CSA Share Notes:

• Baby Pak Choi—This is a tender young chinese cabbage, excellent used in stir fries, fried rice, curry, pad thai, etc. It can also replace english cabbage in a pinch. Try our Sesame Noodles with Bok Choy (same thing as Pak Choi!)
• Persimmons—This is our 5th year of cultivating these young trees and it’s finally paying off in a delicious way! If your persimmons are not quite ripe they can ripen at room temperature for a day or three, or in the fridge to ripen more slowly. Once they are soft but not yet beginning to turn translucent, they are perfect for slicing and eating fresh, in a salad, or roasting with other fruit like pears, apples, and grapes for an amazing fall dessert or topping for brie. They’re actually still great when they’re a bit over-ripe too, but will be more gooey/jelly like, rather than the creamy texture they’re known for.  We have a few more left if you want to buy a whole box next time around.
• Arugula— a tiny bit spicy and delicious, excellent in a fresh salad (with persimmon!) Large and regular shares this week.
• Leaf lettuce—lovely mixed leaves, just needs a quick washing and it’s ready for your table. Large and regular shares this week.
• Radish—Large received Easter Egg radishes and and Regular shares received our heirloom French Breakfast radish. They’re so pretty with their pink tips. These radishes are excellent for a BAR sandwich (that’s Bacon, Avocado, & Radish). I highly recommend a good rye bread for this.
• Fairytale Eggplant—Mini shares received 8-10 of these tiny, gorgeous fruits. I halve them down the stem, er even butterfly them, which is a beautiful effect, and then roast them topped with a bit of parm. I also love them in a curry. Whatever you decide to do with your eggplant, make sure you use high heat. It’ll get a touch of char on them which brings out so much sweet mellow flavor, and avoids the “squeaky” or “mushy” factor people associate negatively with eggplant.
• Japanese Eggplant— Regular shares received several of these pretty eggplant. These are great sliced down the middle and grilled, or roasted at high heat and sprinkled with parmesan, and perform beautifully in a curry.
• Italian Eggplant— Large shares received 2-4 petite Italian eggplant. These would make a fantastic baba ganoush or a super hearty vegetarian lasagna.
• Sweet Peppers— Purple and Green bell peppers, a few to everybody.
• Swiss Chard—For the Regular shares this week. This crop makes a lovely fresh or “massaged greens” salad with pine nuts, parmesan, and dried cherries. Top with a white wine, dijon mustard, or parmesan focused dressing and you’ll have a wonderful side salad.
• Collard— Mini shared received this super hearty and nutritious green. Saute with bacon, onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes for a traditional take.
• Jalapeño—  if you’ve got a back log, may I suggest making a small batch of candied pickled jalapeno peppers. They’re fantastic and it only takes 10-15 peppers to pull this off. For any of your hot or sweet peppers, give our 2 Variations on Stuffed Peppers a try!
• Poblano Peppers— Large Shares These dark green pointy peppers are excellent in a corn bread or chili. Sometimes they are little hotter than a jalapeno, and sometimes they can be quite mild. You never know until you cut into them and give them a little sniff test.
• Cayenne Peppers— Regular and Mini shares. These long, slender, light green peppers are a little hotter than a typical jalapeno and are amazing to spice up South or East Asian cuisine (think curry, ramen, stir fry, etc.)
• Onions— lots of yellow and red onions. They’re tiny so you’ll have to do more work to peel and chop, but they taste great.
• Acorn Squash— Just for the large shares this week. These are beautiful and perfect for slicing into rings and grilling, or roasting in the oven.
• Spinach— super dark green, deeply nutritious leaves. Only for the large shares this week.
• Sweet Potatoes! Our fall staple. This is from a different field and the quality of these potatoes is even better than what we had for you the first week of the season. Remember, these are our pal Tony Philip’s taters, not grown by us at Red  Moon Farm.

Veggie Storage tips:

Sever roots from their greens so they don’t get rubbery. Store all greens, peppers, eggplant sealed up in bags in the fridge. Persimmons can ripen in the fridge or on your counter. Onions, acorn squash, and sweet potatoes all prefer to stay at room temp.  Everything will need a significant washing before cooking, but leave the dirt on until you’re ready to use them to prevent faster spoilage.

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

Large Share

Large Share:  (top row left to right) Baby Pak Choi, Persimmons, bagged spinach, arugula, and leaf lettuce/  (2nd row) Easter Egg radishes, acorn squash, poblano peppers above green and purple bell peppers, onions above jalapenos, Italian eggplant, and sweet potatoes across the bottom.

Regular Share

Regular share:(left to right) Baby Pak Choi, Persimmons above long, slender cayenne peppers, bagged arugula, Japanese eggplant, and Swiss Chard.  (2nd row) Sweet potatoes, green and purple bell peppers above onions, jalapenos, French Breakfast radishes, and bagged leaf lettuce..

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Mini Share

Mini share: (left to right) Pak Choi, persimmon above long slender cayenne peppers, Fairytale eggplant, collards, (2nd row) sweet potatoes, onions, purple and green bell peppers,  and jalapenos.