2019 CSA Share ~ Week #3
“A recipe has no soul….you, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.” Thomas Keller
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
These are the folks who lovingly harvest, process and pack your fresh veggies from week to week! Front row left to right: Porter, Linda, Adelaide, Jesse, Hayley, Erin, Jordan, Jimi Back row left to right: Ayla, Amy, Shenoa, Alden, Chris, Shannon, Maggie, Steve, Josh, Jeremy and Levi. I’ll be sharing some of their stories with you as the season progresses!
WHAT’S IN YOUR SHARE THIS WEEK:
- Beets
- Lettuce ~ Green Butter
- Kale ~ Red Russian
- Carrots
- Fennel
- Napa Cabbage
- Walla Walla onion
SOME SITES ONLY
- Peas
- Strawberries
RECIPES:
Beet and Apple Salad
- 4-5 medium beets,cooked, cut in cubes
- 1 Large granny apple, unpeeled, cut in cubes
- 1/4 Cup slivered red onion
- 1 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Dijon
- 1 Tbsp shallots, minced
- 1/4 tsp sugar or honey
Brown onion and toss beets, apples, and red onions together in a medium-sized bowl. Mix remaining ingredient to create the dressing. Pour over vegetables, toss, and chill. Serves 4.
I hope you all had a wonderful past weekend! There seemed to be so much going on everywhere…Shannon and Chris Overbaugh, your farmer/owners, moved into their new home on the farm! Jack and MaryJo, who started the farm almost 40 years ago, raised their family here. Now that all of their children are grown and gone, they decided to downsize and have been building their new home on the South end of the farm land for the past year. Chris and Shannon have taken over the original farmhouse, and are so excited to finish raising their family here. Best wishes to them all as they start their new adventures in their new lodgings.
I had a wonderful weekend, hosting the wedding of my step son Lucas, who married his sweetheart Margaret, on Saturday. After many, many months of hard work to prepare the site, we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to invite over 170 friends and family to our home to celebrate their union…may their lives together be just as perfect!
Beets! Your Beets and greens will stay fresh longer if you remove the beet greens, wash and store in a refrigerated plastic bag. Store the unwashed roots in an unsealed plastic bag in your vegetable drawer. Beets will last up to two weeks; the greens will need to be used within a few days after harvesting.
Beet greens are a delicious and healthy vegetable on their own; steam or sauté them like spinach or use raw in salads, they are also great lightly stir-fried. Beets do not need to be peeled, just scrub clean before using (there are many trace minerals just below the skin). Skins can be slipped off after cooking.
Beets are delicious raw or cooked. Try them grated raw on sandwiches and salads. They can be steamed, roasted, or cooked in soup or stew.
The Fennel are so lovely this year! Fennel is a type of flowering plant that belongs to the carrot family and has been used medicinally in many cultures. It has traditionally been used for increasing the flow of breast milk, to promote menstruation, to ease childbirth, to control obesity, and to increase libido. Fennel tea is often used for detoxing and aiding digestion, as well as calming bloating, upset stomach, heartburn, or soothing a sore throat. Fennel has a sweet taste that resembles the flavor of anise and licorice. Leaves have stronger taste than bulb. Fennel is rich source of dietary fibers, vitamins C, B9 and B6 and minerals such as potassium, manganese and phosphorus. It’s also used to make Absinthe, along with wormwood, and anise.
One study of 125 colicky infants found that fennel eliminated or significantly improved colic in 65 percent of those treated with a fennel seed oil emulsion. Fennel tinctures, tea, and essential oil mixed in with a carrier oil and applied to the stomach or chest are also common natural colic treatments.
To store, wash Fennel bulb and store in plastic bag in refrigerator, wrapping delicate leaves in moist paper towel, for up to 2 weeks. Fennel can be eaten raw, baked, steamed or sautéed. Tops can be used as a garnish or added to soups at the end. Use the tops as a substitute for dill.
Napa Cabbage is cleverly packaged. Just stick dry, unwashed cabbage in fridge. The outer leaves may eventually get floppy,, but you can remove & discard them to reveal fresh inner leaves. Cabbage can keep for a month,, but once cut, store in a plastic bag.
Rinse cabbage under cold running water just before use. Peel away outer leaves (if necessary) & cut cabbage in half through stem end. Lay flat & quarter it, again through stem end. Balance each section upright & slice away triangular core exposed at base. Then, chop, sliver or grate quarters.
Use raw cabbage to make coleslaw or sauerkraut. Stir-fry or braise until slightly browned. Use steamed or boiled cabbage leaves to wrap rice or meat fillings.
We hope that you all have a fantastic week ahead and we’re happy to know that our food will be part of it…enjoy!
Linda and all of your Winter Green Farmers