CSA Week 8
This week you MAY have carrots or corn (depending what you got last week), squash, peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, kale, Chinese Cabbage, lettuce…
Chinese Cabbages…Asian greens you may see 😉
We grow quite a few varieties of Asian greens here is the rundown of what we’ve got so you can identify what’s what:
Bok choy, bok choi, pak choy, pak choi, napa, Chinese cabbage…what’s what? Well, bok/pak choy/choi are the same but different from the napa/Chinese cabbage which are the same. And it’s not even that simple, because there are dozens of specialized varieties within each category. I’m no expert, believe me! Last season I had quite a long conversation through a translator with a lady looking for what I think was a type of choi that must have looked something like some seedlings we had. I was kinda banking on a green stemmed choi. Anyway, when the gentleman translating for her looked up the specific word she was calling the choi, it simply translated as “vegetable”. That brought on giggles from all involved. LOL. I love the Kitazawa Seed catalog for the very purpose of looking stuff up. They offer at least 20 varieties! Directly from them:
“This graceful vegetable with Chinese origins has spread throughout Asia and beyond, developing a wide range of varieties. The most typical Pak Choi features dark green leaves atop white spoon-shaped upright stems. Stems vary considerably in thickness and shape, and in some varieties they are green. One variety produces a rosette of dark green leaves close to the ground. There are specialty pak chois that have frilly leaves to light yellow-green color. The slight mustardy flavor of Pak Choi makes it a delightful addition to stir-fries, soups, noodle and meat dishes, and salads, if the young leaves are used. In China, the coarser leaves are often pickled. Some Chinese cooks also dip the leaves in boiling water and hang them out to dry in the sun for several days. Drying enables this highly perishable vegetable to be stored for winter months. Asian cooks use the entire plant at many stages of development.”
We grow mostly what is categorized as “white stemmed” pak choi including Tatsoi and Joi Choi, but we also grow the “green stemmed” Mei Qing and Tatsoi, and the “red-stemmed” Red Tatsoi, Dahong, and Purple Choi. We also grow Beka Santoh, a light green frilly, loose head Chinese cabbage, Chirimen Hakusai, a savoyed loose leaf Chinese cabbage, or Maruba Santoh, a bright green round leaf on white stems…
Recipes
Panzanella
Okay, there are a million versions of Panzanella out there but this is what I made last year with green tomatoes – it was yummy! Gonna do it tonight with red tomatoes 😉
- 3 tomatoes in large dice
- 1 cucumber (might peel it) in large dice
- half an onion diced
- 1 green pepper diced
- 1-2 cups of croutons made from yesterday’s bread
Make dressing:
- 1/3 cup awesome EVOO from Oleatrees
- squirt of Dijon (you should know by now, it ends up in 90% of my dressings)
- 3+ TB lime juice
- splash cider vinegar
- a little minced onion and garlic
- S & P to taste
- going to hunt up a little cilantro or parsley (probably parsley for Glenn ;-))
Toss the veg together with the dressing and let marinade for an hour or so. Toss in croutons and enjoy. If I find feta in the fridge, I’m thinking that would be nice with the cucumber and tart tomato profile.
Chinese Cabbage Salad
Combine:
- 1Tbsp peanut oil
- 2 Tbs. sesame oil
- 2Tbsp rice wine or white wine vinegar
- 1-2 Tbs. maple syrup
- 1/2 Tsp. salt
- 3 Tbs. soy sauce
Pour over salad and toss well. Refrigerate for 1/2 hour. Strain the salad over a sauce pan and press down on the cabbage until you have collected all the juices. Boil the juices down to about 1/4 cup and toss into the salad. Great leftover too!
Thanks for sharing this recipe Jen! Looks fab!
Grilled Stuffed Zucchini
Farm Dirt
Starting to pick more tomatoes, they are coming slowly, but I will be “advertising” bulk tomatoes before you know it! You will be the first to hear, so al you canners, sauce makers, salsa fiends, etc, keep us on your radar! Don’t forget one of the perks of our CSA is access to bulk food for you to put by and have some extra security (or luxury treats ;)) this winter.
Thrilled to be back into lettuce and other greens! Looks like we should be good to go through the rest of CSA season with a steady supply of some kind of greenery 🙂 Yippee!
Under both wildlife and Farm Dirt news, for some reason, the birds are wreaking havoc with the corn. Thus the skip for some of you last week…we bought corn from a neighbor at the end of the week and the front of this one…if you see corn in your bag this week, that means we are back into our own. If you were wondering, we subbed out the new carrots 🙂
The Chimney Swift babies in the family room flue make a ruckus every time mom or pop drop down to feed them. We expect them to fledge in the next few days! Another season of birds is passing by. I think some of our Bluebirds are feeding their 3rd nestlings and two pairs of Barn Swallows are in with another clutch. It will be tough to beat out the Fall migration, but we’ve seen them push their young and go, even if a couple days late.
Eat well,
Geneviève Stillman
Coming up: peaches I am hoping!