July 19 Update & Share

Jul19

To read Farmer John’s latest update, please click here.

This week’s share will be:  summer squash, cucumbers, green cabbage, lettuce, sweet onions, beets, choice of Swiss chard or kale, eggplant, peppers, string beans, melons, celery and cauliflower (and/or broccoli).

Serving Suggestions: Week 6

Jul15

From Shana:

Here are some cooking ideas as we start to head into the “OMG, what am I going to do with all these veggies?!!!” part of the season!
Brick grilled whole chicken
For those of you who get chicken, we cook this every week that we get a fresh Griggstown chicken! It’s so much fun, so easy and delicious! And if you got fresh rosemary with your share- even better! We have ours with grilled zucchini (of which we have plenty these days!)
Curried Zucchini Relish (Joshua Stokes)
This is so tasty and a great use of all the zucchini we have!
2 lbs. zucchini, seeds removed and roughly chopped
2 shallots, roughly chopped
1 cup cider vinegar
1 tbsp curry powder  You could omit this if you want a regular relish
2 tsps sugar
1 tsp salt
Optional: fresh chili pepper
1. In a food processor, pulse the zucchini and shallots until it resembles a relish-like size. Put this mixture in your storage vessel. (Ideally a glass one)
2. In a pot heat the remaining ingredients just enough to dissolve the sugar and salt. Pour this hot brine over the zucchini.  Allow it to cool, put a lid on it and stow it in the back of the fridge.
Enjoy it on your next hot dog!  It’s also great in egg or chicken salad.
Kale Kimchi
This kimchi recipe is a great snack to have around.  It’s a stellar addition to a burger and acts a great condiment in a lettuce wrap. I list kale as the star ingredient, but just about any member of the cabbage family (or combination thereof) will work.  Including chard, kohlrabi, radishes, turnips, choys, mustard greens, collard greens, any type of kale and even Brussels sprouts.
1 Bunch of any variety of kale (ten good sized leaves) , stalks removed
1/4 Cup Korean chili paste (you should be able to find a variation on this at any Asian market)
3 inches Fresh Ginger, grated
2 cloves fresh garlic, grated
{you can add some cayenne if you like it hot}
1. In a bowl, combine the chili paste, ginger and garlic
2. Leaving the leaves in large pieces, give them a sprinkle of salt and a schmear of the kimchi paste on each side.
3. Stuff them tightly into a jar, close it, and stick it in the back of your fridge for a few weeks.

From Bob:

Still have leftover beets or radishes from last week?  I do and will be using these two recipes to help clean out the fridge:

I actually made the beet salad tonight and it was excellent.  Admittedly it was my first time making beets and I was a bit skittish but they were actually very good.  I paired tonight’s dinner with a lemonade to which I added mint (from my garden) and CSA rosemary.  You wouldn’t think of the rosemary as a welcome addition but it is – it lends a nice fragrant and herbal tone which balances the sweetness of the lemonade.

Unsure of what to do with those mondo-sized spring onions from this week’s pickup?  I found a good suggestion online: clean them well then slice in half lengthwise, leaving the root intact to keep it together, then liberally coat with oil and grill.  Definitely worth a try!

July 12 Update & Share

Jul12

Please click here to view Farmer John’s update for this week.

 

This week’s share will include: peas (sugarsnap or snow), broccoli or kale, summer squash, cucumbers,

sweet onions, choice of basil or fennel, kohlrabi, choice of green radicchio or dandelion greens, arugula,

Swiss chard, lettuce, and choice of an herb (garlic chives, rosemary or parsley).

Serving Suggestions: Week 5

Jul7

 

From Bob:

Dried Herbs

Dried Herbs

When I got today’s share home and went to store the marjoram, I realized that I never used last week’s savory.  I also still had some dill left over (two weeks in the fridge and it’s still great – gotta love dill!) that I wanted to use too.  For the life of me I couldn’t come up with a recipe that would use all three with the other ingredients on hand so I thought I should try drying herbs for the first time.  I turned to one of my favorite kitchen reference books, Herbs & Spices: The Cook’s Reference, for help.  In one of the tips it mentioned using the microwave to dry which I had never thought of.  Rinse the herbs well, dry them on some paper towels and lay them on a dry paper towel in as close to a single layer as possible.  Sure enough, it worked really well.  The book called for 2.5 minutes but I found I needed more like 3.5 for my bunches, probably because I didn’t try them too well after rinsing.  Let them cool and further dry out on the counter for an hour or so before removing the leaves from the stems.  I bagged and tagged them and now have some CSA flavor that I can turn to at any time, regardless of what is fresh that week.  If you’re finding yourself with leftover fresh herbs you should definitely give it a shot!

7/5 Update & Share

Jul5

Hi Everybody – please click here to read Farmer John’s latest update.

 

Today’s share will include: lettuce (X 2), arugula, choice of spinach or chard, elephant garlic, sugarsnap or snow peas, summer squash, fennel, radishes, broccoli or kale, choice of radicchio or frissee, cucumbers and choice of an herb. There will be some mustard greens as an extra.

Serving Suggestions: Week 4

Jun28
CSA Week 4 Share

CSA Week 4 Share

 

From Shana:

I am loving this vegetarian blog and this recipe is perfect for the beautiful broccoli that we received this week:
http://cookieandkate.com/2016/broccoli-chickpea-pita-sandwiches/

From Bob:

I had some leftover steak that I needed to cook up tonight and today’s fresh broccoli was just the perfect side dish.  The steak was from the newly re-opened butcher on Park Ave, the Caldwell Market Place, which you should definitely check out if you haven’t already – Chris, the owner, is very friendly and everything is superb.  Since I had the grill on anyway, I figured why not cook the broccoli on there without having to turn on the stove or oven too.  If the steak and broccoli isn’t enough – you could also sautee some of your greens with some nutmeg, salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil until they wilt and are a fraction of their original volume.  Here’s how I cooked the broccoli:

  • 1 head of broccoli (florets cut into bite size pieces; stalks into thin rounds)
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
  1. In a large bowl, toss the broccoli and remaining ingredients to coat.
  2. Fold a large piece of foil in half to create a double layer.  Form the foil into a packet large enough to hold the broccoli.
  3. Start the broccoli over indirect heat while your steak is cooking.  Move over direct heat when you remove the steak from the heat and cook over direct heat while the steak rests.
  4. Remove from the heat, plate and pour the collected juices on top of the broccoli.

6/28 Share & Update

Jun27

Tomorrow’s share will include:  broccoli, summer squash, beets, kale or swiss chard, peas, lettuce, scallion, choice of parsley/savory/marjoram.

To read Farmer John’s update for this week, please click here.

Serving Suggestions: Week 3

Jun21
CSA Week 3 Share

CSA Week 3 Share

From Shana:

Hi Folks!

I hope you are enjoying week 3 of the CSA- we are in the thick of the greens-yum!  Want a great way to use all the spinach we’ve been getting and the garlic scapes?  Blend them together to make a spinach-ramp pesto!  I used two big bunches of spinach, a small bunch of basil from the store, walnuts, olive oil, salt and several garlic scapes (you could also add cheese or sundried tomatoes if you like).  The result was divine! And there was lots leftover to freeze to quick throw together dinners (pesto freezes really well).
IMG_3266

Garlic Scapes & Spinach

 

IMG_3265

Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi is one of those ingredients that I find hard to use.  Here are some yummy inspirations from Martha Stewart. The second link uses fresh peas too-  Enjoy!

 

From Bob:

I thought peas would be one of the easier CSA veggies to meal plan for, but I did find myself struggling a little bit last week.  My hesitation was this: with a half share I didn’t have a ton of peas once they were shelled, I didn’t want to stretch them with frozen but I still wanted to showcase their freshness and flavor.  Throwing them blindly into another dish and hiding them was the last thing I wanted to do.  So, I decided to try something new.  I bought a sliced panella loaf from Calandra’s and made a batch of homemade ricotta (it’s so, so much easier than you think – trust me, try it, and you’ll never go back to store bought – don’t be afraid to substitute low fat milk for the whole).  While I toasted the bread, I quickly blanched my peas and then smashed them with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh herbs (the dill from your CSA share would be good – mint was good too).  I topped the toasted bread with a smear of my ricotta then topped with the smashed pea mixture.  Simple, fresh and delicious.

6/21 Update & Share

Jun21

Today’s share will include:  lettuce, summer squash, garlic scapes, radishes (or salad turnips), broccoli or kale, kohlrabi, spinach, choice of escarole or frisee, peas and choice of cilantro or dill.

To read Farmer John’s update for this week, please click here.

Serving Suggestions: Week 2

Jun14
CSA Week 2 Share

CSA Week 2 Share

From Shana:

Those of you who aren’t sure what garlic scapes are or what to do with them, this is for you!
Garlic scapes are the flower bud of the garlic plant. The bud is removed in late June to encourage the bulbs to thicken up. Scapes make a fabulous addition to a flower bouquet, and they are delicious to eat! Scapes taste just like garlic. They can be used in exactly the same way as garlic in any recipe. Below are a few cool links that have lots of fun recipes and things to do with scapes:

From Bob:

If you’re like me and forgot about last week’s radishes after you topped Tuesday’s salad, here’s a quick way to pickle and preserve them for a bit longer.  These go great on top of tacos, add extra crunch and flavor on a sandwich or are just great out of the jar with a fork.

  • Leftover radishes, thinly sliced (I had 5, this amount of liquid should probably cover at least double that though)
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 3/4 cup distilled or apple cider vinegar
  • Heavy pinch of sugar
  • 1 tbsp each of your choice of flavor enhancers (mustard seed, dill seed, fennel seed, crushed red pepper, black peppercorns, to name a few – whatever you have on your spice rack really)
  1. In a saucepan, combine water, vinegar, sugar and seasonings.
  2. Over medium high heat, bring the mixture to a rolling boil.  Let boil for 5 minutes.
  3. Turn off the heat and cool until room temperature.
  4. Pour the mixture into a plastic or glass container with a tight fitting lid, add sliced radishes.  (If using plastic, use something disposable as the pink color the pickling liquid becomes from the radish will likely stain your tupperware)
  5. Store in the refrigerator.  Give them at least a few hours before serving.

If you have some leftover cornbread mix from last week’s suggestion and also were lucky enough to get some zucchini this week, give this simple recipe a try.  It’s great for a brunch and the leftovers refrigerate well for lunch the next day.