CSA Week 2, 2018
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), summer squash (yellow, zucchini, golden zucchini, cousa), arugula (could be a small bunch with roots or in a bag), radishes (Cherry Belle or French Breakfast), some type of pea or bean, and beets? As I said a few weeks ago, the early season is all about the greens. If you feel overwhelmed, don’t, our seasoned members will remind you those bunches cook down and what looked like a crazy amount of greens is perfect.
Last week, after I wrote the letter, it turned out the beets hadn’t sized up enough to go into the shares but everyone was getting summer squash and garlic scapes. I did update the letter as soon as I found out and since I did not get any queries about the scapes, you all must have known what they were and what to do with them 😉
Since I am not sure what kind of pea you might get, here’s the rundown: Peas may be snow (flat green or purple pods), sugar snap (edible pod), or English shell. If you are not sure if you have snap of shell peas, bite one in half, if you can chew it up, it’s a snap pea, if not, get shelling. Looking at the proportion of shell peas to snap peas coming from the field, it is more likely you will be shelling 😉 If you don’t get any peas this week, then I am told you are getting beans. This is no small feat to have beans this early, but due to the creativity of your farmer, we get to enjoy beans about three weeks earlier than the regular season. Actually, it is occurring to me that it is still early for peas too!
The greens on the first radishes are usually quite nice; don’t rule out making radish leaf pesto or utilizing them in something else. Do remove the tops from the bottom before storing…the leaves suck the moisture out of the roots. This is a good rule of thumb for most root crops – especially later in the season for carrots, salad turnips, and the radishes.
There should be an interactive image of some of the items in your share here. If not, click this link to the blog.
Recipes
Did you use up everything from last week? I find it interesting that so many of the Spring and early Summer vegetables can be enjoyed with minimal effort – no cooking! Even today we enjoyed a gorgeous, crunchy salad of lettuces, radishes and snow peas. If I had had any beans on hand, they too would have made it in to the salad raw. Even spiralized or julienned summer squash is wonderful tossed around in your favorite dressing; you cannot say the same for the winter squashes 😉
Are you a food discriminator? You had a bad run in when you were a kid and now you just hate on eggplant. 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. ?
Keep trying recipes.
Simple dressing for greens:
2 Tb vinegar (your choice), s & p, and 1 tsp Dijon whisked together or shaken in your cruet; then whisk in 6 Tb olive oil (or shake until well mixed). Alter to fit your mood. If you are new to our farm, you will realize that our greens have flavor and are interesting without heavy dressing. By all means, use your favorite dressing – I’ve got at least one Ranch loving grandchild and a couple who put Caesar on everything, so it’s all good!
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
Greens, Sausage, Ricotta & Pasta Bake
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb fresh mozzarella
- 1 lb ricotta
- 1/3 cup minced mint & thyme
- 1 lb fusilli or penne pasta
- Chard & kale – any greens will do (use 2-3 bunches total)
- red pepper flakes
- 1 lb your favorite sausage
- Parmesan
Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Wash, shake excess water off, de-rib as necessary and chop the greens. Cook sausage (remove casings if there are casings) fully in large skillet. Remove the sausage from the pan, set aside. If necessary add a little olive oil to the pan. Heat and add garlic, red pepper flakes, and all the greens. Toss in the oil until wilted. Season with S&P. I have a huge skillet, so they all fit. Feel free to add a handful in a time as room allows if all your greens don’t fit.
Cook the pasta al dente. Drain but reserve water.
Grease the inside of a large casserole. Layer greens, sausage, pasta, cheeses and herbs, making 3 layers.
Pour several cups of the cooking water over the whole casserole. Sprinkle with parm. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbling. Yummy!
Halley Stillman makes this quite a bit from an actual recipe. She uses her goat cheese but since I make my own ricotta, that’s what I use. Above is how I make it sans her recipe 😉
Farm Dirt
We got a very timely rain last week and stuff is growing! We irrigate our crops, but we cannot reach every crop, so it’s nice to get that shower on the beets and radishes so they can size up and the corn so the kernels will plump. Believe me, it was good for everything.
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.
The wildlife sightings have been pretty cool this week. Yesterday we watched a beautiful doe walk through the lettuce field. The guys say they see a doe and her fawn most every morning, but this one was clearly without a fawn, so must be yet another one. The big news this week is the LARGE bear that was in a corn field! Glenn says it was a boar and we likely will not see him again…but I don’t know, maybe he knows what is growing in the field he was in and marking his calendar to check back in a month 😉
We had a sow with three cubs last year hanging out in the big field. We did capture a picture of them, grainy, but you know, it’s a bad career move to get too close to animals that can run and climb faster than you. I’m kidding, but not. Seems like recently I’ve been hearing about people taking selfies with tigers or getting too close to the bison for a better picture. Tragic, and not smart. Having said that, I’ve never had a ___(insert bear, deer, coyote, bobcat, …) see me and not run away. 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 handsome mammals roaming the farm. Bottom line, enjoy the wildlife sightings, but be careful out there, be respectful of animals, and most of all, be smart!
Have a wonderful week and eat well,
Geneviève Stillman
