Week #11; Sweet corn begins.

Our garlic crop is harvested and safely drying.  It was a sweaty, grimy harvest but very, very satisfying.  It does not matter how many showers I take; I will smell of garlic for days.  We were glad to get rain last night and doubly glad that the garlic was safe before it started.

Once the bulbs are dry enough, we’ll start packing them in the boxes.  
Beth

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #11
July 27/28, 2023 (Th/Fri sites)

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ purple
– Sampler/ C group

Sweet corn, 7 ears
Muskmelon
Broccoli, ~2 lb
Cherry tomatoes, 1 pint
Slicing tomatoes, a few
Carrots, 2 lb
Globe eggplant, 1
Zucchini &/or yellow squash, ~2.5 lb
Cucumbers, 2 or 3
Walla Walla onion

Next week’s box will probably contain melons, tomatoes, carrots and more.

Sweet corn – Now it’s summer!  
Advice about bugs.  This is organic sweet corn.  Many ears have caterpillars or bug damage at the tip.  I suggest cutting off the tips before shucking the corn.  Sweep the trimmed tips into the compost and you will never see the bugs.  Going forward, not every harvest (nor every ear) will have the caterpillars.  They come and go as the moths fly in from the south.  I’ll give you an update here in the newsletter each week.
Storage. Sweet corn is best when fresh, so we encourage you to eat it asap. Store in the refrigerator, in the husks if you have the room, or husked and placed in a container or plastic bag.
Cooking.  It is quicker to steam sweet corn than to boil it.
1.) Stand ears of corn upright in a tall pot. Put one inch of water in the pot.
2.) Bring the water to a boil. If the corn is cold when you begin cooking, steam for 5 – 6 minutes. If the corn starts at room temperature, steam for 4 – 5 minutes. The cooking time will vary somewhat depending on how many ears are in the pot. Pay attention to how the corn smells. The scent changes once the corn is ready. Another clue: water will bead on the corn until it is cooked. Don’t overcook it.

Muskmelon – Most are ripe and ready to eat.  Some need to ripen a day or two on your kitchen counter.  Refrigerate within 2 days.

Broccoli – Some of the broccoli is loose because of the warm weather but it all tastes great.  Refrigerate.

Carrots – Refrigerate in the bag.

Tomatoes – Store your slicing tomatoes at room temperature.  It’s only a few so you’ll eat them quickly.  Cherry tomatoes can be refrigerated.

Eggplant – For best flavor, store eggplants at room temperature for 2 – 3 days.  If holding for longer than three days, store in the warmest part of your refrigerator.  Eggplants do not store well for long periods of time.  

RECIPES by DEB

Photo by debslunch

Zucchini & Pinto Bean Enchiladas

This recipe for enchiladas and homemade enchilada sauce is very versatile! You can keep it strictly vegetarian or add meat, or do a vegan version using vegan cheese. Here I’ve used zucchini and pinto beans, but you could sub in corn or summer squash, and use purchased enchilada sauce if you don’t have time to make the sauce. Both the sauce and the enchiladas freeze really well, and if you want to add meat, I suggest 1/2 pound of ground beef, pork, turkey, or bulk chorizo. Brown the meat with the onions and then add any other vegetables you wish to use.

Serves 6-8
Takes about an hour and 15 minutes including baking

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup flour
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth, preferably home made OR one 14.5 oz. can of broth plus enough water to make 2 cups (about 2-3 tablespoons)
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder (You can control the heat of the sauce by using mild or hot chili powder. I often use part chili powder and part ground Ancho chile. Penzey’s is a good source.)
Optional, if you like heat: 1 chile from a can of chipotle chiles in Adobo sauce, finely chopped, plus a few spoons of the sauce
1-3 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
salt and black pepper to taste

For the filling:
1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
3/4 to 1 pound of zucchini or summer squash or a mixture, cut into bite-size chunks
1 cup of pinto beans or corn
3/4 to 1 cup finely chopped onions
salt and black pepper to taste

For assembly:
8-10 flour tortillas
1/2 pound cheddar cheese, shredded

1. Make the sauce: measure the oil and flour into a sauce pan and whisk to combine. Heat the broth in the microwave – a spouted glass measuring cup works well for this – and pour it into the pan while whisking until smooth and thickened. Add the chili powder, Adobo chile and sauce, tomato paste, and brown sugar and whisk until smooth. Simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Make the filling: Heat the oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent. Add the zucchini and cook until it is just tender, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper, and stir in the beans (or corn if using).
3. Assemble the enchiladas: Heat the oven to 375°. Microwave the tortillas briefly (45 seconds to a minute, depending on your microwave) to make them flexible. Pour a thin layer of sauce into the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish. Fill each tortilla with 1/3 cup of filling, top with about 2 tablespoons of grated cheese (reserving about 1/4 cup of cheese for topping), tuck the sides in, and roll neatly. Place the enchiladas in the baking dish as they’re rolled.
4. Pour the rest of the sauce over the enchiladas. Place the baking dish in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes until bubbling. Top with the reserved grated cheese and return to the oven for about 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Serve the enchiladas with sour cream, chips, and salsa of your choice.

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Roasted Eggplant Spread Recipe | Ina Garten

From Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Family Style
This quick and easy spread from Ina Garten, the doyenne of upscale comfort food, can be served as an appetizer or as the centerpiece of a light summer meal if accompanied by some protein. It also makes a tasty omelette filling. If you don’t have red bell peppers to roast along with the eggplant, you can use jarred roasted red peppers – just add them to the food processor with the other vegetables – no roasting required!

Since we have two pounds of broccoli this week, I’m including two cheesy main dishes that both feature broccoli.

Photo by Deb Perelman

Broccoli, Cheddar and Wild Rice Casserole | smitten kitchen

From smitten kitchen
With this recipe, Deb at smitten kitchen “saves” a traditional Midwestern hotdish, typically made with canned cream soup and frozen broccoli. Deb says as a child she envied friends who ate things like this regularly, since they were never served in her home, and when she decided to research and develop the recipe she was warned by other foodies it would be awful. Her recipe definitely meets the challenge!
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Photo by Diana Chistruga

Easy One-Pan Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese

From The Spruce Eats
I chose this stove top mac & cheese since I think it has the best macaroni to broccoli ratio: 8 oz. noodles to 12 oz. broccoli. It calls for frozen broccoli, but you can use fresh by simply adding the chopped broccoli to the macaroni cooking water when the pasta has about 5 minutes to go rather than the one minute suggested for the frozen.
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Photo by Laura Davidson

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Cucumber | A Beautiful Plate

From A Beautiful Plate
One inspiration for any one running out of cucumber ideas is to use the cucumbers in or as a topping for one of the spicy noodle salads that’re so good in the summer, or a stir fry. This recipe is an example of cucumbers in; looking back on some past Tipi recipes, you could try lightly marinated cucumbers in place of the asparagus on top of this tofu dish from Week 3, or this stir fry from October of 2021. To marinate the cucumbers, slice and place them in a bowl. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of rice vinegar, a pinch or two of salt, and optionally a little sugar. Leave them to marinate while you prepare the rest of the dish and then top individual servings with the cucumbers. I also found, but did not test, this recipe for cucumber noodles, where the cucumber is “zoodle-ized” to be the noodle. It strikes me that it would be tasty the first day and then potentially get kind of watery. If anyone tries it, how about posting to the Facebook group and let everyone know how it turned out! The recipe calls for seedless cucumbers – one way to adapt for seeded cucumbers is to cut your cucumbers into thin planks with a Y-shaped peeler then julienne the slices with a knife leaving out the seedy middles. And of course, if you have more zucchini than cucumbers, you could make this salad with actual zoodles.
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Roasted Zucchini, Thomas Keller’s Viral “Life-Changing” Method | The Delicious Life

From The Delicious Life
This recipe is all over the Internet this summer, and there are lots of videos illustrating how to prepare it if you like that kind of thing. Chef Thomas Keller’s method is to cut the zucchini in half, score it in a crosshatch pattern, and then salt and drain it, before pan frying it to brown the cut sides and finally roasting until tender. This free, non-video version of the recipe mentions the topping that’s in Keller’s original, a sauce vierge but doesn’t provide the recipe. Sauce vierge is simply chopped fresh tomatoes tossed with a little olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice, and whatever herbs you have. If you don’t eat all of our cherry tomatoes on the way home from box pickup, you could chop them up to top your zucchini!
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Photo by Goydenko Liudmila / Getty Images

Flavored Butter Recipes | The Spruce Eats

From The Spruce Eats
Since this is the first time we’re getting corn, everyone’s most likely to eat it on the cob. Here’s a top ten list of flavored butters you might want to try to jazz up your corn. Numbers 1-5 are savory butters that pair well with corn, but I think some of the sweet ones would work too, like #7, Cranberry Butter.

Week #10; Let me help you with eggplant.

Don’t worry about funky eggplant shapes.  They were shaped by growing quickly among the plant’s branches.

Team Eggplant brings in the harvest. The plants are very healthy, which makes a fun harvest.  From left, Aly, Raul, Katie and Mary Ann.

If you are intimidated by eggplant, I can help

Storage
For best flavor, store eggplants at room temperature for 2 – 3 days.  If holding for longer than three days, store in the warmest part of your refrigerator.  Eggplants do not store well for long periods of time.  

Hints for easy preparation.
Eggplant does not have to be time-consuming to prepare.  Here are a few suggestions.
– Many recipes instruct you to salt and drain eggplant “to remove bitter flavors.”  You do not need to salt this eggplant.  We are sending you fresh eggplant and it will not be bitter.  
– Try microwaving your eggplant, to speed preparation and reduce the amount of oil used.  Microwaving is quick and eliminates the need to peel the eggplant; the skin ends up soft and edible.  Unlike pan-frying, you need little oil when cooking in the microwave.  The “Microwave Eggplant with Scallion-Chile Crisp Oil” recipe below uses this technique.  The recipe is quick and absolutely delicious.

Eggplants are versatile.  Here are other ideas:
– Roast in the oven or over coals to cook and smoke your eggplant, then transform into baba ganouj with lemon, tahini, salt and garlic.
– Cut in 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices, peel, and rub with a little salad dressing (I use Newman’s balsamic dressing), then grill slowly until soft and smoky.  At this point, you can cut into cubes to make eggplant caponata with chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic, olives, capers, olive oil and red wine vinegar. 
– Use the grilled cubes in casseroles or to top pizza.  
– Add thin, grilled eggplant slices to grilled cheese sandwiches.  Use hearty bread – this doesn’t work well with soft sandwich bread.

How to prep fresh garlic

Steve was baffled about how to prep last week’s fresh garlic. He muttered something about needing power tools, which I felt was overly dramatic.  But perhaps some of you resorted to power tools last week, and I should show you the simple way to peel your fresh garlic.  The only tricks are to peel (not cut) the outer layers, and to crush each clove to release it from its wrapper.

From left; Peel down the outer layers, one or two layers at a time.  When the cloves are freed from the outer wrapper leaves, break them loose from the base.  Crush each clove between two cutting boards to free it from its clove wrapper. 

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #10
July 20/21, 2023 (Th/Fri sites)

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ green
– Sampler/ B group

Green cabbage
Broccoli, about 2 medium heads
Globe eggplant, 1
Green leaf lettuce
Green bell pepper, 1
Zucchini &/or yellow squash, ~2.5 lb
Cucumbers, 3
Walla Walla onion
Basil, 1 stalk
Fresh garlic
By site: Muskmelon OR cherry tomatoes.  I will distribute melons and cherry tomatoes to each pickup site over the coming weeks, to be sure we reach all sites.  Please don’t open boxes at your site looking for variety – all boxes at each site are identical.

Next week’s box will probably contain sweet corn, melon, broccoli, zucchini and more.

Broccoli – Our second planting has done very nicely, much better than usual, considering the weather.  
Storage: Refrigerate.

Cabbage – You will receive either Caraflex (pointy) or Farao (round).  Both are intended as salad/slaw cabbages but can be lightly cooked too.
Storage:  Refrigerate.

Muskmelons (some sites) – These are ripe and ready to eat.  Refrigerate.

RECIPES by BETH

Deb is busy with family so I am on recipe duty. Let’s share a few of our favorite dishes and strategies.

Make a pot of rice

It’s not a joke!  It’s a cooking strategy.  We’re busy, you’re busy.  For us, strategy #1 is to cook a big pot of brown rice once per week. Sometimes I’ll come down in the morning and find Steve cooking rice at 6:00am, while he’s still in the house for an hour.  Then we prep dishes to accompany the rice through the next days.  
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Top: From Food & Wine, Photo by Antonis Achilleos, Prop styling by Christina Daley, Food styling by Ali Ramee.
Bottom:  My cooked dish.  It was delicious.

Microwave Eggplant with Scallion-Chile Crisp Oil

By Andrea Nguyen, in Food & Wine:
“This microwave eggplant recipe from Andrea Nguyen requires none of the usual fuss of salting and straining the nightshade beforehand. Cooking a whole eggplant in the microwave effortlessly, evenly, and quickly cooks its flesh to soft, silky tenderness while preserving its antioxidant-rich skin. Cut into thick slices and drizzled with generous spoonfuls of flavorful sauce, microwave eggplant is an easy and delicious side dish that comes together in 20 minutes flat.”

Here is a great, flavorful recipe that uses your microwave for eggplant prep.  I’ll bet that some of you still have a few scallions in your fridge.  Otherwise, sliced Walla Walla should make a good substitute.  I followed the cooking times in the recipe for my 1 lb eggplant, adding the suggested extra 60 seconds, and the eggplant was beautiful: plush, with edible skin.  Give the recipe a try – I think you’ll like it.
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Photo by The Woks of Life

Smashed Asian Cucumber Salad

From The Woks of Life
We rotate among a variety of cucumber salads while they are in season.  This smashed salad is Ari’s favorite.  The rough surfaces hold the dressing well.  We use a recipe from the New York Times (Chinese Smashed Cucumbers With Sesame Oil and Garlic) but that recipe is behind a paywall and this one from Woks of Life is virtually identical.  We skip the cilantro and use Korean pepper flakes instead of chili oil.

Cucumber salad is surprisingly good with rice, especially if you add cooked salmon or tofu.  It’s reminiscent of nori rolls.  You can always sprinkle toasted nori sheets on top.
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Grilled vegetables

I often grill a batch of marinated vegetables and tofu at the beginning of the week, without a clear plan how we’ll use them.  They always get eaten, whether with rice or pasta, or as a side dish.  In this week’s box, zucchini, Walla Walla onions and eggplant are all suitable for grilling.  
Zucchini or Zephyr squash – Slice about 1/3 inch thick.  Douse in a simple marinade.  We use a mix of rice vinegar, sesame oil and soy sauce.  Bottled salad dressing works great too.  If your marinade does not have oil, spray or brush lightly with oil.  Grill over low heat until tender, turning once.  Slice into ribbons and mix with the marinade again.
Walla Walla onion – Slice into chunks and thread onto skewers.   Grill over low heat until tender and nicely charred.  Flip at least once.
Eggplant – Cut in 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices, peel, and rub with a little salad dressing (I use Newman’s balsamic dressing), then grill slowly until soft and smoky.
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Photo by Love & Lemons

Broccoli Slaw

From Love & Lemons
The dressing for this mixed broccoli and cabbage slaw is traditional but nicely balanced, with mayo, cider vinegar, dijon mustard, and maple syrup.  

Week #9; A bit of rain; Purple + A

Irrigation by day, irrigation by night.

We got 0.9 inch of rain today.  That is the largest rain since mid-May.  After nine long weeks, the farm is very dry and that 0.9 inch will disappear quickly.  We won’t irrigate tonight and will watch the weather forecast for the next few days.  Perhaps we will get some more.

Refrigerator Pickles

Let’s talk quick pickles, since we are sending four cucumbers this week.  Here is the recipe that I use.  (Deb gave us a different refrigerator pickle recipe two weeks ago, plus new ideas below.)  I usually prepare and store extra brine so I am ready to pickle another batch or other vegetables.  I make simple pickles (cucumbers, dill, garlic) but you can dress them up with other aromatics.  

Brine (enough for 2.5 to 3 packed quart jars)
4 cups water
1 cup vinegar
3 Tbsp pickling salt

Combine and stir to dissolve.

Pickles, 1 quart
Washed cucumbers, cut into spears
1 small or 1/2 large dill umbel
1 garlic clove, crushed

Pack a clean one-quart jar with the cucumber spears, garlic and dill.  Fill with brine to the top, seal with a lid and put in the fridge.  Ready to eat the next day and really good on the second day.  

After eating your pickles, you can re-use the brine by adding fresh cucumber spears.  You will not need to add more garlic or dill.  After the second batch, I throw away the brine.

Extra brine ready for the next batch of pickled cucumbers, red peppers, etc.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #9
July 13/14, 2023 (Th/Fri sites)

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ purple
– Sampler/ A group

Beets, ~2 lb
Broccoli, 1 – 2 medium heads
Collards, 1 bunch
Green bell pepper
Walla Walla onion
Zucchini &/or yellow squash
Cucumbers, 4
Fresh garlic, 1 bulb
Basil, 1 bunch
Dill, 1 umbel

Next week’s box will probably contain cabbage, Walla Walla onion, zucchini, cucumbers, fresh garlic and more.

Beets – Storage:  Cover and refrigerate.  Beet roots store quite well when refrigerated.  Wash well to remove leaf fragments.  For all the cooking methods below, wash and scrub the beets but do not peel.  The skins slip off readily once the beets are cooked and cooled.
Cooking beet roots on the stovetop:  Slice or quarter, cover with water in a pot, and simmer until tender.  This will take from 25 to 45 minutes depending on how large the beet pieces are.  Drain.
Roasting beets in oven:  Wash beets, but do not peel.  On a sheet of aluminum foil, put beets (halved or quartered if large), salt, pepper and a few sprinklings of water.  Seal the foil packet, and roast at 400 oF until tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Slip off skins once cool.
Microwave:  Slice beets in half and place in a large microwave-proof bowl.  Add ¾ inch water and cover with a plate.  Microwave on high until tender, about 9-20 minutes, depending on your microwave’s power.  Drain and slip off skins.
Uses:  Use cooked beets in cold salads, or dress simply with vinaigrette, onions, salt and pepper.  Beets are also good tossed with sour cream, minced onion, fresh herbs and walnuts.

Broccoli – Storage: cover and refrigerate.  Broccoli is sensitive to warm temperatures so do your best to keep it cold. If your broccoli seems wilted, soak in cold water for fifteen minutes and it will plump back up.

Collards – Collards grow nicely and keep their quality in summer, when other greens are not at their best.  Handle collards like kale.  They are interchangeable in recipes.
Storage: Refrigerate.

Green bell pepper – Refrigerate.

Walla Walla onion – This batch of Walla Walla onions is a bit different.  As usual, the are sweet and crisp but more pungent than we usually see.  They remain less pungent that yellow storage onions.  Wallas are sonderful raw or lightly cooked.  Try cutting into wedges, threading on a skewer and grilling.  Do not try to fry these onions – it doesn’t work because of their high water content.  
U:  It’s OK to store at room temperature for up to one week.  Otherwise, refrigerate.

Fresh garlic – These plump bulbs are the Korean Red variety.  Fresh garlic is special; crunchy, juicy and incredibly pungent.  We pull these bulbs a week or so before we begin the big garlic harvest.  The outer papers on the bulb and individual cloves are still succulent, not dried.  After you separate a clove from the bulb, try lightly crushing the clove between two cutting boards to release it from its wrapper.  
Storage:  I suggest that you refrigerate this bulb of garlic, so it remains easy to peel.  The garlic is fine if you leave it at room temperature but the cloves will become difficult to peel as the bulb dries.

Basil – Store at room temperature, in a glass of water.  This week’s harvest is bunched, smaller stems.  See last week’s newsletter for detailed storage instructions.

Dill – I am sending one umbel so you can make refrigerator pickles.  What you receive could be either a flower head or young seeds.  Either is great for pickles.  These are large umbels, big enough for two jars.  Slice in half down the stem with a paring knife.
Storage:  Trim the stem ends and store in a glass of water at room temperature.  I encourage you to store your dill and basil in separate glasses.

Everyone gets one dill umbel.  Could be a head of young seeds (left) or flowers (right).

RECIPES by DEB

Beet and Cucumber Salad

Photo by debslunch
With a hat tip to Julia Turshen, here’s a summer-y salad with cooked beets and lightly pickled cucumbers. I used fresh dill since that’s what I had, but the basil in this week’s box would also be tasty. The dressing can be made with plain yogurt – whole milk or Greek style works best, or sour cream, or crème fraîche, the last of which can be purchased, but you can make it yourself by whisking equal amounts of heavy cream and sour cream together. This works best with cream that is not ultra-pasteurized – a local brand is Sassy Cow. Leave to sit at room temperature overnight or until thickened then refrigerate where it will keep for 4-5 days.

Serves 4-6.
Takes about 30 mins. active time, plus 40 minutes or so to cook the beets

1 pound beets
1 large cucumber
1/2 cup Walla Walla onion slices
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons white wine, cider, or rice vinegar
pinch of kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/3 cup plain Greek or whole milk yogurt, sour cream, or crème fraîche
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herbs, such as basil, dill, or parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 350° if roasting the beets. Trim and scrub the beets. If roasting, place them in a baking dish that holds them fairly snugly – preferably glass; it’s easier to clean! – and cover tightly with foil. Place in the oven and roast until fork tender. Cooking time will vary based on the age and size of the beets, so start checking after 30 mins. If you want to cook the beets on the stove, place the cleaned beets in a large pot, and add cold water to cover. Remove the beets, and bring the pot of water to a boil on the stove. When it’s boiling add salt and the beets, and adjust the heat to keep them a quiet simmer. Same as roasting, start checking for tenderness after about 30 mins.
2. Peel the cucumber if you like, and seed it by cutting it in half lengthwise and scooping out the seeds with a spoon. Slice fairly thinly. Place the cucumber slices and the onion slices in a bowl, and add the sugar and pinch of kosher salt. Pour the vinegar over, toss, and set aside to marinate.
3. When the beets are tender, remove from the oven and drain and cool just until they can be handled. Skin the beets – some people do this by rubbing the skins off with paper towel. I like to do it under cool running water, which also reduces the cooling time. If the skin sticks in spots just peel that off with a small knife. Slice the beets, place in a mixing bowl, and toss with the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Arrange the beets on a serving platter or individual plates. Remove the cucumbers and onions from the vinegar with a slotted spoon or your hands and place on top of the beets. Blob the dressing on top and serve right away. The salad still tastes good the next day but all the components will be dyed beet color.

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Bryant Terry’s Jerk Tofu Wrapped in Collard Leaves | Penguin Random House Canada

From Penguin Random House Canada
This recipe was created by chef and activist Bryant Terry, and is the cover image of Terry’s 2020 book, Vegetable Kingdom. Bryant Terry specializes in vegan versions of Black American foods. You’ll find other online versions of the recipe, such as at Epicurious, but might run into a pay wall there. The recipe produces an impressive, knife & fork vegan entree and there’re a lot of steps to make all the components, but you can marinate the tofu in bottled barbecue sauce in place of making the jerk marinade, and I have omitted the cilantro sauce and it’s still tasty. I believe Chef Terry uses arrowroot instead of cornstarch because cornstarch is a product of industrial agriculture, but I have also subbed more readily available cornstarch for the arrowroot with success.
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Photo by debslunch
I think my favorite way to eat beets is pickled, preferably with eggs and a dab of mayo. This isn’t really a recipe; more of a formula. I like to roast the beets (see instructions in the salad above) but you can also boil the beets if you don’t want to turn on your oven on a hot day. In the picture, the eggs on the right were in the beet juice for about 5 days.

Pickled Beets & Eggs

1 pound of beets
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1/2 cup or more water
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt or more to taste
About a teaspoon whole spices such as allspice, cloves, or 1-inch piece of cinnamon stick; some people like a clove or two or garlic as well
4 warm hard-boiled eggs

Boil or roast your beets, peel them, slice them, and place in a container or bowl with a lid that’s large enough to hold the brine and the eggs. Add the whole spices. Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a pot or glass measuring pitcher, then either heat on the stove or microwave the glass pitcher long enough to melt the sugar. Pour over the beets. Hard boil the eggs – there are a zillion methods but this is mine: place cold eggs in a pot and add cold water to cover. Place over high heat and bring to a boil, and soon as the sides of the pot have a few bubbles, set a timer for 13 minutes. Lower the heat as necessary to keep the eggs at a nice boil, but not boiling over. When the timer goes off, remove the eggs from the heat and flood the pot with cold water in the sink. Peel the eggs and add to the beets and brine, adding more hot water or vinegar if needed to cover. Place the container in the fridge and allow to pickle at least overnight before serving.
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Broccoli Pesto Pasta Salad | The Healthy Epicurean

From The Healthy Epicurean
This pasta pesto salad includes both broccoli and basil in the pesto. The recipe provides a number of substitutions, and if you don’t have quite enough broccoli, slip in a few blanched kale or collard leaves and increase the basil.
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Zucchini Lasagna Recipe | Love and Lemons

From Love and Lemons
This recipe uses zucchini two ways: in the tofu filling and as planks replacing some of the noodle. You could sub about 8 ounces ricotta cheese and an egg for the tofu and walnuts in the filling, and the dish would still be lower carb and lower fat then a typical lasagna.
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Cucumber Zucchini Salad — Nikki Dinki Cooking

From Nikki Dinki Cooking
It looks like the author of this blog has moved their newer content over to Instagram, but regardless, this recipe provides a great idea for using cucumbers and zucchini for this time of the summer when we have a lot of both – treat them the same and make a refreshing marinated salad. Of course you could make this salad with all cucumber or all zucchini! The Walla Walla onion in the box can be subbed in place of red onion. Beth says the Walla Wallas are unusually strong, and if they seem so to you, I recommend soaking the slices in cold water for a few minutes and draining before proceeding with the recipe. And for another way to use our cucumber bounty, see this July 2021 newsletter for small batch refrigerator pickle relish.
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Beet Relish | Culinary Ginger

photo by Janette
From Culinary Ginger
This blog’s title Culinary Ginger refers to the color of the author’s hair. They’re a redhead, called a ginger in the UK. Beet or beetroot relish also has UK origins, and the recipe provides suggestions for serving it – I think I’d go for on a cheese sandwich. It’s a refrigerator pickle, but there are instructions for canning the relish for longer storage as well. This author suggests another method of roasting the beets: peel first and wrap them in foil before roasting.
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photo by Tieghan

Garden Greens Goddess Pizza | Half Baked Harvest

From Half Baked Harvest
You can use kale or collards as the greens in this no-tomato-sauce pizza from Half Baked Harvest. The pesto recipe uses pistachios, and you could easily sub any other type of nuts, and either increase the basil in place of the dill or mint, or use a few leaves of your greens. The recipe also suggest homemade or store bought pizza dough; here’s a link to 101 Cookbooks overnight yeasted pizza dough (with lenghty discussion!), and also a quick dough from Jamie Oliver. Jamie’s Cheat’s pizza dough calls for self-rising flour and here’s how to make that.

Week #8; Happy July 4th and Berry Wrap-up

Happy 4th of July!

Little Evansville puts on a great July 4 celebration.  This year, it was a five day party.  They’ve got the best parade in the area, fishing and arm wrestling tournaments, music in the beer tent every night, including the middle-school art teacher’s popular band.  Lunker lob, ice cream social, euchre tournament, 5K and 10K runs, grilled brats and burgers from the FFA kids.  Chicken BBQ, a pie sale, duck derby, baseball and a great fireworks show.  Come check us out some year!

Berry Wrap-Up

We’ve got cute 3/4 pint containers for you this week.  The berries are ripe, ripe, ripe so eat them promptly.  We are pretty excited to deliver berries for a fourth week.  Three weeks is a typical season.

Even more unusual is the berry size.  Most, years they are quite small by this point in the season.  This year, they have stayed large, even this week.  We lost early berries to an unexpected frost in late May but our main variety ‘Jewel’ seems able to compensate by plumping up the later ones.  

Larger berries mean faster harvests.  This is Katie, harvesting this week.

But here are Karen and Mary Ann harvesting last week on one of the worst air quality days.  Many of you asked me how we handled the smoke.  As you see, many of us wore N95s outside.  That was not fun.  We closed up the barn with air filters running, and rotated people between indoor and outdoor jobs.  Finally, we just sent everyone home early on the worst days.  

Happy berry pickers!

The second strawberry u-pick went smoothly; smaller and quieter than the first one.  We hope that everyone who wanted to pick berries was able to get a reservation.  We have to limit the picking reservations to how many berries have ripened.  With luck, we will have abundant berries next year.  We plan to have two fields ready to harvest in 2024 (instead of one field) so there should be berries for all.  You might even be able to bring your friends.

Thanks for reading.
Beth

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #8, July 6/7, 2023

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ green
– Sampler/ D group

Strawberries, 3/4 pint
Broccoli, 1.5 – 2 lb
Snap peas, and 
Snow peas, 3/4 lb total
(Both types of peas are in one bag.)
Swiss chard, 1 bunch
Cucumbers, 1 or 2
Zucchini &/or Zephyr squash, ~3 lb
Scallions, 1 bunch
Basil, 1 husky sprig

Next week’s box will probably contain broccoli, greens, cucumbers, zucchini, Walla Walla onions, basil and more.

Strawberries – These are the final berries of the season!  Eat immediately or refrigerate.

Broccoli – The broccoli plants did great this spring despite the bewildering weather.  It’s one of our nicest spring broccoli harvests in a few years.
Storage: Cover and refrigerate.

Snap and snow peas, together in one bag – As usual, both types are in one bag.  We really like this new snap pea variety, SS141.  How’s that for a romantic name?  Long pods, sturdy plants and good flavor despite the heat.  Hot weather is always a challenge for peas.  Enjoy this batch.  Both snap and snow peas have strings this week.
Storage: Refrigerate.

Swiss chard – Now that spinach is done for the year, it’s time to re-purpose your spinach recipes to Swiss chard.  They are closely related.  Chard has a thicker leaf and requires a few minutes more cooking to achieve tenderness, unlike spinach which wilts quickly.
Storage: Cover and refrigerate.

Scallions – These are the last scallions until fall.  It’s been a good run.  We will have sweet Walla Walla onions ready next week.

Basil (branched, leafy stalk) – Everyone gets a husky stalk, the first cutting of the season.
Storage:  Basil deteriorates if stored in the refrigerator.  It is best stored at room temperature with the cut ends in water, for example in a jar or vase.  Treat it like a flower.  Give the stem a fresh trim and change the water every day or two.  You will receive a large branched stalk that I encourage you to cut down to the smaller individual stems.  The smaller stems take up water better and stay fresh longer.  See photo.

Large basil stalk.  The arrows show where to cut into smaller stems.

RECIPES by DEB

Photo by DebsLunch

Calabacitas Quiche

Calabacitas is a vegetable dish served in New Mexico and Texas and other parts of the US Southwest that usually consists of zucchini or summer squash, corn, onion, often cheese, and especially in New Mexico, roasted green chiles or poblanos.  Calabacitas can also be used as a quesadilla filling – and in quiche!  I’m including it this week because you can make it with zucchini and/or yellow squash, and frozen or canned corn and canned chiles until we get fresh corn and chiles in our boxes.

Serves: 6-8
Takes: about 40 mins. active time, plus an hour to chill the crust.

Crust ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
nice pinch of kosher salt
2 teaspoons sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening

Filling ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
One bunch of scallions, sliced, including white and green OR 3/4 cup chopped onion
1 large zucchini or 2 small, or a mix of zucchini and yellow squash, quartered longwise, and sliced
1 large or 2 small poblano chiles, roasted, skinned, seeded, and chopped OR one 4 oz. can mild green chlies
3/4 – 1 cup corn kernels, fresh cut from 1-2 ears, frozen, canned, or whatever you’ve got
salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups half & half

1. Make the crust: Measure the flour into a bowl and add the sugar and salt. Cut the shortening and butter into cubes over the salt and flour. Cut the fats into the flour with your fingers, a pastry blender, or paddle attachment of your stand mixer, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle in about 1/3 cup cold water, while stirring, until you’ve got a bunch of small clumps of dough. Dump out onto a floured surface, knead lightly to bring it together, and then flatten the dough into a disk and wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap and chill for about an hour.
2. Make the filling: melt the butter in a large skillet, and add the scallions or onion. Sauté over medium heat until the onion looks translucent, then add the zucchini. Cook until the zucchini is starting to soften, and then add the poblanos or chiles, corn, and salt & pepper. Cook until the squash is just tender, and then set aside to cool.
3. Assemble the quiche: Heat the oven to 375° with a rack near the bottom and another near the middle of your oven. Roll out the crust and fit it into a 9-10 inch pie dish. Put 2/3 of a cup of the grated cheese in the bottom, then add the zucchini filling. You’ll find some images of rolling out crust and fitting it into a pie dish here.
4. Beat the eggs, add the half & half, and pour this custard into the crust.
5. Place the quiche on the bottom rack and bake for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup of cheese over the top of the quiche, and bake for another 10 minutes. Move the quiche up to the middle rack and continue baking until it is puffed and golden brown in spots, about 20 minutes more. Cool for 15 minutes before serving either hot or warm.

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Photo by Deb Perelman

Spaghetti with Swiss Chard and Garlic Chips | smitten kitchen

From smitten kitchen
Deb Perelman adapted this recipe for Swiss chard pasta from the dearly departed Gourmet magazine; the orginal included currents that she omitted, so feel free to omit them yourself. The combination of chard and garlic chips is maybe a bit autumnal, but you can make it more summer-y by subbing in our scallions for the onion, and a garnish of sliced basil leaves wouldn’t be amiss here.
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Snap Pea Salad with Zesty Lemon Vinaigrette | Minimalist Baker

From Minimalist Baker
This quick pea salad from Minimalist Baker can be made with the combo of snow and snap peas in this week’s box – all you need to do is rinse and string both types of peas and cut them all on the diagonal, about the same size. The recipe called for four cups of sliced peas for 4 generous servings of salad, and the 3/4 pound of peas in the box will not yield that much sliced up. I suggest either adding chopped broccoli to get to four cups, or you could also halve the recipe.
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Caesar Roasted Broccoli | The Kitchn

From The Kitchn
This version of roasted broccoli is somewhere between a salad and a side dish, but is right on delicious. As the recipe points out, if you are nervous about using raw egg yolk to make a classic Caesar dressing, you can sub a tablespoon of mayonnaise. Beth also provided a link to a method for pasteurizing eggs in the microwave in last week’s newsletter. And personally, I do not care for anchovies, and I sub a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce, a teaspoon or so, in place of the anchovies.
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Vegetarian Chard Enchiladas | Letty’s Kitchen

From Letty’s Kitchen
Create this vegetarian main course with the chard and scallions in this week’s box. You can use purchased or homemade enchilada sauce and Letty’s Kitchen provides links to both a recipe that uses soaked and pureed whole dried chiles, and a quick version with chili powder, although I’d suggest using ground red Ancho chile in the quick sauce – you can find it at Penzey’s and Willy Street Co-op.
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Photo by Kelly Senyei

Zucchini Noodle Stir-Fry with Shrimp | Just a Taste

From Just a Taste
Probably the best part of this recipe is that it gives you several methods for creating the zucchini noodles, zoodles, even if do not own a spiralizer or mandoline. It also provides an easy stir fry sauce made with common pantry ingredients like soy sauce and cornstarch. You can sub in sliced chard leaves and stems and broccoli for the carrots and bell pepper.
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Photo by Heidi Swanson

Spicy Tahini Noodles with Roasted Vegetables | 101 Cookbooks

From 101 Cookbooks
This recipe is really a formula for sesame noodles with roasted vegetables. The author, Heidi Swanson, invites you to raid your vegetable crisper to come up with about a pound of roast-able vegetables, and that means you can use a combination of the broccoli, zucchini, and summer squash from this week’s box, and you can also throw in a handful or two of the snap and snow peas. And if you don’t happen to have tahini, you could use peanut butter or almond butter in the sauce, although they’d be peanut or almond noddles in that case.

Week #7; Excellent berry u-pick

We were happy to open the farm for a strawberry u-pick last weekend. It was hot but everyone did great!  The picking was easy and the flavor intense.  I must tell you – these are the best-tasting berries we have ever grown.  It’s mostly because it’s rained so little.  We irrigate every five days or so, but can still avoid the disease problems that come with rain.  With all the sunshine, the berries have intensely concentrated flavor.  So, we’re pretty proud of them and were glad people could experience that themselves directly in the berry patch.  Enjoy this week’s berries in your box.
Beth

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #7, June 29/30, 2023

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ purple
– Sampler/ C group

Beth’s produce notes;  
– We are sending dill to accompany the first batch of cucumbers, for quick pickles of course.  Dill is wonderful with cabbage too and Deb found us a nice recipe for yogurt-dill sauce.  That kind of sauce is great on salmon.  I’ve seen recipes for lemon-dill aioli that I might try this weekend.  FYI, this approach is useful for pasteurizing egg yolks in the microwave when making aioli or Caesar salad dressing.
– Reminder; I gathered lots of scallion recipes from previous years in last week’s newsletter. Personally, I add scallions to everything I cook. Maybe not baked goods.

Strawberries, 1 pint
Caraflex cabbage
Fennel, 1 – 2 bulbs with fronds
Snap peas, and 
Snow peas
(The peas are together in one bag, with total weight 3/4 lb)
Zucchini &/or yellow squash, ~2.5 lb
Cucumbers, ~3
Lettuce, red bibb OR iceberg
Scallions, 1 bunch
Dill, 1 bunch
Garlic scapes, a handful

Next week’s box will probably contain cucumbers, zucchini, broccoli, scallions, basil, and more.

Strawberries – Refrigerate and eat soon!  This week’s berries are excellent again; great quality and so full of flavor.

‘Caraflex’ cabbage (pointy cabbage) – These are nice salad-types that we grow in summer.  Don’t you love the pointy shape?  They have thinner, more tender leaves than typical green cabbage.  Great in salads and slaws but can also be cooked.  Here’s the Caraflex description from the seed catalogue: “Inner leaves are tender, crunchy, and have an excellent, sweet and mild cabbage flavor.  Perfect for summer salads, slaws, or cooked dishes.”  

Fennel (bulbs and lacy fronds) – Fennel is a ‘swing vegetable’; it can be used raw or cooked.  Clean well and slice as thinly as possible for use in raw salads.  It is good simply prepared with olive oil, lime or lemon juice, salt and shaved parmesan cheese.  Cooking softens and sweetens fennel, and mellows its anise flavor.  Both the bulb and leaves are edible.  Here are ideas from Alice Water of Chez Panisse about how to use fennel:  ‘It’s strong anise characteristic seems to suit fish particularly well.  … We use fennel all the time.  We add the feathery leaves to marinades for fish and to numerous salads, sauces and soups and we use them as a garnish, too. … The bulbs are sliced and served raw in salads in various combinations with other vegetables, parboiled for pastas; caramelized and served as a side dish; braised whole; or cooked in vegetable broths & fish stocks.”

Snap peas and snow peas.   You only have to remove strings from the snow peas this week.
– 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. This week’s snap pea variety does not have strings to remove, although you’ll want to snap off the stem ends.
Storage: Refrigerate.
– Snow peas (larger, flatter pea pods) – These are excellent stir fried or in raw salads.
Preparation: The snow peas do 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.

Zucchini & summer squash –  Zucchini and summer squash need refrigeration but do not do well at very cold temperatures, as they will soften and form pits in their surface. Refrigerate these squash but in the warmest part of your fridge.  

Cucumbers – We have been waiting for these!
Storage: Store at room temperature for a few days or refrigerate in the warmest part of your fridge.  Cucumbers get chilling injury if stored too cold.

Dill (bundle of lacy leaves and flowers) – The dill bunches contain a mix of leaves and flowers, and even clusters of young seeds.  If you make refrigerator pickles, try the flowers or young seeds.  Minced dillweed leaves are great in cabbage dishes, soups, sauces, breads.

Garlic scapes (curly green things) – Garlic scapes grow at the top of garlic plants.  We snap off the young scapes to direct the plants’ energy into forming garlic bulbs underground.  Use scapes as a substitute for garlic cloves.  They can be minced, mixed with olive oil, and added to stir fries or simple pasta dishes.  The scapes can be sautéed, but will not brown like garlic cloves.  Expect them to retain their crunch even when cooked, and to be milder than garlic cloves, closer in pungency to the green garlic we’ve sent.

RECIPES by DEB

Fresh Fennel & Sausage Pasta with Fennel Frond Gremolata

Fresh fennel and sausage are a natural together – the seasoning for Italian sausage typically includes fennel seed. You could make this pasta vegetarian by simply omitting the meat – start by cooking the onions, garlic, and fennel in olive oil, and then add the tomatoes. I’ve used canned tomatoes here but when fresh tomatoes are available, 2 cups of fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped, would be even better than canned!

Serves: 4-6
Takes: about 45 minutes

Sauce Ingredients:
1/2 pound pork or turkey sausage, removed from casings if links
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2-4 cloves garlic
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
optional (depending on how spicy your sausage is) 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, a few shakes of red pepper flakes
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups thinly sliced fennel bulb
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
2-4 tablespoons tomato paste, dissolved in about 1/3 cup water

Gremolata:
1/4-1/3 cup fennel fronds, finely minced
zest of one large lemon
1 small garlic clove (half of a larger clove)
pinch of salt

Pasta:
1/2 pound pasta, short shapes such as orecchiette, penne, or bow ties recommended
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, plus more for passing

1. Brown the sausage in a wide deep skillet with a lid, crumbling it with a wooden spoon. If you are using turkey sausage, add the olive oil to the pan first! When there’s almost no pink left and the sausage is starting to brown, if using pork, drizzle in the olive oil (omit this step if your sausage has given off a lot of fat already) and add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and optional fennel seed and red pepper. Add the wine and let it boil off. Reduce the heat and cook gently while you slice the fennel.
2. Separate the stalks and fronds from the fennel bulb. Slice off the bottom of the bulb, remove any damaged leaves, and rinse. Cut the bulb in half and optionally remove the core – the core is entirely edible, but will take longer to tenderize than the rest. Slice the bulb halves lengthwise into slices as thin as you can get them. If you leave the core in you will have bigger slices of fennel held together by the core. Add the fennel to the pan with the sausage and onion, stir, and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes over low heat, checking the fennel for tenderness with a fork.
3. When the fennel is tender, uncover and add the tomatoes. Put the water into the empty can and stir in the tomato paste. Add to the sauce, rinsing the can with a little more water. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes, until the tomatoes are starting to break down and the sauce is thickened.
4. Make the gemolata: placed the minced fennel frond in a small bowl. If you have a microplane grater, set it on top of the bowl and grate in the lemon zest and garlic. If you don’t have a microplane grater, peel off the lemon zest with a peeler and dice finely, and either mince or put the garlic through a press. Add a pinch of salt and mix – taste to make sure none of the flavors is overpowering the others.
5. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water. Drain and add sauce – you might not use it all. Top with gremolata and Paremesan cheese and serve right away with baguette slices and more Parmesan.

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Fresh Cabbage and Herb Slaw | Taproot Farm

By Katie Darlington
From Taproot Farm
Here’s a recipe for the Caraflex cabbage and dill in this week’s box, from a Pennsylvania CSA, Taproot Farm, in Berks County PA. They suggest serving this slaw on top of pulled pork sandwiches or stuffing it into a pita for a vegetarian sandwich – I suggest a little cheese in the pita too.
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by Sula

Zucchini Casserole with Ground Beef | Sula and Spice

From Sula and Spice
I’d like to try this quick zucchini casserole with with a cornbread topping. Any cornbread recipe that fills an 8×8 pan would be the right amount – or one box of Jiffy cornbread mix! You can sub ground turkey of plant-based meat for the beef.
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Photo by Heidi Swanson

Shaved Fennel Salad – 101 Cookbooks

From 101 Cookbooks
Food blogger, vegetarian chef, and photographer Heidi Swanson included this recipe in her book, Super Natural Every Day, but in the book it doesn’t have a picture so she is remedying that here on her blog. Heidi serves this salad on arugula, but you could easily use the red leaf lettuce in this week’s box as a bed for the salad.
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by Rachel Ray

Quick Pickles Recipe | Rachael Ray | Food Network

From Food Network
This recipe for quick refrigerator pickles calls for Kirby (pickling) cucumbers, but can be made with the cukes in our box – and you can use the same brine to pickle zucchini, summer squash, and even fennel stalks! At a restaurant in Chicago, I was recently served an arugula salad that was topped with pickled fennel stalks and red onion that was super tasty.
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Photo by Géraldine

Roasted Pointed Cabbage with Tahini Sauce | La Cuisine de Géraldine

From La Cuisine de Géraldine
Caraflex cabbage is also called hipsi cabbage, or simply pointed cabbage, and while it is so tender it’s very good raw, here it’s roasted to serve as an elegant first course. The 100g of Greek yogurt is about 1/4 cup, and 50ml olive oil is about 3 tablespoons.
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Roasted Zucchini with Yogurt Dill Sauce | The Toasted Pine Nut

From The Toasted Pine Nut
Roast your zucchini and serve with a dill yogurt sauce for a quick, summery side dish. You could roast the zucchini in the morning when it’s cool.
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By Frankie Gaw

Scallion Buns Recipe | King Arthur Baking

From King Arthur Baking
Blogger and cookbook author Frankie Gaw contributed this steamed scallion buns recipe to King Arthur Flour. It make A LOT of buns, but leftovers can be frozen.
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Cold Green Pea and Cucumber Soup | The Vegan Atlas

From The Vegan Atlas
This vegan soup calls for English cucumbers which are seedless; I recommend that you seed our cukes. To seed cucumbers, cut them in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Peeling is optional and the recipe provides a note on the question of to peel or not to peel. You will have a smoother soup if you peel. Garnish with the snow & snap peas from our box, and add extra dill if you do not have the other fresh herbs.

Week #6; Big family week on the farm

Maggie and daughter Ida

Once again, the next generation has joined the farm.  Maggie Schley has worked for us 26 or 27 years.  We’ve lost track of the exact number.  Now, her daughter Ida (age 13) joins the farm crew one day per week.  We are so thrilled to have her here.  This is a big deal for us and Maggie and our entire crew.  Ida is a natural!  Of course!

Our kids Sophie and Ari began steady farm work around that age.  Of course, they helped in small ways since they were young, standing on a stool to put garlic bulbs in the CSA boxes or washing melons in a giant tub on hot days.  Ari was twelve when he was strong enough to catch watermelons tossed from the field.  Sophie was about that age when she took over cash payments during farm u-picks.  Gradually they joined the farm crew full-time in the summer.  Now both of our kids are out of the house and living in the Twin Cities!

Sophie came home this weekend with five friends in tow, expecting to help with a strawberry u-pick.  Strawberries were always her favorite crop and she wanted her friends to experience that and other childhood fun.  The berries were not ready for a u-pick so they found other amusements; berry picking, kayaking, hiking, farm walks, volleyball in the yard, a bonfire, and eating lots of just-picked produce.  I wondered what they were doing when they wandered the farm after dark.  Turns out they were grazing in the berry field, by flashlight.

One of Sophie’s visiting friends helps Steve plant beans.

Slumber party in the living room this weekend.

Let’s not forget neighbors Karen, Caitlyn and Chance.  Karen’s worked for us ten years.  Her children Caitlyn and Chance joined our crew as teenagers for a few years before moving on.  It’s been great to see all of these kids grow up.

Berries!

The berries are gorgeous this week.   All your berries are ripe, even if one side is white and the other colored.  This is normal for some varieties.  Just eat one and you’ll understand that they are ripe.

Tipi members, watch for emails from us in the next few days about a members-only berry u-pick!

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #6, June 22/23, 2023

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ green
– Sampler/ B group

Beth’s notes:  
– Expect grit in the lettuce and endive (frisee) this week.  Like last week, it’s the result of irrigation during this dry weather.
– We continue to send scallions each week, so you have something in the onion family to enliven your dishes.  We’ll include scallions for a few more weeks, then we’ll switch to sweet onions, fresh garlic, cooking onions and eventually leeks.  I’ve gathered lots of scallion recipes below.

Strawberries, 1 quart
Snap peas, ~1/2 lb
Zucchini &/or yellow squash, ~3 lb
Lacinato kale, 1 bunch
Endive (frisée), 1 head
Iceberg lettuce
Shunkyo radishes, 1 bunch
Scallions, 1 bunch
Garlic scapes, a handful

Next week’s box will probably contain Caraflex cabbage, zucchini, scallions and more.

Strawberries – Strawberries are perishable.  Refrigerate and eat soon.

Snap peas – These pea pods 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 should be eaten pod and all.  They are delicious raw, or very lightly cooked or stir-fried.  
Heads up!:  You may find some fibrous shell-type pods mixed in, from off-type plants.
Preparation: They will need a quick rinse to remove faded gray blossoms.  
Storage: Refrigerate.

Zucchini &/or ‘Zephyr’ summer squash – It’s summer now!  Zucchini and squash are somewhat sensitive to cold temperatures.
Storage: Refrigerate in a warmer part of your fridge.

Lacinato kale (bundle of grey-green textured leaves) – This is our most beautiful green and a super food!  Use like any kale.  
Storage:  Cover and refrigerate.

Endive (frilly head, also know as frisée) – Endive is closely related to escarole.  These members of the chicory family can be used interchangeably in recipes, whether raw or cooked.  Their slightly bitter flavor is a good addition to mixed salads.  They are excellent cooked alone or mixed with other greens.  They cook quickly, but not as quickly as spinach.  
Storage:  Cover and refrigerate.

Iceberg lettuce (round head of lettuce) – We’ve found an iceberg variety that grows well for us.  It is crisp and tender inside.  Examine closely before using in a wedge salad – some heads have grit from overhead irrigation.

Shunkyo radishes – This is a new variety for us this year, chosen because it is supposed to be unusually sweet, plus tolerant of hot weather.  They are also pungent, a good cooking radish.

Garlic scapes (curly green things) – Garlic scapes grow at the top of garlic plants.  We snap off the young scapes to direct the plants’ energy into forming garlic bulbs underground.  Use scapes as a substitute for garlic cloves.  They can be minced, mixed with olive oil, and added to stir fries or simple pasta dishes.  The scapes can be sautéed, but will not brown like garlic cloves.  Expect them to retain their crunch even when cooked, and to be milder than garlic cloves, closer in pungency to the green garlic we’ve sent.

Garlic scapes

Top; Lacinato kale
Bottom; Endive, also known as frisée

Scallion Ideas

It is time for my annual roundup of favorite scallion ideas.  We have sent scallions for many weeks in a row.  They are the best seasonal allium (onion family plant) this time of year and are beautiful right now.  Let’s share a few of our favorite ways to prepare them.  
Gingery Pea & Scallion Fried Rice (6/29/22 newsletter)
Scallion Meatballs (6/15/22 newsletter)
– Scallion biscuits (slice and add to your usual biscuit recipe).  Or try Savory Cheese & Scallion Scones 
– We have a favorite scallion dressing for adaptable pasta salads.  We use it with spinach and asparagus in spring, then switch to grilled vegetables and sweet Walla Walla onions once those are available.
– Egg drop soup with spring greens, topped with sliced scallions
– Grilled scallion, asparagus and turnip salad
– Grilled beef bulgogi wrapped in lettuce leaves.  Easily adapted to tofu.
– Salmon patties with minced scallions mixed into the batter.

Scallion Pancakes

I love scallion pancakes and have tried many recipes over the years.  
Kimchi, Pork + Scallion Pancakes – Beth’s comment: This is our household’s favorite, but we add bay scallops instead of pork, halve the kimchi and add any green, whether spinach, komatsuna, napa cabbage or kale.  Kale takes longer to cook than spinach, so reduce the amount and slice finely before adding to the batter.  We skip the relish and use 1:1 soy sauce:rice vinegar for dipping sauce.  These are hefty and filling.

Member suggestions:
Several of you have shared scallion pancake recipes in our Facebook discussion group over the years.  Here are some of the recipe links and comments.  
Korean Pancakes with Scallions (Pa Jun) – “So many scallions, so little time. Make Pa Jun, Korean scallion pancakes. There were a few different recipes in the newsletter but I like this one! Simple, fast, and delicious!”
Extra Flaky Scallion Pancake Recipe – This recipe makes layered pancakes.  This is a J. Kenji López-Alt recipes, with his usual insightful explanations.

RECIPES by DEB

Photo by debslunch

Kale and Orzo “Risotto”

Based on a recipe by Hetty McKinnon, this one pot dish subs orzo, a rice-shaped pasta, for rice. Orzo cooks more quickly than rice and there’s less need for stirring. I tested the recipe with curly kale, but the original recipe was designed for the lacinto kale in this week’s box. With the flavors of spanakopita – herbs, greens, and feta – this is a tasty way to get even the greens haters in your house to eat their greens.

Serves: 4
Takes: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

about 1/2 pound lacinto kale, 8-9 ounces, rinsed, stems removed and leaves thinly sliced
1 cup onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic minced or put through a press
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
a big handful of fresh dill if available, OR 1 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon dried oregano
a few pinches of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 scallions, whites and green, thinly sliced
3/4 pound orzo
3 cups of vegetable broth
3 tablespoons salted butter
grated zest and juice of one lemon
3 ounces of feta crumbled (optional)

1. Rinse and slice the kale. Chop the onion. Pour the olive oil into a wide deep skillet with a cover or a Dutch oven, and heat over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion is translucent.
2. Season with salt and pepper, add the fresh or dried herbs, and then add the kale and scallions. Toss everything together and cook covered for 5-10 minutes to wilt the kale.
3. Add the orzo and vegetable broth, bring to a boil, and then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir a few times during the 10 minutes scraping the bottom, to reduce sticking.
4. Taste and when the orzo is tender and the broth is absorbed, add the butter, lemon zest and juice, and feta if using. Stir well, cover and remove from heat and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

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Chocolate Zucchini Cake | King Arthur Baking

From King Arthur Baking
King Arthur’s double chocolate zucchini bread is always a winner, but this cake was new to me this year. It uses three cups of zucchini or yellow summer squash, but no one will notice in this chocolatey, fudgy cake.
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Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini Boats | From Scratch Fast

From From Scratch Fast
This gluten free and meatless version of stuffed zucchini gets it flavor from ricotta and Comté cheeses, and fresh herbs. Cottage cheese can be subbed for the ricotta, and Swiss or Gruyere cheese can take the place of the Comté. And you can omit the fresh herbs – add an extra scallion or two – or use dried.
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Frisée aux Lardons à la Breakfast Sandwich | Never Not Hungry

From Never Not Hungry
A traditional way of preparing curly endive, also called frisee, is Frisée aux Lardons, a bacon-y French bistro salad, with croutons fried in the bacon fat and typically some bacon fat in the dressing, and a soft cooked egg on top. So I love this idea of turning that salad into a breakfast sandwich. Alternatively, you could make this sandwich with shredded iceberg lettuce instead of the endive.
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Pasta Primavera Recipe | Love and Lemons

From Love and Lemons
Love and Lemons’ version of pasta primavera is a pretty way to eat up our zucchini and summer squash and you can sub in the snap peas for frozen – string the snap peas, and place them in the colander where you will drain the penne – pouring the hot pasta and water over the peas will cook them just enough. The recipe also calls for asparagus, red onion, and cherry tomatoes, and you can up the amount of squash to make up, and/or try adding scallions instead of the onion.
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Photo by Meredith Food Studios

Seven Layer Salad | Allrecipes

From Leah Mae on allrecipes.com
Seven layer salad is a midwestern potluck staple, and usually made with iceberg lettuce. This version from allrecipes.com has a layer of cauliflower – personally I like a celery layer, but you can sub in what you have to make the seven layers. And use the snap peas in place of frozen. Another popular salad made with iceberg is wedge salad, and you could make the dressings from last week’s Deconstructed Wedge Salad to serve over wedges of this week’s iceberg.
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Summer Squash Tacos with Kale Slaw | eMeals

From emeals.com
These vegan tacos are filled with sauteed squash and topped with a quick kale slaw and pepitas, or toasted pumpkin seeds. In the picture it looks as if a bit of cheese might have sneaked in there too – not vegan, but tasty if you eat dairy. A recipe for a suggested side dish of pinto beans and diced tomato over rice is also included.

Week #5; Irrigation = grit

Top: Overhead irrigation with a traveling gun.
Bottom: Drip irrigation of melon plants growing in plastic mulch.  This shows the inlet of a long plastic tube that extends 600 feet down the field. We can pump about 3 gallons per minute through the tube.

We continue to irrigate. It’s been five or six weeks since the last substantial rain.  Recent rains totaled 1/4 inch for us, essentially nothing.

We use a mix of overhead and drip irrigation.  The first is great for plantings on bare grounds of quick crops like lettuce.  Longer-season crops planted into a thin layer of plastic mulch  (to protect from weeds) can be irrigated via plastic drip tape tubing under the plastic.  It’s a good water-efficient system for crops like melons, tomatoes and peppers but not suitable for every situation.  See second photo.

There will be grit in your lettuce and napa this week, a side effect of overhead irrigation. When the weather is this dry, we need to lay down a lot of water when irrigating each field, which splashes grit onto the produce.  We do not like that side effect but it’s what we need to do right now.  The baby bok choy and everything else is clean.

Thoughts:
– Cut your lettuce one and a half inches above the base and you’ll leave a lot of dirt behind.
– Expect to spend extra time cleaning this week’s greens.  Therefore, let’s talk about how to do that efficiently.

Cut your lettuce heads at one and a half inches above the base and you’ll leave a lot of dirt behind.

How to wash greens efficiently and to maximize storage life

Washing and drying your lettuce, spinach, and other greens prolongs their storage life.  It also means they are ready to use on busy weeknights!  Here’s our approach.  It works.
1.  Fill your sink or a basin halfway with cold tap water.  If you have two sinks, fill one sink partway with cold water.
2.  Chop your lettuce, spinach, escarole or other green to the size you wish.
3.  Dump it into the water and swish around gently but thoroughly.
4.  Working in two batches (for average lettuce head) or more batches (big spinach bunches, Romaine), pull handfuls out of the water and drain in the basket of a salad spinner.
5.  After all the greens have been rinsed one time, dump the water.  Rinse the sink/basin and refill with cold tap water.
6.  Repeat the process.
7.  Spin your greens dry and store in a dry container.  They store much longer when spun dry.

This works because …
– pre-chopping the greens frees soil trapped in the head.
– the large amount of water washes and dilutes away the grit.
– By pulling the greens out of the water, you take advantage of the draining action to pull the grit with it.
– Drying (spinning) the greens before storage reduces spoilage.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #5, June 15/16, 2023

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ purple
– Sampler/ A group

Strawberries, 1 pint
Napa cabbage
Baby bok choy, 1 bundle
Zucchini or yellow squash, ~2 squash
Lettuce, green leaf
Lettuce, red Romaine
Kohlrabi, 2 with leaves
Salad radishes, 1 bunch
Scallions, 1 bunch
Oregano, 1 small bunch

Next week’s box will probably contain strawberries, zucchini, lacinato kale, lettuce, endive or escarole, scallions and more.

Strawberries – Refrigerate and eat soon.  

Napa cabbage (large, pale green cabbage with crinkled leaves) – 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 even further): 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.

Baby bok choy – This was a fun experiment this spring. This is much more tender than full-size choy and cooks quicker.
Storage: Cover and refrigerate.

Lettuce – The lettuce are small so we are sending two in mixed colors, for pretty salads.
Storage: Cover and refrigerate.

Kohlrabi (pale green, round vegetable with thick skin and attached leaves) – Crunchy and sweet, kohlrabi is a great addition to salads.
Storage: Kohlrabi bulbs will store for a month in the refrigerator. Remove the leaves if you plan to store for more than a few days.
Uses: Kohlrabi are good peeled and eaten out of hand, or added to sandwiches, or added to salads. It makes a nice salad on it’s own. You can grate it, slice it, or cut it into matchsticks. It’s also good cooked.

Oregano (small bundle of fragrant leaves) – Useful in salad dressing or if paired with this week’s zucchini. You can always wash well, pat dry and hang to dry out of direct sunlight.

RECIPES by DEB

Pork & Cabbage Rice Bowls with Peanut Sauce

This recipe includes all the ingredients for fried egg rolls, arranged as tasty layers in a rice bowl. The crispy wonton strips are easy to do, even if you typically avoid deep frying.  They’re also optional and you can top your bowls with chopped peanuts or extra scallions or toasted sesame seeds. Or used purchased crispy chow mein noodles! This recipe is designed to help you address the large Napa cabbage that’s in your box this week. You’ll also find a Napa slaw recipe a bit further down. Another great way to prepare Napa cabbage is to make it into kimchi, and you’ll find a recipe adapted for US kitchens in one of the June 2021 newsletters. There are more kimchi recipes at the Korean food blog Maangchi. Try a search there on Napa to get recipes for not only kimchi but other cabbage dishes as well.
Serves: 4
Takes: about 30 minutes active time; the brown rice takes about 45 minutes

Optional Crispy wonton strips
2-3 tablespoons oil
6-7 wonton wrappers
Salt, to taste

Pork:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
One pound of ground pork – or turkey or chicken or a 14-oz box of tofu, crumbled
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced or put through a press
one-inch piece of fresh ginger, minced or grated – or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
6-7 cups of thinly sliced Napa cabbage – probably about half the head
Drizzle of toasted sesame oil – 1 tablespoon or less
3 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal, white and green – set aside most of the sliced green part for topping
salt & ground black pepper to taste

Sauce:
1/4 cup chunky or creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 teaspoons (heaping tablespoon) maple syrup or honey or brown sugar
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
2-3 teaspoons of Sriracha

For serving:
2-3 cups warm cooked rice, white or brown
scallion greens
Optional additional toppings:
additional scallions, thinly sliced
toasted sesame seeds – 1-2 tablespoons
chopped peanuts – about 1/4 cup

1. Cook the rice – do this first if using brown rice; if using white, do this after you make the wonton strips, while the pork is cooking. Start with about one cup brown or white rice to yield 2-3 cups.
2. Make the crispy wonton strips, if using: Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a deep soup pot or skillet – the deeper pot will protect your stove from splatters. Have a paper towel-lined plate ready next to the stove. Cut the wonton wrappers into narrow strips, and drop just enough to cover the bottom of the pan into the hot oil – I find I do about 1/3 at a time. Fry till puffed and brown, and remove with a slotted spoon to the paper towel. Continue frying batches until all the strips are crisped. Sprinkle with salt and set aside.
3. Cook the pork: Heat the 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet with a lid, and add the pork. Stir and cook the pork and break it into crumbles with a wooden spoon. When there is almost no pink left, add the garlic and ginger. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 5 minutes, then add the cabbage, and cover the pan for a few minutes to wilt the cabbage. Remove the cover, drizzle in the sesame oil, and stir to evaporate excess moisture.
4. Make the sauce: whisk together the peanut butter, vinegar, maple syrup, soy sauce and Siracha. Pour over the pork, add the scallions, and cook a few more minutes until bubbly.
5. Assemble the bowls: divide the rice between 4 individual bowls (or mound the rice in a serving bowl) and layer the pork mixture on top. Add any toppings you are using and serve warm.

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Photo by DebsLunch

Deconstructed Wedge Salad | DebsLunch

From DebsLunch
Probably the best part of this recipe is it includes two simple salad dressing recipes, Red French, and Creamy Herb, kind of a homemade Ranch. The Creamy Herb dressing is usually made with fresh thyme and dill, but the fresh oregano in this week’s box will also taste good.
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Photo by Taste of Home

Creamed Kohlrabi | Taste of Home

From Taste of Home
This is one of two recipes for kohlrabi this week; also check out the kohlrabi fries from last week. This creamy preparation of kohlrabi is one of the most common ways to eat it in Germany, where it is called Rahmkohlrabi.
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Photo by Joe Lingeman

Crunchy Peanut Slaw | Kitchn

From The Kitchn
This recipe calls for thinly-sliced green cabbage, but Napa will work perfectly and the non-mayonnaise-based dressing is great on Napa.
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Roasted Radish & Kohlrabi Salad with Apple, Pine Nuts & Puffed Rice | VegKit

From VegKit
In this recipe, all the way from Australia, most of the radishes are roasted, leaving one to slice up for garnish, and the radish greens are blended into the dressing. You also have the option of added puffed rice cereal for a little extra crunch, but I recommend only doing that if the salad will be all consumed at one sitting!
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Chicken and Bok Choy Stir Fry | Barefeet in the Kitchen

From Barefeet in the Kitchen
Barefeet in the Kitchen adapted this quick stir fry from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food, using skinless boneless chicken thighs instead of the chicken breasts in the original recipe. Whatever cut of chicken you use, this is a tasty way to prepare bok choy.
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Kohlrabi Slaw | A Couple Cooks

From A Couple of Cooks
Here’s another kohlrabi preparation from A Couple of Cooks. If you don’t have an apple to cut into matchsticks to add to the slaw, a few of the radishes from this week’s box would add a pop of color and a little heat to your dish. You could also sub fresh oregano for the parsley.

Week #4; Berry season begins

Hey folks, we just picked your first strawberries.  We waited until this afternoon, to allow more to ripen.  There’s a paper cup of berries for everyone, with more to come.

These berries survived a light frost two weeks ago.  Their color is much more russet than usual but the flavor is intensely good.  It looks like the next berries either missed or are outgrowing the frost exposure.  Wow, that was a squeaker.

Too close for comfort

Would you like to see a close-up of Steve flame-weeding an asparagus field?  It’s a good technique to kill annual weeds without damaging our deep-rooted asparagus.  I set up a trail camera to watch a badger den and caught Steve instead.  I would never have stood that close to photograph.  No trail cameras were harmed in the making of this video.  View below or on YouTube at youtu.be/3x04c8bgW1c 

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #3, June 8/9, 2023 (Thurs/Fri sites)

Beth’s box logic:  We are sending cilantro and scallions together again this week.  They are a terrific pairing for stir-fries but also for almost any dish.  It’s a nice combination in salad dressing or added to any pasta dish.  If not everyone in your household likes cilantro (those crazy people), consider making a minced chutney to serve on the side, with cilantro, a few scallions, lime juice, olive oil, chili flakes, and salt and pepper to taste.  Sort of like a simple chimichurri with fewer herbs and lime juice instead of red wine vinegar.  

We have two “crunchy white things” for you this week, kohlrabi and white salad turnips.  You nearly received three “crunchy white things” but the radishes have not sized up yet.  I asked Deb to come up with ideas for these two less-common vegetables and she did!  However, I will be making her kale casserole recipe in the next few days, while the night temperatures are cool.  I am intrigued by the batter-based crust.  

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ green
– Sampler/ D group

Strawberries, 1 cup
Asparagus, 1/2 lb
Spinach, 1 bunch
Kale, 1 bunch
Lettuce, red or green leaf
White salad turnips, 1 bunch
Kohlrabi, 1
Scallions, 1 bunch
Cilantro, 1 bunch

Next week’s box will probably contain strawberries, greens, lettuce, radishes, and more.

See last week’s Veggie List & Veggie Notes for information on white salad turnips, scallions and cilantro.

Strawberries – It’s just a cup so there’s not much I can tell you!  Eat now or refrigerate.

Asparagus – This is the final asparagus delivery.  It’s time to weed the field and let the plants grow strong for next year.

Kohlrabi (pale green, round vegetable with thick skin and attached leaves) – Crunchy and sweet, kohlrabi is a great addition to salads.
Storage:  Kohlrabi bulbs will store for a month in the refrigerator.  Remove the leaves if you plan to store for more than a few days.
Uses:  Kohlrabi are good peeled and eaten out of hand, or added to sandwiches, or added to salads.  It makes a nice salad on it’s own.  You can grate it, slice it, or cut it into matchsticks.  It’s also good cooked.  

RECIPES by DEB

Greens, Onion, and Cheese Pie

This recipe is based on a Mark Bittman recipe called Kale or Chard Pie, from his book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (and you’ll also find it online). The fun thing about it is that it’s an easy crust that doesn’t requires any rolling out – it’s a batter that you simply pour and spread into the pan. Bittman’s original recipe calls for six eggs, three that go into the batter, and three hard boiled and chopped into the filling. I wanted the pie to have more greens, and added cheese, but I’m sure the filling with hard boiled egg would be delicious. The pie can be served warm or at room temperature, and a little tomato sauce spooned on top, if you have some around, is a nice accompaniment.
Serves: 4-6
Takes: 60 minutes, 15 minutes active time; 45 minutes baking

Filling:
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup of chopped onion
1 pound of greens, try a mixture of kale & spinach from this week’s box, turnip greens can be used as well, rinsed, stems removed, and chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch of scallions, thinly sliced, whites and some of the green parts
optional: 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs such as cilantro, parsley, or dill
1 cup crumbled or grated cheese – your choice! I used a combination of feta and pepper jack

Batter:
3 large eggs
1 cup sour cream or whole-milk yogurt
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups flour; option: replace the 1/4 cup flour with yellow cornmeal

1. Heat oven to 375°. Butter a 2-quart gratin dish or deep 9-inch pie dish.
2. Filling: Melt the butter in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the greens, kale first if using, stir well, and cover for a few minutes to wilt. Reduce the heat and cook covered for about 10 minutes until the greens are tender. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Remove the lid and cook a few more minutes to evaporate any excess moisture. Stir in the scallions and herbs if using, and remove from the heat to cool.
5. Batter: Beat the eggs in a large bowl, and whisk in the mayonnaise and sour cream (or yogurt).  Add the baking powder, salt, and flour, and whisk until smooth.
6. Spread a thin layer of batter in your buttered baking dish. Mix the cheese into the filling and layer over the batter. Pour the rest of the batter over the filling, and smooth gently.
7. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes until puffed and golden. Serve warm or at room temperature, with or without tomato sauce.

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Photo by by Tieghan

Parmesan Tahini Kale Salad with Breadcrumbs and Crunchy Chickpeas | Half Baked Harvest

From Half Baked Harvest
The best thing about this salad is the tahini-lemon Parmesan dressing … well, and the toasted bread crumbs and crunchy chickpeas. I omitted the avocados, and enjoyed the leftover dressing on a lettuce salad another day.
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Kohlrabi Fries (Baked or Air Fryer) | Kara Lydon

From Kara Lydon, the Foodie Dietician
Most recipes for kohlrabi are for using it raw, like shredded in slaw, sliced and eaten in sandwiches, pickled. Here’s a fun way to turn your kohlrabi into fries. The recipe calls for about 1.25 pounds of kohlrabi – if you get a bit less kohlrabi in your box, you can scale back the recipe. I’d suggest using a little less olive oil plus all the spices for one pound of kohlrabi.
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Photo by Alyona

Extra Creamy Spinach Dip | Alyona’s Cooking

From Alonya’s Cooking
This version of creamy and cheesy warm spinach dip can be served with bread or crackers, but the salad turnips, kohlrabi, and asparagus in this week’s box are all great dippers as well. I suggested lightly steaming the asparagus and cooling before serving as a dip accompaniment.
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Pan Fried Turnips Recipe with Onions and Spinach | Low Carb Maven

From Low Carb Maven
My family are all carb lovers, so how much carbs are in a dish is usually not a concern at my house. This recipe stresses that these pan-fried turnips are low-carb, but that doesn’t have to be te only reason to eat them because they also taste great.
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Easy Scallion Pancakes (Only 4 Ingredients!) | The Woks of Life

From The Woks of Life
I’ve made scallion pancakes from scratch quite a few times, and have enjoyed rolling out the dough, filling it with scallions, twisting it into a spiral, and rolling flat and frying. But it takes a good bit if time! This short cut provides a quick way to make scallion pancake by layering the scallions in round dumpling wrappers, and the recipe provides a link to an ingredients glossary to make sure you purchase the right kind.
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Crustless Spinach & Asparagus Quiche with Gruyère | Eating Well

From Eating Well
We’re starting and ending this week with recipes for “pies” featuring greens, but while the first recipe features a batter-based, no-roll crust, this recipe from Eating Well is crustless. The 3/4 pound of asparagus we got in the box will work fine in the quiche, and feel free to sub a small pinch of dried thyme for the fresh, or omit. A few grates of fresh nutmeg would also be tasty here.

Week #3; Making it rain

We are irrigating full time but this year we started in May!  It’s been three weeks without rain and there’s none in the forecast.  That’s a little crazy.  The photos above show our heroic traveling gun irrigator.  We park the big reel at one end of the field, then unspool a heavy hose and the traveling gun to the other end.  Hook it up to our irrigation well and turn it on.  The water pressure slowly rewinds the hose onto the reel, pulling the traveling gun down the field and irrigating fields on either side.  

In the top photo, you can see the water’s maximum spread.  We can water up to two fields on either side.  The bright white field in the top photo is melons covered with floating row cover, in theory to gather extra heat but that was unnecessary this week!  The center field is sweet corn and the one to the left is next year’s strawberries.

Right now, we are setting up the farm for the rest of the season. For example, we chopped the overwintered cover crop in this photo one week ago.  Now we wait for rain so the straw and residue break down, so we can plant carrots in July, to harvest in fall, pack in your Thanksgiving boxes and send to Willy Street Coop all winter.  If no rain comes, then we will have to irrigate the chopped cover crops so they break down.  That’s a lot of extra work.  

Rain would be good, so we don’t run into a bottle neck, and to make life a little easier.  
Thanks for reading.
Beth and Steve.

The salad turnips grew explosively this week but are very nice quality.  Unlike radishes (which decline when too big), turnips stay sweet and tender.  Both the roots and the greens are edible.  Enjoy this spring treat this week and next.  It’s the only time of year that we grow them.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #3, June 1/2, 2023 (Thurs/Fri sites)

These members receive produce this week:
– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/purple
– Sampler/ C group

Beth’s box logic:  Everything in this box is suitable for stir-fries.  All the vegetables and greens, plus scallions, cilantro and shiitakes to enliven.  Well, maybe skip the Romaine.

Asparagus, 3/4 lb
Shiitake mushrooms, 8 oz
Spinach, 1 medium bunch
Bok choy, 1 head
Komatsuna greens, 1 medium bundle
Romaine lettuce
White salad turnips & greens, 1 bunch
Scallions OR green garlic, 1 bunch
Cilantro, 1 bunch

Next week’s box will probably contain asparagus, spinach, lettuce, white salad turnips, cooking greens, scallions, an herb and more.

Go to last week’s newsletter for prep and storage information for these crops:
Asparagus (spears in a paper bag)
Spinach (leafy green bundle)
Komatsuna greens (another leafy green bundle, but darker leaves)
Romaine lettuce 

Shiitake mushrooms – These are from Hidden Valley Mushrooms, the same people who grow button mushrooms for us.  I love shiitakes cooked with spinach or other greens.  Shiitakes must be cooked.  A small subset of people can have a toxic reaction to raw or undercooked shiitakes.  Once cooked, they are harmless.  And tasty!  Lightly sauté in butter and add to any dish.  We use ours in frittatas, as well as sautéed and mixed into pasta salad or any dish.  Sautéed shiitakes and spinach are a great topping for pizza or rice bowls, e.g. bibimbap.
Storage, general: Refrigerate in a dry paper bag, but not in your crisper drawer with other vegetables, especially brassicas.  It’s OK to put a loose plastic bag over the paper bag but don’t close.  Mushrooms are perishable so use soon.

Bok choy (rosette with thick white stems and green leaves) – This Asian green is good for stir-frying or sautéing or in soup. You can think of the stems and leaves as two separate vegetables. The stems require longer cooking. The leaves will cook almost as quickly as spinach. Bok choy stores well, so feel free to pull off leaves as you need them, or use the whole head at once.
Storage: Refrigerate in a plastic bag or other container.

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.

Scallions (bundle of green onions) – These are useful raw or cooked.  Thinly-sliced raw scallions can be folded into biscuit dough or sprinkled on top of soups or salads.  Terrific garnish for pasta dishes.  Think pad thai. 

Cilantro (small bunch, fragrant leaves) – Used in both Mexican and some Asian cuisines.  Good to season stir-fries, salad dressing, salsa, etc.
Storage: Cover and refrigerate.

RECIPES by DEB

Photo by debslunch

Spicy Tofu over Noodles & Greens

Takes about 45 minutes
Serves 4
This dish is a vegetarian version of Szechuan Dan Dan noodles that are usually made with ground pork. It is probably the only tofu preparation all members of my family will eat! The traditional topping is quick pickled cucumbers; thinly sliced cucumber marinated briefly in rice vinegar and salt and maybe a pinch of sugar. For this time of the year, try Love and Lemons pickled asparagus, thinly sliced, scattered on top of your bowlfuls of noodles.

Sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon tahini or peanut butter
1 tablespoon roasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons rice or balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon chili crisp
i inch piece of fresh ginger, grated or finely chopped

Tofu:
1 14 oz. block of firm tofu
2 tablespoons cornstarch
a few pinches of kosher salt, or a teaspoon of fine salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Noodles and greens:
One bunch komatsuna greens or bok choy, rinsed, stems and leaves sliced separately
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced or put through a press
1 tablespoon soy sauce
salt
8-9 ounces ramen noodles or vermicelli
2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon roasted sesame oil

Dish:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 oz. shiitake mushrooms, stems pulled off and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced or put through a press

Optional toppings:
Pickled asparagus,thinly sliced on the diagonal
3-4 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
a handful of fresh cilantro leaves and some of the tender stems

1. To make the sauce, combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, tahini, sesame oil, vinegar, chili crisp, and fresh ginger in a small bowl or spouted glass measuring cup.
2. To prepare the tofu, remove it from the box and squeeze it with your hands over the sink to extract as much liquid as possible. Don’t worry if the tofu breaks apart – it’s going to get crumbled up anyway. Wrap it in a clean kitchen towel or paper towel and set aside for 10 minutes to continue draining.
3. After it has drained, crumble the tofu into a large bowl. Sprinkle the cornstarch and salt over it, and toss with your hands until well coated.
4. Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a non-stick skillet that will hold the tofu in one layer. Add the crumbled tofu and fry until golden brown on one side, then turn and continue until it’s all golden brown, about 5 minutes per side.
5. Transfer the tofu back into the bowl, and wipe out the skillet.
6. Heat 3-4 quarts of water in a large pot, salt it, and then cook the ramen noodles according to package directions – usually about 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
7. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in another skillet, and add the greens stems. Fry for a few minutes over high heat, then add the leaves, garlic, soy sauce, and salt to taste. Stir until the greens are wilted and tender. Add the drained noodles, drizzle with the sesame oil (use the larger amount if you cooked the larger amount of noodles) and toss, then cover to keep warm while you finish the tofu sauce.
8. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in the wiped out skillet and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until they start to soften, then add the garlic. Cook a few more minutes until the garlic is fragrant, then add the tofu and toss all together. Finally give the sauce a good stir and pour in, mix and cook 5-10 more minutes until bubbling.
9. Spoon the tofu mixture over the noodles and greens in bowls, garnish with your choice of toppings, and serve.

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Pickled Asparagus | Love and Lemons

From Love and Lemons
Here’s fun way to turn your asparagus into a snack, appetizer, or stir fry topping, as above. I admit I did not have cute jars to pickle my asparagus in – I used a shallow baking dish instead.
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By Tieghan Gerard

Crispy Italian Chicken and Bacon Salad with Tahini Pesto Dressing and Sourdough Croutons | Half Baked Harvest

From Half Baked Harvest
This recipe from Half Baked Harvest includes a couple of items we did not get in this week’s box, like basil & cherry tomatoes, and some we never get in the box because they don’t really grow in Wisconsin, like avocados. (TBH I think all of the Half Baked Harvest recipes include avocado …) I’ve included it because it’s such a delicious and indulgent dinner salad that you can make with all of our greens and a quick trip to the grocery store – or simply omit the ingredients you don’t have, it will still be tasty!
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Sesame Roasted Turnip Salad with Quinoa | Naturally Ella

From Naturally Ella
This salad of roasted salad turnips uses quinoa, but other grains, such as bulghur, would also work. You can use a mix of romaine, spinach, and a few turnip greens for the base of the salad. Watch the turnips carefully when roasting so they don’t get too soft. The recipe says 25-30 mins – check after 10-15!
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Fresh Creamed Spinach Recipe | Cookie and Kate

From Cookie and Kate
Here’s an easy way to make creamed spinach using cream cheese instead of a roux. You can serve it as a side dish; it makes a nice omelette filling as well; or bake it with an egg on top and serve it for brunch or dinner. To get to the 16 oz. baby spinach called for, supplement the spinach we got with turnip greens and/or Komatsuna. I recommend wilting the greens in a dry skillet with the water clinging to the leaves after washing, then draining and chopping. I also omitted the Parmesan and added an extra couple of tablespoons of cream cheese for ultra-creaminess.
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Garlicky Sautéed Greens | Minimalist Baker Recipes

From Minimalist Baker
Here’s a kind of master recipe to prepare any and all greens, good on their own or as an accompaniment to other dishes. If you have some firm bread, you can cube it and fry it in the same skillet you used for the greens (after removing the greens!) for a crunchy topping.
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Vegetable pancake (Yachaejeon) | Maangchi

From Maangchi
I learned about the Maangchi website when reading Michelle Zauner’s (Japanese Breakfast) memoir, Crying in H Mart, and it’s a great source for Korean recipes, demystified, and with lots of explanatory videos. Korean vegetable pancakes, Yachaejeon, are similar to the Japanese vegetable pancakes, okonomiyaki, savory pancakes with lots of vegetables. I think okonomiyaki has to have cabbage, but these Yachaejeon can be madee with a variety of vegetables. Asparagus, Shiitake mushrooms, salad turnips, scallions or green garlic, and any of the greens, can all be added to these pancakes. You need 2 1/2 to 3 cups of vegetables for one big 12-inch pancake to serve two.

Week #2; BiWeekly/ green and Sampler/ B group

Spinach (left) and komatsuna greens (right).  Both are bundled with a rubber band but you can tell them apart by the stems.  The komatsuna stems are thicker and resemble bok choy stems, which they are related to.  

Beth’s box logic

I picked mint for you this week so you can make spring rolls, a favorite for our kids when they were young.  We prepped them with spinach and lettuce plus other leftovers from the fridge.  Maybe a few cooked asparagus spears or sliced tofu or a few shrimp.  We never figured out the noodles but it didn’t matter.  The kids would help prepare them, then we’d pack them in lunches with a jelly jar of simple dipping sauce.  It made them so happy!  See Deb’s recipe below to learn how to fashion spring rolls.

If you don’t want to fuss with spring rolls, enjoy the fresh mint as mojitos or mint tea.
Beth

The new vacation rescheduling system is almost ready.

Watch for an email from me tomorrow or Friday, with instructions.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #2, May 25/26, 2023 (Thurs/Fri sites)

– Weekly shares
– BiWeekly/ green
– Sampler/ B group

Asparagus, 1 lb
Button mushrooms, 12 oz
Spinach, 1 small bunch
Komatsuna greens, 1 medium bunch
Lettuce, Romaine
Lettuce, green leaf
Radishes, 1 bunch
Green garlic, 1 bunch
Mint, 2 stems
Rhubarb, 1.75 lb

Next week’s box will probably contain asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, spinach, bok choy, lettuce and more.  

Asparagus – This is my favorite spring treat!  
Prep: Wash your asparagus thoroughly to remove hidden grit.  Submerge in water with the tips pointing down, soak briefly, then swish vigorously and pull out of the water.  The draining action helps pull the grit out of the asparagus tips.  Repeat several times.
Storage: Asparagus is perishable, so eat it as soon as possible.  Store in a paper towel, cloth or paper bag, then wrap loosely in a plastic bag.  The paper bag protects the asparagus tips from direct contact with the plastic bag.  The plastic bag keeps the asparagus from wilting.
Preparation: We snap our asparagus at harvest, rather than cutting.  Therefore, there is no need to snap the stalks to remove fibrous ends.  For the same reason, it is not necessary to peel the asparagus stalks.  It’s OK to trim the cut end a bit.
Cooking:  If your asparagus stalks vary greatly in size, you will want to cook the thicker ones longer.  Put an empty steamer pot over water, and bring the water to a boil.  Add the asparagus.  Cover and steam over medium heat until just tender.  Use two forks or a spatula to turn the asparagus during cooking, rotating the bottom spears to the top.  Drain and serve.  Alternatively, you can lay spears flat in the bottom of a broad pan, with ½ inch of water.  Also excellent broiled or grilled.  Good dressed with vinaigrette, or with lime juice, salt and pepper.

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.

Green garlic (looks like scallions, tastes like garlic) – Last fall, we planted garlic cloves that grew into the stalks we harvested this week.  If left to grow until mid-summer, the slim white bulb on this week’s garlic will divide and form the usual cluster of cloves in a garlic bulb.
Preparation: Green garlic is more pungent than scallions, so slice thinly and use sparingly when raw.  It mellows when cooked.  Chop and add to any cooked dish that would benefit from garlic.  Use the white bulbs and pale green stems.  Avoid the dark green stems and leaves, as these are fibrous.

Komatsuna greens (bundle of dark green leafy heads.  See photo) – This is our new favorite spring cooking green.  They are similar to mustard greens but with great flavor and are more mild than mustard greens.  We’ve enjoyed learning to grow them over the past three seasons.  In spring, they are quite resilient to temperature swings.  We’ve certainly seen that kind of weather this year!
Preparation: Use in any recipe that calls for mustard greens or bok choy.  Use both leaves and stems.
Storage:  Cover and refrigerate.

Lettuce, Romaine –
Lettuce, green leaf – The lettuce are still small so we are sending two heads. The larger one is Romaine and the smaller is red leaf.  Neither lettuce is bound with a rubber band, an easy way to distinguish from this week’s spinach and komatsuna greens.
Storage:  Refrigerate in a bag or other container.

Mint – I am sending mint so you can make spring rolls with your lettuce and spinach, plus whatever other ingredients you enjoy.
Storage: Refrigerate.

Rhubarb – Storage: Refrigerate in a plastic bag. FYI, 1.75 lb of rhubarb yields 5 – 5.5 cups when chopped.
Stewed rhubarb: This is the simplest way to prepare rhubarb. Chop rhubarb into one inch chunks. Stir over medium heat with a small amount of water in the bottom of the pan. The rhubarb will release moisture as it cooks. Stew until it softens and falls apart. Sweeten to taste with honey or sugar. Eat warm on its own, over vanilla ice cream, on pancakes, etc.
Storage:  Refrigerate.
Preserve: Rhubarb is extremely easy to freeze. Wash, chop and pop it in a freezer bag. That’s it; no need for blanching. When baking muffins or cakes, add the frozen rhubarb directly to the batter.

Salad radishes – These are so good right now; tender, crisp and not too spicy.  They are great in salads or thinly sliced on sandwiches.  A few years ago, I was served open-faced radish and butter sandwiches on toast and was impressed with how tasty they were.  Use good quality butter.
Storage: Cover and refrigerate.

Spinach – These small bunches are best used in salads. 
Storage: Cover and refrigerate.

RECIPES by DEB

Asparagus Salad with Crispy Coconut & Almond Topping

This crunchy asparagus salad can be served over greens as a side salad or a meal. I’ve given directions for cooking the asparagus in water, but you could roast it instead: Reserve one tablespoon of vegetable oil for the dressing, and drizzle the other tablespoon over the asparagus spears on a cookie sheet and roast in a 425° oven for about 10 minutes until just tender. Proceed with the recipe from step 2.

Takes about half an hour
Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as a side dish

1 pound asparagus stalks
one lime to yield 1 teaspoon lime zest plus 2 tablespoons juice
2 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil, like safflower or canola
one heaping tablespoon light miso
one tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons Aleppo chile flakes or 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
6-7 radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
Kosher salt
Optional: a handful of fresh cilantro leaves with tender stems

1. Fill a large skillet with a few inches of water, bring to a boil, and salt it. Add the asparagus spears and cook for 4-5 minutes until just tender. Transfer the asparagus to a colander set in the sink, run some cold water over to stop the cooking, and set aside to drain well.
2. For the dressing, whisk the lime zest and juice, oil, miso, and maple syrup in a bowl large enough to hold the finished salad.
3. For the coconut almond topping: Heat the oven to 350° and place the almonds in a pie plate or other metal pan. Toast in the oven until starting to brown, 5 minutes. Add the coconut flakes, and toast another 5 minutes watching carefully, until the coconut turns golden brown. Remove from the oven and stir in the sugar, chile flakes and a few pinches of kosher salt Set aside to cool.
4. Cut the asparagus into 2-3 inch lengths. Stir all but 1 tablespoon of the coconut topping into the dressing. Add the asparagus and radishes and toss well. Transfer to a shallow serving platter and sprinkle with the remaining coconut topping and cilantro if using. Best right away, but still tasty the next day.

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One-Pot Garlic Parmesan Pasta Recipe with Spinach and Mushrooms | Eatwell 101

From Eatwell 101
This pasta is called “Spinach and Mushrooms” but I recommend making it with the longer cooking Komatsuna greens from this weeks box instead of the tender spinach. Rinse and use leaves only from about half the bunch – save the stems to eat with the rest in another dish. Blanch the greens in a large pot of salted boiling water – if you dip out the greens with tongs or a slotted spoon, you can use the same water to boil the pasta – then drain and cool. Squeeze the water out by handfuls, chop the Komatsuna, and add it to the pasta as directed for spinach.
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Arugula, Green Garlic & Walnut Pesto | Dishing Up the Dirt

From Dishing Up the Dirt
This pesto is the recipe where I suggest using the spinach from this week’s box. Sub in an equal amount of spinach for the arugula called for and you’ll have a brilliant green pesto. Unless you have arugula left from last week – then by all means feel free to use it here! Easily doubled. For an alternative to serving the pesto on pasta, try this Grilled Pesto-Marinated Chicken recipe.
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Photo by DebsLunch
From DebsLunch

100% Rhubarb Pie

Here’s an all-rhubarb, all the time, pie, perfect for this time of year, and vanilla ice cream.
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Photo by Peden + Munk

Chopped Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette, Feta, and Dill Recipe | Samin Nosrat

From Epicurious
The headnote for this Samin Nosrat recipe suggests flexibility in making this spring-y chopped salad, “Make this salad with whatever produce you’d like”. To use what we’ve got in the box, try 2 stalks of green garlic in the dressing in place of shallots, chopped cooked asparagus, sliced radishes, a mixture of lettuce and spinach for the greens, and cooked edamame or thawed frozen peas.
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Lettuce Wrap Burgers | All She Cooks

From All She Cooks
Here’s a change from salad to use all the nice lettuces we are getting – use your lettuce to wrap a burger! This recipe provides instructions for making beef burgers, but you can sub in turkey or even purchased veggie burgers, and the Siracha mayo is great with any choice – although plain mayo is also good if you don’t care for heat.
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photo by Kristina Todini

Radish Greens Salad | Fork in the Road

From Fork in the Road
The recipe, developed by a registered dietician, helps us fight food waste by using radish greens in a salad. Radish greens are kind of peppery – if you decide you don’t want a whole salad of them, mix in some of the tender spinach from this week’s box.
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Photo by Stephanie

The Ultimate Guide to Spring Rolls | i am a food blog

From i am a food blog
Spring rolls are a great way to eat up all the greens, crunchy vegetables, and herbs that we get in our boxes this time of year. This Ultimate Guide from i am a food blog gives you LOTS of options! The only essential ingredients are leafy and crunchy vegetables and preferably some herbs; protein and noodles are optional. And there’s also a variety of dipping sauces for your rolls.