I love sushi.  Love, love, love sushi.  I would eat it for dinner every night if I could find a place that featured local ingredients and if my wallet could handle it.  A few years back, I was on a major sushi kick, so I thought, "why not teach myself how to make it?" Certainly not a revolutionary idea, but one that provided me with access to large amounts of sushi, utilizing local ingredients, at a fraction of the cost. To me, it was the equivalent of opening up my own mint, and just printing out one hundred dollar bills whenever it struck my fancy. I hadn't made sushi rolls (maki) in a while, but when I made this recipe (which uses acorn squash and beets), I knew I'd be making it more regularly in the future.  I hope you enjoy it as well.

Why is it called "Chip Chip" Maki? 

I recently made the move from Arlington to Somerville, expecting more of a city life and even less of a chance of being able to enjoy fresh produce on a regular basis. An innocent walk down my new street one of the first days after my move, though, proved me terribly wrong – thanks to our neighbor with the lush, abundant garden at the end of our street.

For confidentiality’s sake, we’ll call this neighbor Greg. Greg grows a wide variety of fruits and vegetables on his small plot of land, including tomatoes, grapes and plums. Greg loves to share his homegrown foods, and takes pride in what he and his garden produce. As luck would have it, I happened to walk by Greg just as he was preparing his garden for Hurricane Irene – and I walked home, gleefully, with an armful of fresh plums.

At the Dedham Farmers Market last week, I visited Kate Canney (pictured right behind my daughter), one of my favorite local food folks who is the primary grower for The Neighborhood Farm in Needham, Massachusetts. After chatting with Kate for a bit, I looked to my left and saw a box of massive zucchini and squash, with a sign that read, "That's what 5 inches of rain in 48 hours will do to a zucchini!"

On principle, I just had to buy one of these giants.  I guess I considered it a great deal at $2.50, but I also saw the challenge that stood before me. What to do with all of the zucchini?

The very first week of our first CSA, as I was gathering my items in my bag, the guy who runs the stall in City Hall Plaza goes, “Oh wait, take one of these!”

I had never seen this before in my life. I looked at him blankly and asked “And just what IS that?” He told me it was kohlrabi. Again, blank stare. He told me it is a German turnip that tasted kind of like broccoli, kind of like lettuce, and kind of like apple. “Oooooookay” I said and stuffed it into my bag and went home.

I did some more searching and found that not only can you cook the kohlrabi, you can eat it raw. The first time we got it we roasted it and then sautéed the greens (very tasty). The second time we received some I decided that I would use them raw. Next time, I’d like to try pickling them.

Blueberry season is like Christmas at the Farmers’ Markets. The plump, antioxidant-filled gems are just bursting with recipe ideas. Muffins, pancakes, pies, tarts, and jams galore. 

I literally have blueberries at least once on a daily basis – year-round – but especially during the summertime. Adding a big ol’ cup of blueberries to my bowl of cereal in the morning not only wakes up my tastebuds, but also keeps me healthy. After all, blueberries lower our risk of cardiovascular disease, have the highest level of antioxidants of all fresh fruit, and are even good for brain health.