Vegetable Highlights at Outer Aisle

Bing and Rainier Cherries are in! Picked fresh Thursday morning from Smit Orchards, these should be a real treat. 

Tyson Hill Farm in Waterford just announced the arrival of the first peaches of the year: SuperRich and/or Maycrest Peaches. We thought we'd have to wait another month for summer fruit! 

More of those gorgeous tasty berries: Blueberries, Olallieberries, Boysenberries and Strawberries. 

Plenty of great tasting veggies to choose from this week! Cauliflower, cabbage and more of that wonderful little known green called Mache. We have fallen in love with this salad green. Eric made a yummy salad with mache, lettuce, cilantro, pistachios, pine nuts and avocado with a light Red Apple Balsamic from Marisolio. Carrots, fennel, Dino kale, chard, turnips and rutabagas, baby lettuce, the last of the fava beans, English peas, sweet red spring onions, fresh garlic and the list goes on.   

Other Products:

We just got in a few new products: Locally grown Cornish Cross Chickens and locally prepared Hash Mash (a gluten free vegan alternative) - see profile. 

Other not so local, but great products: Tempeh Fakin' Bacon (we taste tested and is quite good!), Choice teas and Tofu.   

This recipe is a celebration of spring and all things green. You'll find all the ingredients and recipe when you shop this week at Outer Aisle.

8 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup assorted green spring vegetables, asparagus, baby zucchini, sweet peas, fava beans, etc

2 TBS Olive oil

4 TBS unsalted butter

2 slender young leeks, white parts only, trimmed, well washed and finely chopped

4 oz of mushrooms (shittake, oyster or trumpet) chopped finely 

1 TBS finely chopped Italian Prosciutto

2 cups Arborio Rice

1/3 cup finely chopped assorted leafty greens, such as spiach, swiss chard, mache or arugula

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano plus additional for serving

1 small scallion, white part only

1 tsp chopped fresh sage leaves

1 TBS Italian parsley leaves

sea salt

Bring the broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Leave peas and fava beans whole. Dice the other vegetables the size of peas. Cook the vegetables in the broth for 3 minutes. Transfer them with a skimmer or a slotted spoon to a small bowl. Remove the broth from the heat and reserve.

Heat the olive oil with 2 TBS of the butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. When the butter is melted, add the mushrooms, leeks and cook until tender. Add the prosciutto and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often. Reheat the broth to a simmer. Add the rice to the mushrooms, leeks and prosciutto and increase the heat to medium. Stir contantly until the rice becomes translucent.

Add a ladleful of the simmering broth and stir constantly until it is completely absorbed by the rice. Continue adding broth, 1 ladleful at a time, until the rice is almost tender, about 25 to 3 minutes. Stir in 1 last ladleful of broth. When it is almost absorbed, stir in the cooked vegetables and the chopped greens. Simmer for 2 minutes more. Add the remaining 2 tables butter and the Parmigiano.

Remove the pan from the heat. Stir until the butter and cheese have melted. Stir int he scallion, sage and parsley and season with salt to taste. Serve immediately, passing a small bowl of Parmigiano at the table for sprinkling over.

Scott Reuse, chef and co-owner of Hash Mash is based out of Jamestown. They produce a great product that is a bean, whole grain, seed and Quinoa food. It is gluten free, vegan, fully cooked using the highest quality living ingredients.

Their brochure and website (www.hashmash.org) offers great menu suggestions and particularly appealing to people on the go who want to have healthy eating choices. Kid's love it too!

Their goal: "To continue providing an afforable "heat and eat" solution for anytime which is a great tasting, sustainable, nutritious food."

Outer Aisle Summer Event's Calendar Preview:    

We are excited to share with you a preview of our Summer Event's Calendar. Here's a snippet of what's to come - Farm tours (3rd Saturday June - September), Fall gardening workshop (September 24th), Garlic tasting (July 29th) and Heirloom Tomato Tasting & Pairing (September 22nd), Meet the Producer Days (July 21 and October 13), and  

Taste tour & Foraging Foray (August 27th). 

The first event will be our popular Farm Tour led by Eric. Our farm is a 5 minute walk from Outer Aisle down historic Main Street, Douglas Flat. The third Saturday of each month, starting:

June 18th. Meet at Outer Aisle around 9:45am - we'll be done by 11am.

We've got two events on the books: Green Drinks, Tuesday July 12th 6pm: a social get together hosted by the Sierra Business Council and held here at Outer Aisle. We're providing snacks and drinks and celebrating our new summer schedule. Hope to see you there. We are sponsoring the film, Redwoods: Anatomy of a Giant to be shown at our local Douglas Flat winery, Chatom Vineyards on September 22nd. Hosted by the Wild & Scenic Film Festival. www.sierrafilmfest.org

If you haven't planted yet, waiting for the weather, or just too busy until now. No worries, it's not too late to get in a crop of tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, peppers, basil and eggplant.

We still have plenty of tomatoes, peppers, basil and eggplant seedlings left for sale. $1.25 each or $1 each for 6 or more.  

Compost is available through Brice Station between Murphys and Avery. You must call ahead: Stuart Mast 768-7262.  

Plenty of irrigation supplies at the store and check out the amazing gopher traps that are revolutionizing our operation. Eric will be available on Thursdays to answer your questions.