Sometimes thinking inside the box is a good thing: For example if you’re lucky enough to live in Manhattan, between July 25 and the end of August you can get a special one-time weekly CSA share box from Norwich Meadows Farms delivered to your door, with their organic produce picked out by Gramercy Tavern chef Michael Anthony.
Anthony, whom we profiled along with the Tavern in last fall’s issue, is a die-hard Union Square Greenmarket supporter and shopper, and as it happens one of the farmers we interviewed for that piece was Zaid Kurdieh, who runs Norwich Meadows Farm with his wife. (The couple even stop in the restaurant for dinner after market: “We usually have family meal on Saturdays,” Kurdieh told us.)
The one-time only box is available through a site called Farm Share, which also runs a similar deliver service for weekly CSAs to some locations around the TriState area. (In the city, that’s Manhattan, and only if you have a doorman.) Your haul should include some of Anthony’s favorite Norwich foods, which we’ve been told are squash, heirloom and bell peppers, heirloom and cherry tomatoes, beans, husk cherries, tomatillos, Swiss chard, kale, cabbage, Middle Eastern cucumbers, melons and organic eggs from pastured chickens. The $60 box also includes recipes from Anthony (we’ve got one below!). Deliveries begin July 25th and run through August. You can sign up at www.myfarmshare.com/
Kurdieh has even grown special goods for Anthony, like the “Kyoto” carrot he now sells at market that the chef discovered in Asia. (Perhaps you could use them in Anthony’s recipe for carrot and pole bean salad with carrot-mustard vinaigrette, which recently appeared in The Tasting Table). But rest assured all of his produce–even plain old zucchini, which stars in the very easy dish below and is likely clogging your crisper–will deliver great flavor. And luckily you can now get that delivered directly to you, if only one time only!
Summer Squash
Michael Anthony, Executive Chef/Partner
Serves 4
If squash blossoms and Swiss chard stems are available, Anthony notes, add to recipe in Step 5 when you add the herbs. Or for deeper flavor, add ripe crushed tomatoes with the onions and garlic.
4 zucchini
2 small bulb onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pinch chili flakes (Peperoncini or Aleppo are recommended)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup vegetable stock or water
1 tsp butter
Fresh herbs (such as parsley, basil, and thyme), minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
1. Wash and cut zucchini lengthwise in to ¼” thick slices.
2. Add olive oil to a large sauté pan. Over medium heat, gently brown zucchini for 1 minute on each side.
3. Add minced onion, garlic, chili flakes, and lemon zest. Cook on medium heat for another minute.
4. Add stock or water, and simmer for 1 minute.
5. Add butter, salt, pepper, herbs, and lemon juice. Remove from heat and serve.
