CSA Week 4: Eating from the Garden

View this newsletter in an easy to read format with pictures in the CSA blog

~Please make sure to bring back your empty boxes so we can reuse them~ The boxes are high quality, waxed boxes to ensure that your produce stays fresh…and they are pricy.

Freezing Kale- It’s been a cool rainy spring, and the kale has been heavily producing this yummy, nutrient-rich veggie.   See recipes below…Cooking from the garden is obliviously very seasonal, you can freeze kale for mid-summer and the middle of winter (the times of year kale is not in season) With some frozen kale on hand, you can add some greens to a meal in the summer months when leafy greens are not growing in the garden or quickly throw together a kale soup in the winter months.

…Here’s a great blog for freezing kale. http://www.littlehouseliving.com/freezing-kale.html

…Here’s some kale ideas from Cooking Light http://www.cookinglight.com/food/in-season/kale-recipes-00412000074204/

Farm Fresh Harvest

Parsley- “What do I do with parsley?” Almost any meal tastes better with a couple of tablespoons of minced parsley sprinkled over the top or cooked in.  Well, for starters, parsley freshens breath, is great for digestion, and is packed full of iron.    A sprinkle of chopped parsley doesn’t make the meal taste like parsley; it makes the meal’s flavors more balanced. Check out recipes below.

Baby Lettuce mix- We grow a mix of different delicate and tender baby lettuce varieties.

        ~Add to sandwiches. Make a baby salad and hummus wrap.

Radishes, Baby “French Breakfast” This variety is easy to slice or grate. It is milder than other types. (The radishes are a little spicier this week since the weather has warmed up.)

        ~Do you think radishes are spicy? Much of the spiciness is a volatile, aromatic flavor that will dissipate once you slice or grate the radish.  I make sure to dress the sliced or grated radishes with a bit of salt, olive oil, and sweet white balsamic vinegar and let them marinate for at least 5 minutes before serving.

-Head lettuce- Green or Red Buttercrunch (The best lettuce! Try using the leaves as a fun wrap for sandwiches or egg salad.  Also works well as a wrap for tabbouli

Dill- Adds a lively, fresh flavor to your creations.

~ Add to any potato dish, really.  Great with eggs: Add to lentils, greens/lettuce salads, egg salads, frittatas, fried egg sandwiches. Add to any salad. See a salad idea in the arugula section.

Hakurei turnips- These smooth white salad turnips are sweet! Slice and eat raw in a salad. They taste like a mix between a carrot and a radish.  Sprinkle a bit of sea salt and olive oil over the chopped or sliced turnips and marinate for 5-10 minutes before using in a salad.  You can also try sautéing them lightly- you still want to keep the crunch.

 “Red Russian” Kale- red-purple stems, light green leaves.

“Dinosaur” or “Laccinato” Kale flat leaves, a Italian heirloom variety. Great flavor, very tender and mild!  This heirloom variety is tender with small, sweet stems.  This is the first year that we’ve been able to harvest enough for our CSA members…groundhogs and rabbits will waddle past other types of kale and vegetables just to eat this tasty variety!

         

Swiss chard Large shares only this week

Coming soon…

Sugar snap peas

Zuchini

Summer squash

Cucumbers

On the farm

This past week has been a whirlwind.  It feels like we are finally hitting our rhythm-in June!  We have three great helpers on the farm helping us to make sure all the crazy tasks we do actually get done.  If you pick up at the farm be sure to say hello to Amanda, Jodie, and Thomas.  They are a big part of why your boxes are full of fresh veggies this season.

Spring, hay mulch, and tomato hoophouses.

Even though it’s been warm the past two weeks we are still feeling the effects of the cool, wet spring.  Squash and cucumbers are a bit late in producing right now.  It was with great excitement that we finally planted the season’s sweet peppers.  They will be later than usual, but they look great!  Just today we spread three big round bales of hay as mulch on the tomatoes in our tomato hoop houses.  The hay helps to moderate soil temperature and moisture which makes the plants much happier.  The hay also blocks weeds and cools the soil (a positive as the summer heats up).  The hoops will keep rain of the leaves of the tomatoes reducing fungus problems and preventing fruit cracking.  We look forward to juicy tomatoes in July (like the peppers they are a few weeks later than last year).

China and ”Big Pig”

On the livestock side several national and international events this past week confirm the need for small scale, chemical free, pasture based livestock operations.  Virginia (with lots of production in NC) was home to the largest pork producer in the world-Smithfield.  I say was, because Smithfield is in the process of selling itself to Shuangui International Holdings Ltd. for $4.7 billion.  This move will combine the top two pork producers in the world under a single company under Chinese control.  Smithfield is responsible for such retail brands as: Cook's Ham, Gwaltney, John Morrell, Krakus Ham, Patrick Cudahy, Smithfield, and Stefano's, among others.  Read more here http://grist.org/news/smithfield-worlds-largest-pork-producer-could-be-sold-to-a-chinese-company/

Fugitive Genetically Modified Organisms

A second disturbing find was the discovery of unapproved, supposedly unreleased, GMO wheat in a farmer’s field in Oregon.  This highlights one of the major problems with GMO’s-corporate creation, control, and ownership that is entirely opaque, under-regulated, and entirely profit driven.  It is no small thing to design crops to be resistant to herbicides at the genetic level.  It encourages the use of herbicides and long term effects on the environment and humans are largely unstudied.  We should all remember that it is only in the last 20 years that we have all joined the experiment of eating GMO soy and corn (and now about 80% of both crops in the US are GMO).  This is not a particularly long time span to see problems in human populations.  To believe that there is no danger simply because we have not seen (or more likely correlated) a problem with GMO’s is naïve.  Read more here

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2013/06/kansas_farmer_sues_monsanto_ov.html

It is also unsafe to believe that Monsanto and other ag giants act in our best interests.  There have been a number of laws and proposed laws passed nationally and at the state level known as Ag gag laws.  These laws make it illegal to expose dangerous practices at industrial agriculture and biotech companies.  One example, known as the Monsanto Protection Act, essentially grants Monsanto immunity from legal action.  It would allow the company to proceed with GMO crops in the field even if there is pending legal action.  In other words, they could do what they want.  Read more here http://rt.com/usa/protection-repeal-act-monsanto-444/

Veggie tips: 

·         Store your greens and head lettuce in plastic bags in your crisper drawer to keep them hydrated and fresh.  

·         Place herb stems in a little glass of water to keep them hydrated and fresh.

·         Remember to wash and swirl veggies in a bowl of cool water to clean the field dirt before eating.  

·         We like to store a washed head of lettuce in a salad spinner in the fresh for easy access to washed lettuce.

Recipes

Tabbouli

From Secrets of Healthy Middle Eastern Cuisine, Abourezk

Marie’s comments in italics…

Go ahead and switch the recipe up a bit!  I recommend adding sweet peppers and cucumbers with feta cheese and basil. You can also use curly kale instead of parsley! Yep!

Ingredients

½ cup bulgur wheat (I’ve used cous cous before too)

½ cup water

4 cups finely chopped ripe tomatoes

½ cup fresh lemon juice

2 tbs olive oil

2 large bunches parsley, about 5 cups finely chopped (1 large bunch is plenty! Chop parsley very fine- almost to a fluff) You can also use curly kale instead of parsley!

1 cup chopped onions

1 tbl dried mint flakes

1.        Rinse the bulgur, drain and then add ½ cup of the water and let stand for 15 minutes.  Place the bulgur in a large mixing bowl, then add the tomatoes and lemon juice.  Chop the parsley (very fine-almost to a fluff).  Place on top of the bulgur and tomato mixture.  Add the onion, mint flakes, and the oil and mix thoroughly.

2.        Tabbouli can be prepared a couple hours ahead of time if you wish.  Simply leave out the oil and lemon juice dressing until you’re ready to serve.  Adding the dressing too soon makes the parsley wilt and creates too much liquid in the bottom of the salad bowl.

3.       In the Arab world, tabbouli is scooped up and eaten with lettuce leaves, rather than with silverware.  Putting each serving of tabbouli inside a lettuce or a cabbage leaf rather than displaying them in a flat dish is a very tempting presentation.  Or, for an elegant looking and tasting hors d’oeuvre, cut cherry tomatoes in half, remove the center, and fill them with tabbouli.

Parsley Hummus with Whole Wheat Pita Chips

Source: Kalyn’s Kitchen online http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2009/06/recipe-for-parsley-hummus-with-whole.html

Marie’s notes: This is a recipe that is very similar to the parsley hummus that I make with my food processor.  I assemble all of the ingredients, whip up a batch of hummus, and stick the food processor in the dishwasher.  Voila! Healthy, quick, and economical hummus for snacks and lunches.  We like to include hummus in veggie wraps and sandwiches. 

 I never use a recipe for hummus; I use approximate ratios.  The hummus that I make does not have any sour cream in it, but it has a total of 5 or 6 tablespoons of olive oil instead.  Sour cream is not traditionally used to make hummus. 

(Makes about 1 1/2 cups hummus, recipe adapted from Parsley Hummus in The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh.)

1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chopped parsley (pack parsley into half-cup measure, then chop in food processor)
1 tsp. minced garlic (about 2-3 garlic cloves)
1/4 cup sour cream (I used low-fat sour cream)
3 T tahini sauce
1 1/2 T lemon juice
2 T sesame oil
2 T olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. salt (or less, this seems like a generous amount of salt, so add salt to taste)
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper or hot sauce
1 T water (more or less, depending on how thick you like it)
3-4 pieces whole wheat pita bread, cut into triangles
olive oil, for spraying pita and baking sheet

1.  Preheat oven to 450 F. Drain chickpeas (garbanzo beans) into a colander placed in the sink, then rinse until no more foam appears and let the water drain off.
2.  Put parsley and garlic into bowl of food processor fitted with the stainless steel blade. Process about 1 minute, until parsley is well chopped. Add drained chickpeas and process 1-2 minutes, until beans are mostly smooth. Add sour cream, Tahini sauce, lemon juice, sesame oil, olive oil, cumin, salt, and cayenne or hot sauce. Process until mixture is very smooth. Test thickness and add a bit of water if you'd like it to be a little thinner.
3.  Cut whole wheat pita into triangles. Spray baking sheet with olive oil, then arrange pita triangles in a single layer. Spray top of chips with olive oil. Toast chips 4-5 minutes, then turn and toast 1-2 minutes more. (Watch them carefully at the end because they can get too brown rather quickly.)

Serve hummus with pita chips. Can also be served with cauliflower, celery, carrot sticks, or red bell pepper strips.

This printable recipe from Kalynskitchen.com.

Posted by Kalyn at 8:17 PM 

Tangy Honey Dill Salad dressing

Ingredients

½ cup cider vinegar

¼ cup good grainy Dijon mustard

2-6 cloves garlic (depending on personal tastes)

½ tsp salt

5-6 grinds black pepper

1 bunch dill, stems removed

2 tablespoons honey

 1 cup extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil

Directions

Combine the vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt, pepper, dill, and honey in a food processor.  

Start the machine and, with the motor running, gradually drizzle in the oil.

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.

Indian-Spiced Kale & Chickpeas

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

Exchanges: 1 starch, 1.5 vegetable, 1 very lean meat, 1 fat

Tips & Notes

•      Tip: A 1- to 1 1/2-pound bunch of kale yields 16 to 24 cups of chopped leaves. 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.

Week 3: Buttercrunch lettuce and more!

Buttercrunch lettuce

~Please make sure to bring back your empty boxes so we can reuse them

~Veggie tips: 

·         Store your greens and head lettuce in plastic bags in your crisper drawer to keep them hydrated and fresh.  

·         Place herb stems in a little glass of water to keep them hydrated and fresh.

·         Remember to wash and swirl veggies in a bowl of cool water to clean the field dirt before eating.  

·         We like to store a washed head of lettuce in a salad spinner in the fresh for easy access to washed lettuce.

Swiss chard in the field

The new vegetable that all shares get this week is Swiss chard.  Chard comes in a rainbow of colors.  It’s leaves are more tender and delicate that other greens like collards and kale.  The patch of chard is about 30 feet by 100 feet big, but even with so many plants, it has taken a while to get enough leaves for all of the CSA members to have a bunch.

When you are ready to cook your chard, swirl the leaves in a large tub of cold water.  I usually let the leaves sit and soak in the water for a few minutes, and then give the leaves another swirl.  After the grit and sand has settled to the bottom of the tub, gently lift the leaves from the water.  More rounds of rinsing may be necessary.

~Currently, the Swish chard is very gritty from the ricocheting effects that the hard rains have had on us in the past weeks.  Make sure to rinse and soak the chard well.

Did anyone stay dry while picking up your vegetable box in Morganton last Wednesday? No one at Bluebird Farm stayed dry! We were all soaked little ducklings out here.  Between 4-8pm we receive about 4 inches of rain.  The driveway washed out in a few places where the ditch overflowed, but our vegetable field did not flood the way that it did with the big 24 hour rains a few weeks ago.

On Thursday morning, we had 5 people, all in rain boots, squishing through 3 inches of mud in the pathways of empty garden beds in our bottomland vegetable field at Silver Creek.  The bottomland (name used to describe flat land by a river or creek) is very sandy, so the raised beds had drained enough to slip 400 bell peppers, 400 cucumbers, and 400 squash plants into the ground!  Here comes summer veggie salads!

Speaking of summer vegetables, we do have a few baby squash fruits and many squash flowers in the vegetable field. Just a few more weeks til squash and zucchinis are ready to eat.

Okra helps Marie write the newsletter.

In your box

Arugula ~Mix into lettuce or enjoy it on its own.  Try an arugula salad with fresh dill and goat cheese.  Add something sweet like grated carrots to an arugula salad.  Add some sliced strawberries.  I love a sweet white balsamic vinegar with arugula.

Baby Lettuce mix- We grow a mix of different delicate and tender baby lettuce varieties.

        ~Add to sandwiches. Make a baby salad and hummus wrap.

Radishes, Baby “French Breakfast” This variety is easy to slice or grate. It is more mild than other types. (The radishes are a little spicier this week since the weather has warmed up.)

        ~Do you think radishes are spicy? Much of the spiciness is a volatile, aromatic flavor that will dissipate once you slice or grate the radish.  I make sure to dress the sliced or grated radishes with a bit of salt, olive oil, and sweet white balsamic vinegar and let them marinate for at least 5 minutes before serving.

-Head lettuce- Green or Red Buttercrunch (Small or Baby size) The best lettuce! Try using the leaves as a fun wrap for sandwiches or egg salad.

Dill- Adds a lively, fresh flavor to your creations.

~ Add to any potato dish, really.  Great with eggs: Add to lentils, greens/lettuce salads, egg salads, frittatas, fried egg sandwiches. Add to any salad. See a salad idea in the arugula section.

Cilantro- chopped cilantro over any Mexican or Brazilian fusion style meal.  We love cilantro with black beans and our chorizo sausage.

Curly Kale

Curly Kale

Kale chips, anyone? This variety of kale is the best for kale chips. Recipe below

Very good with canned diced tomatoes or add to spaghetti sauces.  I strip the leaves of their stems, dice about ½ of the stems, and chop the leaves into 1 inch pieces.  Saute the diced stems with onions in olive oil for about 4 minutes before adding the chopped leaves. You can add a few tablespoons of water or chicken broth and steam in the pan with a lid.      

         Swiss chard recipe below

       

       

Braised Swiss Chard with Asiago

This is a yummy Swiss Chard idea for quick and easy garden fresh cooking.    Try playing around with the favors however you may imagine it!

Ingredients:

·         1 clove garlic, minced

·         1 medium onion, diced

·         1 bunch Swiss Chard, stems and leaves separated.

·         Lemon juice

·         Asiago, Parmesan, or Romano cheese

1.     Dice upper half of stems (you may also dice the entire length of the stem for stronger flavor).  Roughly chop the leaves into 1-2 inch pieces. 

2.    Sauté 1 clove garlic, 1 diced onion, and diced chard stems over medium low heat in 3 tablespoons olive oil for 5 minutes.

3.    Add ¼ cup of water and chopped chard leaves. Cover and lightly steam in the pan until the leaves are tender and still bright green, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4.    Uncover, add a dash of lemon juice.  Grate your aged cheese of choice and toss over your favorite carb like fettuccine, cous cous, quinoa etc…

Tip: Feel free to run wild with the flavors based on what is in season in the garden! Add some dice zucchini or summer squash,  more garlic, fresh oregano, and perhaps little cherry tomatoes cut in half. 

Swiss Chard with Sweet and Sour Ginger Sauce

From Farmer John’s Cookbook, The Real Dirt on Vegetables by Farmer John Peterson and Angelic Organics. Everyone who has a vegetable share should get this cookbook! This delightful book has plenty of sassy attitudes about growing and eating organic vegetables with love and dedication.  Sections include identification, storage, preparation, and recipes.  Here is one of the many great recipes…

“In this recipe, the natural salty tang of chard is intensified by cooking the chard in stock; the same stock is then used as a base for the wonderful sauce, thus ensuring that none of the precious nutrients from the leaves are lost.  For a unique touch, try adding a handful of raisins or currants to the boiling stock, allowing them to plump and soften for a minute or so before adding the chard; then cook, stain, and serve them right along with the greens.  Lisa, shareholder and recipe-tester, say she created a terrific variation on the recipe by substituting honey for brown sugar and balsamic vinegar and cooking sherry for white vinegar. Angelic Organics Kitchen.

Serves 4.

1 cup vegetable, chicken or beef stock or water

½ pound       chard, stems chopped, leaves torn into bite sized pieces

4                     scallions, thinly sliced, (about 1/3 cup) (you can substitute 1/3 cup finely diced and sautéed sweet onions)

            Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tblsp          white vinegar

1 tblsp          light brown sugar           

1 tblsp          finely chopped or grated fresh ginger

1 teasp          red pepper flakes

1.     Bring stock or water to a boil in large skillet (not cast iron- turns chard an off color).  Add the chard and cook stirring until it is wilted, about 1 minute.

2.      Drain the chard, saving the cooking liquid. Transfer the chard to plate and garnish with scallions or sautéed sweet onions.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and cover to keep warm.

3.     Pour the reserved cooking liquid back into the skillet or pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil until it is reduced to 1/3 cup, about 8 minutes.  Add the vinegar and brown sugar.  Stir in the ginger and red pepper flakes.  Boil for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and spoon the mixture over the chard. Serve immediately. 

Kale chips

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch kale 1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt A drizzle of balsamic vinegar (about ½ tablespoon)

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (175 degrees C)
2.	With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. (I like to use my hands to strip the leaves from the stem.)Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Place kale in a plastic bag. Drizzle kale with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle with sea salt. Thoroughly massage the bag to mix the oil and vinegar into the leaves.
3.	Using several baking sheets spread the kale pieces out so that they are not touching; I use 3 or 4 sheets.  Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, about 7 to 12 minutes. Make sure to check the chips almost every minute after 7 minutes have passed.  Every oven is a little different…Adjust this recipe’s time to your oven! Serve immediately!  Does not keep well, usually won't stay crisp. ~Marie

Week 2

Hello, hello,

Welcome back to week 2 of fresh seasonal eating.  Any questions about your veggies? Let us know!

~Please make sure to bring back your empty boxes so we can reuse them

~Why does the bok choy have tiny holes in it? We haven’t sprayed the bok choy!  These holes from little tiny beetle, but don’t worry, you can still eat it!  Once you’ve cooked the bok choy, you can’t tell that the little holes are there.   The beetles don’t cause a big enough problem to make using an organic spray necessary.

~Veggie tips: Store your greens and head lettuce in plastic bags in your crisper drawer to keep them hydrated and fresh.   Place herb stems in a little glass of water to keep them hydrated and fresh.  Remember to wash and swirl veggies in a bowl  of cool water to clean the field dirt before eating.  We like to store a washed head of lettuce in a salad spinner in the fresh for easy access to lettuce.

~Remember, it is chicken pickup day at the farm for all of you Morganton and Bluebird Farm chicken share holders.

Farm News:
All of a sudden it’s warm!  We’ve been so involved dealing with the here and now of floods and frost that we have fallen behind on even preparing for summer.  Frosts and floods, oh my!  So we find ourselves in the odd position of not being ready for summer even though summer is two weeks late!  Our planting plan had tomato and pepper transplanting scheduled for two weeks ago, but we are just starting to transplant tomato and peppers now.  So now we are preparing beds and trying to get the plants in their summer home.  Wet weather has kept us and the tractor out of the fields for quite a long time.

May flood 2013

   Picking up the transplants was quite an adventure.  We have outgrown our small greenhouse and can no longer physically fit all the transplants we need.  This year we purchased tomato, eggplant, and pepper from a great local greenhouse that uses all organic methods called Sunny Hill Greenhouse.  Marie, Marie’s younger sister, and I took our two trucks over the greenhouse.  We filled them both to the brim with plants and there were still more!  So the greenhouse owner offered to fit the rest in his truck. Then we all drove slowly back to our farm so that the wind wouldn’t damage the plants too much.  We were quite the plant parade! 

As we loaded the plants we got our first good smell of summer.  The tomatoes were right at nose height as we carried trays from the greenhouse to the trucks.  As the leaves jostled and brushed each other great wafts of tomato plant smell floated through the air.  The smell of tomato plants and basil are two of the strongest summer scents.  They always remind me of hot days in the field and delicious juicy salads at lunch.

This past Saturday we were able to take the afternoon to go to a field trip to another farm.  After Farmers’ Market, we quickly checked on the animals and did our afternoon feeding chores and jumped into the car for a 1 hour and twenty minute drive north of Asheville.  We are part of a group that takes monthly visits to each other’s farms to exchange information and enjoy the company of other hardworking farmers.  It is amazing to hear from all the other farmers in the group with similar organic vegetable farms in the Asheville region.  They have all faced a tough spring-primarily wet ground and cool weather.   Some have even skipped a week of their CSA and added that week onto the end of the season because not enough food is ready in the field now.  It served as a reminder of the many challenges the weather can present each season from too hot to too cold, too wet to too dry, too windy, etc.  We are very thankful that through all of these weather challenges we have not had to face hail or tornados.

Silver Creek May flood

In your box

Arugula ~Mix into lettuce or enjoy it on its own.  Try an arugula salad with fresh dill and goat cheese.  Add something sweet like grated carrots to an arugula salad.  Add some sliced strawberries.  I love a sweet white balsamic vinegar with arugula.

Baby Lettuce mix- We grow a mix of different delicate and tender baby lettuce varieties.

        ~Add to sandwiches. Make a baby salad and hummus wrap.

Radishes, Baby “French Breakfast” This variety is easy to slice or grate. It is more mild than other types. (The radishes are a little spicier this week since the weather has warmed up.)

        ~Do you think radishes are spicy? Much of the spiciness is a volatile, aromatic flavor that will dissipate once you slice or grate the radish.  I make sure to dress the sliced or grated radishes with a bit of salt, olive oil, and sweet white balsamic vinegar and let them marinate for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Hakurei turnips- These smooth white salad turnips are sweet! Slice and eat raw in a salad. They taste like a mix between a carrot and a radish.

-Head lettuce- Green or Red Buttercrunch (Small or Baby size) The best lettuce! Try using the leaves as a fun wrap for sandwiches or egg salad.

Dill- Adds a lively, fresh flavor to your creations.

~ Add to any potato dish, really.  Great with eggs: Add to lentils, greens/lettuce salads, egg salads, frittatas, fried egg sandwiches. Add to any salad. See a salad idea in the arugula section.

Cilantro- chopped cilantro over any Mexican or Brazilian fusion style meal.  We love cilantro with black beans and our chorizo sausage.

Bok Choy- Crunchy and mild Asian veggie that is great diced up raw in salads or cooked in a stir-fry.  See recipe below.

Laccinato Kale- flat leaves, a Italian heirloom variety. Great flavor, very tender and mild!  Kale is a staple cooking green that is more mild than mustard or collard greens. 

~ It is very tender, so it requires very little cooking. I just “wilt it down” in a sauté.  Very good with canned diced tomatoes or add to spaghetti sauces.  I strip the leaves of their stems, dice about ½ of the stems, and chop the leaves into 1 inch pieces.  Saute the diced stems with onions in olive oil for about 4 minutes before adding the chopped leaves. You can add a few tablespoons of water or chicken broth and steam in the pan with a lid.      

Large shares only- Swiss chard (the chard is not big enough to harvest enough for everyone from it)

       

       

Beans 'n Greens Burritos w/ Chorizo

From http://www.girlichef.com/2010/12/little-donkeys-stuffed-with-beans-kale.html
slightly adapted from the Food Matters Cookbook by Mark Bittman
yield: ~8-10 burritos (depending on size of tortilla)

8-10 homemade whole wheat tortillas *see recipe below, or store bought
2 Tbs. olive oil
½ lb. fresh, chorizo
~1 Tbs. minced garlic
~1 Tbs. chipotle chile powder or chile powder
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
~1 lb. kale, roughly chopped
2 c. cooked or canned black beans, drained, liquid reserved
½ c. crumbled queso fresco (we just use chedder or Monterey jack)
Pico de Gallo, for serving

Heat the oven to 350° F. Stack tortillas and roll them up in a sheet of foil.  Place them in the oven to warm while you cook the filling.

Place oil in a large, cast-iron skillet over medium heat.  When it's hot, add the chorizo and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat, until it is cooked through.  If the pan is very dry (which is more likely with homemade chorizo than storebought), add a bit more oil.  Add garlic and onion and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until they are soft.  Sprinkle in chile powder, a bit of salt and pepper, and then add kale.  Cook, stirring from time to time until it wilts and releases liquid, ~5 minutes.  Stir in the black beans, mashing a bit with a fork or potato masher, adding a bit of the reserved bean liquid if mixture seems too dry.

To roll each burrito, lay a tortilla on a flat surface and divide the filling mixture evenly among the tortillas (amount you get will depend on size of tortilla) on the third closest to you.  Sprinkle on cheese.  Fold tortilla over from bottom to cover filling, then fold in the sides to fully enclose them; finish rolling and put burrito seam side down on  a plate.  Serve with pico de gallo on side.

Crunchy Bok Choy Ginger Salad

1 medium bok choy

1 cup shredded daikon radish (Marie used regular radishes)

1 tablespoon salt (make sure you follow the recipe and rinse the salted bok choy and radishes)

½ cup slivered sweet pepper (a colorful pepper is beautiful! We leave out the pepper since they are out of season)

¼ cup finely chopped green onions

1 inch knob of gingerroot, grated

2 tablespoons of each chopped mint and cilantro (fresh…used 1 tablespoon of mint if it is dried)

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 teaspoons honey

Pepper to taste

Marie’s tips- Washing bok choy:  I like to chop the very bottom of the head off and then wash and quickly scrub each leaf.  

Rice vinegar: If you don’t have this item, try using a sweet white vinegar, a white balsamic vinegar, or melt some sugar in hot water and add to white vinegar….or you can make up your own fun vinaigrette!

Steps: Thin- slice the bok choy leaves.  Thinly slice the stems on the diagonal.  Toss bok choy leaves and stems, and the shredded radishes, with salt in colander.  Let stand to wilt vegetables, about ½ hour. Rinse, drain, and squeeze out excess liquid from mixture. Place in paper or cotton towel and squeeze again. Toss with remaining ingredients in bowl and chill before serving.  Makes 6 servings.

From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce (written by the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition)

Braised Swiss Chard with Asiago

This is a yummy Swiss Chard idea for quick and easy garden fresh cooking.    Try playing around with the favors however you may imagine it!

Ingredients:

·         1 clove garlic, minced

·         1 medium onion, diced

·         1 bunch Swiss Chard, stems and leaves separated.

·         Lemon juice

·         Asiago, Parmesan, or Romano cheese

1.     Dice upper half of stems (you may also dice the entire length of the stem for stronger flavor).  Roughly chop the leaves into 1-2 inch pieces. 

2.    Sauté 1 clove garlic, 1 diced onion, and diced chard stems over medium low heat in 3 tablespoons olive oil for 5 minutes.

3.    Add ¼ cup of water and chopped chard leaves. Cover and lightly steam in the pan until the leaves are tender and still bright green, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4.    Uncover, add a dash of lemon juice.  Grate your aged cheese of choice and toss over your favorite carb like fettuccine, cous cous, quinoa etc…

Tip: Feel free to run wild with the flavors based on what is in season in the garden! Add some dice zucchini or summer squash,  more garlic, fresh oregano, and perhaps little cherry tomatoes cut in half.