We’re harvesting a glut of tomatoes (again) and have lots of ideas for using them up. One traditional favourite is tomato and apple chutney. Any split, unripe or green tomatoes are put into a preserving pan with apples from my old Cornish orchard. The jars will go into Camel CSA’s veg boxes at Christmas.

Photo: Harriet Smith

What do you do with a glut of cucumbers? One caller to BBC radio suggested always taking a cucumber on holiday in case it’s needed to replace a missing bath plug!

For those of us who’ve spent the summer at home in Cornwall, here’s a quick cucumber relish from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall via the Guardian and an easy cucumber pickle from Simon Hulstone of The Elephant Restaurant in Torquay. Both are delicious with barbecued or roasted meat and fish, or patés.

Hugh’s marinated cucumber with mint
1 medium-large cucumber (350-400g)
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
2 tbsp finely chopped mint
Pinch of sugar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel the cucumber (or leave the skin on, if you prefer), halve it lengthways and scoop out the seeds. Slice into thick half-moons. Put in a dish with the vinegar, oil, mint and a pinch each of sugar, salt and pepper. Toss together thoroughly, then set aside in a cool place (but not the fridge) for 15-30 minutes. Toss again before serving.

Simon’s cucumber pickle
1 cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
600ml water
2 cloves
1 cardamon pod
4 black peppercorns
½tsp caraway seeds, toasted
½tsp mustard seeds
small bay leaf
1 sprig tarragon
30g salt
50g chardonnay (or white wine) vinegar

Heat the water up to boiling point with all the ingredients except the cucumber and vinegar. As soon as it boils, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Once the liquor is cold, add the vinegar. Put the sliced cucumber into a kilner jar and cover with the vinegar mix. Leave until required, keeping longer will improve the taste.

We have such a glut of tomatoes at the moment to add to the cucumber mountain, the parsley lake…

This week both small and standard boxes have: –
* tomatoes (Camel CSA)
* onions (Camel CSA /Mark Norman, Bodmin)
* potatoes (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
* carrots (Restharrow Farm)
* salad bag – mixed lettuce, baby spinach, mizuma, mibuna (Camel CSA)
* cucumber (Camel CSA)
* aubergine (Camel CSA)
* runner beans (Camel CSA / Mark Norman)
* courgette (Mark Norman)
* rosemary sprig (Janet Hulme, Wadebridge)

Standard boxes also have extra potatoes and salad leaves as well as more cucumbers / courgettes / tomatoes plus:
* calabrese (Camel CSA)
* green pepper (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles

Try: Felicity’s perfect tomato soup

A conversation on Facebook reminds me of this delicious method of making tomato soup from Felicity Cloake in the Guardian. Roasting the tomatoes first gives it an exquisite, deep flavour. Best made with the freshly-harvested tomatoes, basil and onions from Camel CSA’s veg boxes. Excellent warm or cold.

Serves: 4
Preparation/cooking time (mostly roasting): 1½ hours

Ingredients
1kg ripe tomatoes
4 tbsp olive oil
Pinch of sugar
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Small bunch basil, separated into leaves and stalks
600ml chicken stock
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
2 tbsp creme fraiche
Extra virgin olive oil, to serve

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C and cut the tomatoes in half horizontally. Arrange, cut-side up, in a baking dish, drizzle with half the oil and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar. Bake for about an hour, until softened and beginning to char around the edges.
Heat the remaining oil in a large, heavy-based pan over a medium heat and add the onion, carrot and garlic. Cook, stirring regularly, for about 7 minutes until softened. Meanwhile, chop the basil stalks, and then add to the pan and cook for another minute.
Add the tomatoes, plus any juices from the dish, to the pan along with the stock. Stir and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down, cover and leave to simmer for 25 minutes, until all the vegetables are soft. Leave to cool slightly.
Use a blender to purée the soup, then stir in the vinegar and creme fraiche, and season to taste. Reheat gently, while you tear the basil leaves into pieces, then serve with these and a drizzle of olive oil on top.

Apologies for the lack of a vegetable list or a recipe last week. Pressure of work (the day job) is to blame. Yes indeed – in sunny August in sunny Cornwall (where David Cameron is on holiday).

• UPDATE: Glut means extra tomatoes, parsley, basil, bay leaves in all boxes

This week both small and standard boxes have: –
* runner beans (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
* courgettes(Mark Norman)
* potatoes (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
* calabrese (Camel CSA)
* mixed salad bag – lettuce, baby spinach (Camel CSA)
* cucumbers (Camel CSA)
* tomatoes (Camel CSA)
* basil / parsley (Camel CSA)
* bay leaves (Janet  Hulme, Wadebridge)

Standard boxes also have extra potatoes plus:
* french beans (Camel CSA)
* aubergines (Camel CSA)
* green peppers (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles

As our picking and packing team harvest summer beans, expert grower Mark N plants the autumn crop.

Another easy summer dish that can be assembled in no time at all, using vegetables and herbs in Camel CSA’s seasonal weekly veg boxes. Thanks to allrecipes.co.uk

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes
No cooking!

Ingredients
6 tomatoes, diced
1 small cucumber – peeled, quartered lengthways and chopped
3 spring onions, chopped
15g fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

This week we’re all enjoying freshly-dug carrots and potatoes grown by one of our local suppliers. Richard Hoare cultivates seasonal vegetables at Restharrow Farm overlooking the Camel estuary. His farm shop is on the lane between Polzeath and Rock, above Daymer Bay.

Camel CSA’s small and standard boxes have: –
* bunched carrots (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
* potatoes (Restharrow Farm)
* french beans (Camel CSA)
* onions (Camel CSA / Mark Norman, Bodmin)
* cucumbers (Camel CSA)
* courgettes (Mark Norman)
* basil (Camel CSA)

Standard boxes also have extra potatoes plus:
* mixed salad bag – rocket, lettuce, baby spinach (Camel CSA)
* tomatoes (Camel CSA)
* coriander (Camel CSA)
* Swiss chard (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles

Enjoy this delicious, spicy Indian omelette at the start or the end of the day. This version (there are many) comes from the Edible Garden. Kerala-born food blogger Nags (Nagalakshmi V ) says: “Needless to say, the omelette has many forms in India and every household makes it differently. Even I have a few variations… depending on what I have in the pantry and vegetable tray.”

As I didn’t have any sweet pepper to hand, I used some freshly-cooked French beans along with the tomatoes and coriander in Camel CSA’ s veg boxes this week.

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
4 eggs
3 tbsp of shallots or minced onions
3 tbsp of finely chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp of finely chopped capsicum (bell pepper)
1 green chilli, deseeded and chopped (see notes)
3 tbsp of finely chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves
1/2 tsp of freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp of curry powder or garam masala
1/2 tsp of salt (adjust to taste)
2 tsp of oil

Method
Break the eggs into a large bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Add all other ingredients (except oil) and beat again.

Heat the oil in a small pan and swirl around so it coats it completely. Pour half the egg mixture in the pan and cook until the edges curl over and the centre bubbles up. Gently flip the omelette over and cook for another minute (the centre may be jiggly but the edges would have cooked). The omelette will rise a bit and then fall, making it fluffy and soft.

Add more pepper powder on top if you prefer. Serve hot with toast / ketchup or eat on its own.

The pickers have been very busy on their hands and knees, so we’ve all got plenty of coriander and parsley in our vegetable boxes this week. And yes – the French beans are meant to be yellow!

Every box has: –
* coriander (Camel CSA)
* french beans (Camel CSA)
* potatoes (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
* onions (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
* cucumbers (Camel CSA)
* garlic (Camel CSA)
* courgettes (Mark Norman)
* flat-leaved parsley (Camel CSA)

Standard boxes also have extra potatoes plus:
*  rocket / mixed lettuce leaves (Camel CSA)
* cauliflower (Camel CSA)
* tomatoes (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles

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