Week #2. Weekly + BW/B. Berry U-Picks.

U-Picks by reservation

The berries are doing great!  We will host several berry u-picks in the next few days.  Reservations are required.  Tipi members, check my email for links to reserve a picking time.  Everyone else, join our email list so we can send you the reservation links.

Grit, grit, grit

This week’s produce has seen a lot of rain over the last month.  The Romaine and asparagus need washing to get rid of grit.  See last week’s notes about how to wash your greens efficiently.  

Cut your lettuce heads at one and a half inches above the base, then discard the base.  In one stroke, you’ll eliminate a lot of dirt behind.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #2, June 13, 2024

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ B group

Strawberries, 1 lb
Asparagus, 1.25 lb
Button mushrooms, 12 oz
Zucchini or yellow squash, 2 or 3 ct
Romaine lettuce
Spinach, 1 bunch
Mixed red & green kale, 1 bunch
White salad turnips, 1 bunch
Green garlic, 1 bunch

Next week’s box will probably contain strawberries, lettuce, white salad turnips, zucchini, cooking greens, scallions and more.

Strawberries – The berries are doing great this week, soaking up the sunshine.
Storage:  Refrigerate and eat soon.

Asparagus – This is the final harvest.  Enjoy!

Button mushrooms – These organic mushrooms are from Hidden Valley Mushrooms from Wisconsin Dells.  We bring in mushrooms from Mary and Ed every spring because they combine so perfectly with our spring vegetables, for salads, quiches, etc.  
Storage: Here are Mary’s suggestions for storing the mushrooms:
– Store separate from leafy greens, which hasten mushroom aging.  
– If storing for more than a few days, remove from the box and refrigerate in a paper bag with holes punched in the side.  Keep dry.  
– Don’t wash to clean, just wipe with a damp cloth.

Spinach – This batch will be best cooked.

Kale – We’re sending mixed bunches of red and green leaves this time, just because they are pretty.
Storage: Cover and refrigerate.

White salad turnips (see photo) – I know that returning members look forward to these sweet and delicious turnips, which taste nothing like the turnips that are harvested in fall.
– Storage: Cover and refrigerate.
– Uses: Both the turnip roots and tops are edible.  The roots are excellent raw; Slice and add to salads.  They can be cooked and are especially good when lightly sauteed in butter.  Stir as little as possible so they brown on at least one side.  The turnips greens are excellent cooked.  Treat them like mustard greens.
– Our favorite use:  Slice the roots very thinly and combine with a mixture of rice vinegar, mirin, soy sauce, sesame oil.  Eat immediately or marinate.

Zucchini  – We have the first harvest already.  This is early!  
Storage: Cover and refrigerate.

RECIPES by DEB

Crunchy Celery, Radish and Turnip Salad-Slaw in Blue Cheese Sauce

From Food52
If you have radishes left from last week you could add them to this salad, or simply omit – and if you do that, you might have extra blue cheese sauce, which could be a good thing, because it would be tasty on other salads!
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Tahini Caesar Salad with Olive Oil Breadcrumbs

From Familystyle Food
I love crunchy home made croutons in a salad, but recently I’ve been finding that toasty breadcrumbs are also a great way to top a salad, especially one with a creamy dressing like this. The recipe’s method of essentially making croutons first and then crumbling them to make the breadcrumbs sounds messy to me. Alternatively, you could make the crumbs first in a food processor – or purchase – and then brown the crumbs in the olive oil in a skillet. And throw a little garlic or green garlic in as the crumbs toast!
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Bucatini with Sausage & Kale

From Taste of Home
This recipe is a version of a common combination for pasta: some kind of greens, sausage, and cheese. Some recipes also include heavy cream, unlike this one, making this version healthier! But if you are in a mood to indulge, you could add 1/4 to 1/2 cups cream when the sausage is browned. Bucatini is like fat, hollow spaghetti, so a different long noodle like spaghetti or linguini or fettuccine would work here, or you could also use a short pasta like penne.
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Mushroom Melt Grilled Cheese

From Frugal Nutrition
Here’s a quick and easy way to eat up the mushrooms and spinach from this week’s box, without turning on your oven. The recipe supplies a handy multiplier to help you figure amounts for up to six sandwiches.
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Leafy Greens Pesto

From The Fountain Avenue Kitchen
As most CSA members most likely already know, you can make pesto with lots of other types of greens and herbs, not just basil. I’m pretty sure there’ve been recipes for kale and even broccoli pesto in prior newsletters. The nice thing about this recipe is that it provides proportions for using just about any type of greens, and there’s also a dairy-free variation.
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Photo by Robby Lozano

Easy Upside Down Sheet-Pan Asparagus Tart

From Serious Eats
If you’re on Instagram, you’ve probably seen Dominic Franks’ upside down puff pastry recipes, as well as others. The topping/filling ingredients are laid on a pan, then covered with a sheet of puff pastry. This helps the toppings cook, for example in this recipe where there’s no need to precook the asparagus, and also helps the puff pastry rise and brown, then the dish is flipped for serving.