July 15, 2009: This week’s featured fruits and vegetables are: potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, dill, fennel, green beans, baby bok choi, and beets.

Recipes: Fennel Fun, Dill Delight

The fresh herbs in my CSA box have brought scores of delightful new recipes into my personal repertoire – and, between the dill and the fennel, this week’s box will be no exception!

Both dill and fennel will combine well with many of the other vegetables in our boxes this week. Looking first at the dill, one could use it with zucchini in Dilly Zucchini Ricotta Muffins (though remember to substitute fresh dill for the dried dill the recipe calls for, at the ratio of about 1 Tablespoon fresh to 1 teaspoon dried.) Dill could complement potatoes in Garlic Dill New Potatoes, Chunky Potato Soup with Dill, or Cucumber, Potato, and Dill Salad, which brings in cucumbers too. Cucumbers and dill could also go together in Cucumber Slices with Dill or in Chilled Cucumber Yogurt Soup. And for a classic taste, try Dilled Green Beans. To use dill in an entree, try Hudson’s Baked Tilapia with Dill Sauce.

Fennel is just as versatile with this week’s vegetables. Fennel pairs with zucchini in Fennel Roasted Vegetables, with potatoes in Garlic Roasted Potatoes and Fennel, with green beans in Fresh Green Beans, Fennel, and Feta Cheese, and with cucumbers in Yogurt, Garlic, Cucumber, and Fennel Dip, which actually calls for both fennel and dill! If there’s still salad mix hanging around, one could try Spring Salad with Fennel and Orange. Fennel can also be cooked on its own, as in Baked Fennel with Parmesan (where one reviewer suggests stretching the recipe with a few potatoes for anyone who doesn’t have quite enough fennel to make a full recipe). To use fennel in an entree, try Chicken, Fennel, and Mushroom Soup.

Food For Thought: Screening Sunscreens

Though I’m growing more aware of what I take into my body through eating and drinking, I had not thought too much about what I take in through my skin.

While glancing through the July 9th issue of the Organic Consumers Association’s e-newsletter, Organic Bytes, however, I saw that the Environmental Working Group has just put out its 2009 report on sunscreens.

Just a quick look at their summary of findings has me wanting to look through their list of 92 recommended products to find one that guards against both UVA and UVB radiation and does not contain agents like the hormone disruptor oxybenzone. Their site is very user-friendly and full of useful information – definitely worth a look as the summer heats up.