Citrus sweetens, brightens winter season
Marcy Nameth of Greenhorn Acres has plentiful ideas for brightening up your winter meals with the sweetness of citrus. She shares several citrus-inspired recipes in our January 2011 newsletter: CLICK HERE. She also provides an update on the remarkable progress of the Arkansas Valley Organic Growers Cooperative, which doubled its volume of sales in 2010. As a carryover from the 2010 growing season, Ranch Foods Direct still has produce available that was grown by the seven local farmers who make up the Arkansas Valley Organic Growers, including Greenhorn Acres. (Consider Ranch Foods Direct your year-round farmers market. In Denver, shop the Denver Urban Homesteading market to support more Colorado farmers.)
Meanwhile, sign-up now for a Greenhorn Acres CSA, a vegetable subscription service that includes weekly deliveries to Ranch Foods Direct during the growing season, available at 2010 prices through January 11. (Price for one veggie share will go from $485 to $511 when the new pricing kicks in. Half-shares and fruit shares are also available. For a flyer, CLICK HERE.) Marcy always provides wonderful recipes along with her produce! Here are a couple of her recipes from the Ranch Foods Direct January newsletter, as well as one from Ranch Food Direct's Leona Espinoza.
Orange Beef
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 lbs round steaks, cut into thin strips on the diagonal
1/2 cup orange rind, cut into slivers
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sherry
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add beef strips and cook until browned. Set aside. Add orange peel, garlic and ginger to wok or skillet. Add the beef back in and stir-fry 1 minute. In medium bowl combine cornstarch, broth, soy sauce, sherry and red pepper. Pour into beef, stirring constantly. Cook for 1 minute. Serve hot over rice.
Pork Grapefruit Salad
Citrus salads are a great way to use up leftover meat. Cook a roast beef, pork, chicken or turkey and use the meat in a salad for a second or third meal. Then cook up the bones for a rich, nourishing soup. - Marcy
1/4 cup unsweetened grapefruit juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
1/8 plus 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 pound pork tenderloin, julienned
1 bunch leaf lettuce, torn
2 medium grapefruit, peeled and sectioned
In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the grapefruit juice, vinegar, oil, honey, mustard, poppy seeds and 1/8 teaspoon salt; shake well and set aside. In a large skillet stir-fry pork with remaining salt until no longer pink. Place lettuce on a platter; top with warm pork. Arrange grapefruit around pork.
Leona's Easy Orange Vinaigrette
Combine one-half can orange juice concentrate (available at Ranch Foods Direct) with 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup olive oil. It's great as a dressing or can be used as a marinade.
Come in and shop these January specials... Stew meat is now 10% off and all 90 percent lean ground beef is also 10% off. Ground round (95% lean), ground sirloin, and one-and-a-half pound packages of 90% ground beef are 10% off; top sirloin and chuck roasts, 10% off. Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, buy two packs of ground beef, get one free (85% lean and 80% lean only.) Marrow bones are $2.50/lb. Pet food $1.50/pkg; $1.25 in bulk (over 40 lbs.) NOTE: Be sure to sample Joe Mauro's new Habanero and fire roasted salsas!
Looking for a healthy winter snack?
Before snuggling up on a snowy evening to watch a movie, grab a snack that is light and healthy. Papa Hill's Popcorn is made with organic popcorn popped in extra virgin olive oil and pure sunflower oil and sprinkled with sea salt. Created by an inspiring mother-daughter duo who turned their family's popcorn tradition into a business, this great snack has become immensely popular at Ranch Foods Direct! If you missed the story the first time, CLICK HERE to read about what makes Papa Hill's Popcorn so special.