CSA Week 2, 2019
Things you MAY find in our bag or box this week: lettuce, Kale (Winterbor, Redbor, Russian, Tuscan), Swiss chard (white Fordhook, Ruby, Yellow, Bright Lights), snap, snow or shell peas ,garlic scapes, summer squash! green beans!.
Since I am not sure what kind of pea you might get, here’s what all our returning members know: Snow peas are flat green or purple pods and yes, eat the whole thing. Sugar snaps and English shell look very similar sometimes. If you are not sure what’s what, bite one in half, if you can chew it up, it’s a snap pea, if not, get shelling. you do not want to be shelling your very dear snap peas. By the way, it is still early for peas, and very early for beans, there are none at the farmer’s markets…so you are reaping the rewards of Glenn as your farmer and getting something in your CSA no one else is this time of year 🙂
Recipes
Best salads ever right now with the peas and greens. Even spiralized or julienned summer squash is wonderful tossed around in your favorite dressing; you cannot say the same for the winter squashes 😉
Not fond of something? You had a bad run-in as a kid and now you just hate on eggplant. We kindly ask you PLEASE TRY IT AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME. Mother liked to serve a Japanese zucchini salad (raw zucchini, sesame oil, black sesame seeds, soy sauce). I hated it! I would not touch zucchini for years (excepting the spoonful I had to endure at the dinner table) and then one day I tried some fried zucchini sticks served with a garlicky mayo. Life changer. Now I could eat a pile sauteed summer squashes every day! I’d eat fried zucchini sticks every day if someone made them for me.
You will find that our produce does not taste like that in the supermarket – as gorgeous as some of that produce can be. Glenn grows for brix – the higher the brix, the more flavor, the more flavor, the more vitamins and minerals. Even our potatoes and cabbage are different.
SO there you go, keep trying recipes.
Hey kale unbelievers – try out Kale Crunch
Kale Salad
(this is the generally how I make it…remember, I cook with The Force)
- one bunch of kale cleaned, ribs removed, and chopped fairly small.
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 TB balsamic vinegar
- 3 TB fresh lemon juice (by all means use your bottle lemon juice in the fridge)
- 1 TB Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp coarse salt (start with less if that sounds like a lot)
- At least 1 clove of garlic, minced
- Fresh black pepper, to taste
Whisk the above together and pour over kale. I mix it well with my hands to make sure everything is well coated. It is best if it can rest for a little bit before eating and the kale gets all soft and wilty. Sometimes I add a cup or so of cooked quinoa or wheat berries. It is even better the second day, but it has never lasted beyond that ?
Kale Crunch
Swiss Chard Frittata
Beet Green Soup
Lettuce wraps – In this letter is a fun idea for using the nice big lettuce leaves
Sauteed Beet Greens (works well for chard too)
Kale Pesto
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1/2 lb kale, coarsely chopped (of course include the stems!)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 ounces)
- freshly ground black pepper
Toast the chopped walnuts in a dry, heavy skillet (preferably cat iron) over high heat, stirring constantly, until they start to brown in spots and become fragrant. (Be careful not to overtoast them, as they will burn very quickly once they are toasted.) Immediately transfer the walnuts to a dish to cool.
Bring two quarts of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt then add the kale. Cook kale until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain
Put the garlic, walnuts, and kale in a blender or food processor; pulse until well combined. With the blender or food processor running, pour in the olive oil in a steady, smooth, pencil-thin stream.
When the ingredients are thoroughly combined, transfer to a bowl. Stir in the Parmesan, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Serve hot. (If you are going to freeze, add the Parmesan later when you are ready to eat the Pesto.)
This recipe was sent to me from a member. I make it with almonds without toasting, a whole kale bunch stemmed and blanched for a minute, a little less oil and add salt as needed and whirred in the food processor – takes just moments. Kale and other greens are high in oxalic acid which can be tough for people suffering from gout and can also tie up the available calcium and magnesium in your body. Steaming/Boiling the kale breaks down/leaches away the oxalic acid. Personally, I have not been affected by eating too many raw greens, but I pass the info along anyway.
Easy Lettuce Wraps according to me
With the amazing lettuce Glenn brought in last night, we had our own lettuce wraps. The longest part of the whole process was cooking the brown rice 😉 This is what I did, but you could easily sub in chicken or beef or go vegetarian. Leave out the rice and go carb free!
- Lettuce – leaves carefully removed, rinsed, excess water shaken off or layer between toweling to dry
- 1 lb ground pork
- 4 or 5 garlic scapes chopped
- 1 can water chestnuts drained and chopped
- 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
- minced pickled ginger (if you have fresh – grate away, or not, use powdered)
- splash toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tb ish Oyster sauce
- 1 Tb ish Hoisin
- splash soy sauce
- sprinkle rice vinegar
In a large skillet, cook the sausage and scapes until the meat is cooked through. Stir in water chestnuts, cooked rice, seasonings. Sample your good work. Serve with lettuce leaves and let everyone fold/wrap their own. I served mine with garlic chili sauce. Yum!
Farm Dirt
Last year it was too much rain, this year it’s not enough…it’s getting pretty dry around these here parts. The irrigation pond is down about 4 feet and we are looking for ways to get water across the street to where the first corn is. Hopefully it rains this weekend (I write this letter on Thursdays). The bees are lining up along the fountain to hydrate and even the more elusive birds are there too for a drink and bath. Some good news though, the early potatoes are in full bloom!
With the 4th of July right around the corner, this is another reminder that there are no CSA deliveries or markets that day. We will make it up at the end of the CSA season. That’s you Saturday people:)
The Waxwings are in the strawberry field by the hundreds, so we cover the field with spun row cover after picking every morning. It is extra work, but we love them and always look for ways to work with/beside the creatures here. Below, pictures of waxwings: a blurry one from this week, as they feasted on juniper berries which is perfect and why we planted them), and a young one we rescued and returned to its nest a few years ago.
Part of our conscientiously grown® philosophy is to steward the land to provide great habitat for our native species; we feel blessed every time we see one of our bears or birds or bugs (some of them anyway) and strive to be good neighbors.
Eat well,
Geneviève Stillman
