Suzie's Farm

On a warm September morning Fran and I took a group of about 15 women to Suzie's Farm.  It's an organic farm near the border of Mexico, that provides delicious fruit, herbs and produce to farmers' markets, restaurants and some local organic markets in Southern California.  They also provide tours to the public, for the purpose of introducing newbies to organic farming,  teaching them why organic farming is important, and hopefully to develop some new customers.  Suzie was the dog of one of the women who started the farm, hence the name Suzie's Farm.  Each plot is named for a different dog, however no dogs were present on the day we visited.

It was the end of tomato and eggplant season, and peppers of all varieties were also in abundance.  We brought our own canvas bags and were allowed to pick and take home as much as we wanted.  I brought home a huge bag full, then had to figure out what to do with it all.  I hate to waste stuff.  I always quote the statistic that Americans waste 28% of their food, and that may actually be a conservative estimate.

I started by taking three bags of produce to my friends at the dog park.  I know they love to cook and would figure out something to do with the food.  Then I made an eggplant and pepper dip, a large pot of ratatouille, and a pot of marinara sauce.  All came out well.  I had to strain the marinara sauce to get the seeds out, as many of the tomatoes were cherry tomatoes.  The best thing I made was the eggplant dip, and here's my simple recipe.

                                Eggplant, peppers and onion dip

1 medium eggplant (I used a few small ones that we picked at the farm, and several different varieties:
2 red peppers (again, I used a variety of red and yellow)
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic

Cube eggplant, peppers (remove seeds), chop onions, and mince garlic.  Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and arrange on a large cookie sheet in one layer.  Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, until all vegetables are fully cooked and soft.

Cool, then transfer to the blender, add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste (I keep a tube on hand for uses like this), and season to taste.  I left the mixture a little chunky, but you can make it smoothe if you like.  Store in plastic container, serve with pita chips, pita bread or any veggie or cracker. 

It's a delicious dip.  However, I think the produce we picked was towards the end of the growing season and thus a little bitter.  I had to add a small amount of sugar to the dip to offset the bitterness.  I also had to do that with the marinara sauce I made.  In any event, it's a great, healthy and low calorie dip, good for any occasion.  Enjoy.