Welcome to the Season!
Welcome to Red Wiggler’s 2009 CSA season! We are excited to have so many wonderful new and returning members and we are looking forward to a great year of beautiful vegetables. Many of you joined us for Muffin Luck, our season orientation, but for those of you who couldn’t make it, a quick season refresher:
- Please bring your own bags to carry your share home! We’ll have plastic grocery bags just in case.
- Always wash your produce when you get it home. We rinse everything as it comes out of the field, but please give it a thorough washing at home.
- Bring your compost to the farm! If you like, take home a bucket with a lid, gather your kitchen scraps (no meat, no dairy) during the week, and next time you come to the farm, exchange your full compost bucket for a clean one. We’ll do the dirty work!
- We are using a new email format to keep in touch. If you have not received emails or want to add another account, see one of the staff!
- Printed newsletters will be available each week, but if you’d like to go paperless, the same content will be available on the blog each week.
Take advantage of the Pick Your Own! When we calculate the value of your share each week, we anticipate that you are taking home a small bunch of flowers and/or herbs. We love to grow these beautiful & fragrant additions to the garden and we want to make sure you take some home to enjoy all week!
When you are putting together your bouquet, it is worth a hike to the top of the hill near the solar house. Here you’ll find the Wild Flower field in bloom. In addition to drawing our favorite beneficial friends (butterflies and honey bees) up into the fields, these flowers are beautiful in arrangements.
As for the herbs, it is usually worthwhile to have a look at the recipes before you head out of the barn. Often our recipes include herbs you will find in both the upper and lower PYO areas. Someone will be available to answer any questions you might have regarding the PYO- just ask!
Braising Mix
Braising mix is a delicious combination of Red Russian Kale, Hon Tsai Tai, Komatsuna, Southern Giant and Red Giant mustards, and Tatsoi. These slightly spicy mixed greens are great tossed in salads, or try them sautéed in a little olive oil and garlic for a savory side dish.
Collards
These delightful greens are full of vitamins A, C and K. While there are lots of ways to prepare them, we find these greens are best when steamed briefly before sautéing. Heat a frying pan with a small amount of water. Trim the stems from the greens, chop them and add to the pan ahead of the greens by a minute or two to allow them to soften. Coarsely chop the greens, and them to the pan as well, then cover and steam until the collards are bright green. Carefully pour off any remaining water, add some oil (olive and sesame are great choices) or butter and sauté with a little salt to taste.
Did you know?
Sugar snap peas are a cross between regular peas (inedible pods, plum peas) and snow peas (edible pods with immature tiny seeds). Like snow peas, sugar snap are completely edible- pod and all. Often, however, they are filled with juicy peas that can be nearly as big as the regular kind. Sugar snap and snow peas can be used interchangeably in most recipes.
Sugar Snap Peas with Fried Ginger
from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop
Ginger can be pan-fried until golden brown and crisp and then used as a garnish for any number of vegetable dishes. Here it is paired with stir-fried sugar snap peas or snow peas, but also is a great compliment to asparagus or greens.
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon roasted peanut oil
1/3 cup minced gingerroot
¾ pound sugar snap peas, ends trimmed
Kosher or coarse sea salt
Heat ¼ cup of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat until almost smoking. Add the ginger and fry, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 2 to 3 mintues. (Don’t let the ginger turn dark brown or it will taste burned.) With a slotted spoon, transfer the fried ginger to a small plate lined with a paper towel. Discard the oil and wipe the pan clean with a wad of paper towel.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the empty pan over high heat until shimmering. Add the peas and sprinkle with salt to taste. Stir fry until the peas are crisp-tender 2-3 minutes. Transfer the peas to a serving plate, sprinkle with the fried ginger, and serve.
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1 comment:
Hi there,
I wanted to share a recipe for colcannon using collard greens - it is really fantastic - my husband is a picky eater and it's usually next to impossible to get him to eat anything remotely green, but he snarfed this down like there was no tomorrow.
ingredients:
1 lb boiling potatoes, boiled (you can also peel them if you prefer)
1 lb collard greens (or kale), washed and cut into small pieces
milk as needed
2 tablespoons butter, or more
1 large onion, finely chopped
salt & pepper
(hint: to prepare the greens, fold each leaf in half and hold the stem in one hand and pull the leaf off the stem from bottom to top with the other hand, discarding the stems. To cut, pile a bunch of leaves on top of each other and roll them up like a cigar. With a really sharp knife, cut through the cigar once or twice lengthwise. Then cut up the strips crosswise into 1-inch or 1/2-inch squares or whatever size you prefer.)
1. Take a 12-inch skillet for which you have a cover, and in it bring 2 cups of water to boiling. Drop in the chopped collards and cover the skillet. Let boil for 8-10 minutes, then drain the collards, saving the liquid from the pan if you like - it is delicious to use for soup or just to drink straight, and that way you don't lose any precious nutrients from the greens.
2. Mash the potatoes. Add the drained greens and mix, adding milk if the mash is too stiff.
3. Wipe out the skillet you cooked the greens in with a paper towel or kitchen towel to dry it. Melt a little butter in it over medium heat and add the onion. Cook until the onion is softened. Scrape the cooked onions into the potato-greens mash and mix them in.
4. Add the rest of the butter to the hot pan and when it's very hot, turn the potato mixture on to the pan and spread it out. Fry until the bottom is browned, then cut the fried mash roughly into pieces and do your best to flip them over with a spatula so the other side can brown.
5. When it's all crisp and brown to your liking, serve --- with extra butter if you prefer.
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