Midsummer Farm CSA Weekly Newsletter: Share Pick Up #1 Greetings Midsummer Farm CSA subscribers!
This email is to remind you that our CSA program is officially starting this week!
We are harvesting a nice variety of spring greens, radishes, strawberries, cilantro, green onions (scallions), fingerling potatoes, and more!
The cilantro was making me crave guacamole - so I ordered organic avocados as our fruit of the week! Below, is a simple cilantro-avocado guacamole recipe ...
The Mushroom share will be organic shitakes - great in a simple sauté with the spring greens and green onions.
Herb share - this year I want to do a focus each week on a particular herb - this week, our focus will be on lemon balm, which is a very important medicinal as well as culinary herb. More info below ....
Washing - A note on our veggies and greens - we do not officially wash our vegetables. We do sometimes rinse them off just so they look nice, but you should always plan on washing your basket contents. Everything is grown in a open garden with bugs and birds and snails all around.
Weekly Newsletter - I am hoping to find the time to send out a quick email like this one each week before the pick up to give you an idea of what will be in the basket each week. I tend to always find other stuff when I'm out in the garden though - so you'll usually see some surprises in your basket! Always take a quick look at the newsletter in case there are any announcements or choices to be made....
If you want Stinging Nettle - please let me know. It is ready to be harvested, but I don't put it in the baskets as I am afraid people will get hurt!
The Baskets - We use old fashioned bushel baskets for distributing our shares. It is important that you remember to return your basket each time you pick up. That way we can refill them for the week after.
Pick up times - Please let us know a couple days ahead of time if you will be late in picking up your basket or if you cannot pick up your basket. We start harvesting for your basket the night before and morning of the pickup.
Email: CSA@midsummerfarm.com
Phone: 845-986-9699
We really do not have the storage capacity to store your basket overnight. If you cannot make a pick up, you have two options: 1) you can send someone else to pick it up for you or 2) you can donate the basket - I have a family in need who cannot afford to join the CSA, but who would really appreciate a basket when members are unable to pick up.
Thanks very much and we look forward to seeing you - we're so excited to start the CSA harvesting!
~Barbara and Mark
Midsummer Farm
PS - If this is your first time to our farm, our address is 156 East Ridge Road, Warwick, NY 10990. Please scroll down for Driving Directions...
RECIPE: Simple Dark Greens Sauté
This is a great way to utilize almost any dark leafy green you may find in your baskets! Changing fresh herbs to match flavors - adding peppers, mushrooms, other veggies gives added dimension.
1-2 cups of various finely-chopped seasonal greens
1 lb shrimp or sliced chicken breast or thigh (you can also use sausage, scallops, clams, or pork for different effects)
5-6 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
5-6 tbsp Clam Juice, Chicken Broth, or White Wine
A sprinkle red pepper flakes
4 bulbs garlic - chopped coarsely
½ onion - chopped fine
salt and pepper to taste
Optional: cooked pasta or rice can be added as well
Seasonal: as the season progresses, you can add chopped summer squash, peppers, green beans to this sauté.
Heat Olive Oil in a sauté pan. Sauté onion, red pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic. Add meats and any large vegetable pieces. Get a nice sizzling going where the meat starts to brown and brown bits start to form on pan bottom, then add clam juice, chicken broth, or white wine and deglaze pan, scraping the bottom and stirring vigorously. Once everything is cooked through, you can add the optional pasta/rice and cook another minute. Take off the heat and add the chopped seasonal greens and serve.
 RECIPE: Simple Cilantro Guacamole
For each avocado, use about 1/2 a scallion, about 6 sprigs of cilantro, and cumin and sea salt to taste. I chop the avocado, cilantro, and scallion coarsely, add to the food processor with the salt and a sprinkle of cumin, and process until smooth with a couple small chunks. Taste it and add more salt, cumin, or cilantro as needed. Eat it right away - the avocado turns an unslightly brown fast. You can press a piece of waxed paper directly to the top of the guacamole to stave off the browning if you want to save it.
Last night, we had a wonderful salad of the spicy baby greens with a dressing of golden balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, some crumbles of a great local goat feta cheese we discovered over the weekend from Edgwick Farm, and some various olives. The sweet balsamic mixed with the tart feta and spicy greens was divine!
Olives and Avocados and Nuts are wonderful healthy additions to salads. To get the most of the nutrients in salad greens, your body needs good fats. The fats help your body fully metabolize the green-nutrients and will also make your salad energizing!
I cringe when I hear people tell me they are using low-fat salad dressing or proudly skimping on the amount of dressing. Just make sure the fat you are using is healthy fat. Many pre-made salad dressings are made with partially hydrogenated fat, corn syrup, etc.
RECIPE:
Building a Salad Dressing
You don't have to feel you need a recipe for creating a salad dressing.
You just need to be aware of four elements and then look around your kitchen, dig through your CSA basket, and start building your own new and exciting dressing. 4 elements to a salad dressing: 1) Vinegar
2) Oil (you can never really go wrong with Extra-Virgin, Organic, Cold-Pressed Olive Oil)
3) Backbone flavor: garlic or onion, pepper, salt, and a dash of sweet something
4) Upfront flavor: Chopped Herbs and savory greens
And optional 5) - some protein/fat
You can use any type of vinegar from good old apple cider to fancy flavored vinegars; Just try to keep in mind your other ingredients and use a vinegar with a matching flavor. Although Extra Virgin Olive Oil is always a sound choice, a salad is the prefect place to use your delicate, more volatile oils like walnut, pistachio, and flax seed. You will probably always want to add something oniony - garlic powder, chopped fresh garlic, chopped chives, thinly sliced scallions or welsh onions, thinly sliced red onions, etc. And a dash of sea salt or seaweed usually helps round out the flavors. Experiment with red pepper flakes, paprika, and freshly ground black peppers. And adding a sweet usually really brings it all together - this could be a dash of fair-trade organic sugar, a dallop of brown rice syrup or barley malt, some chopped fresh stevia leaves, or a handful of berries or slices of pear. (If you used balsamic vinegar, your dressing will probably be sweet enough.) And don't forego adding chopped fresh herbs and spring greens! The protein/fat you choose is totally up to you - beans, nuts, seeds, chicken, shrimp, avocado, hard boiled egg, tuna, pork - all seem to go well in most salads. Adding a protein really makes the salad into a meal. And once you have artistically created it, don't skimp on the dressing - it is the fats in the dressing that helps you fully metabolize all the nutrients and minerals in the raw greens.
 RECIPE: Escarole Sauté with Pine Nuts
one head of escarole
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup of pine nuts
In a sauté pan, toast pine nuts over medium heat until slightly browned and starting to smell nice. Set aside.
Tear or chop escarole leaves into bite sized pieces.
Heat olive oil in sauté pan, add sliced garlic. Once garlic is tender, add escarole pieces. Sprinkle with salt and cover to steam down (about 1-2 minutes). Add toasted pine nuts and stir and cook together another minute. Serve!
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RECIPE: Spinach Sauté with Toasted Sesame Oil
one bunch of spinach, tough stems removed (this recipe works best with the larger spinach leaves)
1 tbsp Sesame Oil (can be toasted sesame oil)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1-3 tbsp of sesame seeds
2 tsp of minced fresh ginger
2 tsp of rice vinegar
1 tsp of soy sauce
In a sauté pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add sesame seeds, garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring until fragrant, just about 30 seconds.
Add spinach, and cook until just wilting, about 2 minutes, stirring. Remove from heat, and add cinger and soy sauce. Serve !
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RECIPE: Pestos
Arugula Pesto
This makes a great spread for rustic bread...
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (can also use other nuts)
1 bunch or bag arugula
1-3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar (can also use red but mutes the green color of the arugula)
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
olive oil (amount depends on food processor.)
salt and pepper to taste
Toast nuts in a pan and add to food processor or blender. Also add arugula, 1 to 2 tablespoon vinegar, crushed garlic, salt and pepper and blend until well mixed (very thick paste). Add olive oil until pesto is desired consistency (usually until it's spreadable).
Note: the vinegar takes some of the bite out of the arugula. Add more or less depending on taste.
Also, blending the garlic, vinegar, salt, nuts, and arugula before adding the oil is important-it allows the flavors to permeate the vinegar and make it more flavorful (or so my mother always told me).
Hot Kale and Walnut Pesto
This is particularly good over potatoes - mashed or roasted. Great over pasta too. makes a great spread for bread, or try a slice with the Black Mesa Ranch goat cheese, some pesto, and slices of fresh tomatoes on top. Yum!
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (toasted lightly)
1 bunch of coarsely chopped kale (remove thick center stems)
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
about 1/2 cup olive oil (amount depends on amount of moisture in kale and food processor.)
salt and pepper to taste
Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, add 1 tbsp of salt, and kale. Cook about 10 minutes until tender. Drain and squeeze thoroughly. You could also cook the kale by sautéing it in a bit of olive oil...
Put the garlic, walnuts, and kale in a food processor, pulse until well combined. With the processor running, pour in Olive Oil slowly until the mixture comes to a moving but thick and spreadable consistency. Add parmesan, 1/2 tsp salt, and pepper to taste. Mix and serve warm! |
