Friday, June 20, 2014

CSA Week 3

It's hard to believe it's week 3 already!  With the end of the school year and a big wedding to do flowers for, we have been BUSY!  I intended to post the weekly shares with descriptions and ideas for how to cook your garden produce, and am just now getting to that.  Here's what you got in weeks 1 & 2, and below that is week 3.  Feel free to leave comments in the 'Comments' section of this blog about how you use the produce, recipes, etc.

Week 1
Salad Mix
Radishes
Red Russian Kale
Strawberries (Pint)
Spring Onions

Week 2
Radishes
Salad Turnips
Snow Peas
Red Russian Kale
Strawberries (Pint)
Kohlrahbi
Garlic Scapes

Week 3
Snow Peas & Sugar Snap Peas (1 pint of each)- We have a bumper crop of these lovelies, so you'll be getting a lot of them!  They are so good stir-fried or eaten fresh in a salad.
Kohlrabi (3) -  Some of you may have not know what these were last week; if you haven't eaten them yet it's ok, they store for a long time in the fridge.  They are a unique vegetable in the broccoli/cabbage family (brassica).  Peel them and slice them up.  Eat them raw (plain, with a dip, or in a salad) or you can cook them.  A good way is in a skillet with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Add some potatoes for a hearty side dish.
Red Russian Kale (1 bunch) - Our kale is going crazy, so you are getting a lot of it!  Our favorite way to eat it is a kale salad.  Chop it up in 1/4 inch shreds, removing the hard stem piece.  Mix up a dressing in a separate bowl of olive oil, vinegar (rice wine or red wine are our favorites), 1 clove chopped garlic (or a garlic scape), salt, pepper, nutritional yeast (if you have it) and a bit of honey (about 1 tsp.)  I don't have exact measurements, but the idea is to use more olive oil and less vinegar (about a 3:1 ratio).  With clean hands, mix the dressing into the kale well.  This recipe is really versatile; you can add in all sorts of things that sound good; shredded vegetables, nuts or dried fruit.  It's really good and really healthy.
Spring Onions (1 bunch) - Eat the green tops too, they are tender and fresh.
Fresh Mint (1 bunch) - Mint juleps anyone?  Also good in salads, chopped with fruit or floated in water. 
Garlic Scapes & Green Garlic or Basil - First choice to first comers at pick up.   Garlic scapes are the flowering part of the garlic plant.  They are tender and can be sliced up like scallions and stir-fried.  We also like to marinade them in olive oil and sea salt and grill or broil them for a tasty side dish.  Use the green garlic like you would regular garlic cloves.

Have a great weekend, see you at pick up!

5 comments:

  1. Great recipes! I will admit I had to ask my Facebook gang about the Kohlrahbi. I actually cooked it in stir fry before I even knew what it was but I really enjoyed it. Keep the recipes coming!
    Jennifer

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the Kohlrahbi Jen!

    ReplyDelete
  3. We have been enjoying the kale so much- fresh chopped in salad, sautéed with mushrooms in garlic, in a stew with white beans and quinoa (http://www.theppk.com/2010/10/quinoa-white-bean-and-kale-stew/), and one of my new faves: as the "chips" in a queso bowl (kale chips, brown rice, pinto beans, cheese- yum). And since we love chips we tried kohlrabi chips (same method as zucchini chips) and garlic scapes with fried potatoes. The mint is amazing muddled in blueberry lemonade...I could talk for hours as we are really enjoying the wonderful veg and the new recipes we've tried. Hope everyone else is enjoying theirs!

    ReplyDelete
  4. We have been adding the kale to everything! Chili, meat sauce- you name it :) It's great! We also love the snap peas and made a pork/rice noodle/snap pea kohlrabi dish...and the radishes and salad turnips have been awesome roasted. my 4yr old and i polished off the strawberries in one sitting a couple of weeks ago- they were amazing. thanks for doing this Jackie- LOVE it :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Danielle, your recipes sound amazing! So glad you are enjoying everything! Erinn, yours too, thanks for the ideas!

    ReplyDelete