Earthly Delights: Beans, squash, chard, purple cabbage ... so many colors, so many choices

Things are really coming along in the garden this week ... the coolers at the farm were full, full, full! I could hardly wait to see what farmer Casey was going to send home with me. Then I had to start making choices.

Beans: Wonderful pole beans, speckled and swollen, but no, I chose the haricot verts (little French green beans).

For the menu tonight, I will drop these in boiling salted water, let them cook for two or three minutes, remove from the pot and drain quickly, and toss into some ice water to stop them from cooking. Dry on a towel, toss with a little olive oil and salt and pepper or a poppy seed dressing.

Squash: This decision was easy because I had used last week's zucchini earlier today in a delish potato and squash torte. I chose the yellow crookneck so I can make a frittata (torte with eggs) with Yukon gold potatoes, the first white onion sliced oh-so-thin and a couple of eggs.

Chard: To be chopped fine and used in that frittata I just mentioned.

Carrots: These are so pretty, thin, long and tender. To be eaten as is.

Purple cabbage: Lovely with its frosty-looking skin. This will be shredded for salads throughout the week, used fresh for the crispy crunch and goodness and color it adds to a salad.

A nice big cupful of ruby red raspberries. July's birthstone is the ruby. My birthday is in July, and I like raspberries as much if not more than rubies. Warm raspberries ... just imagine how good they smell!

Fennel, garlic, basil, parsley: All of these will be coarsely chopped and tossed with some lemon juice, zest of the lemon, a small bit of chopped onion (I'll use some of the fresh white onion mentioned earlier).

Add some pitted black olives or some diced red pepper, some pine nuts, and toss with hot pasta. Hmmmm, some of that chard could be used here for great color.

So many choices, so much great food!

Earthly Delights is a community supported agriculture farm in Boise that provides 18 weeks of produce and other farm products to subscribers who signed up last fall. Marianne Newcomer is a member of Earthly Delights and writes this weekly online journal about what she receives in her share.