Share Notes 5-3-18
CSA Share Notes:
We’ve got a great share for you. We hope you love what the garden has provided for you this week.
- Kale—The small shares received Red Russian kale, tender and great for fresh eating.
- Collard—The large shares received collard greens. The weather is warming up and it’s time for picnics, so try your collard or kale in our Kale Pesto Potato Salad.
- Pac Choi—This Asian cabbage is great in fried rice, or in a stir fry with your crisp, juicy snow peas. It also goes great in a traditional bowl of ramen, or in a coconut milk curry.
- Lettuce—For the large: one head each of Speckled Trout and Cherokee. For the small shares, a head of speckled trout. You know what to do with this crop!
- Endive—Everyone received a head or two of our endives. This green is great in a salad mixed with your lettuce. They are a little more bitter than lettuce, so use acid to cut the bitterness: balsamic or cider vinegar or a wedge of lemon in your dressing.
- Radish—Large shares received Easter Egg, and small shares received either Easter Egg or French Breakfast. These are crips, juicy, and mild. Enjoy sliced thin and salted on top of avocado toast.
- Turnips—Small shares received Purple Top turnips, a southern heirloom variety. Large shares received Hakurei turnips, the Japanese salad turnip. We like to boil and mash turnips with our potatoes, but this week I suggest Roasted Turnip and Grain Salad. Both of these turnip varieties would be excellent in this dish, as would your collards or kale.
- Snow Peas—All shares received one lovely little pint of snow peas. We don’t have a lot to give you yet, but soon we’ll be loaded down! Crisp and juicy, these are excellent in a strawberry and feta salad, but they’re also great sautéed in butter and of course eaten fresh and raw.
- Swiss chard—Large shares are receiving beautiful bunches of our bright lights swiss chard. This is one of my most favorite spring crops, it’s so lovely! We’ve made salads of swiss chard, we’ve chopped it up fine and cooked it into a veggie-egg scramble, and we’ve also got a fantastic main-dish to suggest if you haven’t given it a go: Butternut Squash and Swiss Chard Lasagne.
Veggie Storage tips:
The many leafy greens will all last longest stored in the refrigerator, sealed up in bags or containers to retain their moisture. A suggestion: buy some “PEAK fresh USA” bags from Natural Grocer. They’re roomy and re-usable and help keep your produce fresher, longer. The root crops should be severed from their tops to keep the roots nice and firm and crisp. The tops can be stored like the other greens. Everything will need a gentle washing before cooking, but leave the dirt on until you’re ready to use them. As a general rule, wait to wash any veggies until you’re ready to use them to help retain nutrients and prevent spoilage from excess moisture.
We’d love to hear stories and recipes of your culinary adventures this week. Send us a note or post a comment of how you’ve used your CSA share.
Your farmers,
Jess & Justin
