Share Notes Nov 9, 2023
CSA Share Notes:
Now that the frost has come and gone and zapped the our summer crops, the boxes are going to look drastically different, and we are ready for it! The leafy greens and roots are beginning to mature, and I’m excited to switch over my cooking to more wintery-soups and salads. We are still partnering with Colin at Stout Creek Farm to provide us with a couple of beautiful organically grown items for your box this week: Turnips and Lettuce. Our North and East Dallas area members, check out his booth at the White Rock Lake Farmers market. He’s there every Saturday of the season and his farm has naturally raised meats in addition to his artfully-grown veggies, grown so similarly to us- no synthetic herbicides or pesticides, lots of natural, soil-building fertility.
Here’s this week’s vegetable line-up:
- The hot peppers we were able to glean from the fields store really well in the walk-in cooler, so yep! We’ve got a few more for you this week! Remember, they chop and freeze wonderfully for use all winter. Poblano chili, and jalapeno cornbread can be in your future all winter long.
- Poblano Peppers – Read back in last week’s blog post about a few really helpful ways to use up lots of poblano peppers. Rasas and Pozole are 2 of my faves. Cheesey-grits-stuffed poblanos is another delicious one.
- Jalapenos – In our world, we make a lot of kid-friendly dishes, to which Justin and I have to add in all the spicy fun after-wards on the plate. We used a couple of red jalapenos last night atop our sweet potato black bean chili and it was heavenly. Here are a 13 other variations on stuffed jalapenos.
- Radish – French Breakfast radishes are an heirloom variety with long slender roots, which are pink with white tips. They’re so pretty and tasty. This time of year radishes are usually quite mild, bordering on sweet. They’re great for snacking and in salads, on sandwiches, and my fave: on a thickly buttered and salted slice of sourdough.
- Arugula – It’s salad season again! This peppery green is fantastic in a fresh salad with nuts, fruit, and good cheese. I like pear/walnut/parmesan, or apple/pecan/chevre. Definitely toss in some sliced salad turnips and radishes!
- Kale/collard – We’ve got gorgeous bunching greens this week. The kale is finally ready and it’s so good right now. Tender enough for a raw salad, for sure. We like to make really simple “massaged kale” salads with a bit of strawberry or fresh mango, red onion, and dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar. Mini shares received collard, which is great in a pot of ham and peas, or you can sub it in for kale in any recipe that calls for it.
- Chard – One of the prettiest crops there is. This variety is called Bright Lights. It’s closely related to spinach, so feel free to swap it in to a recipe that needs cooked spinach. 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:
- Lettuce from Salt Marsh Farm, Saltillo, TX. Red and Green heads of crunchy, delicious lettuce, perfect for burgers and salads all week long.
- Hakurei Turnips from Salt Marsh Farm, Saltillo, TX. Large, beautiful white globes of crunchy, sweet, nutty salad turnips. These are the turnip for all of you who say “I hate turnips!” Please just give these a shot, they’re a whole different animal.Salad turnips are eaten raw alone or in a salad, are wonderful sliced atop avocado toast, or enjoyed with lemon and salt, or added to a fall slaw with cranberry and nuts. You certainly CAN roast them if you like.
- 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. They’re excellent quality and delicious.
Veggie Storage tips:
- Everything wants to be washed well before cooking, but keep the dirt on till then, to prevent faster spoilage.
- Sever the bunched roots from their tops -this keeps the roots from turning rubbery- and either discard the greens or save for your braising pot or next batch of home-made stock.
- Leafy greens and bunched root crops want to be stored fairly dry and sealed up in a container/bag in the fridge.
- Your hot peppers can be refrigerated for a month or more, or they can remain out on the counter for a while if you want them to continue to turn red, but they will begin to get softer. That’s okay, they’re still edible so long as you notice no mold developing.
- 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
