Twenty Bag | Aug 29

In the Aug 29 Twenty Bag: Local peaches from Shuler Farms in Ridgeville, okra, Nicola potatoes, mountain tomatoes from Rabun Gap, GA, basil, baby eggplant mix, North Carolina Gala apples Lively Orchards, Hendersonville, NC, shishito peppers.

Thank you Harleston Towles and Rooting Down Farms!

The generous bunch of sweet basil in this week’s Bag has enough fragrant leaves to fill the two-cup requirement in this super simple pesto recipe, which is enough for a few servings. It takes minutes to make and is chock full of healthy stuff—walnuts, garlic, olive oil, and of course, antioxidant-rich basil. Just add the pasta and you’ve got a light, fresh dinner.

And here’s another easy one for blistering the shishito peppers and serving them as an appetizer.

For more ideas, a quick search of sweetgrass + grits will take you to plenty more recipes—all curated with an eye toward the weekly Twenty Bag harvest.

Harleston’s storage tips: If greens or herbs of any kind begin to wilt at any point or at pick up, put them in a big bowl of ice water for 20-30 minutes.  Almost all produce is washed and should go in the refrigerator. Peaches on the counter if they still need to ripen, otherwise in the fridge.  Tomatoes on the counter. Potatoes in a cool, DARK, place.  Light exposure will cause them to turn green.   Peppers, apples, eggplant, basil, and okra in a plastic bag of sorts in the fridge.  NOTE: The paper bag is ok for a few days but will eventually dry out some of the produce.