2013 CSA Week 8

From our farm to your table this week…

Item	How to Store it	How long will it last?
Basil (Saturday pickup)	DO NOT WASH; store in an UNCLOSED CONTAINER in fridge OR snip the bottom of the stalks & immerse in water as you would with fresh cut flowers	1-2 weeks
Cabbage (Thursday pickup, maybe Saturday)	unwashed in fridge	2-3 months
Cucumbers	unwashed in fridge	1-2 weeks
Green Beans	unwashed in fridge	3-4 days
(Thursday pickup, maybe Saturday)
Onions (Saturday pickup)	washed or unwashed in fridge; not tightly sealed	~2-3 weeks
Peppers (Saturday pickup)	unwashed, in fridge	2-3 weeks
Swiss Chard (Thursday pickup)	washed & thoroughly dried (my preference) or unwashed, in fridge, sealed in container or plastic bag	~2 weeks
Tomatoes	at room temp	~1 week
Turnips, Beets, Radishes – mixed bunch (Thursday pickup)	unwashed, in fridge	2-3 months
Yellow Squash	unwashed in fridge	1-2 weeks
Zucchini	unwashed in fridge	1-2 weeks

 

More information…

Basil
Fresh sweet basil is such a treat.  Tossing it into just about anything – from savory meat dishes to cold drinks – adds  fresh summer flavor.  Try adding it to any of the recipes below for a little something extra.

Cabbage
If you’ve had your fill of coleslaw for a while and would like something warm and creamy for a rainy summer evening please try this recipe for Creamy Cabbage Casserole.  It is my favorite way to enjoy tender cabbage heads and, if you have more cabbage that you can eat right now, you can always cut the cabbage heads into wedges, blanch them, dry them thoroughly and freeze them for up to a few months.  We’ve enjoyed our cabbage well into winter months using this method.

Creamy Cabbage Casserole

1 small cabbage head, washed and cut into slender wedges½ tsp salt½ cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt1 small onion, finely chopped
½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheeseDash of paprika or ground red pepper

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
 -Bring pot of water to boil (enough to immerse all cabbage wedges simultaneously).-Immerse cabbage in boiling water for about 4-5 minutes, then drain.-Combine cabbage with salt, yogurt and onion and spread evenly into a 8x8” square baking dish.-Top with shredded cheddar and paprika/ground red pepper.-Bake for 20-30 minutes.

 *Note – this is very easy to double if you have two small cabbage heads or one large cabbage head. Just prepare in a 9x11” casserole dish.

Cucumbers
Since our post last week, I’ve had cold cucumber dishes and Asian style vegetable wraps on my mind almost every day!  I even indulged in some California rolls with cucumber inside and they were delicious!  Someday I’ll have to learn how to make them at home. 

Green Beans
These are probably not your grandma’s green beans.  The beans in this share are a combination of two varieties of fresh bush beans called Provider and Fresh Pick.  Unlike the popular “white half-runner” and “little greasy” beans that our mom’s and grandma’s canned by the dozens,  these are meant for light cooking rather than high pressure/high temperature canning.  These snap beans are best lightly steamed or blanched until they take on a bright green color.  They can also be enjoyed uncooked in marinated vegetable salads and they won’t have the grassy flavor and stringy texture of the tougher beans that are best used for canning. 

 Onions
Fresh tender bulbs and long green stalks characterize the mixture of white and purple onions in the share for this week.  It’s a bit of work cleaning and peeling this little beauties but the reward is well worth it.  They have and excellent, mild flavor that’s great raw or in light cooking methods that are popular in the summer.

Peppers

They’re finally here!  Fresh green bell peppers are starting to ripen this week!  A few will be available for Saturday delivery this week and the Thursday folks will see them next week.  My favorite way to enjoy fresh bell peppers these days is to slice them into thick strips and fill them with a mixture of softened cream cheese, toasted pecans, and a tiny splash of Worcestershire sauce.   That makes for a delicious appetizer for any summer meal! 

Swiss chard
I once read about a woman who found a recipe that called for Swiss chard and began searching for it among the specialty cheeses at her local grocery store.  You won’t find this in the dairy section but you will find bright, color stalks and big, green leaves on the Rainbow Swiss chard in your share this week.  Swiss chard belongs to the same family of vegetables as beets and you’ll probably notice that distinct earthy flavor if you take a bite of the raw stem.  Swiss chard isn’t a great green for raw salads but it is excellent in marinated salad and in when boiled or steamed.    Here’s a simple, easy recipe for sautéed Swiss chard with a bit of oil, butter, garlic and red pepper: Swiss Chard.

Tomatoes
Tomatoes are really picking up in productivity this time of year.  Barring strong storms or diseases like tomato blight, you should be seeing lots of them from now until October.   If you’d like to try a fresh spin on deep dish pizza, you might like this recipe for a Garlicky Tomato Tart that we shared in a blog post last year during the height of tomato season. 

 Turnips, Beets, Radishes – mixed bunch

Once again, this mixture of tiny root vegetables lends itself well to pickling, shaving into thin slices for salads or a small side dish.  This week I made Sorghum Glazed Turnips and they turned out just great and I served them alongside fresh coleslaw and a pork tenderloin roast.  I think tossing in a few beets and radishes would add some interesting flavor and certainly spice up the color of the dish!

Yellow Squash & Zucchini

Last week I suggested grilling squash and zucchini.  I hope you enjoyed it if you tried it.  If so, you might like to try using very thinly sliced, grilled squash, zucchini, peppers and onions to make a fresh vegetable pizza like the one from this Cooking Light recipe: Summer Grilled Vegetable Pizza.  Ford and I consider homemade pizza one of our very favorite meals and we love it even when it’s hot outside!  (If I can just remember to start making the dough before we start getting REALLY hungry!)
 Note – this is also a great way to use some of that fresh basil!

 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