Third Share

We managed to make the greenest share ever this week! It was not intentional, really. But, indeed, every item is green. Chris proclaimed it the Save the Planet Share!

I’ll start with the new items:

Snow Peas! Yay! Sautee these with a little butter and a pinch of salt and that’s all you need. They are best when the stem end is snapped off and the string unzipped. They would be super for a stir-fry. Some prefer to have them raw in a salad or just as a crunchy snack. One of our CSA members shared a recipe that utilizes several items in the share: Crunchy Napa Cabbage Slaw. It includes thinly sliced snow peas.

Green Cabbage. Classic cabbage. These heads should make a nice cole slaw. I wouldn’t be afraid to substitute this for the Napa in the recipe above. Braised cabbage is a great accompaniment for pork or sausages. Here is one method:

BRAISED CABBAGE

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced

1 large tart apple, peeled, cored, finely diced

1/2 head of cabbage, coarsely chopped or shredded, about 8 cups

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

1/4 cup apricot preserves or apple jelly

salt, to taste

Preparation:

In a large saucepan, or Dutch oven, heat butter over low heat; add onion and apple; sauté for about 7 to 10 minutes, or until soft. Add cabbage, pepper, and vinegar; and preserves or jelly; toss to blend well. Cover tightly and simmer slowly over low heat for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until cabbage is very soft and tender. Add salt to taste. Serves 4.

Scallions. Also in the above Slaw recipe that our angel CSA member sent along. Scallions are nice to add to a salad, or an egg scramble, or tacos, or a cheese quesadilla. That is our friend from the onion family this week – so try using the whites when you need an onion. Scallions are fabulous in dipping sauces for Asian dishes, or to finish off a stir fry.

Basil. Hurray for our medium greenhouse, the little unheated hoophouse that we grow a few crops in. The basil is going bonkers in there! (Does the word “bonkers” stir up any vague memories of ridiculous 80’s television ad campaigns for anyone else?) These are just the basil tips. Basil without fresh tomatoes may be crazy for some, but I truly believe in basil as soon as you can get it. Let it be inspiration to make a margarita pizza at home. You could do a tiny pesto. You could infuse the leaves into some olive oil or red wine vinegar and have a basil condiment ready at all times. I like to make fresh herb frittatas (basically a crustless quiche for anyone wondering). Basil can go into a salad – I find the best way to keep it from browning is to immediately toss it in olive oil. Add it to a pasta. Put it on a turkey sandwich. Food process with some butter and put it on some fish or chicken to cook. Put it in a salad dressing or a mayo. The possibilities are endless.

Tuscan Kale. Give this variety a try. I find it cooks up a little greener and more tender than the Red Russian Kale. I still recommend the garlic, olive oil, salt in a sautee pan. If you want to make a meal of it, kale, polenta, and a fried egg is pretty simple Tuscan-style fare. Kale soup, of course, is always an option. Kale chips, even, could be worth looking up. Don’t be afraid to freeze cooked kale if you feel presently overwhelmed by greens. Good greens are a welcome treat in the winter . . .

Cilantro. Again. It is also an ingredient in the slaw!!! What a home-run recipe for this week, Diana! If you didn’t get to try any of last week’s suggestions – maybe this is your week. Scallions and Cilantro add great freshness to any sort of burrito, taco, or quesadilla fest that may be happening in your kitchen soon. Our awesome helper, Meg, that you may see arranging flowers during pick-up hours, suggests a cilantro pesto on cheese raviolis. Yum.

Kohlrabi. A green one this time. These guys are whoppers. My favorite cooking method is roasted. Peel the skin and dice or slice and throw on a cookie sheet and toss with olive oil and salt. Put in the oven at 400 or so and check after 15 minutes, perhaps tossing, flipping with a spatula and then letting them finish. I saw one recipe that suggested roasting it along with garlic and then browning grated parmesan on top for the last five minutes. Chris did a nice roasting pan of red onion, garlic, broccoli, and kohlrabi with a little bit of veggie stock, olive oil, and soy sauce. He covered it with foil and put it in the oven for 35 – 40 minutes or so. Kohlrabi is really a good flavor sponge. I can see why it would do well in an Indian curry. We had positive reports of both raw kohlrabi sticks with dip and grated kohlrabi in a slaw.

Broccoli. The broccoli harvest is waning, but it was a hoot! I am happy we decided to go for the spring broccoli crop. Most of the main heads have been harvested so today we were picking lots of the side shoots. We hope you are still enjoying them. I love to hear that the kids are liking the brocc!

Arugula. A little taste of arugula. You can treat this like an herb, too. You can chop it and add it to a pasta salad or put it in a mayo or right on a sandwich. At the Italian train stops I always loved to get a piadina (a quesadilla, as far as I can tell) with arugula and spicy salami and cheese (mozzarella or anything, really). Tortillas are such a handy item to have around! A fancy homemade pizza could be a traditional basil, tomato, mozzarella base cooked and then finished with thinly sliced prosciutto and arugula tossed with a little olive oil and salt, kind of melted and wilted on as soon as the pizza comes out of the oven.

Lettuce. We hope our lettuce inspires you to have more salads! We are constantly seeding a new type of lettuce. This week there was Bergam’s Green (the frilly one), Red Tide (the tender red leaf), and Concept (the less frilly green leaf).

We are scrambling to keep us with everything! Thanks for being so supportive for us!

Take it easy! Happy summer solstice! The pinnacle of long days!