Week #5; June 18/19, 2020

Tipi members, please read your email this week.

It’s got useful updates and information.

Tipi tomato juice

Folks, we have enough tomato juice that we can deliver it two times this season.  This has never happened before.  EOW/green members, you get a bottle this week. EOW/purple members, we’ll pack it again some other week, on your schedule.  Last year was a very good tomato year, so we had enough tomatoes to bottle a double batch.

At peak season each year, we take our tomatoes to a small batch processor in East Troy, to process into this tomato juice.  It’s a great way to capture ripe tomatoes when abundant.  Drink the juice or try making an easy soup with vegetables from your CSA box.  Feel free to hold on to your bottle for a week or two until we have zucchini, scallions, Walla Walla onions and herbs.  Those make great soup with the juice.  Or make cocktails and enjoy it now!
Storage: Store the juice out of sunlight at room temperature when unopened.  Refrigerate after opening.  The juice is already seasoned so do not add salt if you cook with it.
Ingredients: organic tomatoes from Tipi Produce, salt, organic garlic, organic onion, organic black pepper.  Nutritional information is posted here.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #5, June 18/19, 2020
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ green

Strawberries, 1 quart
Tipi tomato juice, 1 quart
Napa cabbage
Sugar snap peas, ~1/4 lb
Snow peas, ~1/2 lb
(Both types of peas will be in one bag.)
Lettuce, iceberg
Lettuce, red or green leaf
Scallions, 1 bunch
Each site gets something from this list:
     – kohlrabi OR
     – white salad turnips (roots not greens) OR
     – broccoli

Remember, all boxes at a site are identical every week.  Please do not open boxes to ‘shop’ for kohlrabi vs turnips, etc.

Next week’s box will probably contain strawberries, sugar snap peas, zucchini, greens, scallions and more.

Strawberries – Wow, this is a great batch of berries.  Storage: Refrigerate and eat soon. 
– Most berries are quite clean.  If you want to clean your berries, rinse gently.  Don’t soak them, just rinse.
– Please recycle your strawberry containers.  We no longer collect them for re-use.  Please do not return them to your pick-up site.

Snap peas and snow peas.  Both types have strings to remove.  Snap off the stem end and pull the string down the concave side of the pod (the inward-curing side).  Throw away the string and eat the pod.  The thicker pea pods will usually have a string along both edges. Remove them when you snap off the stem.
– Snap peas (plump pea pods) – These peas should be eaten pod and all.  They are delicious raw, or very lightly cooked or stir-fried.  Preparation: They will need a quick rinse to remove faded gray blossoms.  Storage: Refrigerate.
– Snow peas (larger, flatter pea pods) – These are excellent stir fried or in raw salads.

Napa cabbage (large, pale green cabbage with crinkled leaves) – This week’s napa might have an internal flower stalk, also the result of fluctuating temperatures this spring.  Cut it lengthwise and you’ll find out.  The stalks are still tender (and surprisingly sweet) so there’s no harm including them in your dishes.
Napa cabbage is an interesting vegetable, useful for both fresh, raw salads and for cooking.  Its most famous use is fermented kimchi.  I like to prepare a fresh, unfermented kimchi.  Same seasonings, but it’s ready to eat right away.  You will be amazed at how much shredded napa cabbage shrinks when prepared this way.  See here for an example, but cut the salt in half (or less): Grilled Flank Steak with Kimchi-style Coleslaw.
Storage:  Napa stores very well.  When refrigerated, it will keep for several weeks.  Peel off the outer layer and it will be ready to use.  Here are a few preparation ideas from the ‘Asparagus to Zucchini’ cookbook.
– Chop raw napa into green salads.
– Substitute napa in traditional coleslaw.
– Chinese cabbage cooks quickly.  Steam 3-5 minutes, or until leaves are wilted down but remain slightly crisp.
– Substitute napa cabbage for common cabbage in recipes, but reduce the cooking time by 2 minutes.
– Napa cabbage is the main ingredient in egg rolls.  Try making an egg roll mixture to eat as a cooked side dish instead of preparing time-consuming egg rolls.

Scallion Ideas
We are very enthusiastic about scallions at our house.  Here are our favorite uses:
– Scallion biscuits (slice and add to your usual biscuit recipe)
– Scallion pancakes (There are many approaches.  Our favorite is here, but we add bay scallops instead of pork and we skip the relish.)
– We have a favorite scallion dressing for adaptable pasta salads.  We use it with chard or spinach in spring, then switch to grilled vegetables and sweet Walla Walla onions once available.
– Egg drop soup with spring greens, topped with sliced scallions
– Grilled scallion, asparagus and turnip salad
– Sliced scallions are good on sandwiches and salads
– Grilled beef bulgogi wrapped in lettuce leaves.  Easily adapted to tofu.
– Salmon patties with minced scallions mixed into the batter.

RECIPES

Visit our 2020 Recipe Log or our 2019 Recipe Log or join our Facebook discussion group.

LOCAL THYME/ Cooking 101
Wedge Salad
Cabbage Salad with Smoked Trout
Cannellini Bean and Provolone Salad with Scallion Vinaigrette

LOCAL THYME/ Cooking 202
Red Leaf Lettuce and Strawberry Salad
Pan Fried Tofu on Cabbage and Snap Pea Salad
Scallion Pancakes

LOCAL THYME/ Quick & Easy Meal
Shrimp, Cabbage, Pea Fried Rice
.
????
.

RECIPES FROM LAUREN

NAPA CABBAGE & SNOW PEA RICE BOWL WITH WARM COCONUT PEANUT SAUCE
Adapted from Bon Appetit magazine
Takes 1 hour
Serves 6-8

4-1/2 cups water
2 cups brown rice
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 head Napa cabbage, cleaned and thinly sliced (I slice the white stem and green leafy portion together)
1/4 pound snow peas, ends removed and sliced
1 bunch scallions, sliced (you can use all of the scallion, whites, pale green and dark green portions)

Warm Peanut Sauce:
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
Juice from 1 lime (or 2 tablespoons lime juice)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Kosher salt

1. Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan on the stove top over high heat. Once boiling, add rice and salt and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 50 minutes (or less, depending on your type of rice; read the package directions).
2. While the rice cooks, prepare your veggies. In a large bowl, toss napa cabbage, snow peas, and scallions together.
3. When the rice has about 10 minutes left to cook, begin the sauce. Combine peanut butter, coconut milk, brown sugar, soy sauce or tamari, lime juice, fish sauce and red pepper flakes in a large saucepan. Whisk together until smooth. Place on stove and turn heat to medium. Whisk until smooth and hot. If it seems too thick, add a bit of water and whisk it in. You will want the dressing to be warm to wilt the greens.
4. Serve in a bowl with the ratio of about a 1/2 cup of rice to 2 cups of veggies. Pour about 1/4 cup of peanut sauce over the greens and toss gently to coat.

.

SPRING SALAD WITH LEMON CREAM 
Adapted from Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons

3 garlic cloves, smashed
½ cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon Kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
½ teaspoon fresh lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 head lettuce (preferably the red or green leaf)
½ cup toasted freshly toasted breadcrumbs
¼ cup toasted salted sunflower seeds

1. In the morning, combine garlic and heavy cream in a smash mason jar. Leave in the fridge until you get home and are ready to cook dinner.
2. When ready to prepare your salad, strain cream into a small bowl. Discard garlic. Add salt, pepper and lemon zest to cream. Whisk until it begins to thicken then add lemon juice and olive oil. Keep whisking until it is light and airy.
3. Roughly cut up your lettuce, and place it in a large bowl. Add the lemon cream dressing you just made and toss well to evenly coat. You may not use all of it. I suggest starting with 1/3 to a ½. Taste and then season with additional salt and freshly ground black pepper as desired.
4. Add breadcrumbs and sunflower seeds (you can toast them together in a pan for 5 minutes right before you serve) and eat right away.

.

SPRING WEDGE

Serves 4-6 as a side (or 2 as a meal)
Takes 30-40 minutes

6 pieces bacon
1 head iceberg lettuce
1/4 pound snap peas, slivered
2 scallions, finely chopped
3/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds

1. Place bacon on a baking sheet and place in a cold oven. Set temperature to 400 degrees and timer for 15 minutes. Bacon should be cooked by the time the timer beeps, but if not, set it for a few minutes longer. Drain grease by placing on paper towels then roughly chop.
2. Cut your salad into 4 to 6 wedges. Place each wedge in a large broad bowl or a plate (place 2-3 wedges in bowl or on a plate if eating as a meal). Sprinkle with snap peas and the reserved bacon. (Feel free to also sprinkle with radish or fresh herbs if you have any on hand).
3. Then in a small bowl, combine scallions, sour cream, buttermilk, vinegar, salt and pepper until smooth. Fold in blue cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. You will likely want more pepper. Spoon dressing over each wedge. You will want at least three spoonfuls per wedge. Sprinkle with almonds just before serving.
4. Serve with more salt and freshly ground black pepper. Eat with a knife and fork and keep that delicious dressing nearby.

.