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Dear Common Thread Winter CSA Members,
We have another packed box for you all! The hardy greens have held up very well in this warm December weather. We've also been able to work more quickly and easily than we have other years since we didn't have as much cold, ice, snow, frozen pipes, etc. to contend with.
Thank you to Marsha, Lydia, Seth, Emily and Packard for helping us pack the boxes! And thanks to Anna, Nezar and Taite for helping us pick veggies for the boxes. We just about cleared out our leek patch for this box - see the photo of the full truck above.
The vegetable list is on our website on the what's in page. We still have a few hardy herbs left in the field that are open for pick your own.
As we enter the winter, we start to pull out the storage radishes. The white/green Watermelon Radish looks a little like a turnip but when you cut it open it is a beautiful pink color. It can be sliced thin or shedded and eaten raw in salads or as a colorful garnish, or it can be added to roasted roots or soups. Here is a link to a kitchn.com page with some good ideas and a fun title for watermelon radish, "If Cinderella were a Vegetable, She'd be a Watermelon Radish".
We have popcorn this time! Just shuck it, shell it and pop it the way you usually do - we use an air popper. To shell it by hand, it's easiest to put it in a deep bowl and pry a small section off with a butter knife. Then use your thumb to roll the kernals off to one side. One ear usually makes about 1 bowl of popcorn.
We put hot peppers in the bag with your popcorn - keep them dry until you are ready to use them. One pepper can spice up a whole pot of chili or stir-fry. Most of them are Matchbox peppers although there are also some Serrano peppers in there.
Vitamin Green, or Yokatta-Na is related to Bok Choi but is less watery. It makes a great cooked green or it can be eaten raw if cut up small. As it's name suggests, it's very good for you.
We know we've given you all several cabbages and it's not everyone's favorite, but there are lots of ways to prepare it, and it is very nutritious and the only storage green we have so a fabuous food for the locavore. We've been enjoying it in finely cut coleslaw and sauteed with Fruit of the Fungi's great mushrooms. Seth suggested that cabbage is great in Moo Shoo Pork. From Marsha:
Cabbage and Noodles
from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics
2 cups thinly sliced onions
½ cup unsalted butter
1 ½ tablespoons paprika
8 cups finely shredded cabbage
2 tsp. salt
12 oz fine or medium wide egg noodles
Freshly ground black pepper
Dollop of sour cream (optional)
In a large pot with a tight lid, cook the onions with the butter on medium heat until golden- about 15 minutes. Add the paprika and saute for a few seconds more. Stir in the cabbage and the salt and continue to cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover tightly and cook on very low heat for 40 to 50 minutes. Stirring occasionally until the cabbage is very soft and brown.
When the cabbage is almost done, cook the noodles in boiling water until al dente. Drain the noodles and toss well with the cabbage mixture. Add a generous amount of pepper and if you like with a dollop of sour cream.
The next and last box is in 3 weeks, January 7. It will be all storage crops (and maybe some spinach and kale, if the weather holds), so it is possible to hold boxes for a little while if some folks aren't coming back in town by that date, just let us know if you would like us to hold it for you. Enjoy the holidays!
Yours in the Field,
Wendy and Asher
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