2014 CSA Week 8

Greetings!

I'm hoping Ford and Amanda's farm got enough rain this week for "our" veggies!

I was unable to pick up my share last week, so invited a friend to enjoy the fresh veggies over the weekend since I wouldn't be in town until Monday. She had more fun marveling at the assortment, trying to figure out what everything was, and engaged in a colorful dialogue on her Facebook page. She decided to grill it all and from the photo she posted, it looked delicious!

Last week's share picked up by my friend

Here's the finished creation - everything goes on the grill!

In this week's share, the new items you might find are squash, zucchini or cucumbers. Who's ready for oven fried squash? (recipe below)

Item	How to store it	How long will it last?
cabbage or broccoli	washed or unwashed in refrigerator	1-2 weeks
squash or zucchini or cucumbers	unwashed in fridge	1-2 weeks
tomatoes	room temperature	several days
kohlrabi	washed or unwashed in refrigerator	1-2 weeks
Green or purple onions	Lightly rinsed, dried, and stored in plastic wrap of fridge container	1-2 weeks
Garlic (bulb)	Unwashed in the fridge	up to 1 week
Oregano/sage	Unwashed in the fridge, in sealed bag	~1-2 weeks

I'll enjoy chopping up the broccoli and cabbage and adding it to the tomatoes, kohlrabi, onions and herbs to a beautiful salad that I will take to work for lunch!

Summer squash is wonderful so many ways. Here's a great way to utilize that corn meal that I still have tucked away in a drawer in my fridge. This recipe and photo are from tastykitchen.com.

Oven “Fried” Parmesan Zucchini Squash

Description
This “fried” squash recipe is really oven baked. You’ll never miss the crispiness of the fried though due to cornmeal, rosemary and Parmesan crisping up together in the oven! Healthy and yummy!

Ingredients
2 whole Eggs, Beaten
1 Tablespoon Milk
½ cups Parmesan Cheese
¼ cups Yellow Corn Meal
1 Tablespoon Fresh Rosemary, Chopped (add the fresh herbs from this week's share!)
½ teaspoons Salt
¼ teaspoons Pepper
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil Or Olive Oil Cooking Spray
2 whole Zucchini Sliced In Rounds

Direction:
In one low flat dish or bowl, beat your 2 eggs well.
In another flat low dish or bowl, stir remaining ingredients, except oil.
Slice squash into pieces. Using tongs, dip first in egg, then in breadcrumb mixture, making sure to coat both sides of squash well.
Place on foil-line baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray or brushed with olive oil.
Spray the tops of your squash with baking spray or drizzle with olive oil.
Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until the tops are browned.
Note: addition to recipe – bake at 425º on the top rack of your oven, flipping once half way thru!

Can't wait!
~Nancy

2014 CSA Week 7

What a fun time at the farm on Saturday! It was so nice to meet some fellow CSA members and families, spend some time with Ford and Amanda, their parents, and to finally meet Finley and the twins! Fin was the perfect host!

Below are a few photos from the evening, and the link to all of the pictures. You can see how much fun everyone had! https://flic.kr/s/aHsjYj6BBS

Finley and his his Papaw welcomed visitors	The Waterstrats: Amanda, Ford, Finley and twins Silas and Josiah (left and right, I think!)
Everyone enjoyed the walking tour	Feeding the pigs
The kids really had a blast	Plenty of photo opps!
beautiful crops	great refreshments

In this week's share, the new items are cabbage and garlic (the bulb part instead of scapes, which Amanda says is milder in flavor than dried garlic bulbs, and "soooo delicious.")

Item	How to store it	How long will it last?
Kale and Swiss chard	washed & thoroughly dried or unwashed, in fridge, sealed in container or plastic bag	2-5 days
Kohlrabi	washed or unwashed in refrigerator	1-2 weeks
Green Onions	Lightly rinsed, dried, and stored in plastic wrap of fridge container	1-2 weeks
Tomatoes	room temperature	several days
Garlic (bulb)	Unwashed in the fridge	up to 1 week
Oregano	Unwashed in the fridge, in sealed bag	~1-2 weeks

Amanda's favorite cabbage recipe is found on an earlier blog here. She also recommends chopping it up with apples, kholrabi, and a sweet dressing along with raisins and nuts for a kind of sweet slaw.

And, thanks to CSA member Brandi Smith for sharing her kholrabi recipe below:

6 Tbsp mayo
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp mustard
1/2 tsp stevia
2 kholrabi peeled and sliced like french fries
2 apples peeled and sliced the same way
salt and pepper

My contribution for a nice vinaigrette utilizing the fresh oregano:

Balsamic Herb Vinaigrette

4 cloves of minced garlic
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves or 1 tablespoon of minced fresh oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves or 1 tablespoon of minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon black pepper
Whisk everything together and you're done.

Now, let's enjoy!
~Nancy

2014 CSA Week 6

I'm so excited to visit the Waterstrats and their farm this Saturday during the Farm Tour! I'll take lots of pictures that I will be able to share in future blogs. It's a wonderful opportunity for CSA members to see where their food is coming from and observe the loving care with which it is tended and harvested. No wonder it tastes so delicious! Hope to make some new friends!

 
In this week's share, you will find an addition of tomatoes (yay!) and garlic scapes. I actually had to look up what a garlic scape is (can you tell I'm not a gardener?), which I've added below the chart with ways to enjoy them.

Item	How to store it	How long will it last?
Kale and Swiss chard	washed & thoroughly dried or unwashed, in fridge, sealed in container or plastic bag	2-5 days
Radishes or turnips	washed or unwashed in refrigerator	several weeks
Kohlrabi	washed or unwashed in refrigerator	1-2 weeks
Green Onions	Lightly rinsed, dried, and stored in plastic wrap of fridge container	1-2 weeks
Tomatoes	room temperature	several days
Garlic Scapes	Unwashed, loosely wrapped in plastic in the fridge	up to 2 weeks

Kale and chard - With the temperatures cooling and the rain this week, a nice Kale Soup is in order. My mom used to make it Portuguese-style. She would keep a pot going on the stove for days, continually adding ingredients almost as fast as we would enjoy bowl after bowl! I grew up in Massachusetts and went to college near New Bedford, which became known as the "Portuguese capital of the world" after immigrants started arriving in the 1800s for the whaling industry. Follow this link for a little history: http://www.whalingmuseum.org/learn/research-topics/cultural-communities. Chourico sausage is key to the flavor, though you can substitute Kielbasa, which my mom would often do. Here's a recipe claiming to be close to authentic: http://easy.betterrecipes.com/portuguese-kale-soup-new-bedford-style.html

Turnips - Did you know they are full of vitamin C? They are also very low calorie!
Kohlrabi - Can be eaten raw or cooked, and taste similar to broccoli stems. Just peel and slice!
Green onions - Chopped in salads, stir fry, or throw some in the soup!
Tomatoes - Amazing! I've been waiting for these since the last one appeared in my share last season! I love them sliced, chopped for salads, and, added to the soup!

Garlic scapes - OK, here's mystery solved! These tender tendrils are the "flower stalks" of hardneck garlic plants, according to About.com. They can be chopped and added to salads, sauteed lightly and served over pasta, mixed with cooking greens, or in any dish complemented by garlic. There's even a recipe for a garlic scape pesto on this site: http://gardening.about.com/od/herbsatoz/a/What-Are-Garlic-Scapes.htm

See you Saturday!
~Nancy

2014 CSA Week 5

From the farm to your table this week...

Item	How to store it	How long will it last?
Kale and Chard	washed & thoroughly dried or unwashed, in fridge, sealed in container or plastic bag	2-5 days
Radishes/turnips	washed or unwashed in refrigerator	several weeks
Broccoli	washed or unwashed in refrigerator	1-2 weeks
Lettuce	washed & thoroughly dried (my preference) or unwashed, in fridge, sealed in container or plastic bag	1-2 weeks
Bok Choy	washed & thoroughly dried or unwashed, in fridge, sealed in container or plastic bag	1-2 weeks
Green Onions	Lightly rinsed, dried, and stored in plastic wrap of fridge container	1-2 weeks
Komatsuna (Asian green similar to Bok Choy - large, dark green leaves)	washed & thoroughly dried or unwashed, in fridge, sealed in container or plastic bag	1-2 weeks

When I saw the list of this week's produce, I was so excited to see all the ingredients for a luscious spring salad!

Kale and chard can be added to soups, steamed, and sauteed with sliced green onions in olive oil and butter, add seasonings to taste.

I plan to add the cooked kale and chard to a salad with the lettuce, sliced onions, radishes, bok choy, kamatsuna, and chopped broccoli! Yum! Mix a dressing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper (optional extras: mustard, minced garlic, minced fresh herbs, spoonful of honey or brown sugar.)

This salad has added black sesame seeds and wasabi peas for an extra kick

 Can't wait to pick up my share! ~Nancy