Week #3; Komatsuna is a winner.

Komatsuna greens: delicious, resilient, beloved by flea beetles.

For years, we’ve searched for new tender greens to grow for our spring CSA boxes.  There is a gap in harvests that is not easily filled by bok choy or mustard greens or arugula because they are prone to bolting (premature flowering) after fluctuating weather.  We tried a new green this year called komatsuna.  It’s tender and delicious, retaining beautiful leaf texture and color even after alternating hot and cold weather and far too much wind.  

I would call this a mild mustard green.  Please ignore the flea beetle damage this week – that particular field was badly hit this year.  

We recommend cooking this week’s harvest rather than using in salads.  Next year, we’ll try a younger harvest for raw use.  “Komatsuna is traditionally used in Japan either steamed and seasoned with soy sauce, or in stir fries and soups. It is also excellent braised.”  (from Johnnys Seeds)

Here’s a particularly enthusiastic seed catalogue description:
“One of the “most underrated” leafy greens, Komatsuna is simply mouth watering.  This leafy green is incredibly delicious, mild and tender.  It holds superfood status in its native Japan, and in some studies it contained nearly twice as much calcium as whole milk per 100 grams!  The leaves are also super high in beta carotene, as well as vitamins A, C and K.  Komatsuna has been revered in Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean cuisine as a mouth-watering veggie for many years, and in America chefs and nutritionally minded foodies have identified it as a delicious, juicy and health-promoting green.  Let the culinary experimentation begin!”

Use in any recipe that calls for mustard greens or bok choy.  Phoebe has a few suggestions in our Recipes section below, or just google ‘komatsuna recipes’ for some traditional Japanese dishes.

The crew harvested your komatsuna in and after rain today.  It was a muddy job and everyone was relieved when the rain stopped.  The bottom crates are empty spacers that we use to keep our harvest crates off the mud.  From left, Ella, Chelsea, Ari, Matt, Raul and Karen.  Offscreen, Maggie, Madelyn and Owin.

Komatsuna bunches before washing.  Plan to wash your greens carefully this week.  Rain splashed soil and grit into your komatsuna, spinach, escarole and Romaine.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #3, June 9/10, 2022
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ green

Shiitake mushrooms, 1/2 lb
Escarole, 1 head
Romaine lettuce, 1 head
Spinach, 1 bunch
Komatsuna greens, 1 bunch
White salad turnips, 1/2 to 2/3 lb
Cilantro, 1 bunch
Scallions, 1 bunch
Salad radishes OR kohlrabi, small amount

Next week’s box will probably contain white salad turnips, spinach, lettuce, spring greens, scallions and more.

Escarole (broad head of wavy green leaves) – These members of the chicory family can be used interchangeably in recipes.  Both are good eaten 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.  Cover and refrigerate.

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.  Do not cover the paper bag.  Mushrooms are perishable so use soon.

White salad turnips ( 1 to 3 white roots) – I know that returning members look forward to these sweet and delicious turnips, which taste nothing like the turnips that are harvested in fall.  We removed the tops this year and are sending just the roots.
– Storage: Cover and refrigerate.
– Uses: Salad turnip 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. 
– 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.

Romaine lettuce (upright head of lettuce with crisp leaves) – More sturdy and less fragile than our other spring lettuces.  Great for Caesar Salad or lettuce wraps.  If you’re intimidated by the amount of salad greens this week, Ceasar salad is a good option because it shrinks a big head of lettuce and everyone will fight over the leftovers.  Poof, it’s gone.

Komatsuna greens (bundle of dark green leaves) – See above.  Storage: Cover and refrigerate.

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. 

(ONE site will receive instead of radishes) Kohlrabi (pale green, round vegetable with thick skin) – 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.  

Greens ID

This week’s escarole and Romaine lettuce look pretty similar.  Examine the base to distinguish them.  Escarole mid-veins are whiter and more pronounced.  Also, escarole leaves are wavier.

RECIPES by PHOEBE

Spinach Pesto Pasta with Capers and Chickpeas

In this bright & briny pasta recipe, I use spinach two ways. I blend some into a vibrant pesto with lemon and capers, and I toss the rest with the pasta to add texture to the final dish. You could make this recipe with almost any pasta shape, but I think it’s most fun when you use pipe rigate or orecchiette – something that will catch and cradle the capers and chickpeas.

Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

For the pesto
½ cup toasted walnuts*
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove
2 teaspoons capers
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 cups spinach
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper

For the pasta
10 ounces pipe rigate or other short pasta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1½ cups cooked chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and patted dry, loose skins removed
1 tablespoon capers
4 cups spinach
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

1. Make the pesto: In a food processor, place the walnuts, lemon juice, garlic, capers, salt, and a few grinds of pepper and pulse until finely chopped. Add the spinach and pulse to combine. With the food processor running, drizzle in the olive oil and pulse to form a thick sauce. Add the Parmesan and pulse until combined.
2. Make the pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, cooking until al dente. Before draining the pasta, reserve 1 cup of the starchy pasta water. Drain the pasta and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, crisp the chickpeas. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chickpeas and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the chickpeas are lightly crisp and beginning to brown. Stir in the capers and remove from the heat.
4. Return the pasta pot to the stove. Heat it over low heat, then add the spinach and 2 tablespoons of the reserved pasta water and stir until the spinach is just wilted. Add the pasta back to the pot and toss to combine. Stir in the chickpeas and capers. Add the pesto and ½ cup of the reserved pasta water and toss to coat, adding more pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce. Season to taste and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

*I like to toast the walnuts in a 325°F oven until fragrant, 5 to 10 minutes.

Sautéed Turnips with Miso Butter

White turnips are one of my favorite spring vegetables, and this easy side dish is a really simple, delicious way to enjoy them. I love how the rich, savory miso butter accents the natural sweetness of the sautéed roots.

Serves 2 to 4 as a side dish
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 8 minutes

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 teaspoons white miso paste
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces white turnips, halved if small, quartered or cut into thin wedges if large
2 tablespoons water
Thinly sliced scallion greens or finely chopped cilantro, for garnish (optional)

Place the butter and miso paste in a small bowl. Use a fork to cream them together.

Heat the olive oil in a large lidded skillet over medium heat. Add the turnips, cut side down, and cook without stirring until they start to brown underneath, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip them over, add the water, and quickly cover the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the turnips are tender when pierced with a knife, about 3 minutes.

Uncover the pan and turn off the heat. Add the miso butter and allow it to melt, tossing the turnips to coat. Serve garnished with scallions, if using.

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Photo by Stephanie and Mike Le

One Pan Creamy Dijon Mustard Chicken

From I Am A Food Blog
You can use any type of mushrooms in this one-pan chicken recipe, and I think this week’s shiitakes would be delicious. For the greens, toss in spinach, chopped escarole, or especially komatsuna!
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Photo by Andrea Bemis

Chicory Salad with White Beans, Anchovies & Parmesan

From Dishing Up The Dirt
This hearty salad would be a great showcase for this week’s escarole! The bitter greens play off creamy white beans and an umami anchovy, garlic, and Parmesan dressing. This recipe calls for parsley. Feel free to skip it, or sub in fresh cilantro.
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Photo by Spoon Fork Bacon

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

From Spoon Fork Bacon
These lettuce wraps would be such a fun way to use this week’s romaine! The filling is a saucy, sweet, and savory mixture of chicken thighs, shiitake mushrooms, and garlic and ginger. It also includes canned bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. If you don’t keep these ingredients on hand, feel free to skip them and add a few extra shiitakes instead.
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Photo by Kathryne Taylor

Mega Crunchy Romaine Salad

From Cookie + Kate
This refreshing salad would be a great summer side dish or healthy lunch! A zippy cilantro dressing coats crunchy romaine, radishes, quinoa, sunflower seeds, and chewy dried cranberries. The recipe also calls for cabbage, which you can skip, and carrots, which you can replace with extra radishes or salad turnips.
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Photo by Andrea Bemis

Braised Mustard Greens with Sesame Chickpeas

From Dishing Up The Dirt
This recipe would be a simple, flavorful way to cook the komatsuna in this week’s box. The greens are braised in miso water and then tossed with nutty sesame oil, maple syrup, and tangy rice vinegar. A roasted sesame chickpea topping adds crunch.
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Photo by Pinch of Yum

Coconut Curry Ramen

From Pinch of Yum
Shiitake mushrooms add meaty texture and savory flavor to this rich vegetarian ramen. The recipe calls for bok choy, but a few handfuls of komatsuna would be a perfect sub.

Week #2; Forward motion

We think you will enjoy this box!  Clockwise from top; rhubarb, spinach, green leaf lettuce, salad radishes, button mushrooms, and bok choy, plus asparagus and green garlic in center.  The cilantro was not yet harvested so it didn’t make the photo.

Farm news

We are moving forward at a rapid pace, planting crops, training new employees, and harvesting produce for all of you.  Let’s share a few images and stories from the week.

The wind was crazy this week!  We lined up a large crew for Monday, expecting to spend the day transplanting the seedlings in the photos above.  The wind ended that plan.  We raise our seedlings in our greenhouses and move them outside to ‘harden off’ in a sheltered spot near the buildings.  Wind is buffered by trees to the west and south.  Exposure to sun and wind and rain helps prepare the seedlings but, early in the week, wind out in the unsheltered fields was too fierce.  Even hardened seedlings are fragile and can break.  So we switched gears, worked on other projects and are now ready to transplant most of the seedlings above on Thursday and Friday.

We add new employees are our work increases.  Above, crew leader Maggie shows new employees Madalyn and Ella (off screen) how to harvest and bunch cilantro.  The bunch size is important, to ensure we have enough crop for both this week’s and next week’s CSA deliveries.  In the background Karen (10th season) gathers the harvest tools. At left, Ari (5th season of work, 19th year of residence) watches.  

Abby washes your rhubarb.
Our rhubarb fields have recovered from last year’s devastating late May frost.  Returning members, you may remember that we had almost no rhubarb for you because of that frost.  The plants regrew, but needed a season’s recovery before we could harvest again.  They are looking good now.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #2, June 2/3 2022
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ purple
– Sampler/ sun

Asparagus, ~1 lb
Bok choy, 1 medium
Button mushrooms, 12 oz
Cilantro, 1 bunch
Green garlic, 1 bunch
Lettuce, green leaf
Rhubarb, 1.75 lb
Salad radishes, 1 bunch
Spinach, 1 bunch

Next week’s box will probably contain spinach, lettuce, salad turnips, shiitake mushrooms, escarole, another type of spring green and more.

VEGGIE NOTES
Visit this section each week for information about each vegetable, including anything I want you to know about this week’s harvest.  I list the storage and prep information once or twice, but then I stop repeating it.  We encourage you to read the newsletter each week so you have this information ready when you receive a vegetable for the first time.  For this week, I’ll repeat everything relevant from our 5/26/22 newsletter, to make things easy for members getting their first box this week.

Asparagus – This is my favorite spring treat!  Some of the asparagus is from our farm and some is from our friends Tim and April’s Lotfotl Farm.   They have a larger asparagus field than they need, so we go and pick it for them once a week.
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.

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.
Some heads have small flower stalks which you can eat or remove.  The plants have begun flowering in response to cold – hot – cold weather this spring.  

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.

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

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.

Lettuce – See the “How to wash greens efficiently and to maximize storage life” section in our 5/26/22 newsletter.  That approved to wash and spin dry your greens will be useful all season.  Storage:  Refrigerate in a bag or other container.

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.
Preserve: Rhubarb is so 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 – This batch is tender and excellent for salads or cooking. See the “How to wash greens efficiently and to maximize storage life” section in our 5/26/22 newsletter.

RECIPES by DEB

Turmeric-Black Pepper Chicken With Asparagus

This dish is based on a recipe from the New York Times, that suggests subbing in any quick cooking vegetable for the asparagus, such as the bok choy or spinach in this week’s box, and serving it with rice or noodles, or in lettuce cups. You could also sub tofu or shrimp for the chicken.

Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes, not counting time for rice or noodles

3 tablespoons honey
1.4 cup water
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided, plus additional to taste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 tablespoon coconut or canola oil
3/4 asparagus, trimmed and sliced on an angle into about 1-inch lengths, leaving the tips a bit longer
1 teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar or soy sauce
Optional – 1 lime, cut into wedges for serving

1. Stir together the water, honey, pepper, and a 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl or spouted measuring cup, and set the honey mixture aside.
2. Combine the flour, turmeric, and 1 teaspoon salt in a shallow bowl of plate. Add the chicken pieces and toss until coated.
3. Heat the olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach and a pinch of salt and cook, tossing, until just wilted, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Heat the oil in a 10-inch or larger nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until the turmeric is fragrant and the chicken is golden brown on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Add the asparagus, stir to combine, and cook until crisp-tender, 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Add the honey mixture and cook, stirring, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and stir in the vinegar or soy sauce. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper to taste, and serve over rice or noodles with lime wedges if you like.

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Master recipe for vegetable quiche

Use this recipe to turn any number of vegetables from this week’s box – like mushrooms, asparagus, spinach, or a combination! – into quiche. See process pictures here.

Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 30 minutes, plus an hour or overnight to chill the crust
Cook time: 40-45 minutes

Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour (unbleached white or whole wheat)
good pinch salt, less if you’re using salted butter
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup butter, either salted or un- (1 stick, 8 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening or lard
1 tablespoon sugar
2-4 tablespoons cold water

Filling:
1-2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1/2 to 1 cup chopped onion, or other onion-like vegetable – green garlic, shallots, scallions, leeks, etc.
Two generous cups vegetables, cleaned and sliced, e.g. asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, kale or other sturdy greens, etc. The exception is spinach – since it will wilt down a lot, you’ll need to start with at least half a pound and up to one pound of spinach.
salt and freshly ground pepper, maybe a grate or two of fresh nutmeg
1 1/2 cups grated cheese, 3-4 ounces, or similar volume crumbled goat cheese or feta
2-4 eggs
1 1/2 to 1 2/3 cups half & half, buttermilk, heavy cream, or a mixture

1. Make the crust: measure the flour, salt and sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer (my favorite method), your food processor, or a mixing bowl. Slice the butter and shortening over the top and combine with the flour mixture, using the paddle attachment of the mixer, by pulsing the processor, or using a pastry blender, 2 knives, or your fingers, until you have a crumbly mixture with no butter lumps bigger than currants. With the mixer or processor running, or while stirring with fork, drizzle in the water by tablespoons, until the mixture just starts to come together in clumps. Stop before you have one big ball. Turn the crust out onto a floured surface and knead lightly to bring it together. Gather it into a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap (in plastic, wax paper, one of your reusable snack/sandwich bags), and chill for about an hour, and up to 2 days.
2. Roll out the crust: If the dough has been chilling, get it out of the fridge about 15 minutes before you want to roll it out, to soften just a bit. Roll out the crust and fit it into a shallow 9-inch pie plate, metal preferred. The crust browns better in metal then glass, and tends to slip down the sides less. Set the crust in the fridge or freezer while you prepare the filling.
3. Make the filling: melt the butter or pour the olive oil in a 10-12 inch skillet with a lid. Add the onions and sauté over medium heat until softened but not browned, 5-10 minutes. If you are using a vegetable with harder parts, such as asparagus stalks or broccoli or chard stems, add them now. Season with salt and pepper and continue to cook until starting to soften, another 5 minutes or so. Add the rest of the vegetable, e.g. asparagus tips or broccoli florets. Cover the pan the let everything steam until the vegetables are done to your liking – they should be a little underdone than for regular eating, since they will cook again in the quiche. If you are using greens add them to the onion mixture, and cover right away to wilt. Remove the lid and cook for a few more minutes to boil off any excess liquid. Remove from the heat and let cool.
4. Heat the oven to 375° Get the quiche crust out of the fridge or freezer, and place it on a cookie sheet or pizza pan, dark colored (better for browning) if you have one.
5. Assemble the quiche: Sprinkle a layer of cheese into the bottom of the crust, reserving about 1/3 cup for topping. Beat the eggs in a spouted measuring cup that’s at least 2 cups (one pint) or larger if you have one. Add enough of whatever dairy product you are using to come to 2 1/4 cups. Add the vegetable filling on top of the cheese, and then pour in the egg mixture. Some people like to put the vegetable & cheese filled quiche onto the oven rack, and then add the egg to avoid having to walk across the kitchen with a liquid-filled quiche. If your oven racks don’t slide in smoothly you might spill the quiche at that point, however.
6. Bake for about 25 minutes on an upper rack then move to a lower rack and bake another 20 minutes or so until puffed and golden. Allow to rest for a few minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy hot or room temperature.

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Photo by Melissa Gaman

Baby Bok Choy with Oyster Sauce

From Food Network
This recipe calls for about 1 1/2 pounds of bok choy; we’re getting a bit less than that in the box – but it’s a light amount of sauce so will not overpower the smaller amount of vegetables!
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Photo by Whitney of Salt & Baker

Creamy Goat Cheese and Asparagus Spinach Pasta

From Salt & Baker
This light pasta dish can be prepared in 30 minutes or less, and seems designed for the produce in this week’s box, mushrooms, asparagus, and spinach. Sub in the white parts of one stalk of green garlic, minced, for the garlic clove called for.
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Photo by Michelle Minnaar

Chicken with Rhubarb

From the Greedy Gourmet
This quick dinner shows off the savory side of rhubarb. Serve with sauteed spinach and cilantro rice (stir about 1/4 cup chopped cilantro into 2 cups of cooked rice) for a complete meal.
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Photo by DebsLunch

Rhubarb Custard Crumb Cake

From DebsLunch, based on Nicola Lamb
How many recipes for rhubarb cake can anyone possibly need? This crumble-topped, custard-filled version is a welcome addition to your recipe files!
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Photo by Julie of the Healthy Epicurean

Sweet Pickled Rhubarb

From The Healthy Epicurean
Another savory rhubarb recipe, and there are any number of ways to use this pickled rhubarb from the Healthy Epicurean; serve it with roasted chicken or other meats, top a bagel with cream cheese, or add it to a salad – see suggestions following. This recipe provides instructions for canning the pickled rhubarb to make it shelf-stable, but it will work as a refrigerator pickle and should keep in the fridge for several months.
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Photo by The Mother Cooker

Quick Pickled Rhubarb Salad with Goats Cheese

From The Mother Cooker
This recipe from a UK blog, where they have rhubarb much earlier in the year then we do, can be used with the sweet pickled rhubarb, and also provides another formula for pickling your rhubarb, and suggestions for combining it in a salad with lettuce from this week’s box, goat cheese, onion pickled along with the rhubarb, and a dressing made from olive oil and pickling brine. A few sliced mushrooms or spinach leaves or salad radishes would also be tasty in this salad.

Week #1; Weekly & EOW/green members

Much of your produce came from this field planted in mid April.  From left, spinach, escarole (for a future delivery), bok choy.  Radishes are far to the right and the red block at the back is red leaf lettuce.

The strawberries are blossoming and look great!  Berries won’t ripen until later June but it’s exciting to see lots of blossoms.

Farm News

We are busy starting our harvest season and training new employees.  I’ll write more about the farm in future but wanted to share the photos above.  We have kept to our usual planting schedule but crops are growing slowly because of the cool, cloudy weather.

Deliveries begin this week for our Weekly and Every-other-week/green members, on May 26/27 (Thurs/Fri sites)

If you are uncertain of your schedule, log into your account and view the calendar on your dashboard.  If you’ve forgotten your password, use the password re-set.  Having a live calendar for each member is pretty darn nice.

Things you need to know.

♦  On Thursday, we deliver CSA boxes to Evansville, Fitchburg, Madison, McFarland, Middleton, Oregon and Verona.
♦  On Friday, we deliver CSA boxes to Janesville.
♦  We post this newsletter/blog each Wednesday night, with a list of veggies for the week, quantities, information about storage and preparation, news of the farm, recipes, and a forecast for the next week’s box.  I’ll send an email on Wednesday night once the newsletter is posted and ready to read.  I send the Wednesday email to everyone, not just the people receiving a box that week.
♦  EOW, Sampler and Weekly members, we assume you read all the newsletters, even on your “off” weeks.  This newsletter (and our emails to you) are our means to communicate with you.
♦  Want earlier notice of what will be in the box?  Check the sidebar on our website homepage around 7 – 8 p.m. on Wednesday night.  I’ll post the list under “Box Contents.”  Also, the Veggie List section of this newsletter each week contains a forecast for the following week.  The list is rarely complete but the items listed are ones we feel confident about.
♦  The first few boxes of the season are often the lightest.  EOW members, do not worry that you have signed up for the wrong share!   Our deliveries get heavier and more abundant as the season progresses.

How to wash greens efficiently and to maximize storage life

Washing and drying your lettuce, spinach, and other greens prolongs their storage life.  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 #1, May 26/27, 2022
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ green

Asparagus, ~1 lb
Bok choy, 1 medium
Green garlic, 1 bunch
Lettuce, red leaf, 2 heads
Potatoes, Dark Red Norlands, ~3.5 lb
Rhubarb, 1.75 lb
Salad radishes, 1 bunch
Spinach, 1 bunch

Next week’s box will probably contain asparagus, green garlic, lettuce, rhubarb, salad radishes, spinach, and mushrooms and more.

Asparagus – This is my favorite spring treat!  Some of the asparagus is from our farm and some is from our friends Tim and April’s Lotfotl Farm.   They have a larger asparagus field than they need, so we go and pick it for them once a week.
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.

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.
Some heads have small flower stalks which you can eat or remove.  The plants have begun flowering in response to cold – hot – cold weather this spring.  

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.

Lettuce – See notes about about washing and spinning dry.  Storage:  Refrigerate in a bag or other container.

Potatoes, Dark Red Norlands – Please refrigerate these potatoes.  They are in great shape now but will sprout within days if stored at room temperature!  They’ve been stored all winter and want to grow.  Store in a paper bag to protect from light, even in the fridge.  We grow everything we send in our CSA boxes except potatoes, mushrooms and some asparagus, all of which we buy from organic growers that we trust.  We purchased these potatoes from Jesse & Jonnah Perkins at Mythic Farm (formerly Vermont Valley Farm.)  Jesse says the potatoes have a higher sugar content because of starch to sugar conversion during cold storage.  That means the potatoes taste a bit sweet, and will darken slightly when fried. It’s a harmless color change due to the sugar conversion.  

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.
Preserve: Rhubarb is so 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 – This batch is tender and excellent for salads cooking.  

RECIPES from PHOEBE

Spinach & Ricotta Pizza

I started making this pizza after eating a similar one at Spacca Napoli, a great Italian restaurant in our neighborhood. I love that it’s both super simple and super flavorful, topped with a creamy layer of lemon ricotta, lots of sautéed spinach, and a shower of Parmesan cheese. Look for fresh pizza dough at your grocery store, or try making your own. I’ve had success with this recipe and this recipe.

Serves: 2-3
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Cornmeal, for the pan
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 garlic clove, grated
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups fresh spinach
1 pound pizza dough
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 500°F and dust a large baking sheet or pizza pan with cornmeal.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, lemon zest, garlic, salt, and several grinds of pepper. Set aside.
3. Heat the olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach and a pinch of salt and cook, tossing, until just wilted, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Place the pizza dough on the prepared pan and stretch it into a large circle about 12 inches in diameter. Spread the ricotta mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a ½-inch border around the edges. Top with the spinach, then sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake until the crust is golden brown, about 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
6. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes, slice, and serve.

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Pickled Bok Choy Stems

Juicy, crunchy bok choy stems are perfect for pickling! Try adding these sweet and tangy pickles to salads, sandwiches, and wraps like the one below.

Prep time: overnight
Cook time: 1 minute

1½ cups diced bok choy stems
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
⅔ cup water
⅓ cup distilled white vinegar
1½ tablespoons cane sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt

1. Place the bok choy stems, peppercorns, and mustard seeds in a lidded jar and set aside.
2. Heat the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until the sugar and salt dissolve, then pour the brine over the bok choy stems. Cover the jar and shake, then uncover and allow to cool to room temperature.
3. Transfer to the fridge to chill overnight. The pickles should keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks.

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Curried Chickpea & Bok Choy Wraps

These refreshing wraps have been one of our go-to lunches this spring. A creamy curried chickpea salad contrasts with crisp bok choy leaves and crunchy, tangy pickled bok choy stems. If you make the bok choy stem pickles ahead of time, the wraps only take a few minutes to put together, but for even quicker assembly, you can also prep the chickpea salad and the greens up to two days in advance.

Serves: 2
Prep time: 15 minutes with pre-made pickled bok choy stems

1½ cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
¼ cup whole milk Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons raisins
8 medium bok choy leaves, roughly chopped
2 large tortillas
¼ cup Pickled Bok Choy Stems (recipe above)

1. In a medium bowl, place the chickpeas, yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, curry powder, salt, and several grinds of pepper. Stir to combine, then mash with a potato masher until the mixture is thick and creamy with some whole chickpeas still intact. Fold in the raisins.
2. In another medium bowl, toss the bok choy leaves with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt.
3. Fill each tortilla with half the chickpea salad, half the bok choy leaves, and half the pickled bok choy stems. Fold the left and right sides of the tortillas over the fillings, then tuck and roll the wraps closed. Slice in half, if desired, and serve.

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Photo by Andrea Bemis

Green Garlic Risotto

From Dishing Up The Dirt
This creamy spring risotto is a perfect way to showcase the green garlic in this week’s box. The recipe calls for mizuna, but a big handful of spinach (or even thinly sliced asparagus) would work just as well.
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Photo by Jeanine Donofrio & Phoebe Moore

Caesar Salad

From Love & Lemons
Romaine is traditional for Caesar salad, but the red leaf lettuce from this week’s box would taste fantastic in this recipe, too! Radishes, roasted chickpeas, and croutons give it lots of crunch, and a creamy homemade dressing packs it with tangy, briny flavor. For more ideas on how to dress your lettuce, check out this roundup of easy homemade salad dressings from Love & Lemons.
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Photo by Two Peas & Their Pod

Asparagus Chickpea Quinoa Salad

From Two Peas & Their Pod
This lemony asparagus, feta, and grain salad would be a great make-ahead lunch or picnic side dish! The recipe calls for green onions, but you could easily substitute thinly sliced green garlic from this week’s box.
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Photo by Spoon Fork Bacon

Creamy Potato Salad

From Spoon Fork Bacon
Perfect for a weekend cookout! This recipe calls for mashing some of the potatoes, which gives the salad an extra-creamy texture. If you don’t have a shallot or chives, add a few tablespoons of minced green garlic instead.
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Photo by Jeanine Donofrio & Jack Mathews

Oven Roasted Potatoes

From Love & Lemons
In this mouthwatering side dish, crispy roasted potatoes are tossed in a zingy lemon dressing. If you don’t have fresh rosemary, substitute 1 teaspoon dried, or feel free to skip it. The dressing is still plenty flavorful without it!
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Photo by Cookie + Kate

Rhubarb Chia Jam

From Cookie + Kate
A really simple way to enjoy your rhubarb! This sweet and sour jam would be fantastic on oatmeal, yogurt, toast, and more.
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Storage Share, Nov 18/19, 2021

Good bye for now!

Thank you so much for joining our farm this season.  We hope you stay safe and warm this winter, and that this big delivery brightens your winter meals.
Beth and Steve

We’ve packed both cauliflower and Romanesco in the Storage shares.  These crops were late this year because of the warm weather in September and October but the heads sized up eventually!  The outer leaves were nipped by frost but the heads were not.

A beautiful November sunset

Storage Share this week

Your produce is in one box labelled “A” and one box labelled “B”.  Bring lots of bags and containers.

Things you need to know about your winter share

* Your delivery will consist of two different boxes, labeled “A” and “B”.  Take produce from one “A” box and one “B” box.  The boxes contain different vegetables.
* Please pick up your boxes on the day of delivery, during the normal hours for your site.
* Bring extra bags or containers this time.  Leave the Tipi boxes at your site, take the produce home in your own bags/containers.
* If you send someone to pick up your produce, make sure they know what to do.

Strategy

We hope you enjoy this shipment of veggies.  Strategize to use them well, as some will last longer than others. 
* These are the most perishable vegetables:  Brussels sprouts, cauliflower.
* These are the next-most perishable: Leeks, Romanesco.  Keep an eye on your butternut, potatoes and sweet potatoes.  The last two are susceptible to drying out.  Expect the largest butternuts to last the longest.
* These will last the longest: beets, cabbage, carrots, celeriac, garlic, red & yellow onions, parsnips and shallots.

Veggie List (Nov. 18/19, 2021)

Box “A”
Everything in this box can be stored cool or at room temperature.  See notes below for more detail.

(Combined squash & sweet potatoes weigh 20 to 22 lb.)
Butternut squash, several
Special winter squash (‘Autumn Frost’ OR ‘Winter Sweet’)
Sweet potatoes, mixed ‘Beauregard’, ‘Covington’ & ‘Orleans’
Russet potatoes, 5 lb
Shallots, ~1 lb
Garlic, 3 – 4 bulbs (in shallot bag)

Box “B”
Refrigerate everything in this box, except the onions.

Beets, 3 lb
Brussels sprouts, 1 lb
Carrots, 5 lb
Cauliflower, 1 medium head
Celeriac, 1
Green cabbage, 1 head
Leeks, ~2.25 lb
Onions, 5 lb total
….. a mix of red ‘Blush’ and yellow onions
Parsnips, ~2 lb
Romanesco cauliflower, 1 medium head 

Everyone gets Winter Sweet (left) OR Autumn Frost squash (right) plus several butternuts.

Shallots.  Yours are packed in a paper bag with the garlic.

Top, ‘Blush’ red onion
Bottom, yellow onions

The ‘Blush’ onions are more pink than red, and excellent for long storage.

Beets – Refrigerate in a bag or container.  Beets will store for two months or longer.

Brussels sprouts – Eat within 2 to 3 weeks.

Cabbage – Refrigerate.

Carrots, orange.  Refrigerate in a plastic bag.  Will keep for several weeks.

Cauliflower – Refrigerate.  These should store for two weeks.  Don’t be alarmed by the frost damage on the wrapper leaves.  The heads are fine.

Celeriac – Will store for months in your fridge.  Cut off chunks as needed.  Peel before using.  I find it easiest to cut the celeriac into flat slices, then peel.

Garlic –  Store at room temperature.  Some of your bulbs might be in halves.  We continue opening the bulbs to check for any internal problems.

Green cabbage – Refrigerate.  These are big.  It’s OK to cut off chunks as needed.

Leeks.  Refrigerate. In general, leeks are not a long-storage crop.  You may need to strip off one or two outer leaves to freshen the leeks before you cook them.

Onions: Refrigerate or store in a cool, dark spot and protect from light.  Exposure to light stimulates sprouting.  

Parsnips (These look like large white carrots.) – Refrigerate in a plastic bag.  Parsnips will store for several months but will darken in color.  That is a harmless change.

Potatoes; russets – Can be stored at room temperature or in a cool spot, but must be kept in the dark so they do not turn green.  A cloth or loose plastic bag draped over the paper bag will slow moisture loss, but do not close the plastic bag.  Potatoes store longer if kept cool.  Around 40 – 50 F is ideal.  These potatoes were grown by the Igl family near Antigo.
Russets– We got the big ‘baking’ grade so you have nice bakers for Thanksgiving.  Excellent for baked or mashed potatoes.

Romanesco cauliflower (beautiful chartreuse green, spiraled head) – Refrigerate.  These should store well, eg for a few weeks.

Shallots (look like small red onions) – Good for salad dressing.  We’re still learning how to grow shallots and are thrilled to have a small bag for everyone!

Sweet potatoes – We’re sending a mix of two indistinguishable varieties, Beauregard and Covington.  Both have excellent flavor and sweetness.  Store at room temperature, no lower than 55 F, but 60+ F is better.  Keep them on your kitchen counter where it’s easy to keep an eye on them.  I like to keep ours in a paper bag so they don’t dehydrate.  Cook promptly if they start to soften.  The roots come in a wide ranges of sizes and all are good.

WINTER SQUASH – Store all winter squash cool and dry.  60 F is ideal.  Do not put in a plastic bag.  Check your squash regularly and eat promptly if flaws develop.
Autumn Frost (For some sites, frosted pumpkin) – These beautiful frosted squash have both pumpkin and butternut squash breeding in them.  They cook and taste like an unusually good butternut, with rich, smooth texture.  They are quite nice.  The skin is elible.
Winter Sweet (For some sites; dark grey) – These storage squash will be ready to eat in December or January.  The metal-gray exterior hides deep orange, flaky flesh.  Simple preparation is best for this flavorful squash.  Cut into slices or chunks, rub with oil and roast in 400 degree oven.  We like to eat the squash with a garlic-yogurt dipping sauce.  The skin is edible.
Butternut winter squash (All sites; tan, oblong) – We’ve sent several varieties, some of which store better than others. Expect the largest butternuts to store the longest.  If your butternuts show signs of drying or wrinkling, use them promptly.  They will still taste great, but it’s a sign that they are nearing the end of their storage life.  Remember, you can cook, mash and freeze the squash for future use.  I find that you can refrigerate cut raw squash for up to one week.  This runs counter to the accepted way to store squash, but is useful if you want to cook just half a squash.  Some of them are big!  Try microwaving your squash for one to two minutes before cutting or peeling.  This softens the squash and makes a large butternut easier to handle.

Thanksgiving Menus

It’s time for our annual Thanksgiving menu round-up!  Right now, websites are loaded with great recipes suited to your Storage Share vegetables.  Peruse and bookmark soon.  The Thanksgiving collections are usually taken down quickly after the holiday but individual recipes are not.  I’ve gathered a long list of recipes to try this winter.

Smitten Kitchen
I love Deb Perelman!  She has an extensive list of Thanksgiving recipes collected over the years.  I really trust her recipes.

Food52.com
Once again, the lively Food52.com site has outdone itself with an extensive Thanksgiving recipe collection.  They’ve named it “AutoMagic Holiday Menu Maker“.  It’s organized by type of dish.  Scroll down to these sections for lots of veggie-centric dishes.  There are soooo many appealing dishes.
3. Soups & Salads
4. Main Attractions/ Not meat subsection
5. Starchy Things
6. Vegetables

Thanksgiving meals by recent immigrants
https://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/a-totally-american-thanksgiving-immigrant-style 
In this 2017 post, Rachel Ray asked first- and second-generation American chefs to tell us how they mix cultures and cuisines to create Thanksgiving dinners.  The recipes include:
Persian-Style Roast Turkey with Pomegranate-Walnut Gravy
Beet & Tahini Dip (Khlat)
Jerk Sweet Potatoes
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Cheesy Root Vegetable Gratin

From Spoon Fork Bacon
Look at that gorgeous casserole.  The recipe has well-thought-out instructions.  I have a difficult history with these kinds of dishes (4 hours in the oven, too much butter, etc) but this one worked great.  See my version below.
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Beth’s Gratin

I made the recipe above with these adaptions and it was still delicious! And pretty!
– I substituted oat milk for the heavy cream but didn’t change the amounts of cheese.  Honestly, skipping the cream did not matter.
– I used potatoes, sweet potatoes and parsnips, skipping beets to avoid the bleeding issues described in the original recipe.
– I added sliced shallots between every few slices.
– I baked it covered with foil for 45 minutes, then added gruyere cheese as directed and baked an additional 15 minutes.

It worked well to lay the raw vegetables in my baking dish to judge how much to slice.  I used all shown in the top photo except one potato, including the shallots visible at the edge of the dish.  We liked all three vegetables but the parsnips were the star so I’m making a sweet potato and parsnip version for Thanksgiving.

Extension Share

Just three more weeks.  Please don’t let it snow!

Bins of freshly harvested carrots

With our crew, we surge toward our finish line, harvesting and packing crops into storage.  We’re like squirrels, stashing away cabbage and root crops.  By Thanksgiving, we’ll be done.  This spell of cold weather has forced us to prioritize the more frost-vulnerable crops first.  All the celeriac, beets, daikon, rutabaga, napa cabbage are in.  We’re still working on carrots, parsnips, cabbage and leeks.  They can handle some very cold nights without damage.

Steve and I harvest carrots together most weekends.  He steers the harvester from the tractor.  I ride the back and keep the carrots flowing into bins.  We can harvest a lot, with just the two of us.

We picked lots of broccoli, cauliflower and some Romanesco for you this week, just before the nights got too cold.  Steve, Maggie, Ben and I cut in the field.  The conveyor carries the heads to the wagon.

Karen grades and counts the cauliflower from the conveyor belt.  So much counting!  Mike drives the tractor.

The farm is beautiful in the afternoon light.

Our house is filled with flowers that I cut before the freeze.  I bet you all did the same!  These are my favorite dahlias.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Extension Share
November 4/5, 2021

Winter squash (‘Autumn Frost’  or ‘Heart of Gold’)
‘Orleans’ sweet potatoes, 2 lb
White cauliflower, 1
Purple cauliflower, 1 small
Broccoli, 1 small
Carrots, 2 lb
‘Suntan’ bell peppers, 2
Poblano chiles, 2 (in bag with carrots)
Red onion
Yellow onion
Garlic

By site, you’ll get an additional portion of Romanesco cauliflower OR cauliflower (white or green or purple) OR broccoli.

‘Autumn Frost’ squash – Store cool and dry.  60 F is ideal.
This beautiful frosted squash has both pumpkin and butternut squash breeding.  They cook and taste like an unusually good butternut, with rich, smooth texture.  They are quite nice.  The skin is edible.  They store very well but you have to keep an eye on them.  If  you see flaws developing, eat promptly.

‘Heart of Gold’ acorn squash – A few sites get these speckled acorn squash.  We’ve trialled this variety a few years and are very happy with its flavor and sturdiness.  Eat these soon – acorn squash do not store for long.

Orleans sweet potatoes – Store at room temperature, no colder than 60 F.
We couldn’t wash the sweet potatoes because of the cold weather.  We had to drain all the pipes in our pack shed.  Therefore, we packed the unwashed sweet potatoes into paper bags, to keep everything else from getting dirty.

Garlic – This is the German Extra Hardy strain.

Medley of cauliflowers, broccoli, Romanesco – Refrigerate.
We have a medley of these crops to share this week.  Most people will get a white cauliflower + a small purple cauliflower + something else (unless your cauliflower is unusually large).  The warm fall weather delayed these crops.  Cauliflower and Romanesco don’t set their heads without cold weather.  We’re glad they made it but then we had to pick them small before the freeze.

RECIPES from PHOEBE

Visit our 2020 Recipe Log or our 2019 Recipe Log.

Broccoli and Cauliflower Rice Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Tossed in a sweet and tangy honey mustard dressing, this salad is a fresh, fun side dish. You can make it a day or two ahead of time, but wait to add the toasted almonds until right before you eat.

Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 20 minutes, plus 30 minutes marinating
Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 small head broccoli (about 1/2 pound)
1 small cauliflower (about 1 pound), chopped
3 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 garlic clove, grated
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, more for sprinkling
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Big pinch smoked paprika
Heaping 1/4 cup dried cranberries

1. Break the broccoli into small florets. Set them aside and roughly chop the stalk. Place the chopped broccoli stalk in a food processor with half the cauliflower and lightly pulse until the vegetable pieces are well-chopped, but not pureed, about the size of grains of rice. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with the remaining cauliflower.
2. Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, the mustard, vinegar, honey, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Add the second batch of cauliflower, the broccoli florets, and the red onion to the large bowl, and toss to combine. Pour in the dressing, and mix well to coat. Set aside for at least 30 minutes so that the vegetables have a chance to marinate in the dressing.
4. Meanwhile, toast the almonds. Line a large plate with paper towels. Heat the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add the almonds and cook, stirring constantly, until golden brown and fragrant, 4-5 minutes, turning down the heat as necessary. Remove from the heat and scrape onto the lined plate. Spread in an even layer, sprinkle with salt and smoked paprika, and set aside to crisp and cool for 10 minutes.
5. Before serving, fold the dried cranberries into the salad and sprinkle with the almonds. Season to taste and serve.

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Roasted Cauliflower Flatbreads

Thanks to toppings like dried apricots, olives, roasted onions, and cauliflower, these flatbreads boast a delicious, unexpected mix of sweet, tangy, and briny flavors. Slice them up and serve them as an appetizer, or enjoy them as a meal on their own. I like to make them with store-bought naan, though if there’s another type of flatbread you like, go ahead and use it instead!

Serves: 4-8
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

5 cups small cauliflower and/or Romanesco florets (1 pound)
1/2 cup cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 onion, peeled and sliced into thin wedges
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (4 ounces)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
4 large or 8 small naan or other flatbreads
3 dried apricots, diced
1/4 cup pitted green olives, torn
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the cauliflower and/or Romanesco florets on one sheet and the chickpeas and onion wedges on the other. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Spread in a single layer and roast for 25-30 minutes, or until the chickpeas are crisp, the onion is soft and browned, and the cauliflower is tender and browned around the edges.
2. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and measure 1/2 cup of the cauliflower florets. Place them in a food processor with the feta, 3 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, and water. Process until smooth.
3. Meanwhile, warm the flatbreads in the oven. I like to place them directly on the oven racks for 5 minutes, or until slightly browned and beginning to crisp up on the bottom.
4. Assemble the flatbreads with a slather of the feta mixture, the remaining cauliflower florets, the chickpeas, onions, dried apricots, and olives. Sprinkle with the lemon zest, season with a few grinds of black pepper, and serve.

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Butternut Squash Risotto

From Love & Lemons
Dice up your Autumn Frost squash, and use it in this creamy, comforting fall risotto. If you don’t have rosemary or sage on hand, feel free to skip it. Even without the herbs, this recipe is fantastic.
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Poblano Chicken Fajitas

From What’s Gaby Cooking
Served with tortillas and whatever fixings you like, this fajita recipe is an easy, 1-skillet meal. Toss in the poblanos and bell peppers from your box – any color will be fine!
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Roasted Broccoli Sweet Potato Chickpea Salad

From Minimalist Baker
This hearty salad would be a great lunch or light dinner. Cauliflower or Romanesco cauliflower would be a fine sub for the broccoli here, or you could use a mix of cauliflower and broccoli.
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5-Ingredient Sweet Potato Turkey Chili

From Pinch of Yum
Ok, in reality, this recipe is more like 10 ingredients, but it’s super simple nonetheless. Perfect for using this week’s sweet potatoes!
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Roasted Carrots with Honey Butter

From Cookie + Kate
A drizzle of honey butter highlights the natural sweetness of these simple roasted carrots.
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Spicy Sesame Carrot Soup with Red Lentils

From The First Mess
Tahini and red lentils give this pureed soup a rich, creamy texture. Serve with crusty bread for a delicious fall meal!

Week #24; Final week of the regular season

My ‘garlic office’ upstairs in the barn is a warm and peaceful place to sort garlic.

Frost on rutabaga leaves

Kale harvest on a blue-sky day.  Photo credit Matt Salbego

Season’s end

This is the final delivery of our May – October season.  Thank you so much for joining our farm this year.  We deeply appreciate the trust you have placed in us.  Thank you for letting us feed you.  We hope you discovered new favorite dishes, and that we helped you and your friends and family stay healthy and well-fed.

You can expect to hear from us again this fall.  We are busy hauling in storage crops and will finish that work by Thanksgiving.  Soon, we’ll analyze the season and will get in touch to share our thoughts on the year and will send a survey to gather your thoughts as well.  

Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.
Love,
Beth & Steve

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #24, October 28/29, 2021
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ green

Brussels sprouts, ~1 lb
‘Orleans’ sweet potatoes, ~3 lb
Butternut squash
Beets, ~2 lb
Celeriac, 1 root
Kale or collards, 1 bunch
A few peppers, mostly ‘suntan’ bells
Poblano chiles (medium heat; in bag with Brussels sprouts), 2
Yellow onion, 1
Red onion, 1
Garlic, 1/2 bulb
– Some sites get broccoli.
– Some sites get cauliflower.
– One site gets Romanesco cauliflower.

Brussels sprouts – Now the sprouts have experienced a few frosty nights, which helps them sweeten a bit.  These sprouts have flaws and need a close look.  Peel off any bad outer leaves.

Celeriac (knobby, round, bizarre-looking vegetable which smells like celery) – Refrigerate. Celeriac will store in your refrigerator for months.  Cut off chunks as you need them.  Peel before using.  Flavorful celeriac is good raw or cooked.  It is excellent in mixed roasted veggies or in soup.  It’s especially good in cream soups, alone or mixed with potatoes.  Grated raw celeriac is a great starting point for winter salads.

Peppers – Everyone gets a few peppers this week.  Most will be ‘suntan’ bell peppers.  These are partly ripe; half red and half green.  The season is ending so we cannot wait for them to ripen fully!  

Garlic – Everyone gets a half bulb of garlic this week.  These bulbs dried slowly or had bug issues, so we wanted to open and examine each one.  Some of them are a little odd but all are useable.

RECIPES from PHOEBE

Visit our 2020 Recipe Log or our 2019 Recipe Log.

Fall Farro Salad with Cinnamon-Sage Dressing

Filled with sweet, nutty, and savory fall flavors, this hearty salad is a delicious lunch or side dish. It keeps well if you make it ahead of time, but wait to add the hazelnuts until right before you eat.

Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

1/3 cup raw hazelnuts
4 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash (1/2-inch cubes)
4 cups peeled and cubed celeriac (1/2-inch cubes)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 garlic clove, grated
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, more for sprinkling
Freshly ground black pepper
3 cups cooked farro
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup diced red onion
1 kale leaf, finely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread the hazelnuts on one of the baking sheets and toast in the oven for 7-10 minutes, or until fragrant. Remove from the oven and transfer to a small bowl. Set aside to cool.
2. Raise the oven temperature to 425°F. Place the butternut squash on one baking sheet and the celeriac on the other. Drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat, then spread in an even layer on the baking sheets. Transfer to the oven and roast for 30-40 minutes, or until fork-tender and lightly browned around the edges, tossing halfway.
3. Meanwhile, make the dressing. In a small bowl, place the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, maple syrup, mustard, sage, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. Add a few grinds of fresh black pepper and whisk to thoroughly combine. Set aside.
4. When the hazelnuts are cool to the touch, use your hands to rub off any loose skins. Roughly chop the nuts, then place in a large bowl with the farro, dried cranberries, onion, kale, and roasted vegetables. Toss to combine, then pour in the dressing and toss again. Season to taste and serve.

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Roasted Beets with Cumin, Coriander, and Whipped Feta Yogurt

In this recipe, I serve sweet, earthy roasted beets over a creamy, tangy whipped feta yogurt. Toasted pepitas add crunch, and aromatic cumin and coriander seeds take it all over the top! If you want to get ahead here, you can roast the beets and prepare the yogurt up to 2 days in advance. Store them separately until you’re ready to serve.

Serves: 3-4
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

3 medium beets
1 tablespoon pepitas
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 garlic clove
1 cup whole milk Greek yogurt
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, more for drizzling
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, more for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Wash the beets well and wrap each one in a sheet of aluminum foil with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 45-60 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork. Unwrap the foil and set the beets aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, place a small, dry skillet over medium-low heat and add the pepitas. Toast, stirring often, until fragrant and golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Transfer the pepitas to a small bowl and add the coriander and cumin seeds to the skillet. Toast, stirring often, until fragrant, 30 seconds-1 minute. Remove from the heat and transfer to a mortar and pestle. Lightly crush the seeds and set aside.
3. Make the whipped feta yogurt: Place the garlic in a food processor and process until minced. Add the Greek yogurt, feta, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice and process until smooth. Season to taste and set aside.
4. When the beets are cool enough to handle, slip off their skins. Chop the beets into large chunks and transfer them to a medium bowl. Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, the remaining 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt and toss to combine.
5. Spread the whipped feta yogurt on the bottom of a large plate or serving platter. Arrange the beets on top, leaving any juices behind in the bowl. Sprinkle with the pepitas and the crushed spices and serve.

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Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad

From Love & Lemons
This simple fall salad is a bright, refreshing side dish! If you don’t have chives on hand, feel free to skip them. The salad is still great without.
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Smoky Sweet Potato Kale Salad with Hot Ginger Dressing

From How Sweet Eats
A perfect lunch salad! It’s made with massaged kale, smoky roasted sweet potatoes, and pepitas for crunch. A tangy, nutty ginger dressing ties it all together.
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Fettuccine Alfredo

From Love & Lemons
This creamy, comforting pasta has a secret ingredient: cauliflower! For a vegan version, check out this post.
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Garden Keeper’s Pie with Beets, Lentils, and Creamy Celery Root Mash

From The First Mess
This recipe is a perfect match for this week’s box. The filling is a saucy mix of beets, squash, and lentils, and it’s topped with a creamy, savory celery root mash. If you don’t have fresh thyme and rosemary on hand, dried will work just fine.
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Fudgy Vegan Double Chocolate Beet Muffins

From Minimalist Baker
Blended roasted beets make these muffins wonderfully fudgy and moist. Don’t worry, you won’t taste them!
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Cheesy Sweet Potato Fritters

From Spoon Fork Bacon
What a fun way to cook sweet potatoes! If you have extras, the recipe’s author, Jenny Park, recommends freezing them and reheating them later in the oven. Feel free to omit the chives if you don’t have any on hand.

Week #23; Season is almost over. Nature surges on.

It is hard to believe that our regular CSA season is almost over!

Wow, it’s been an excellent growing season. Let’s review our final deliveries:
– This week (Oct 21) is the final delivery for our EOW/purple and Sampler/sun members.
– Deliveries ended two weeks ago for our Sampler/moon group.
– Next week (Oct 28) is the final delivery for Weekly and EOW/green.

Scallion harvest on a beautiful afternoon.

Nature surges on.

By October 21 in most years, many of our crops are shut down by cold weather and frost.  We hurry about to harvest the last peppers or protect them from frost.  Not this year!  Our fall crops continue to absorb the late warmth, and continue to grow.  The upsides of a warm fall are extra growth and pleasant working conditions.  Our fall work is much easier and less stressful in mild weather.  

The downside is that some crops need cold nights to trigger maturation.  Some cauliflower and Romanesco broccoli varieties behave that way, and have not formed their heads yet.  Other crops like Brussels sprouts and parsnips improve in quality after repeated frosts.  We couldn’t wait any longer, so we’re sending both of those vegetables this week.  They’re still good, just less sweet.

Obviously, the biggest downside is concern that we’re experiencing the effects of global warming.
Beth

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #23
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ purple
– Sampler/ sun

Brussels sprouts, 1 lb
Parsnips, ~1.5 lb
Satina potatoes, 3.5 lb
Leeks, ~2 count
Koji greens
Poblano chiles (in Brussels sprouts bag), 2
Frying or bell peppers, 3 – 4
Scallions, 1 bunch
Shallots, 1 or 2
– Most sites get broccoli.  
– A few sites get cauliflower.
– A few sites get Jester winter squash OR sweet potatoes.

Next week’s box will probably contain Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, celeriac, beets and more.

Brussels sprouts – If you are a new CSA member, please approach Brussels sprouts with an open mind.  Many of us grew up eating awful, overcooked Brussels sprouts.  These Brussels sprouts are completely different. 
This week’s sprouts – These have flaws and need a close look.  Peel off any bad outer leaves.
Here is our method to cook Brussels sprouts: Wash the sprouts and trim the cut ends. Cut an X in the stem end of large sprouts.  Cut a single slit in small or medium sprouts.  This does two things. It helps the Brussels sprouts cook evenly, plus it allows them to soak up any marinade or dressing.  Place sprouts in a pot with one inch of water in the bottom and steam until tender, 7 to 10 minutes.  If the sprouts are uneven in size, then set aside the smallest ones and add to the pot after the larger ones have cooked for a few minutes.  Don’t overcook them!  You can also oven-roast Brussels sprouts.  
Here are a few dressing ideas for cooked sprouts:  
– Sherry vinegar/olive oil/Dijon mustard/garlic/white wine/salt and pepper.  This is our favorite, especially when you combine the Brussels sprouts with slivered peppers and thinly sliced onions.  Delicious warm, cold, or at room temperature.
– Balsamic vinegar/olive oil/garlic/salt and pepper
– Lemon juice and zest/melted brown butter/poppy seeds/white wine/garlic/salt

Parsnips (These look like large white carrots) – Those long, white roots are not carrots, they are parsnips. The two vegetables are related.  When cooked, parsnips are sweet and starchy.  For the best flavor, brown them to caramelize the sugars.  Here are a few ideas for parsnip preparation:
– Caramelize the parsnips by roasting them in a vegetable medley.
– Parsnip fries are delicious: cut like French fries, oil lightly, place on a cookie sheet and roast in a hot oven until brown and cooked through.
– Try substituting grated parsnips in a potato pancake recipe. They brown beautifully and are very tasty.
– Steve loves pan-fried parsnips with onions and garlic.

Satina yellow potatoes – These are from our friends Brad and Brian Igl’s farm near Antigo.  Store dry at room temperature, in the paper bag to protect from light.  These are good all-purpose potatoes.  They roast very nicely.

Leeks (look like big scallions) – These alliums have a milder flavor than onions.  Nonetheless, they can be used in recipes that call for onions.  To wash, split the leek lengthwise, from the green tops about halfway to the base, leaving the base intact.  Rinse well under running water, separating the layers to flush.  If necessary, split the leek further if soil has penetrated more than halfway down the leek.  Shake dry.  Leeks are generally eaten cooked.  They can be sauteed, steamed or roasted.  Intact leeks will store 2 to 3 weeks if covered loosely and refrigerated.  The outer leaves will yellow.  Just peel them off and discard.  The inner leek layers will be fine.

Koji greens (head of dark green leaves) – Refrigerate.
 Koji greens are a lot like Yukina if you know that one; dark green with a nice balance of bitter flavor but not too strong.  Like tat soi but with larger, lusher leaves and not so many leaf stalks.  Recipes that use mustard greens or bok choy will work with Koji.  In a contest for my favorite fall green, Koji runs neck and neck with bok choy.

Poblano chiles (in bag with Brussels sprouts) – Dark green or red, triangular.  These have medium heat and terrific flavor.  We’ve included them with the potatoes and leeks because they are such a great combination.  Roast your poblanos, then use to top any soup or casserole you prepare with your potatoes.

Shallots (look like small red onions) –  Store at room temperature.   Shallots store for a long time.  Excellent minced for salad dressing.  They will sweeten considerably when fried and can be used in Thai or Vietnamese dishes, to top burgers, etc.  
Fried shallots – Thinly slice shallots.  Heat 2 Tbsp peanut oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat.  Add shallots and fry gently, mixing occasionally, until golden brown.

RECIPES from DEB

Visit our 2020 Recipe Log or our 2019 Recipe Log.

Cauliflower and garbanzo bean curry

Based on a recipe by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage, I, like everyone else in the comments, do not make it exactly as written. This recipe is vegan, as long as you don’t serve it with yogurt!
Serves 4-6
Takes 30 minutes, plus about 15 minutes extra cooking time if you use brown rice

1 1/2 cups raw white or brown rice
pinch of salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onions
1-2 poblano chiles, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced or put through a press
1 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2-3 teaspoons garam masala or yoru favorite curry powder (I like Penzey’s sweet curry)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 head of cauliflower (1 1/2-1 3/4 lbs.), cut into bite-size florets
1 cup chopped tomatoes, canned or fresh
About a cup (half a can)of coconut milk, or veggie broth
1 (14-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
3-4 scallions, thinly sliced

Start cooking the rice – in a saucepan with a lid, combine the rice with 2 3/4 to 3 cups cold water (the smaller amount is for white rice). Bring to a boil uncovered, then add salt, cover, and turn the heat to the lowest setting. Cook about 15 minutes for white rice, and 45 minutes for brown.

Heat the oil in a deep wide skillet with a lid, over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger and sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the coriander, cumin, chile flakes, garam masala or curry powder, and some salt and pepper and cook for a few more minutes. Add the cauliflower, the tomatoes with their juice, and the chickpeas, and stir well. Pour in enough coconut milk or veggie broth to cover everything, and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the cauliflower is tender. Check the seasoning, and add the scallions. Serve with plain or Greek yogurt, chutney, and naan.
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Nearing the end of the CSA potato soup

I developed this soup a few years ago, deep in the winter, to use up almost the last veggies from my Tipi storage share, what my family calls our “Thanksgiving Box”, but it adapts nicely for this week’s box. You can adjust the vegetables depending on what you’ve got – you need 4-5 cups of vegetables, so use more potatoes if you don’t have any carrots; a few of this week’s red peppers would add really nice color; use more leeks!
Serves 4-6
Takes about an hour, about 30 minutes active work, and the rest simmering

Ingredients:
1-2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
white and pale green parts of 1-2 leeks, split length-wise, well rinsed and sliced – one generous cup
2 parsnips, peeled, woody parts removed, and chopped – 3/4 cup
3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 to 1 1/2 inch cubes – a generous cup, maybe a cup & a third
2/3 cup peeled and chopped carrots
3-4 cups veggie or chicken broth, home made if you’ve got it, but you can use soup base and water, or even plain water
2 tablespoons butter, or vegan butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk, half & half, or a mixture (I half half & half and half 2% milk – that’s a lot of halfs) – or more veggie broth to make a non-dairy soup
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour the olive oil into a large pot that holds at least 4 quarts, and heat till fragrant. Add the leeks and some salt and pepper, give them a stir, and let them cook gently over medium heat while you chop up the rest of the vegetables. Add the parsnips, potatoes, and carrots, and continue to cook over medium heat until softened and starting to brown. They might start sticking a little bit, don’t worry about that – they’ll come loose when you add the broth.

Add the broth, making sure you have enough to cover all the vegetables – add water if necessary. Raise the heat until the mixture comes to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover and simmer until all the vegetables are soft, probably 15 minutes. In my experience the carrots take the longest, oddly.

Make the roux while the vegetables cook: melt the butter in a small skillet. Add the flour, and cook and stir for a few minutes until there’s no raw flour smell.

When the vegetables are all cooked, stir in the (cooled) roux, and keep stirring while the mixture thickens, to ensure there won’t be any lumps. Mix the half & half and milk in a spouted glass measuring cup, heat it to just slightly warm in the microwave, and add it to the soup. Heat gently, try not to boil it after you’ve added the dairy, add more salt and pepper, and serve.
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Brussels Sprouts with Parsnips

From Martha Stewart
I made this for Thanksgiving one year, and in all the excitement and people in the house, forgot about the dish, and got a really nice char on all the veggies – it was nevertheless completely eaten. Feel free to omit the pecans.
Takes about 40 minutes
Martha says serves 10, I’d say more like 6, unless it is part of a large meal with lots of other dishes.
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Photo by Ditte Isager

Poblano Potato Gratin

From Epicurious.
This spin on potatoes au gratin was created by Lillian Chou for Epicurious, and every time I make it, people gobble it up. We do not have quite enough poblanos to make the rajas (roasted pepper and onion strips) but you can sub in the red frying peppers from this weeks box.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo

Julia Turshen’s Favorite Affordable Dinner: Vegetable Fried Rice

From Epicurious.
Use Julia Turshen’s (author of the cookbooks Small Victories, Now & Again, and Feed the Resistance) formula for fried rice to use up lots of the veggies and scallions in this week’s box – cook some extra rice when you make the cauliflower curry and your set! Another delicious variant is kimchi fried rice, if you made some kimchi earlier in the summer – for 2 cups cups rice, use 1 cup of drained kimchi, 4-6 strips of bacon, and all the scallions.
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Pepper and Egg Sandwich

From Leite’s Culinaria.
Here’s recipe for a popular Italian-American sandwich, good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, that you can make with the red and Poblano peppers from this week’s box. You might want to cut back on the hot sauce since the Poblanos will provide some heat, and sturdy brat buns are a good stand-in for Italian bread.
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Photo by Mark Weinberg

Garlicky Chicken Thighs With Scallion and Lime

From NYT Cooking.
If you’re looking for scallion ideas, here’s a parting thought. To round out the meal, accompany this recipe by Alison Roman with sauteed koji greens and rice.

Week #22. Gleaning day.

The most common question at the gleaning party this weekend was:
Q: “What happened to the pumpkins?”
A:  They were ripe and ready six weeks ago!  The blossoms set fruit early and then hot weather sped development. They were ready very early, long before we could host a gleaning party.  The winter squash ripened around the same time, but we moved the squash into our dry, safe greenhouse to cure.  The pumpkins were left on the ground and many rotted.  We simply didn’t have a safe place to move them.  Fortunately, we had one pumpkin for each visiting household but everyone had to hunt for the good ones. 

The weather was spectacular and there were many other crops to glean, so no one seemed to mind.

Hunting for a few peppers.

One family’s haul.  Everyone pitched in!

There was plenty of room to spread out.  We created the reservation system to manage parking and to moderate how many people arrived at once.  Space in the fields isn’t an issue.

We made everyone hike this year.  Many gleaning crops were far from the buildings.  It just turned out that way, but meant that members got to see the entire farm this year.  It was a perfect day to wander.

Korean radish

You will receive white and/or purple radish.

This is a favorite vegetable among our farm crew.  These crunchy Korean radishes are sweeter and milder than Japanese daikon radishes and come in a more manageable size.  They contain lots of water, which makes them easy to pickle or ferment.

Here are some of my favorite uses.  You’ll receive about 1.5 lb radish this week (one or two radishes).  

Clockwise from top; Vietnamese Pickled Carrots & Daikon Radish Recipe (Đồ Chua, photo credit Hungry Huy); the Maangchi.com website has so many recipes for Korean daikon including Radish Kimchi (photo credit Maangchi).

Vietnamese Pickled Carrots & Daikon Radish Recipe (Đồ Chua)

From Hungy Huy.
This is my go-to recipe for mixed daikon-carrot salad.  The recipe calls for a light fermentation but it’s good after an hour in the fridge.  This pickled carrot-daikon salad is used to top bahn mi sandwiches and in other Vietnamese dishes.  Huy offers a nice discussion of how this pickle evolved as his family emigrated to the US.  He lists these other recipes that the pickles can be used with: 

Vietnamese sandwiches (bánh mì), savory crepes (bánh xèo), grilled pork and noodles (bún thịt nướng), egg rolls (chả gìo), and the list goes on. Larger cuts are usually found next to cuts of meat, while finer shreds are put in nước chấm (dipping sauce).

Maangchi rules for radish ideas!

Head to Maangchi for dozens of radish recipes.  She has the best website for Korean recipes.  Her Radish Kimchi recipe is close to foolproof and easy to scale.   If you make kimchi with the radish you receive this week, it should produce about one quart.

The Oriental Food Mart on Park Street in Madison is a Korean grocery that stocks Korean hot pepper flakes called for in many of her recipes.  Ask the owner for help picking out your pepper flakes – he is super helpful.  I keep a bag of medium heat in our freezer and use them in everything for flavor without excessive heat.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #22, October 14/15, 2021
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ green

Bok choy
Butternut squash
Romano beans, 1 lb
Carrots, 2 lb
Daikon radish, white OR purple, 1 – 2
Red frying peppers, 5 small
Yellow or red bell pepper, 1
Onion
Scallions, 1 bunch
Jalapeno (HOT)
‘Korean Red’ garlic
– Most sites get broccoli.
– One site gets cauliflower.

Next week’s box will probably contain Koji dark greens, butternut squash, parsnips, leeks, scallions and more.

Butternut squash – Storage:  Winter squash store best at room temperature with good air circulation.  No cooler than 50 degrees.  On your kitchen counter works well.  Keep an eye on your squash and cook promptly if any flaws develop.  This batch of butternuts should be good for at least one month.
Hint:  To make squash easier to cut, microwave on high for 30 to 60 seconds, depending on size of the squash.  This will soften the rind and flesh, making it much easier to cut.

Romano beans – These need washing.  We got a lot of rain this week.  These are pretty mature but might surprise you with their tenderness.  They ripened under ideal conditions.  I usually recommend braising for beans this mature but we think they are tender enough to use in any fashion.

Frying peppers (red or yellow) – Some are very ripe and have begun to wrinkle.  This is not cause for alarm.  We call these ‘pepper raisins’.  They will be sweet and flavorful.

RECIPES from PHOEBE

Visit our 2020 Recipe Log or our 2019 Recipe Log.

Curried Butternut Squash and Chickpea Quesadillas

Instead of filling these quesadillas with cheese, I stuff them with a yummy mix of roasted butternut squash, chickpeas, and curry spices. A bright scallion yogurt sauce takes them over the top.

Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour, including roasting the squash

Ingredients

For the scallion yogurt

1/2 cup whole milk Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the quesadillas

1 cup roasted butternut squash*
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed (1 14-ounce can)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions
2 tablespoons diced jalapeño
Freshly ground black pepper
6 medium flour tortillas

1. Make the yogurt sauce: In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, scallions, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Season to taste and set aside.
2. Prepare the quesadilla filling: In a medium bowl, mash together the squash, chickpeas, olive oil, curry powder, lemon juice, salt, and a few grinds of pepper using a potato masher or the back of a fork. Leave a few whole/larger chickpea pieces for texture. Fold in the scallions and jalapeño and season to taste.
3. Assemble the quesadillas: Lay each tortilla flat, and spread the right half with a scant 1/3 cup of the squash filling. Fold each tortilla closed over the filling. Heat a dry nonstick or cast-iron pan over medium heat, and cook each quesadilla for 1-2 minutes per side, or until lightly crisp and golden brown. Remove from the heat, slice, and serve with the scallion yogurt.

*To roast the squash: Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice a butternut squash in half vertically, scoop out the seeds, and rub the cut sides with olive oil and sea salt. Place cut-side-down on the baking sheet and roast until the squash is very tender, 35-45 minutes. Measure 1 cup of the soft flesh for this recipe (about 1/2 a medium-large squash). Blend the remaining squash into soup or a dip, or use it in baking recipes, like the scones in the newsletter from Week 19.
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Sesame Bok Choy and Bell Pepper Slaw

This quick slaw is such a fresh, easy side dish. A tangy sesame dressing coats crisp veggies and crunchy toasted nuts.

Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup raw unsalted cashews
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 large bok choy, stems and leaves thinly sliced
1 colored bell pepper, thinly sliced into 1-inch strips
4 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the cashews and sesame seeds on the baking sheet in a single layer and transfer to the oven. Toast for 8-12 minutes, until the cashews are golden brown and the nuts and seeds are fragrant. Set aside to cool.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, tamari, sesame oil, rice vinegar, maple syrup, and ginger.
3. In a large bowl, toss together the bok choy, bell pepper, and scallions. Pour on the dressing and toss to coat. Add the toasted cashews and sesame seeds and toss again. Season to taste and serve.

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Carrot Ginger Soup

From Love & Lemons
Made with under 10 ingredients, this lightly creamy carrot soup is ridiculously simple and delicious.
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Healthy Carrot Muffins

From Cookie & Kate
These veggie-packed muffins would be a yummy breakfast or afternoon snack.
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Crispy Peanut Tofu and Cauliflower Rice Stir-Fry

From Minimalist Baker
This stir-fry would be a great way to use your bok choy, green onions, bell pepper, and/or broccoli this week! If you have cauliflower in your box, you could also make the cauliflower rice. If not, the stir-fry would be just as good served over regular rice. A mix of regular rice and cauliflower rice would work well too.
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Spicy Braised Green Beans

From Went Here 8 This
This method would be a great way to cook your romano beans this week. Because romano beans are thicker and tougher than regular green beans, you may need to increase the simmering time to 45 minutes or more. If the pan starts to dry out, just add a bit more coconut milk or water.
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Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta

From What’s Gaby Cooking
This creamy squash pasta is such an easy, comforting vegetarian dinner. If you don’t have shallots on hand, you can substitute the onion from this week’s box. Instead of halving it, chop it into large chunks to roast with the squash and garlic.

Week #21: Darn it, Steve won the bet.

Top, sweet corn for your CSA boxes,
Middle, transplanting sweet corn seedlings to the field
Bottom, protecting the ears from birds.

I’ve written before to explain our decision to plant more but smaller sweet corn fields this year.  Let’s explore more details and share your responses to our sweet corn survey.  

Our intention was to increase the number of sweet corn deliveries from five to seven, thereby increasing the odds that we’d deliver corn to all members, regardless of their box schedule.  For example, one year we planted five fields but four deliveries fell on one EOW group and the other EOW group only got one delivery.  It was just bad luck related to the weather but worth avoiding if we can.

First, we increased the number of plantings but made each field smaller.  Then we settled on a favorite variety (‘Vision’) and seeded in flats every 7 to 10 days.  This was a dry year, so we were able to transplant the seedlings on a regular schedule but that’s unlikely to work every year.  Wet weather can force transplanting delays, throwing off the schedule.  Seven weeks is our maximum.  Later plantings have too much likelihood of bug damage.

The downside of this new effort is that it creates more work for us; more seedings, more times to gather a transplant crew, more weedings, irrigations, harvests, etc.   You get the idea.  But we were lucky and it worked well this season.

Wow, you like sweet corn

I sent a short survey to ask how you felt about the new corn schedule.  I predicted that you would like getting 8 ears of corn per week, but would be sick of sweet corn by the end of seven weeks.  Steve guessed that you wouldn’t (he eats corn every day in season).  Darn it, he won the bet!  But you won the corn!

Here are your answers.  We are very happy with these results.

Comments and Questions

Here are a few of the many comments submitted with the survey.  Basically, you either loved the extra corn deliveries or found ways to make them work, eg freezing extras for corn & potato chowder.  It’s tough to pick which comment is most endearing, but the first one is an honor.

You gave us some of the best sweet corn we’ve ever had.   That’s saying something because we’re both in our 70s and we’ve eaten a lot of sweet corn in our time!

The “sweet corn from the farm” was the only sweet corn that our son would eat!

The number of ears of corn was generally too much for us to eat in one week, but we froze a lot of it, which is just fine with me.  Actually I’m thrilled to make some corn chowder later with potatoes…yum!  Thank you!

About the caterpillars – I so appreciate when you tell us to just cut the tips off.  I follow those instructions and otherwise would find the bugs disturbing and terrible.  But when I don’t have to see them, I can pretend they’re not there.

My son and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your farm!  Our weeks are almost totally based around the CSA!  We sit down several times a week to plan and discuss meals, we keep a running inventory, we’re excited about picking it up from our site! Thanks!

To be honest I think you should plant and harvest whichever way is easiest for you.  The corn keeps well in the fridge so having a few extra or a few fewer ears per box didn’t make a difference for us.

Brought on by your 5 vs. 7 weeks of corn question: As someone who receives EOW, I wonder why you don’t plan for 6 deliveries? So it doesn’t seem like the other ‘color’ might get an extra week of something depending on timing?

Beth: In a perfect world, six plantings would make sense.  We hedge our bets with seven. Don’t worry, we’ll have something special for the other ‘color’.

Maybe we’ve veered into self-congratulation, but it’s fun!
Thanks for taking the survey.  I sent the link again in tonight’s email, if anyone still wants to participate.
Beth
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Half garlic bulb this week

Everyone gets a half bulb of garlic this week. These bulbs dried slowly or had bug issues, so we wanted to open and examine each one.  Some of them are a little odd but all are useable.
Beth

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #21, October 7/8, 2021
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ purple
– Sampler/ moon

‘Beauregard’ sweet potatoes, ~2 lb
Romano beans, 1.4 lb
Acorn winter squash, 1 small
Carrots, ~2 lb
Colored peppers, 2
Oranos snack peppers, 4 – 5 small
Yellow onion
Red onion
Jalapeno (HOT)
Garlic, one half bulb.  Might be a little weird.
Some sites get broccoli (purple &/or green).
Some sites get broccoli & cauliflower.

Next week’s box will probably contain bok choy, butternut squash, scallions, peppers and more.

‘Beauregard’ sweet potatoes – Store your sweet potatoes at room temperature.  They suffer chilling injury below 50 F.
Here are a few things we’ve learned about sweet potatoes:
– For best flavor, cook your sweet potatoes so they brown and caramelize.  We have a simple, favorite way to roast sweet potatoes.  We used to prepare sweet potato fries in the oven.  Now we just quarter the potatoes, rub with olive oil, dust with salt and place cut-side-down on a cookie sheet.  Roast in a 450 F oven without turning until soft.  The flavors will caramelize (like sweet potato fries) but preparation is simpler and the cooking time less exacting.  Slender sweet potato fries go from undercooked to overcooked in the blink of an eye.  Larger slices are less exacting, and therefore are easier.  Small sweet potatoes can be cut just in half.  Jumbos will need to be chopped into pieces.  Otherwise, they take a long time to cook.
– This first batch of sweet potatoes will need slightly longer cooking than ones from the supermarket, perhaps because they contain higher moisture so soon after harvest.
– Sweet potatoes are good at any size. We have cooked everything from tiny to jumbo and consistently find that all sizes taste good.

Romano beans – Romano beans are more robust and meaty than green beans.  They are excellent raw but really shine when gently cooked for a long time.  Here’s a pep talk from Tipi member Steve Rankin:

“You have finally sold me.  I have never been a fan of Romano beans.  This week I have been sautéing them with various peppers and garlic, as well as the oregano from earlier this season.  They are especially tasty with poblanos.  Lots of black pepper and some soy sauce, which make the pan sticky. I deglaze the pan with wine and braise them in the wine. I’m sold!”

Acorn winter squash – Everyone gets one ‘Jester’ or ‘Carnival’ squash.  Store at room temperature for two weeks but keep an eye on your squash and cook promptly if it starts to deteriorate.

Jalapeno chile (HOT) – This small chile is dark green or dark green with a red tip.  It’s recognizable by its color and size.  It is the only hot pepper this week.  All other peppers in this week’s box are sweet.

RECIPES from DEB

Visit our 2020 Recipe Log or our 2019 Recipe Log.

Caramel sweet potato pie

Based on a recipe from November 2018 Food & Wine, this pie could also be made with squash or pumpkin puree.
Takes about 45 minutes active time, plus 30 minutes to chill the crust and 45 minutes to bake.
Makes 8 big slices.

Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
good pinch salt, unless you’re using salted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup butter, either salted or un- (1 stick, 8 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening or lard
1 tablespoon sugar
2-4 tablespoons cold water
Special equipment – pie weights or dried beans, parchment paper

Filling:
2 3/4 cups sweet potato puree (roasting the sweet potatoes will give you a drier puree, but steaming also works and is quicker!)
3 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons water
2/3 cup heavy cream, warmed
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a generous pinch of kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
OR use two teaspoons pumpkin pie spice blend, such as Penzey’s

Make the crust: measure the flour, salt and sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer (my favorite method), your food processor, or a mixing bowl. Slice the butter and shortening over the top and combine with the flour mixture, using the paddle attachment of the mixer, by pulsing the processor, or using a pastry blender, 2 knives or your fingers, until you have a crumbly mixture with no butter lumps bigger than currants. With the mixer or processor running, or while stirring with fork, drizzle in the water by tablespoons, until the mixture just starts to come together in clumps. Stop before you have one big ball. Turn the crust out onto a floured surface and knead lightly to bring it together. Gather it into a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap (in plastic, wax paper, one of your reusable snack/sandwich bags), and chill for about 30 minutes, and up to 2 days.

After chilling, roll out the crust and fit it into a deep 9-inch pie plate and trim and crimp the edges. Set it in the freezer or fridge to chill while you make the filling. Cut the trimmings into decorative shapes for the top of your pie, set them on a baking sheet, and chill them, too.

After the crust has chilled, heat the oven to 400°. Line the pie shell with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or beans. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes. Sprinkle the cutouts with cinnamon sugar, and bake them, too – they’ll brown quickly, so watch carefully! After about 16 minutes, take the shell out, carefully remove paper and weights, and prick the bottom of crust all over with a fork. Return the crust to the oven and bake until bottom is lightly browned, another 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and let it cool while you make the filling. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°.

Make the filling: Combine the pumpkin puree and the eggs – you’ll get the smoothest filling if you use a food processor, but you can whisk the eggs and potato together in a big bowl, too.

Stir the granulated sugar and 3 tablespoons water together in saucepan much bigger than you think you will need – at least 2 quarts. Cook over medium heat until the sugar melts, about 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and continue cooking, occasionally swirling the saucepan, until mixture is a rich caramel in color, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully pour in the warm cream – it will bubble furiously – this is why you need a big pan! Whisk in brown sugar and butter until smooth and incorporated.

When the warm caramel sauce into the pumpkin & egg mixture, and add the vanilla, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour the filling into the pie shell and smooth the top. Bake until the filling is just set, about 45 minutes. Decorate the top with your crust cutouts while the pie is still warm – they’ll stick better that way.
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Broccoli Casserole

This is based on Jane & Michael Stern of Roadfood fame, and I got the recipe from the Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper cookbook. It’s basically a strata, bread, egg, broccoli, and cheese.
Takes about 20 minutes active time, plus an hour to bake.
Serves four generously.

4-6 slices of bread, enough so that torn into bite-sized pieces it will cover the bottom of an 8-in. baking dish. The original recipe calls for soft white bread; I think soft whole wheat is good, too.
3 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted, plus a little extra for greasing the baking dish
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoons sugar (The original recipe calls for three!)
2 cups finely chopped broccoli – I like to do this in the food processor.

Heat the oven to 350°. Butter your baking dish – glass recommended, and cover the bottom of the dish with the torn bread. Beat the eggs, milk, and melted butter together, then add the cheese, salt and sugar. Stir in the broccoli and pour the mixture over the bread. Cover the dish with foil or a lid, and bake for about 45 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 to 15 minutes to brown the top, and if you want an even crispier top crust, run the casserole under the broiler.
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Miso Vegetables & Tofu Recipe

From 101 Cookbooks
Takes 30 minutes.
Serves 4-6, plus extra miso dressing.

This is a main dish salad with lots of veggies, from the 101 Cookbooks blog.  The author, Heidi Swanson, uses asparagus in this version, and says the original recipe, from a book called Everyday Harumi, uses green beans, that we get in the box this week. When I tested this recipe I served it over ramen noodles, and the leftovers were delicious for lunch the next day.
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Image credit Maria Siriano

Garlicky Broccoli Subs

From the Kitchn; by Megan Splawn
Take about 30 minutes.
Serves 4 to 6.

Why can’t broccoli be the star of a sandwich? This recipe from the Kitchn says, “Sure!” Substitute for the peppadews with thin slices of the Oranos peppers from the box, and spice the sandwiches up with some jalapeño if you like.
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Cookie + Kate

Roasted Cauliflower Recipe (Four Ways!)

Kate of Cookie and Kate gives us four different ways to roast cauliflower: Basic, Italian, Mexican, and my personal favorite, with Indian curry spices.
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Adam’s Green Bean Salad

From What’s Gaby Cooking
Takes 20 minutes
Serves 6

This delicious salad can be made with any type of green bean including the Romano beans in this week’s box, as shown in the picture.
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Photo by Dana Gallagher

Best Broccoli & Cauliflower Gratin

From Country Living; by Nancy Fuller.
Takes an hour and 10 minutes.
Serves 8-10.

The source of this recipe, County Living Magazine, suggests it as an upgrade for your Thanksgiving side dishes – but I see no reason to wait that long to make it!
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Photo by Gentl and Hyers

Sweet Potatoes with Tahini Butter Recipe | Bon Appétit

From Bon Appetit; by Carla Lalli Music
Takes about 40 minutes
Serves 6

This recipe for steamed sweet potatoes doused with tahini, butter, and lime juice, by Carla Lalli Music has also appeared in the New York Times, and is the type of recipe that gets a ton of comments – people are passionate about it! Give it a try and see how you feel.

Week #20; Spectacular winter squash harvests

Carnival squash, in the wild

Winter squash are tricky to grow.  They take a full season to mature, allowing many perils of insect attack or rot in wet weather.  This has been a remarkably dry growing season for us.  Dry years create extra irrigation work for us, but usually produce spectacular crops.  I’ve written it before, but we think this might be our best-ever CSA season.

Anyway, the winter squash have benefited from the dry weather plus our typical squash-loving insects were less abundant than usual (cucumber beetles and squash bugs).  Harvests have been so easy!  The same team of squash cutters have worked with me for years because it’s an exacting job and takes time to learn.  Not this year – almost all the squash were harvestable without special evaluation.  That gave me the freedom to include everyone in squash harvest at some point.  It’s a good job to share – squash are heavy, you know.

One of many wagonloads of winter squash.  From left, Billy, John, Matt and Scott, plus Simone in back near the tractor.  We are a good team.  You can see the harvest conveyor belt stretching off the wagon to the right.  We clip the squash, pile them in the field, then return to pick them up with the wagon and belt.  That harvest belt saves our backs – we place the squash directly on the belt instead of carrying filled crates out of the field.

The harvest belt in action, kind of.

From the front, Jester, Autumn Frost (for the Storage shares probably), then Nutterbutter butternuts.
We store the harvested squash in our biggest greenhouse.  It’s warm and dry, perfect for curing squash.

Thanks for reading.
Beth

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #
– Weekly shares
– EOW/ green

Green cabbage, ~ 3 lb
‘Carnival’ winter squash, 1 – 2
‘Mollie’ yellow potatoes, 3.5 lb
Green beans, 1.1 lb
Plum tomatoes, ~4 count
Colored peppers, ~3
Poblano chiles, 2
Onion
Garlic
Some sites get cauliflower this week.
Some sites get broccoli.

Next week’s box will probably contain sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, peppers, some kind of fall greens and more.

‘Carnival’ winter squash – These acorn squash were harvested from very healthy plants and should store at room temperature for up to one month.  After that, they’ll start to get stringy and lose flavor.  They are beautiful so keep them in your kitchen somewhere that you can admire them and also watch for developing flaws.  If you see any flaws, then eat them soon.  The skins are too tough to eat.

‘Mollie’ yellow potatoes – These organic potatoes were grown by our friends Josh and Noah Engel of Driftless Organics.  Josh says that Mollie is a “nice all-around potato, good for frying, boiling or mashing.”

Plum tomatoes – The tomato plants are in decline so these tomatoes have an expiration date of Sunday.  Eat or cook with them soon.

Poblano chiles (triangular, shiny; green or brown; MILDLY HOT) –  Poblanos are the creme de la creme of chiles.  They have lots of great flavor in combination with manageable heat.  Roast and add to soup or casseroles.  To reduce heat, remove the seeds and midveins.  

Poblano chiles will be dark green or chocolate-colored, occasionally with a red tip.  These are the only hot peppers in this week’s box.  All other peppers are sweet.

RECIPES from PHOEBE

Visit our 2020 Recipe Log or our 2019 Recipe Log.
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Lemony Sheet Pan Potatoes and Green Beans with Soft-Boiled Eggs

Crispy, creamy roasted potatoes, soft-boiled eggs, and a bright lemon-Dijon dressing make this simple recipe a satisfying meal. Don’t hold back on the dressing here – it really takes this dish over the top.

Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound green beans, trimmed
1 1/2 pounds yellow potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, grated
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, more for sprinkling
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked white beans, drained and rinsed (1 14-oz can)
1 tablespoon capers
1 teaspoon lemon zest
4 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Place the green beans on one baking sheet and the potatoes on the other. Drizzle them with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss to coat, and spread the veggies in a single layer. Roast the green beans for 17-22 minutes, or until crisp and beginning to brown. Roast the potatoes until the skins are puffed and crispy and the middles are tender, about 3o minutes, stirring halfway.
3. Meanwhile, make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, honey, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, and several grinds of fresh black pepper.
4. Place the white beans, capers, lemon zest, and 2 tablespoons of the dressing in a medium bowl and fold to combine. Set aside the beans and the remaining dressing while you prepare the eggs.
5. Fill a large saucepan halfway with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Set a medium bowl of ice water nearby. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and carefully lower the eggs into the pot. Simmer for 7 minutes, drain, and transfer the eggs to the bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Allow them to cool in the ice water for at least 2 minutes before carefully peeling off the shells.
6. Divide the roasted potatoes, green beans, and white beans among four plates and top each one with a soft-boiled egg. Season with salt and pepper and serve with generous drizzles of the dressing.

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Quinoa and Black Bean Vegetarian Chili

Serve this hearty veggie chili with whatever fixings you like. Crushed corn chips, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, grated cheddar cheese, cilantro, pickled onions, and pickled jalapeños would all be great.

Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 poblano pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
1 bell or frying pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 (14-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes and their juices
1 (14-ounce) can pinto beans and their liquid
1 (14-ounce) can black beans and their liquid
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1. Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, poblano, bell pepper, and a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5-8 minutes.
2. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, oregano, and salt and cook for 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
3. Add the tomatoes and their juices, pinto beans and their liquid, black beans and their liquid, quinoa, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the quinoa is tender and the chili has thickened, about 25 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat, stir in the lime juice, and season to taste.

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Roasted Squash Tacos with Garlic-Poblano Cream

Carnival squash’s skin is edible, so you can peel the squash or leave it un-peeled in this recipe. I typically don’t peel it (peeling acorn squash is not my favorite thing to do in the kitchen), but if you don’t love eating squash skin, go ahead and cut it off.

The poblano sauce here is delicious, but you need to blend it well to get a really creamy texture. If you don’t have a high-speed blender, such as a Vitamix, soak the cashews for at least 4 hours before making the sauce.

Serves: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

For the poblano sauce

1 poblano pepper
1/2 onion, peeled and cut into wedges
2 garlic cloves, left unpeeled
1/2 cup raw unsalted cashews
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, more for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

For the squash

1 carnival squash, halved, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

For the slaw and tacos

12 ounces green cabbage, shredded (about 1/2 one small cabbage)
1 colored bell or frying pepper, cut into 1-inch matchsticks
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 garlic clove, grated
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
12 small tortillas, warmed

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Make the poblano sauce: Place the whole poblano and the onion wedges on one of the baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Wrap the unpeeled garlic cloves in a small piece of aluminum foil with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Add the foil packet to the baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender. Allow to cool slightly.
3. Remove the skins from the garlic and the stem and seeds from the pepper. Transfer the roasted garlic, onion, and poblano to a high-speed blender with the cashews, water, olive oil, lime juice, vinegar, garlic powder, and salt. Blend until smooth and set aside.
4. Roast the squash: Place the squash in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder, and salt. Use your hands to make sure the squash is well-coated, then spread it in an even layer on the remaining baking sheet. Roast for about 30 minutes, or until you can easily pierce the squash with a fork, stirring every 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, make the slaw: Place the cabbage and pepper in a large bowl and toss with the lime juice, olive oil, lime zest, garlic, and salt.
6. Assemble the tacos in the tortillas with a big spoonful of the poblano sauce, a scoop of the slaw, and several pieces of the roasted squash.

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Cozy Cabbage and Farro Soup

From Smitten Kitchen
This recipe is an adaptation of the cabbage soup from the cookbook Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden, which is an excellent guide to cooking with seasonal vegetables. In the book, Joshua says that this soup has “a definite grandma vibe,” which is true in the best way. It’s comforting, nourishing, and deeply flavorful. Serve with good crusty bread.
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Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

From Love & Lemons
I love this recipe, which yields light and creamy mashed potatoes with a rich garlic flavor.
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Smoky Sautéed Cauliflower with Green Beans, Tahini, and Almonds

From The First Mess
A tasty, out-of-the-box veggie side dish. If you don’t have fresh thyme on hand, substitute 1/2 the amount of dried thyme.
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Creamy Potato Soup

From Love & Lemons
This smoky, tangy soup is such a cozy fall meal! It’s great topped with shredded cheese and/or sour cream, but if you skip those garnishes, it’s entirely vegan. Its rich, creamy texture comes from blended white beans and potatoes instead of dairy.