This Week’s Box:

Cucumbers See the recipe below for a great cucumber and potato salad.

Squash/Zucchini

Sweet Peppers-they are all sweet, even the longer skinny types.  Those are an Italian frying type called Carmen.  They can be used the same as a bell pepper.

Garlic

Scallions

Carrots- Sweet, crisp. Garden carrots are the best!  See the recipes from last week in the previous blog posting.

Kale-keep enjoying the greens!  At this point we never know how long they will last-especially in the upcoming weather. Recipe below

Potatoes-Yukon gold, a creamy potato with a medium dry flesh for any cooking style.  Roasted, boiled, scalloped, baked.   Recipe below

Dill- Dill and potatoes anyone? My favorite!

Parsley

Beets-Large Share only this week.  You really should try last week’s recipe for Orange Beet Salad.  See last week’s posting.

 

Elisa and the delicious carrots!

The root crops are coming!  This week we have more tasty, sweet garden carrots.  It is a great job pulling the bright orange, crisp roots from the soil.  After this weekend’s rain the soil was a crumbly texture perfect for digging.  The loose dark brown dirt just fell away from the roots.  The next digging project was potatoes.  This year we planted some potatoes here at Bluebird Farm to avoid the insect problems present in the big field at the other farm.  We also planted some over there to try to have more quantity.  We haven’t dug them up yet.  But the potatoes here at the home farm grew beautifully.  This week you’ll be receiving Yukon Gold potatoes-a creamy yellow-gold type of potato.  Digging for potatoes is kind of looking for eggs, but in the ground.  We use the digging fork to loosen the soil around the plants.  But we can’t dig any closer because we might stab potatoes (stabbed about a dozen).  So then we go through by hand and grub for potatoes-turning them out of unexpected lumps of dirt and weeds.  It is quite the fun job, especially when you’re rewarded with baskets full of potatoes at the end!  Enjoy the bounty,

Your farmers,

 William and Marie

 William with a garden fork. 

Adam and Elisa display the fine potato harvest from a few beds.

Recipes

Auntie Bonnie’s Potato Cucumber Salad

From the cookbook, How it all Vegan, 1999.

This tangy, tart salad will tickle your tastebuds.

2-3 cups new potatoes, cubed

1 tbsp fresh dill, chives or parsley, chopped (you can used green onions)

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp prepared horseradish

¼ cup flax oil (or your choice of salad type oil)

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2-3 cups cucumber, cubed

In a medium pot, boil the cubed potatoes in water until they can be pierced easily with a fork.  In a small bowl, whisk together the chosen herb, mustard, vinegar, horseradish, oil, salt, and pepper.  Set aside.  Once the potatoes are done, drain and rinse under cold water until cool.  In a medium bowl, mix together the potatoes, cucumbers and dressing just before serving. 

(Marie’s adjustment: I like to give the potatoes a quick rinse, then pour the dressing over the partially-cooled potatoes and refrigerate for a few hours.  Then mix the cucumbers in before serving.  This lets the flavor soak into the potatoes more.)

Indian-Spiced Kale & Chickpeas

We love Indian vegetarian dishes! This dish goes well with chicken and lamb for a meal with meat.  The chickpeas add a great texture and a source of protein to this recipe.  You may experiment with different ratios of spices to suit your tastes.

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/indian_spiced_kale_chickpeas.html

From EatingWell:  October/November 2005, EatingWell Serves Two

Chickpeas make this exotic dish a terrific player in any vegetarian menu.

4 servings, about 3/4 cup each | Active Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-1 1/2 pounds kale, ribs removed, coarsely chopped (see Tip)
• 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth, or vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon garam masala, (see Ingredient note)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add kale and cook, tossing with two large spoons, until bright green, about 1 minute. Add broth, coriander, cumin, garam masala and salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in chickpeas; cover and cook until the chickpeas are heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Nutrition

Per serving : 202 Calories; 5 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 1 mg Cholesterol; 32 g Carbohydrates; 9 g Protein; 6 g Fiber; 415 mg Sodium; 499 mg Potassium

2 Carbohydrate Serving

Tips & Notes

• Tip:  When preparing kale for these recipes, remove the tough ribs, chop or tear the kale as directed, then wash it--allowing some water to cling to the leaves. The moisture helps steam the kale during the first stages of cooking.
• Ingredient Note: Garam masala, a ground spice mixture traditionally including coriander, cumin, cinnamon, peppercorns, cardamom and cloves, is commonly used in Indian cooking. Find it in the specialty-spice section of large supermarkets.
•  What a tasty bunch of carrots Marie has!