddenly soup sounds good again.
We start thinking about roasted carrots, sautéed greens, potatoes, hearty salads, stews, casseroles, and vegetables cooked slowly with onions and garlic. Kale that might have seemed too substantial in August feels exactly right in October. The same weather that helps these crops grow also seems to make us want to eat them.
That is one of the things we enjoy most about eating seasonally. The food changes right about the time we are ready for something different.
We still have plenty of summer left in the fields, and we are happy to keep eating tomatoes and peppers as long as the plants are willing to produce them. But behind them, another season is taking shape, and we are looking forward to the return of the vegetables that make fall and winter eating so good.
We are also working on some plans to make more of those vegetables available beyond our usual season.
Keep an eye on your email next week. We will be sharing an announcement about winter CSA options and what the next season at Millsap Farms might look like.
—Millsap Farm Crew
Pasture-Raised Whole Chicken
Our broilers at Nature’s Family Farm are raised in movable pens and are fed certified organic grain. They are moved to fresh pasture twice a day for better forage consumption, resulting in healthier (and tastier) birds.
Raised on pasture and fed locally milled organic feed, these birds have lived a good life and now they can nourish you and your family. Access to pasture means these birds have been able to express their natural behaviors of pecking and scratching and foraging under the sun. Never confined and always exposed to natural light, pastured organic chicken makes for the highest quality chicken meat. All this leads to happy healthy birds and nutrient dense food. We’re grateful to offer these for ya’ll this Summer!
These birds will vary by about a pound, the smallest ones are 4 1/2 pounds, the largest one closer to six. They will be noticeably larger than what you are used to from the grocery store.
Roasted Butternut, Sweet Potato, Zucchini & Pepper Skillet with Tomato-Basil
Ingredients
Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 35 mins | Servings: 4 people
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
1/2 tsp black pepper, divided
1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
1 colored bell pepper, cut into strips
1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 medium zephyr squash, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
2 medium slicer tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 tsp fresh oregano leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. Toss the butternut squash and sweet potato with 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp black pepper on a large baking sheet.
3. Roast the butternut squash and sweet potato for 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
4. Heat the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
5. Cook the onion and bell pepper in the skillet for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add the zucchini, zephyr squash, jalapeño, garlic powder, remaining 1/2 tsp salt, and remaining 1/4 tsp black pepper and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Add the chopped tomatoes and oregano and cook for 3 minutes, until the tomatoes soften slightly.
8. Stir the roasted butternut squash and sweet potato into the skillet and cook for 2 minutes, until everything is hot.
9. Turn off the heat, stir in the basil, and serve warm.