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Dear Common Thread CSA Members,
It's week 2 for the CSA! We continue to have many of the same greens, and the kohlrabi, turnips, and broccoli are starting to come in along with broccoli raab and frisee. See the "What's In Page" (link on the right) for a more complete list.
The rain has been really too much, but we're doing our best through it all. It's been too wet get all the planting done on time so some of our summer crops may come a little later than we were hoping, but we're taking any dry windows we can find to plant. We're very glad we have a hoophouse to plant in and some "caterpillar tunnels" (temporary greenhouses) for some of our warm season crops given this long wet and cold period.
Kohlrabi is a strange and quite pretty vegetable related to broccoli and cabbage. You can peel it and eat the crispy, slightly sweet swollen stem raw, or it can be cooked in mixed vegetable dishes or soups. The variety we're growing this year is purple on the outside and greenish white on the inside.
Thank you Common Thread member Katherine Collett for contributing this recipe to help us contend with too much lettuce:
Lettuce Soup--great for when the lettuces get ahead of you! And surprisingly lettuce-flavored!
Cook
1 sliced or chopped onion
1 chopped clove garlic
in 2 T olive oil, until onion is translucent.
Add 2 heads lettuce, torn,
and (optional) parsley, chives, tarrogon.
Stir till lettuce is wilted (~3 minutes).
Add 3 c. chicken stock (or water with a spoonful of Better Than Bouillion, any variety). Simmer for 20 minutes.
Put soup in batches through a food processor or blender.
Stir in 1/2 c. heavy cream or evaporated milk or yoghurt. Heat through, adding salt and pepper to taste (not much salt if you used Better Than Bouillion). Serve with fresh herb or chive blossom garnish.
adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/lettuce-soup-recipe2/index.html
Spinach Ricotta Pie - adapted from the Moosewood Cookbook. One of my favorite recipes for spinach - other greens can be substituted such as chard, beet greens, turnip greens or kale. Even my 3 and 7 year olds like cooked greens in this dish!
The crust: 6 Tbs. butter, cut into small pieces
1.5 cups flour
about 4 Tbs cold water or milk
1 tsp salt
The filling: 1 tsp. butter
1 cup minced onion (or 1-2 bu scallions)
1 lb spinach (or other greens, stemmed and finely chopped)
0.5 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 tsp. basil
1 lb. ricotta cheese
2 or 3 beaten eggs
3 Tbs. flour
0.5 cup (packed) grated sharp cheese of your choice
a dash of nutmeg (optional)
Optional topping: 1 cup sour cream, lightly beaten
paprika
1. Use a pastry cutter, two forks, or a food processor to cut together the butter and flour until the mixture is uniformly blended and resembles coarse cornmeal.
2. Add just enough liquid (water or milk) to hold the dough together. Press into a 9 or 10 inch pie pan. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt the butter in a skillet, add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add spinach, salt, pepper and basil, and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until the spinach is wilted. Remove from heat.
4. Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl, and mix well. Spread into the unbaked pie shell. For an extra rich pie, top with sour cream, spread to the edges of the crust. Dust generously with paprika.
5. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until firm to the touch in the center. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
We welcome your recipes to pass on to others!
Yours in the Field,
Wendy and Asher
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