I documented my veggie half share again this year. I missed a few weeks (there were 23 weeks total) but this gives a pretty good idea of what a half share looks like. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are 3 interesting recipes I found online which all use carrots. Let me know if you try any and how they come out!

This first recipe is from Alton Brown of the Food Network. I usually use carrots as one of a few ingredients in a recipe, but when I remember to, I love glazing them in butter and brown sugar and serving them as a side dish sprinkled with a bunch of dill. This Glazed Carrot recipe sounds a little different, calling for chili powder and ginger ale in the glaze.

The next recipe uses the carrots we’ll get this week, as well as the chard. I’m intrigued by this Carrot, Chard, and Ginger Soup, but would definitely use more than just one chard leaf and possibly play around with the amounts and serving sizes to make bigger portions.

And finally, I’ve got a Quinoa With Moroccan Winter Squash And Carrot Stew recipe that sounds amazing! I love finding recipes that use quinoa, which is an incredibly tasty and nutritious grain, containing all 9 essential amino acids. This one will use this weeks carrots, onions, and winter squash. I disagree with the note in the recipe claiming quinoa doesn’t need to be soaked though. I like to soak quinoa for 15 minutes and then do multiple swishes and rinses to make sure all the natural coating of saponin gets washed away. 

This is a super easy recipe, adapted from The Joy of Cooking, for a soup that uses the Kale and Potatoes we’re expecting this week. See the bottom of the recipe for tips on making it vegetarian.

Saute in olive oil in a large soup pot until tender but not browned:

• 1 med onion, chopped
  
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

Stir in and bring to a boil:

• 8 cups of water (or 6 cups water + 2 cups chicken broth)
  
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
  
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Reduce the heat once it comes to a boil and let it simmer for about 20 minutes or the potatoes are soft. Remove the pot from heat and use a potato masher to mash the potatoes right in the pot. Alternately you could use an immersion blender, but I prefer a coarser chunky texture.

In a separate skillet, cook in olive oil until browned:

• 6 oz linguica or chorizo sausage

• 4 cups shredded kale

Simmer for 5 more minutes then stir in:

• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Serve with warm crusty bread

Some alternatives:

For a vegetarian version, add the spiciness with some dried chiles or a jalepeno instead of the chorizo. Add a little extra garlic and use vegetable broth for extra flavor.

Try adding some shredded cabbage at the same time as the Kale

I just love this recipe for Tzatziki from The Joy of Cooking. It’s a cucumber and yogurt salad that can be used as a dip or spread, or even eaten with a spoon. I’ve left out the step of draining the yogurt and instead specified that you use Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is much richer and creamier than regular yogurt because it has already been strained of excess whey. I’m convinced the garlic mashing step is key to the amazingly tasty and refreshing dip that this makes.

Tzatziki (4-6 servings)

• 2 cups Greek yogurt
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• salt
• 2-3 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
• 2 teaspoons snipped fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon good olive oil

Toss the diced cucumber together with 1 Tsp of salt in a colander. Let it stand and drain for 30 min, then press the excess water out, quickly rinse, and blot dry.

Meanwhile, chop the garlic, then mash it together with 2-3 pinches of salt using the flat of your knife against the cutting board, until a paste is formed.

Combine the cucumber, yogurt, garlic mash, herbs, and vinegar in a bowl, adding salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle the top with 1 Tblsp olive oil.

Serve with pita bread, fried zucchini, an indian curry, fried green tomatoes, cucumber sticks, or salmon.

Last year I would often pick up my share towards the end of distribution and would see bags and bags of leftover celery. The poor celery was so often passed on by members who just didn’t know what to do with it. I would always take my share of it only to have it sit in my crisper uneaten. Big beautiful green and purple heads with more flavor than I ever tasted before, being accustomed to  the watery white crunch of the grocery store kind.

We got this season’s first heads of celery a couple weeks ago. So in anticipation of the abundance we saw of this vegetable last year I thought I’d gather some ideas and recipes for us. 

Celery belongs to the Umbelliferae family whose other members include carrots, fennel, parsley and dill. It’s a great source of vitamin C and contains an active compound called pthalides, which can help lower cholesterol. And it’s true that celery has negative calories!

When grown conventionally, celery is in the top ten list of vegetables on which pesticide residues have been most frequently found; yet another reason to celebrate our organic and biodynamic CSA!

Storage: 

Celery is often refrigerated in plastic bag in crisper, but many swear by tinfoil wrapping for this veggie, saying it lasts much much longer.

Wilted ribs can be crisped by placing them in ice water for several minutes.Use the leaves as soon as possible as they do not keep as well as the stalks

101 Ways To Enjoy Celery

• Ants on a Log: celery spread with peanutbutter and topped with raisins
• spread with cream cheese
• stuffed with an anchovy
• try out a celery soup recipe: classic, curried, curried with miso and shitake
• diced into tuna (or salmon) salad
• use the leaves in place of parsley 
• Bloody Mary’s
• in fact, use it as a stirrer for any drink! (except an egg cream)
• add to a stir fry
• dipped into hummus
• dipped into ranch dip
• an excuse to indulge in lobster or shrimp salad (chop up a few stalks, mix it with the shellfish meat, mayo, salt & papper, eat in a hot dog bun)
• chopped into chicken salad
• cut the stalks into handy sizes, store in a baggie, use in place of nicotine gum
• use the leaves in home fried potatoes
• chop it and mix with diced radish, onion, dill, and mayo. Serve with some tasty Whitefish Salad from Russ & Daughters
• chop the base off and grow it as a house plant
• use diced stalks to add crunch to homemade salsa (or to brighten store bought)
• Make a celery, apple, pecan salad. Eat it with blue cheese dressing.
• make the classic mirepoix by using it with carrots and onions as the base of soups, sauces, stews, and stocks
• celery pilaf
• if all else fails, chop the stalks up, bag and freeze them for later use in cooked recipes (not for later raw eating as freezing will affect the texture)

Those of us with fruit shares have been inundated with plums lately! Let your plums ripen on the counter,  testing them gently by squeezing the whole fruit in the palm of your hand. When ripe, try out some of these recipes:

Those small plums with sheer, golden yellow skin are are Shiro plums originally from Japan and used here in an Artisanal Cocktail. If you can’t find the herb shiso, I’d substitute mint.

Shiro Plum Cocktail 

• 2 Shiro plums, pitted
• 2 shiso leaves (a Japanese herb also called perilla or beefsteak)
• 1 oz light rum
• 1 oz shochu (a Japanese liquor)
• 1/2 oz lemon or lime
• 1 small piece of ginger root, peeled
• 1/2 oz simple syrup

Puree plums, or simply muddle them in cocktail glass or shaker. Gently muddle shiso leaves until flavor is released. Muddle ginger root. Add ice to fill. Add rum, shochu, citrus, simple syrup. Shake. Strain into glass, over ice. Garnish with shiso leaf.

If you can bear the oven being on these Honey-Roasted Plums with Thyme and Creme Fraiche sound like a dream. 

Plum Butter

Plum Crumble

And a Mark Bittman recipe for Plum Puree Sauce for Grilled Meats

Yum!