CSA Share Week 6: From our farm to your table this week …
Cabbage
Cucumbers
Green onions
Squash
Swiss Chard
Tomatoes
Turnips
Tips for using and/or preserving your produce…
CabbagePerhaps you tried the cabbage casserole we described last week or you boiled or stir fried the small, lovely head of cabbage. If so, this week I’d encourage you to try a simple salad with shredded cabbage as the base. These little heads of cabbage have a larger proportion of green leaves and a much nicer flavor and texture than the large, extra firm cabbage heads you’ll find in many supermarkets. I’m not a huge fan of coleslaw but even I can get carried away eating coleslaw or cabbage salad made with fresh, tender heads of our spring cabbage – in fact, I ate about two bowls full this week!
Cabbage
Cucumbers
Green onions
Squash
Swiss Chard
Tomatoes
Turnips
Tips for using and/or preserving your produce…
CabbagePerhaps you tried the cabbage casserole we described last week or you boiled or stir fried the small, lovely head of cabbage. If so, this week I’d encourage you to try a simple salad with shredded cabbage as the base. These little heads of cabbage have a larger proportion of green leaves and a much nicer flavor and texture than the large, extra firm cabbage heads you’ll find in many supermarkets. I’m not a huge fan of coleslaw but even I can get carried away eating coleslaw or cabbage salad made with fresh, tender heads of our spring cabbage – in fact, I ate about two bowls full this week!
Cucumbers
Until last year, I had only made pickles using a hot canning system in which the cucumbers are actually cooked in the canning process. That is an excellent way to preserve large quantities of cucumbers to store as pickles in your pantry at room temperature for months. Fortunately, however, last summer I tried refrigerator pickles and discovered an extremely easy and really delicious way to store smaller quantities of cucumbers (like a small jelly jar). This method yields pickles that are extra crisp because they’ve never been heated. They are amazing on summer sandwiches and burgers. It also looks really neat to have your VERY own pickles out for family gatherings in the summer with fresh dill floating around on top and smelling wonderful! *Keep in mind that with ANY food preservation technique, it is best to use fresh produce as quickly as possible after harvesting.
Green OnionsIf you didn’t have time to make a big batch of soup beans the last time you got green onions two weeks ago, you have another chance to enjoy your beans with some fresh, tender green onions. They also make a great accompaniment to bean soup if you don’t mind eating soup in warm weather. Ford refuses warm soup in the summer, probably because he works so hard outside in the heat all day, but Finley and I take it easy in the heat of the day and enjoy a warm soup every now and then for lunch. These little onions are also excellent sliced and tossed into a big salad. There’s an example of such a salad, bursting with all kinds of veggies & herbs on my very favorite website/blog:
Until last year, I had only made pickles using a hot canning system in which the cucumbers are actually cooked in the canning process. That is an excellent way to preserve large quantities of cucumbers to store as pickles in your pantry at room temperature for months. Fortunately, however, last summer I tried refrigerator pickles and discovered an extremely easy and really delicious way to store smaller quantities of cucumbers (like a small jelly jar). This method yields pickles that are extra crisp because they’ve never been heated. They are amazing on summer sandwiches and burgers. It also looks really neat to have your VERY own pickles out for family gatherings in the summer with fresh dill floating around on top and smelling wonderful! *Keep in mind that with ANY food preservation technique, it is best to use fresh produce as quickly as possible after harvesting.
Green OnionsIf you didn’t have time to make a big batch of soup beans the last time you got green onions two weeks ago, you have another chance to enjoy your beans with some fresh, tender green onions. They also make a great accompaniment to bean soup if you don’t mind eating soup in warm weather. Ford refuses warm soup in the summer, probably because he works so hard outside in the heat all day, but Finley and I take it easy in the heat of the day and enjoy a warm soup every now and then for lunch. These little onions are also excellent sliced and tossed into a big salad. There’s an example of such a salad, bursting with all kinds of veggies & herbs on my very favorite website/blog:
Hopefully you enjoyed the first harvest of squash last week and are looking forward to more. You will probably see this veggie several times this summer. The thin, tender skin on yellow squash is softer than zucchini and makes cooking squash a breeze. One very easy way that I love to prepare squash is by cutting it into large chunks and combining it with other vegetables on skewers that I drizzle with olive oil and place on the grill. Its tender flesh and thin skin soften slightly and take on a bit of sweetness when prepared this way. Zucchini, cherry or grape tomatoes, and onions are good pairings with yellow squash on skewers.
Swish Chard
If you aren’t into eating your greens in creamy dishes like Swiss Chard Gratin, you may prefer braising or sautéing your chard leaves and the crunchy stems. Another fun option is tossing braised chard on a homemade pizza. It makes a nice topping for a white pizza with a sauce made from ricotta cheese mixed with grated Parmesan and fresh Italian herbs.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes
I don’t know about you but I’m still not tired of eating whole tomatoes, sprinkling salt on each bite, as I stand over my kitchen sink. (Is that really weird or totally normal?) In case you don’t love raw tomatoes as much as I do, perhaps you’d like to just whip up your own basic marinara sauce using the tomatoes in your share plus a few more (…unless you’ve been saving & freezing your tomatoes from the last two weeks, in which case, you can just use those). There are lots of variations so yours will probably change as you adapt the sauce to your family’s taste, but here’s a recipe (left) to get you started.
Turnips
If you didn’t try Sorghum Glazed Turnips last week, give it a try this week or just dip those crunchy little roots into your favorite dip along with broccoli, carrots, snap peas or whatever raw veggies you like to snack on.
Have a GREAT week and thanks so much for your support!
As always, please feel free to contact me for clarification, further information, or to share your own adventures in cooking local, USDA certified organic produce. amanda.waterstrat@gmail.com
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