Tuesday
Jul272010
Last CSA share of July
Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 6:45PM
In this week's share:
Summer's Bounty!
A head of a fresh cabbage - this variety is called Early Green. Nice compact heads full of taste. If you don't want to use it all at once - they store really well if you cut them in half and store the unused half wrapped in plastic in your crisper drawer.
Onions - so, this summer the risk/reward of the CSA has mostly been all reward... well - for some reason the onions we planted this year have pretty much just stared at us. no matter how much we talk nicely to them (or threaten removal) they have just kinda sat there. So - not huge... but tasty! These are a classic Spanish yellow.
Green Bell Peppers - this is are the variety Ace. A very classic green pepper - there's a few of them in here... don't confuse them with the other green pepper!
Kale - a leafy veggie that some people think is too tough to use (nonsense!). The reality is kale can be used in recipes like other greens such as spinach or swiss chard. You can saute it with garlic and olive oil (say "EVOO" with a nasal sound to it) as a side dish or add to pasta with our veggies and meat . It is truly a vitamin-rich green so give it a try. It also stores well so you can keep it in your crisper drawer for quite a while. One of our favorite recipes for kale is a salad recipe we found HERE. Instead of currants consider adding fresh local berries that are now in season like blueberries and raspberries!
Lettuce - this is a bibb lettuce - Buttercrunch to be true to the variety. Very good for the classic summer BLT or a salad!
Cucumber - fresh and burpless. Really. Did you know that some people really do get the burps from cukes because of an enzyme in the skin? This cultivar was bred to NOT have the enzyme in the skin. If you are worried - you can still peel it - but you don't have to!
Yellow Squash - this lone summer squash is all that has been producing in the field following the really high heat over the last week or so. The fact is most plants need a certain range of temperatures to produce flowers, be pollinated and set fruits. The other summer squash plants have not been reproducing too well with these higher temps... the good news is - they are back at it now that things have cooled off!
Tomatoes - cherry tomatoes and regular (New Girl, Big Boy and Taxi) The cherry tomatoes are the variety BHN or Super Sweet 100 - we think you can tell them apart - find the really sweet ones - those are the Super Sweet! As for the bigger tomatoes - how do you tell them apart? Well - contrary to what you have learned about telling boys and girls apart... the New Girl hybrids have a small "point" on the bottom of the fruit and the Big Boy hybrid has a perfectly smooth and round bottom. You might even notice the colors are a little different if you have two of them next to each other. The Big Boy is new in the share this week because they take a little longer to mature (boy and gil jokes go here). Taxi - that's the yellow one. A little less acidic of a tomato.
Cilantro - this is the smelly, leafy stuff. (If you are like Andy, who wrote this post, you have the genetics that makes this the most foul green on the planet so don't feel bad if there's something in this share you want to throw away - learn why some folks just can't stand the stuff here)
Hot Peppers - Ancho's are the short and squat, dark green guys with a gradual taper to the end. They are mild and hot - a certain south of the border flair added to your food. The Anaheim pepper is the longer skinny one - they are usually a little more mild than the Ancho pepper but have less complexity in their taste.
So what can you do this week with all these veggies?
-Our featured recipe this week: Marinated Fresh Cabbage Slaw. Even if you think you aren't a fan of cabbage - try this! A sweet and sour mixture that is great to bring to summer picnics too!
-Use your freshly picked lettuce and tomatoes to make BLT's! Yum! (get some local grass fed bacon and real mayo to really make this a summer treat!)
-Obviously, you have the makings of great salads with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, peppers. Go crazy and add some farm fresh free range hard boiled eggs too!
-Kale can be used in recipes like other greens such as spinach or swiss chard. You can saute it with garlic and oil as a side dish or add to pasta with our veggies and meat . It is truly avitamin-rich green so give it a try. It also stores well so you can keep it in your crisper drawer for quite a while. One of our favorite recipes for kale is a salad recipe we found on epicurious.com. Check out the link to that simple recipe HERE. Instead of currants consider adding fresh local berries that are now in season like blueberries and raspberries!
-And finally - consider using your tomatoes, hot peppers and cilantro to make a batch of salsa! Nothing compares to freshly made salsa. Find your favorite recipe online or in your cookbooks and tell us how it turns out on Facebook.
Summer's Bounty!A head of a fresh cabbage - this variety is called Early Green. Nice compact heads full of taste. If you don't want to use it all at once - they store really well if you cut them in half and store the unused half wrapped in plastic in your crisper drawer.
Onions - so, this summer the risk/reward of the CSA has mostly been all reward... well - for some reason the onions we planted this year have pretty much just stared at us. no matter how much we talk nicely to them (or threaten removal) they have just kinda sat there. So - not huge... but tasty! These are a classic Spanish yellow.
Green Bell Peppers - this is are the variety Ace. A very classic green pepper - there's a few of them in here... don't confuse them with the other green pepper!
Kale - a leafy veggie that some people think is too tough to use (nonsense!). The reality is kale can be used in recipes like other greens such as spinach or swiss chard. You can saute it with garlic and olive oil (say "EVOO" with a nasal sound to it) as a side dish or add to pasta with our veggies and meat . It is truly a vitamin-rich green so give it a try. It also stores well so you can keep it in your crisper drawer for quite a while. One of our favorite recipes for kale is a salad recipe we found HERE. Instead of currants consider adding fresh local berries that are now in season like blueberries and raspberries!
Lettuce - this is a bibb lettuce - Buttercrunch to be true to the variety. Very good for the classic summer BLT or a salad!
Cucumber - fresh and burpless. Really. Did you know that some people really do get the burps from cukes because of an enzyme in the skin? This cultivar was bred to NOT have the enzyme in the skin. If you are worried - you can still peel it - but you don't have to!
Yellow Squash - this lone summer squash is all that has been producing in the field following the really high heat over the last week or so. The fact is most plants need a certain range of temperatures to produce flowers, be pollinated and set fruits. The other summer squash plants have not been reproducing too well with these higher temps... the good news is - they are back at it now that things have cooled off!
Tomatoes - cherry tomatoes and regular (New Girl, Big Boy and Taxi) The cherry tomatoes are the variety BHN or Super Sweet 100 - we think you can tell them apart - find the really sweet ones - those are the Super Sweet! As for the bigger tomatoes - how do you tell them apart? Well - contrary to what you have learned about telling boys and girls apart... the New Girl hybrids have a small "point" on the bottom of the fruit and the Big Boy hybrid has a perfectly smooth and round bottom. You might even notice the colors are a little different if you have two of them next to each other. The Big Boy is new in the share this week because they take a little longer to mature (boy and gil jokes go here). Taxi - that's the yellow one. A little less acidic of a tomato.
Cilantro - this is the smelly, leafy stuff. (If you are like Andy, who wrote this post, you have the genetics that makes this the most foul green on the planet so don't feel bad if there's something in this share you want to throw away - learn why some folks just can't stand the stuff here)
Hot Peppers - Ancho's are the short and squat, dark green guys with a gradual taper to the end. They are mild and hot - a certain south of the border flair added to your food. The Anaheim pepper is the longer skinny one - they are usually a little more mild than the Ancho pepper but have less complexity in their taste.
So what can you do this week with all these veggies?
-Our featured recipe this week: Marinated Fresh Cabbage Slaw. Even if you think you aren't a fan of cabbage - try this! A sweet and sour mixture that is great to bring to summer picnics too!
-Use your freshly picked lettuce and tomatoes to make BLT's! Yum! (get some local grass fed bacon and real mayo to really make this a summer treat!)
-Obviously, you have the makings of great salads with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, peppers. Go crazy and add some farm fresh free range hard boiled eggs too!
-Kale can be used in recipes like other greens such as spinach or swiss chard. You can saute it with garlic and oil as a side dish or add to pasta with our veggies and meat . It is truly avitamin-rich green so give it a try. It also stores well so you can keep it in your crisper drawer for quite a while. One of our favorite recipes for kale is a salad recipe we found on epicurious.com. Check out the link to that simple recipe HERE. Instead of currants consider adding fresh local berries that are now in season like blueberries and raspberries!
-And finally - consider using your tomatoes, hot peppers and cilantro to make a batch of salsa! Nothing compares to freshly made salsa. Find your favorite recipe online or in your cookbooks and tell us how it turns out on Facebook.
Reader Comments (2)
I wanted to share another kale recipe that my sister-in-law makes - Kale chips!! Here are a few links detailing how to prepare them:
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/baked-kale-chips/Detail.aspx
http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/03/baked-kale-chips/
Thanks! We tried something like this once after hearing rave reviews of them... and I think we over baked them... they came out a little like an ashtray! Maybe we will try your recipes and see if we can do better the second time around!