Serenbe Farms
  CSA Newsletter and Recipes 6-6

May 31st, 2011
Farm Update from Justin

 

  Warm weather greetings from your farmers!  We've had a great week including snacking on our first tomatoes, eating the first potatoes, and harvesting our first summer squash.  So when will you be eating these items?  All very soon.  Summer squash is coming up first in your shares followed by tomatoes and potatoes in the coming weeks.  It's always a really exciting time for us to begin opening the potato hills and finding the spuds deep inside.  We have many different varieties of potatoes and the first ones you will be receiving are new potatoes.  You can recognize them by their soft red color and thin skin.  According to wikipedia the average person eats almost 80lbs of potatoes each year!  We feel that potatoes are one of the key vegetables [along with tomatoes and carrots] where you can really tell a difference in freshness and flavor. 

 

Kitchen Essentials

 

    Many of you ask each week about new recipes to try with veggies that you have received in your shares.  Besides providing you with recipes we try to provide some essential skills to add diversity to your vegetable cooking experience. 
    We've been eating the same veggies now for nearly ten years!  How do we keep it interesting?  The first step is simple share the cooking tasks!  It's hard for one person alone to see outside the 'stir fry' box.  We have a plethora of cookbooks, internet recipes, and creative ideas.  We change recipes and bounce interesting ideas off of each other for fun substitutions and spicy additions. 
   Some of our favorite cookbook authors include Molly Katzen, Alice Waters, and Laurel Robertson.  Key elements in our kitchen bookshelf include Laurel's Kitchen, The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest, and The Art of Simple Food.  We really enjoy the following blogs/websites:

1.  http://farmhousetable.wordpress.com/
2.  http://www.mariquita.com/recipes/
3.  http://www.abushelofwhat.com/
4.  http://smittenkitchen.com/
5.  http://pinchmysalt.com/


    Ethnic cooking is another way to keep things spiced up.  We frequently do cold salads with kohlrabi, carrots, radishes, and turnips and spice them up with asian style dressings.  We have a food processor and using the shoestring blade simply cut and place all veggies inside, add to a bowl, and then add dressing.  It's a simple quick lunch for hot summer days.  Adding chinese cabbage, toasted nuts or citrus fruit will increase the flavor profile and add some texture. 
   Rice dishes seasoned with Indian spices can be a great addition to the standard veggie stir-fry.  Asian style soups can make quick work of bok choy and other veggies that sometimes get pushed to the back of the fridge.
   Last but not least quiche or casserole.  We love eggs!  We don't always have access to 'quality' meat so we use lots of eggs for protein.  This allows us to make quiches on a regular basis.  Paige enjoys making mini-quiches in muffin tins or we sometimes make large ones which are great for leftovers.  Our most common quiche typically includes squash, peppers, or broccoli.  We also make many casseroles.  We typically do a home-made cheese sauce of sorts combine this with sauteed veggies and you've got Betty Crocker beat.  We top with bread crumbs and cheese and cook until crispy. 


The Great Kohlrabi
   If you are from the mid-west chances are you grew up eating kohlrabi raw with maybe salt or nothing at all.  If you grew up in the south you're probably wondering how much more alien like a vegetable can become.  Don't be scared of the overgrown cabbage root it's nutritional value is high and it's extremely tasty.  It's high in vitamin A and C, fiber, and potassium.  It's most commonly peeled to remove the outer skin.

 

   The history of kohlrabi is a long and uncertain one.  It was once as common in history as chicken is today.  Apicius who wrote one of the first cookbooks known to man actually had a kohlrabi recipe.  Charlemagne actually ordered kohlrabi to be grown on the lands under his rule once he was in power. 
   But interesting facts aside you still gotta know what to do for preparation:
1.  Raw - Sliced thinly and seasoned with lemon juice, salt, or pepper.

2.  Steamed - If you're not up to eating it raw try it lightly steamed.  It can take the place of potatoes as sides to many entrees.

3.  Salad - Here is where kohlrabi shines!  It has such a porous nature it can absorb whatever flavors you add to any cold salad.  As mentioned above we use it in an Asian style salad with carrots, radishes, and turnips.  A great appetizer before sushi.

4.  Grilled - Wrapped in foil with olive oil and spices place on the grill for 10 minutes. 

5.  Stir-fry/sauteed - Chop small and add to any stir-fry. 

  Hope you guys enjoy cooking the wonderful items in this week's share.  We will try to stay cool and you do the same! 

Until next time.
Justin
This week's share
(this list is subject to change): 
 
1 bunch collards [or kale]

1 bunch carrots or beets

Squash

1 bunch Chinese cabbage or Tokyo Bekana bunch 

Green onions

1 bunch herbs: cilantro or dill

1-2 heads lettuce

Quart of sugar snap peas[wow!]

Broccoli or Cauliflower

1 bunch turnips

2 Kohlrabi (peel it--great raw in slaws or for dipping, roasted, sauteed -- try kohlrabi chips)

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