Brussels Sprout ( see recipe idea below)

vine ripened tomatoes ( grown by Jacinto Bautista in Arroyo Grande)

fingerling potatoes (see below for cooking ideas)

fennel bulb ( see recipe below )

white flesh sweet potatoes ( see below for recipe idea)

"Daisy" Mandarin oranges from Friend's Ranch in Ojai, pesticide free

Fuji apples from Cuyama Organic Orchards

The white sweet potato tastes a lot like the orange sweet potato, but with a milder flavor. It can go between sweet and savory quite smoothly, while its orange cousin pretty much always maintains a strong sweetness. If you're looking to incorporate sweet potato into a hash or a simple roasted side dish, the white sweet potato could be your best bet.

. White sweet potatoes can be roasted, baked, grilled, or mashed just like orange sweet potatoes– the main difference is in the flavor.

The white sweet potato has a crumblier texture than its orange counterpart, but it's also easy to transform. Mix the flesh of the sweet potato with butter (and maybe a little cream) for a perfectly creamy baked sweet potato. Try using white sweet potatoes to make sweet potato fries, a savory sweet potato casserole, or a simple slow-cooker sweet potato side. Test it out and supplement or substitute with white sweet potatoes in some of your favorite potato dishes.

adapted from The Santa Monica Farmer's Cookbook by Amelia Saltsman

   Roasting vegetables concentrates their flavors, develops and caramelizes natural sugars, and gives them that appetizing crisped look. Best of all, the same technique works for just about any vegetable you've got on hand, any time of the year. Follow these simple steps for great results.

 Keep vegetables or vegetables pieces a uniform size for even cooking.

 Toss cleaned, trimmed vegetables with 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil, kosher or sea salt, and freshly ground pepper. For convenience, do this directly in the pan.

 Always preheat the oven.

 Roast dense vegetables, such as beets or potatoes, at 400 degrees, quick-cooking ones, such as asparagus or tomatoes, at 425 to 450 degrees.

 Don't crowd the pan, or your vegetables will steam rather than brown. Large baking sheets and heatproof-glass dishes are ideal for roasting.

 Roast vegetables uncovered in the upper third of the oven for better browning.

 Halfway through the cooking time, remove the pan from the oven and give it a shake or use a spatula to loosen and turn the vegetables.

When the vegetables are browned and tender, season again with your favorite seasonings...salt, pepper, garlic powder.

If serving the vegetables at room temperature, allow them to cool before piling them onto a serving dish( so they won't steam themselves and get soft).

Thinly slice the potatoes lengthwise, arrange single layer on a cookie sheet ( not touching each other), brush on a little olive oil on both sides, salt and pepper to your taste, roast in oven at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes until crispy on the outsides.

Use the fennel bulb as you might use an onion...cut up the white bulb portion and add to a stir fry...it will give you a mildly, sweet licorice flavor. You can also use the white bulb portion to make a salad by finely shaving and adding to salad greens

An easy recipe:

Wash off the sprouts, cut them in half, coat with a little olive oil, garlic powder and salt and pepper, spread them out single layer on a cookie sheet ( don't crowd them ) and roast in your oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, turning once or twice until crispy on the outside. You can add a little Balsamic vinegar during the last 5 minutes of roasting them if desired. The other night, I tried a quick "pan-fry" method of cooking the sprouts...unfortunately, they came out rather bitter tasting, so I strongly recommend the slower oven roasting method mentioned above.