The run of leafy greens continues!  Fear not, those of you who are getting tired of salads for dinner, we’ll have some more veggies joining the mix soon (last year the first July delivery brought fennel, broccoli and cucumbers).  A new addition in this week’s share was frisee which may be less familiar than the other greens.  Shana shares her thoughts on frisee:

For the last several years I’ve avoided this one at the CSA or put it in the back of my fridge hoping to like it better.  Then I started having digestive issues and my nutritionist said – “Eat more bitters!”  They are really good for reducing inflammation and improving gut health.  So, I’ve been chopping them finely and eating them in heapfuls in my salad!  One thing I found to help reduce the “harshness” of bitters, both in flavor and texture, is to add tahini to a salad.  It’s creamy, high in protein and good fats and is a really nice addition.  Happy eating!

To help support the plea from her nutritionist, Shana did some further research and came across the following information about frisee:

Frisee is a salad green in the chicory family, along with Belgian endive, radicchio, and escarole. Also called curly endive, frisee lettuce has long, narrow leaves which are extremely curly. They shroud the more tender whitish stalks and yellow branches. The leaves are usually a pale to bright green, although they can have reddish hues along the edges. Frisee can be described as a bitter salad green, although it also has a slightly nutty taste.

What is the nutritional value of frisee? A green leafy vegetable, frisee is packed with nutrients, and very low in calories. It is an excellent source of folic acid, vitamin A and vitamin C, with approximately one third the daily recommended amount of each, in a single serving. Frisee lettuce is also a good source of vitamin K, and manganese.  Its vitamin A content maintains healthy eyes, moistens the skin, and acts as an antioxidant, neutralizing free radicals in the body that would otherwise damage cells Vitamin C is also a powerful antioxidant. It is necessary for the synthesis of collagen, and immune health. Vitamin K’s primary role is to prevent blood loss by forming blood clots, but it also helps to link calcium to bone. Folic acid is involved with a number of reactions, including energy production, and nerve cell development. It is one of the most essential nutrients for a healthy pregnancy. Manganese as well serves a number of functions, from body metabolism to brain health.

Like Shana, Bob likes to pre-wash and cut his frisee into smaller bite size pieces and add them to each salad he makes throughout the week, rather than trying to eat the frisee on its own.  In fact, Bob decided to use Shana’s tip from last week and washed, cut and bagged all of this week’s greens right away on Tuesday.  It may take extra time on CSA pickup day but you’ll be happy you did all the prep later in the week when you can easily throw together a side salad alongside grilled meat or maybe as an entree with your favorite toppings.

After countless vinaigrette topped dressings this month, Bob decided it was time to try something new:

I stumbled upon a homemade ranch recipe from BarefeeintheKitchen.com.  It was quickly whipped up using things I already had on hand – sour cream, mayo, buttermilk, vinegar, some herbs and spices – and proved to be a nice change of pace.  Sure it’s not the healthiest salad dressing but it was homemade and if it helps use up some of those greens, I say go for it!  The bottom of the blog post for the recipe had a few links to other dressings from the site.  Some are more involved than others, including this fantastic looking Creamy Mango Chipotle Salad Dressing, but plan ahead when grocery shopping this weekend and plan to use it next week with a few meals to make it worth the time, effort and ingredients.

That’s it for this week – thanks for reading and we’ll see you again next week!

Serving Suggestions is a recurring article that will be posted weekly during the CSA season featuring photos, tips and recipes.  Content is provided by Jessica, Shana and Bob.  If you would like to submit your own photos or recipes, please email Bob at robertfcowper@gmail.com.  To read through previous Serving Suggestions articles, click here for an archive.  You can also use the handy search feature at the top of the right hand menu bar to search for the name of a particular ingredient you need help using.

Greens, greens and more greens!  Shana has been hearing people talk about needing to use greens quickly before they go bad. Here are some tips that she has learned over the last 9 CSA years:

1. Make sure to put your greens in a bag in the fridge, not directly in the fridge or they will wilt. I love Debbie’s Green Bags – I reuse them many times over, they protect the greens and supposedly keep nutrients in!  Here’s a link to order on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I4V1U06/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_AsDszbVS0ZY68

2. Wash, trim and store salad greens right away. I’ve found that washing and trimming salad greens on the day I get my share helps them stay longer. I put them in a large bag and make sure not to give them lots of space and not squish the greens. This makes my greens last for a week or more (depending on the green).

3. Every couple of days make sure to take your produce out, turn the bag inside out and shake out any condensation that has accumulated and put the veggies back in.

Staying on the topic of having too many greens, last week Bob decided to use some of his unused spinach in this Spinach Salad with Pancetta and Fried Eggs.  It was fantastic!  The crispy pancetta was a great texture contrast to the spinach that had slightly wilted from the heat of the fried eggs.  The runny yolk combined with the simple vinaigrette to make a rich sauce that was perfect for mopping up with some bread.  Frying eggs in oil like that was something new for Bob and lead to a nice puffy white which was studded with scallions that had first fried in the oil – that alone could become a staple weekend breakfast.  The salad serves as a vehicle to use up some of your CSA herbs (dill in this case, but just about any would work) and you could even sub out the scallions for some finely chopped garlic scapes.

We hope today’s tips are helpful and not too obvious!  Happy storing and eating!

Serving Suggestions is a recurring article that will be posted weekly during the CSA season featuring photos, tips and recipes.  Content is provided by Jessica, Shana and Bob.  If you would like to submit your own photos or recipes, please email Bob at robertfcowper@gmail.com.  To read through previous Serving Suggestions articles, click here for an archive.  You can also use the handy search feature at the top of the right hand menu bar to search for the name of a particular ingredient you need help using.

Can you believe Week 2 is already upon us?  Feels like just yesterday that we got the first update and here we are already enjoying radishes and broccoli rabe!  Shana is particularly excited about the beautiful radishes and the garlic scapes, her favorite, in today’s share.  She uses the scapes anywhere she would want a sharp oniony-garlic flavor: chopped in egg or chicken salads, on crostini, in salads or cooked down and blended into soups, dips etc.  Bob is looking forward to taking a second crack at garlic scapes.  Last year he used most of his batch for a pesto as Farmer John suggested but he found it too over-the-top in garlic flavor.  This year the scapes are going into a new favorite sauce: chimichurri.  Chimichurri is a good catch-all sauce that can use up just about any green herb, so it makes sense to add some garlic scapes but not to let them be the main ingredient.  Bob tends not to measure anything when making chimichurri, just throw the herbs, a hefty pinch or two of salt to taste, two glugs of red wine vinegar and drizzle in enough oil to get a spoonable consistency and you’re all set – spread over steak and you’re in heaven.  If you prefer to work from a recipe, here is a good one for Garlic Scape Chimichurri that features toasted cumin seed for a deeper flavor.  Jessica might be the most excited for the garlic scapes – she squealed when she saw them!  He suggestion for another way use the scapes:  “I like to grill my mine. I make a pouch out of foil or use a grilling basket, coat them will olive oil, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon, grill them for just a few minutes and they sweeten up.  So so yummy!”

As for the radishes, Shana likes to use Martha Stewart’s Quick Pickled Radish recipe; she also uses them to top Stewart’s Chipotle Chicken Tacos.  Last year in Week 2 when Bob tried pickling radishes for the first time, he admitted to eating them right out of the jar with a fork – give them a try and you will be too.

One of Bob’s favorite quick meals that he made for the first time with CSA peas is this: toast slices of a good loaf of bread (Calandra’s panella is perfect), spread them with warm ricotta and top with a mixture of smashed peas, olive oil and salt.  It’s so simple but so satisfying on an early Summer evening!

Serving Suggestions is a recurring article that will be posted weekly during the CSA season featuring photos, tips and recipes.  Content is provided by Jessica, Shana and Bob.  If you would like to submit your own photos or recipes, please email Bob at robertfcowper@gmail.com.  To read through previous Serving Suggestions articles, click here for an archive.  You can also use the handy search feature at the top of the right hand menu bar to search for the name of a particular ingredient you need help using.

Welcome to to the 2017 Caldwell CSA!  Please check back to the website each week for serving suggestions and pictures from the week’s share.  If you have any pictures or recipes you’d like to contribute, please email them to Bob at robertfcowper@gmail.com.

Unsure what to do with your swiss chard?  Don’t worry we struggle with that too sometimes.  Shana suggested that Jessica share her recipe for the “chard quiche thing” which probably wouldn’t sell as good in a restaurant as the real name for the recipe: Mid July Swiss Chard Pie!  The recipe calls for literally “as much swiss chard as you can find,” leeks, dill and eggs.  If you don’t have leeks, I’m sure you could make it just as good substituting some scallions or thinly sliced onion.  If you don’t have the time, or the patience, to make your own pie dough, don’t let that stop you – there’s no shame in using a frozen crust!

Another item unfamiliar to some might be the beautiful white turnips in this week’s share.  Last year, I discovered butter braised radishes for the first time which made a wonderful side dish.  Jessica uses a similar technique in one of her favorite recipes, Butter Braised New Turnips.  I know that turnip greens are very good for you but I struggle to use them.  If you need any convincing, check out this website which extols their virtue and makes me want to try something like this recipe for Spicy Skillet Turnip Greens.

Serving Suggestions is a recurring article that will be posted weekly during the CSA season featuring photos, tips and recipes.  Content is provided by Jessica, Shana and Bob.  If you would like to submit your own photos or recipes, please email Bob at robertfcowper@gmail.com.  To read through previous Serving Suggestions articles, click here for an archive.  You can also use the handy search feature at the top of the right hand menu bar to search for the name of a particular ingredient you need help using.