This year we decided to join a vegetable co-op.  Many people have been interested in it, so here's how it works.  We pay a lump sum to an Amish farmer at the beginning of the season.  He farms fruit and vegetables for us, harvests them and then a driver drops them off at a members house for 25 weeks.  The members separate them into "shares" and we come and pick them up.  The amount you get is based on how well the crop is doing.  It has been quite interesting and it has expanded our horizons.  We have tried kholrabi, swiss chard, kale and cabbage along with all the "normal" vegetables we are used to.  It has been quite interesting.  This week we received a yellow watermelon.  I have never seen such a thing.  I was quite surprised when I cut it open.  It is sweetly delicious!

Along with our co-op veggies, we also got two whole bags of tomatoes from our friends at a birthday party.  We love tomatoes so we were quite happy but it is a lot of tomatoes and I don't want them to go to waste.  So, I made gazpacho the other day.  If you have never had it, it is amazing.  It is a cold tomato soup that has cucumber, cilantro, red wine vinegar and blanched almonds.  Yummy and healthy!  It is perfect on a hot, humid day, much like the ones we've been having.  I am going to try my hand at some homemade salsa as well.  As many of you know, my husband doesn't eat onions so most salsas he won't eat.  I am hoping I can make a spicy onionless salsa that will knock his socks off 

 

In all the excitement I remembered that my friends recently made guasacaca for their daughter's birthday party.  This is an amazing dip, much like guacamole.  I made some today and must admit that I am so obsessed with it that I haven't ate anything else all day.  De-lish!  If you want the recipe, let me know.  The friends that gave it to me were children of missionaries in South America, so they grew up speaking Spanish and eating some fabulous food.  This is an authentic recipe that is well worth it.

 

And so, here is my kudos to yummy vegetable like tomatoes, peppers and avocado!  They make the summer months so enjoyable for an amateur chef like myself.