CSA Share Notes:

Here’s this week’s vegetable line-up:

• Kohlrabi – this crop may be new to many of you! It’s related to broccoli, cabbage, and turnips, and the name Kohl-rabi actually means “cabbage turnip!” It tastes like the stems of broccoli only extra sweet and nutty. You discard the leaves and gently peel the outer layer off of the swollen stem. You can chop it up, or slice it into rounds. These didn’t really have enough time to grow (they’re definitely going to be killed by next week’s freeze, so we went ahead and harvested them for you) so this serving size is so small it’s probably only going to make a light snack for most of you, but you can add it into a larger batch of slaw with cranberries and red onion, or just sprinkle it with a little lemon and salt and munch away. It’s delicious. Were growing a lot more for the Spring season and if they turn out nicely, you might have enough to make a batch of creamed kohlrabi soup. Such a treat!
• Spinach – So sweet and delicious! We don’t have a ton of it, but we’re delighted to share with you what we have.. There was enough to share amongst the Large and Regular shares. It will be delicious cooked into any veggie dish you’re preparing, or fantastic in a side salad.
• Arugula – Everyone gets this crop this week. Peppery and delicious. We like a good arugula salad with fruit, cheese, and toasted nuts along with a creamy balsamic.
• Cabbage – Large shares received beautiful, flat shaped Tendersweet cabbages and regular and mini shares received savoy leaved cabbages, sweet and tiny. Perfect to shred for a slaw, or to top loads of tacos and sandwiches, or to ferment a mini batch of kimchee. Some turnips or radishes would be the perfect addition!
• Turnip – Purple Top (Southern heirloom!) for the Large and Mini shares. Regular shares mostly receive Scarlet Queen turnips, (a few received purple top). Cut off the greens, and sort and clean well. They’re very sandy, but are going to be so yummy. Chop up the greens into one inch ribbons, cube up the roots, dice an onion, mince some garlic, and chop up a couple strips of bacon.  Cook the bacon, onion, garlic and a pinch of optional red pepper flakes together for a bit, till bacon is cooked, but not crispy.  Add the chopped turnip roots and sautee about 5-7 minutes till fork tender, toss in the ribboned greens and add a few splashes of chicken stock. Cook till the greens are nice and tender. Salt and eat as is, or add a bit of hot sauce, or the hot-pepper-vinegar that you made this past summer which is the PERFECT topping to this dish.
• Radish – Large shares received french breakfast radishes (a beautiful heirloom!), Regular shares received easter egg. They’re flavorful crunchy, and just a bit sweet. This time of year they’re so mild and wonderful. The greens are tender enough you can use them in a salad or mix them in with your turnip greens for cooking.
• Kale – We’ve got gorgeous bunching greens this week. Curly for the regular shares, Lacinato for the minis. Notice in the picture below how the Lacinato kale has turned a gorgeous purple color in the cold winter weather. And all the greens have increased their sugar content to prepare for the cold and boy has it made the leaves extra delicious! Check out our roasted squash and kale salad, as well as kale pesto potato salad,  but options abound online.
• Collard – This crop went to the Large shares this week. This green is excellent cooked as described in the Turnip blurb up top.  That’s the proper southern way to do it. But it also works really well in any recipe that calls for Kale, too! Just sub it in, you won’t be disappointed.
• Chard – This went only to the Large shares this week. This crop is closely related to spinach, so feel free to swap it in to a recipe that needs cooked spinach. My favorite use is our butternut squash and swiss chard lasagne recipe available on our website. Or make a beef roast in your crock pot and toss in large-torn chard leaves for the last 30 min to braise. It’s delicious. We also use ours in veggie egg scrambles, in quiches and frittatas, or sauteed and topped with parmesan and pine nuts.

Below are all the items we’re sharing with you today that were not grown by Red Moon Farm:

• Sweet Potatoes from Tony Philips, Grand Saline, TX. We’ve got the same wonderful sweet potato producer just a couple of miles from Red Moon Farm, Tony Phillips. He’s been in Sweet Potato cultivation for decades and uses no synthetic herbicides or pesticides. Additionally, he never uses post-harvest growth-inhibitors (endocrine disruptors) which you’ll find in regular grocery store tubers.
• Head lettuce from Stout Creek, Saltillo, TX.  Colin, the grower up at stout creek has made som really gorgeous heads of lettuce for us this fall and we’re so grateful for his help in feeding you guys! His standards and commitment to organic growing is just as high as ours.

Veggie Storage tips:

• Everything wants to be washed well before cooking, but keep the dirt on till then, to prevent faster spoilage.
• Sever all roots from their tops -this keeps the roots from turning rubbery- and either discard the greens or save them for your braising pot or next batch of home-made stock.
• Leafy greens, cabbages, kohlrabi, and bunched root crops want to be stored fairly dry and sealed up in a container/bag in the fridge.
• Sweet potatoes should be stored at room temperature.

We’d love to hear stories and recipes of your culinary adventures this week. Tag us on Instagram or Facebook, showing us how you’ve used your CSA share.

Your farmers, Jess & Justin

Regular Share

 

Today’s Regular Share: Left to Rt (top row): 2 savoy-leaved cabbages, bagged spinach, bagged arugula, lettuce (2nd row) Scarlet Queen turnips (some received purple top), easter egg radishes, kohlrabi and sweet potatoes, and curly kale.

 

Large Share

Today’s Large Share: Left to Rt (top row): 1 large cabbage, bagged spinach, bagged arugula, lettuce (middle row) kohlrabi, chard and colalrd (bottom row) Purple top turnips, french breakfast radishes, and sweet potatoes.

 

 Mini Share

Today’s Mini Share: Left to Rt (top row): 1 savoy-leaved cabbages, bagged arugula, lettuce (2nd row) purple top turnips, kohlrabi and sweet potatoes, and lacinato kale.