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Greetings!
Our Week 2/B CSA deliveries for this week Thursday, June 18 include:
- Full Share vegetables
- Every-Other-Week (EOW) Group B vegetables
- Full Egg Share
- EOW Egg Share Group B
- Meat bundle subscriber if EOW Group B
ANNOUNCING:
Our bricks-and-mortar Farm Store opens for the season this week
Friday, June 19th.
Store Hours:
- 9am-2pm Friday
- 9am-12pm Saturday
- By appointment for pre-orders and pickups
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Week 2/B
Pack List
Asparagus
Chard
OR
Kale
Garlic Scapes
Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Mushrooms*
Parsley
Red Radish
EOW will also receive:
Rhubarb
Strawberries**
(**Michigan, non-organic)
Pack list is subject to change due to harvest and weather conditions
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Seasonal Thinking in the Kitchen
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by Christi Lee Ehler
What’s available now and what can I make with it? That’s the question at the heart of seasonal cooking, especially for CSA members. If you’re new to the concept, it may represent a shift in thinking about meal planning. It may call for a willingness to experiment and try new flavors (or convince your household to do so.) We hope it may also lead you to some new realms of culinary enjoyment.
To help you make the most of your produce week-to-week, we offer a few tried-and-true strategies for cooking from your CSA box.
Outfit your kitchen:
- A well-designed, large-volume salad spinner: invaluable for everything from lettuce to berries to blanched broccoli. The drier your produce before you put it into the refrigerator, the longer it will keep.
- A half-dozen white “flour sack” cotton towels: Dedicate them to the sole purpose of drying produce before storage. Wash and spin greens, lay them out on a towel, roll up the towel loosely. Let one batch rest while you spin another batch. Pat dry any remaining moisture before placing in storage containers.
- Culinary scissors: faster and easier than a knife for removing tops from root vegetables and chopping fresh herbs. You can also get fancy herb scissors with a triple blade for extra-fine chopping.
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Sort (aka: Triage)
While unpacking your box each week, think about which veggies will survive for a while and which would best be treated (eaten) soonest. Plan meals accordingly. To facilitate quick meal prep, trim and clean everything you can before storage. Consult our
Storage and Handling Guide for general information about keeping your produce fresh. (Includes a few exceptions to the “clean before storage” advice.) A link to the guide appears in every issue of the newsletter, below the share list.
Substitute
Get in the habit of routinely swapping vegetables in and out of your favorite dishes—one kind of root or green for another kind of root or green, scallions or leeks for onions, the herb you have on hand rather than the one the recipe calls for, and so on. If a recipe calls for 2 carrots, use one carrot and one turnip.
Combine/Mix things up
Augment your supply of one thing with anything similar you have on hand. Need 12 cups of kale and you only have 6? Other sturdy greens like beet or turnip tops, collards, etc. will serve as well.
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Premeditate leftovers
Maximize your prep-time and purposefully cook more than you plan to eat in one sitting. Roast some beets while you’re baking a casserole and use them later in salads or pureed dips. Enjoy sautéed greens the second time around as a cold salad, with a little balsamic vinegar drizzled on top. From time-to-time, the newsletter will include recipes or tips about how to freeze or otherwise preserve your produce in small batches for longer term storage.
Use it up
When you receive a lavish supply of something like a fresh herb, don’t hoard it till it’s only fit for the compost pile—add it to everything: salads, pizza, scrambled eggs, etc.
Learn to trust your intuition
Taste as you go. Simple is often best with farm-fresh ingredients. Recipes chosen for the newsletter are meant to highlight the versatility of the vegetables you receive and spark your own ideas and creativity.
Have fun.
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Garlic scapes are the flower stalks that form on hardneck garlic. Harvesting them before the flowers open allows the garlic plant to devote its energy to producing bulbs. They are sometimes likened to "a mild garlicky scallion." Scapes can be eaten raw or cooked.
To prepare, trim and discard the flower bud and any tough parts of the lower stalk end. For most uses, slice stalk crosswise into thin "coins" or diagonally into desired lengths.
Substitute for garlic cloves in any recipe: 2-3 t. minced scape approximately equals one clove. (Use more in recipes where the scapes will be cooked.)
Preserving: Chop, place in plastic bags and freeze. Add without thawing to soups, stews, stir-fry, etc.
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Spring Vegetable Omelette
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Ingredients:
½ bunch asparagus, cut into 2" pieces
4-5 mushrooms sliced
1 garlic scape, minced
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 radishes, thinly sliced
Feta cheese, crumbled
Unsalted butter
Parsley, minced
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Heat a shallow pan with a pat of butter. Sauté asparagus, mushrooms, and garlic with a pinch of salt, until mushrooms are golden and asparagus is tender but still slightly firm.
Remove from pan and set aside in a bowl; keep warm. Melt another pat of butter in pan on low to medium heat.
To the eggs add a pinch of salt and add to pan. Using a rubber spatula, move the outer edges inward (for the first minute and a half) then continue to cook until set.
Place reserved vegetables on one half of the cooked egg, fold over the other half.
Garnish with radishes, feta and herbs.
Servings: 2
Recipe adapted from:
thehangingspoon.com
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Kohlrabi
is a
Brassica
, or member of the cabbage family. It can be eaten raw or cooked. The leaves are also edible and similar to kale.
Ingredients:
1 large kohlrabi, trimmed and peeled, grated
2 medium carrots, grated
3-4 large radishes, grated
½ red onion, grated
4 t. chopped cilantro
¼ c. golden raisins (optional)
¼ c. mayonnaise
1 T. cider vinegar
1 T. sugar
1 t. salt
Method:
Combine kohlrabi, carrots, radishes, onion, cilantro, and raisins (if using) in a large bowl.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, cider vinegar, sugar, and salt.
Pour dressing over vegetables and mix until fully coated. Chill for several hours before serving.
Servings: 4-6
Recipe adapted from:
thekitchn.com
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Sauteed Greens--with or without Pasta
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You can prepare the greens
as a side dish or follow the extra steps to make it a main dish.
Ingredients:
2 oz thick-cut bacon, finely diced
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1 hot red chile, seeded and finely chopped
1 T. yellow mustard seeds
1¼ LB mixed greens, stems and inner ribs trimmed, leaves cut into ribbons
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 T. white wine vinegar
(¾ LB rotini)
(1 T. minced garlic scape)
(2 T. extra-virgin olive oil)
(¼ c. plus 2 T. crème fraîche or heavy cream)
(¼ c. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese)
Method:
In a large skillet, cook diced bacon in olive oil over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes.
Add shallot, chile and mustard seeds and cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add greens, season with salt and pepper and cook, tossing frequently, until wilted and tender, 5 to 6 minutes.
Stir in vinegar and serve, or set aside while preparing pasta.
In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until
al dente. Drain, reserving ½ cup of the cooking water.
In a large skillet, cook garlic in olive oil over moderate heat until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add pasta, crème fraîche, greens and reserved pasta water. Cook, tossing, for 2 minutes. Stir in cheese and serve
Servings: 4
Recipe adapted from
foodandwine.com
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Serve this classic sauce stirred into Greek yogurt or as a topping for ice cream, pound cake, crepes, or waffles.
Ingredients:
12 oz rhubarb (6 to 8 stalks), trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
6 T. sugar
1½ c. strawberries (8 oz), hulled and halved
½ t.pure vanilla extract
Method:
Bring rhubarb, sugar, and ¼ cup water to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
Cook until liquid is reduced by half, about 8 minutes. Stir in strawberries and vanilla; cook until berries are softened, about 3 minutes more. Serve sauce warm or at room temperature.
Servings: 4
Recipe adapted from
marthastewart.com
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Turtle Creek Gardens, LLC | 262-441-0520 |
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