beet greens

arugula, beet greens, bok choy, greens, kale, mustard greens, radish greens, spinach, tat soi, turnip greens

Happy Autumn!

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Hi folks! It’s been a LONG time since I’ve posted on this ol’ blog – again – but what can I say? We’re busy farmin it up out here and that leaves little time for blog posts. As the weather turns colder, you can expect more posts. Until then, I’m posting one of our write ups from the first Fall CSA newsletter. It’s all about greens – and I figured lots of folks might be interested in how to deal with the plethora of greens to come this season. I’ve been taking pictures on the farm – some of them are outdated already, but expect a picture blog in the near future. 
As usual, thanks for stopping by! 
 – Patricia 
Greens Galore
By Patricia Parker
Even for greens lovers like us, it can be a challenge to keep up with all the greens (but we like challenge) and root veggies of the fall. I’d like to share a bit of our greens wisdom with the hopes that you find some of our strategies helpful.
First and foremost, it is important to get acquainted with your greens. You’ll be receiving numerous types and varieties, each with their own unique flavors and textures. Additionally, their flavors will change as the weather grows colder (they’ll get sweeter – this goes for the root veggies too!). I recommend trying your greens every which way – starting by trying them raw. I find some greens less palatable raw than others – for instance, turnip, radish, and mustard greens are a bit too pungent raw for my taste. But, when they’re cooked, they’re delectable. And some greens are great raw – like arugula and spinach – and others that might surprise you, like kale and swiss chard (all of them are great cooked). As a general rule of thumb, the more tender the green, the better it tastes raw (and the less time you will need to cook them).
Now, there are countless ways to prepare your greens – you can steam them, sauté them, stir fry them, put them in soups, chilis and stews, eat them with eggs (e.g., as a side, in an omelet or frittata), etc. We’ll provide you with recipes for your greens throughout the season to help spur along your greens creativity. We’ll also give you basic cooking instructions and storage information. If your greens ever start to feel like they’re piling up on you, remember how few greens there are in the summer. You can blanch and then freeze your greens to use them any other time you like. You can also use up lots of greens if you make them the primary course on your plate (e.g., dinner salad or beans and greens with meat on the side). Of course, you can also share with your friends, family and neighbors – and if you don’t have any takers, you can leave them with us and we’ll donate them to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle for you.
Keeping up with your greens can be a daunting task in the beginning, but before you know it, you’ll turn pro!
Note: If anyone would like to share their own methods for keeping up with your CSA share, please send a write-up our way. We would LOVE for CSA members to contribute to weekly newsletters. You can send your write up in an email, as a word file, or as a pdf file. We’ll be sure to place it in the next newsletter.
beet greens, beets, cabbage, csa share, kale, lettuce, scallions, strawberries, turnips and greens

Week 4, CSA share contents

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I’m behind on the posting this week, so I’m gonna give you a quit run down of the CSA contents for the week, without all the jibber jabber.

Here are some beautiful root vegetables (beets, carrots and Hakurei turnips and greens) with strawberries.


broccoli
red oak leaf and green butter crunch lettuces
herbs (dill and parsley – WWFM folks, we’re sorry, we completely forgot to pick the herbs – we’ll make up for it 🙂
red Russian kale (aka ragged Jack)
vates kale

more kale
you can eat the kale stems too. you’ve just got to cook em longer. you can substitute them in recipes that call for celery (unless, of course, you’re going for the distinct celery flavor – but they’re cook and crispy).
spinach
beets

Hakurei turnips
carrots
can you tell I think the veggies are pretty? 😉
so happy to have color variety!

cabbage (above)
the whole shebang!

2011 CSA, beet greens, bok choy, cilantro, dill, lettuce, newsletter, recipes, scallions, spinach, strawberries, tatsoi

Week 2, May 2-8 Share Contents

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Hi folks! I have pictures of the share contents for Week 2. To avoid forgetting to take the pictures, I photographed the produce pre-wash, so you’ll notice soil on the veggies. They’ll be nice and clean when you pick them up, of course. But it’s always good to give them another cleaning before you use them. The only thing we don’t wash at the farm are the strawberries, as they should only be washed right before eating them (to maintain their “shelf” life).

I also just printed out this week’s newsletter. You can expect more in this newsletter compared with last week. This week we’ve included Michele McKinley’s description of Farm It Forward, an idea Ben and I approached AHA (Advocates for Health in Action) in February. We’re having our first fundraiser this Sunday at Market Restaurant. For more info on that, please see the preceding post. We’ve also include some basic information (storage and cooking instructions) to help members make good use of your weekly shares. We’ve highlighted bok choy, rainbow chard, lettuce and dill. And finally, Ben wrote a little segment we’re calling “Farmer Musings” to let members know what’s going on here on the farm. We hope you find the newsletters helpful.

Okay, now, for the pictures!

Here’s a regular/small sized share. Everything is pictured here but the chard and the herbs.
Items in this weeks share include: strawberries, bok choy, tatsoi, beets, dill and cilantro, lettuce, spinach and scallions.

This is a green bib, called Nancy.

This is a red romaine, called Marvel the Four Seasons.
A recipe for tofu stuffed lettuce rolls is in the newsletter.

Tatsoi

Bok Choy. The newsletter includes a recipe for Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Cashew Sauce.

Spinach. We like to steam it all and eat it with eggs for breakfast.

These are scallions. The difference between scallions and green onions, is that green onions are basically baby (bulbing) onions, while scallions will not bulb.
Detroit Red Beets (for full shares only – but many more are on the way for all share sizes)

You can steam or saute the beet greens too!

Cilantro and Dill (a recipe for dill and horseradish biscuits is included in the newsletter)

Yummy, yummy strawberries! This variety is called Chandler. 

Here’s Ben about to wash all of the produce. This week I completely forgot to get a picture of the Rainbow Chard, but I think y’all know what it looks like. And if you forgot, you can always check the Week 1 CSA Share post. We included a recipe for Swiss Chard Gratin in the newsletter.

Washing the spinach.

Well, I suppose that’s it for now! If you have any questions or suggestions for how we can make your membership experience better, please feel free to send us email or give us a call.

Also, we would really love it if members would contribute some recipes of your own so we can share them with everyone.

Thanks for stopping by! Ben will see you at the pick ups and at market. I’m MIA for the time being, working on my doctoral exam (prelim) for global sociology. I take the exam Monday, May 16th. After that, you’ll be seeing my face around a whole lot more! Ben told me a lot of folks from market wished me luck – thank you! I can certainly use it!

P.S. If you know folks that are interested in joining a CSA and you are happy with us, please let them know we are still accepting CSA members. We will prorate new members to account for missed pick ups.

beet greens, collards, garlic, mesclun, red Russian kale, tat soi

versatile greens

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since greens are in season – and will be for a while – i’m going to post some more really yummy greens recipes so y’all can be sure you keep your taste buds jumping for joy – or whatever it is they do when they’re happy.

Red-Cooked Collards
1 cup dark soy sauce or tamari
1 cup water
1/2 cup dry sherry
several nickel-sized pieces of fresh ginger
4 or 5 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon sugar
several pieces of star anise
2 pounds collard greens

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil while you prepare the collards. After washing the greens, trim them of their large stems and chop coarsely. Place in the cooking liquid and adjust heat to maintain a gentle boil. Cook until greens are tender and most of the liquid is gone, about 10 to 15 minutes. Serve over rice as a main course or as a side dish.

Source: Bittman, Mark. 1995. Leafy Greens.

Grilled Mesclun-stuffed Tuna Steaks
Juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 medium clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon strong mustard
2 teaspoons ginger, finely minced, or 1 teaspoon dried
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground
1/4 cup dry white wine or water
1 tuna steak, no less than 1 1/4 inches thick, about 11/2 pounds
about 1 1/2 cups assorted greens, washed and dried

Start a charcoal or wood fire or preheat a gas grill or broiler. Mix together all the ingredients except the tuna and the greens.

Using a sharp, thin-bladed knife (a boning knife, for example), make a small incision halfway down any edge of the tuna steak. Insert the knife almost to the opposite edge of the steak, then move it back and forth, flipping it over and creating a large pocket. Be careful not to cut through the top, bottom, or opposite edge of the tuna. Put the tuna in the mixture; you can leave it there for a few minutes or continue with the recipe right away.

Remove the tuna from the liquid and dry it with paper towels. Toss the mesclun with the marinade. Stuff the pocket with the mesclun, still drenched in the liquid. Seal the pocket opening with a couple of toothpicks. Grill the tuna, turning once, about 5 minutes per inch of thickness (if your steak is 1 1/2 inches thick, for example, turn it after about 4 minutes and cook 3 or 4 minutes more). It will be quite rare; if you want to cook it more, go right ahead. Serve, cut into quarters or 1/2 inch thick slices.

Steamed Beet Greens with Oregano

About 1 1/2 pounds beet greens, washed and trimmed
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup fruity olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh oregano or marjoram, minced, or 1 teaspoon dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Steam the beet greens just until tender. Rinse them under cool water, then press out the moisture as much as you can. Chop finely.

Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, and oregano or marjoram. Dress the beet greens with this mixture, season to taste; serve at room temperature.

Makes 4 servings; 15 minutes.

Pasta with Greens and Ricotta
1 bunch tat soi
1 bunch red Russian kale, tough stalks removed (about 4 cups chopped)
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
dash of salt and ground black pepper
1/4 ground nutmeg
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 pound pasta (fettuccine, penne, macaroni, fusilli, butterflies or shells)
grated Parmesan cheese or crumbled ricotta salata
chopped tomatoes
toasted walnuts or pine nuts

Bring a large covered pot of water to a rapid boil.

While the water heats, rinse the tat soi and kale well, shake off any excess water, and chop coarsely. Saute the garlic in the oil for a minute, until soft and golden, taking care not to scorch it. Add the damp greens and saute, stirring often, until they are wilted but still bright green. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and remove from the heat. In a blended, puree the cooked greens with the ricotta until smooth and evenly colored. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

When the water boils, stir in the pasta, cover, and return to a boil. Then uncover the pot and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta and immediately toss it with the sauce in a warmed serving bowl. Top with Parmesan or crumbled ricotta salata, tomatoes and/or toasted walnuts or pine nuts.

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

And here’s a link to a radish greens recipe as well.

Hope y’all are keeping cozy. We hope to see you tomorrow at market!