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Dear Common Thread CSA Members,

Last week was a fun, busy week with the start of the CSA and the Markets.  It was great to see lots of new and returning faces at the farm and at the markets, and very nice for the food we've been growing since March, and planning since November to finally be eaten! It was great to hear many appreciative comments and see a number of photos, including the one above of member Jessica Falgiatano's 5 year old twins happily munching on bok choi.
 
You can find out what the vegetables for the week are by going to our "What's In" page on our website and checking out the PYO page on our website.   
 
We have a couple more people on our waiting list for a subsidized CSA share, so if you haven't donated towards making it possible for a family or individual in need to participate in the CSA and are interested in doing so, it isn't too late...there are several people, in addition to the 7 already participating, who would be happy to be able to participate.
 
We have lots of escarole this week.  It is a cooking green that is great sauteed with garlic and olive oil and famous around here as a key ingredient in "Utica Greens". Another popular recipe is Escarole with White Beans, an Italian dish.  I always eat it cooked, but I've found some recipes for salads using raw escarole.  Here is one from Martha Stewart's website that looks tasty.
 
Escarole and Walnut Salad
INGREDIENTS
  • 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 shallots, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 5 cups sliced escarole
  • 1/3 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
DIRECTIONS
  1. STEP 1

    Stir together vinegar, mustard, and shallots in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Toss escarole with vinaigrette, and sprinkle with walnuts

  1. . Season with salt and pepper.

We also have frisee this week.  It is related to Escarole, but more tender and mild. We eat it raw in salads, mixed in with lettuce and other greens.  It is a great texture, light and twisty, that adds nice overall texture to a salad.  
 
We harvested beets with tops this week.  Both the beets and their greens are very tasty.  Sometimes I cook the beets and then add the greens (then some oil, vinegar, salt and maybe a nut or goat cheese), but they can also be cooked separately.  Beets are very closely related to swiss chard and a little less closely related to spinach and the greens can be used in a lot of recipes that call for swiss chard or spinach. Here's a link to a nice list of recipes that call for beet tops and some for radish tops as well.
 
We hope you are enjoying your vegetables!

Yours in the field,
Wendy and Asher