Good Eats Weekly Newsletter - January 20th, 2016

Localvore Members  & Regular Veggie Only Share Members take a LIGHT GREEN/TAN BAG   This week your bag will contain: Mesclun, Potatoes, Beets, Sunchokes, Onions, Savoy Cabbage, Garlic   Out of the Bag: Frozen Squash Puree, Frozen Chard   Localvore Offerings Include: Golden Crops Rolled Oats Raw VT Honey Smitty's Frozen Raspberries       Half Veggie Only Members take a YELLOW BAG containing:   Mesclun, Potatoes, Beets, Garlic, Onions, Savoy Cabbage   Out of the Bag: Frozen Squash Puree     Frozen Veggies are now in your CSA share! . . . . . . . . . .      We are proud to be sending you our frozen veggies that we preserved in our kitchen from our farm in the height of summer. It's a great way to add flavor to your winter meals while you continue to eat organic local food!   Generally, the full share will receive two different frozen veggies, while the half share will receive one frozen veggie. . . . . . . . . . .   Don't forget that you can sign up for the Spring CSA!   Sign up Now!

Around the Farm   As winter continues on, we are always excited and thankful for what we have to offer in this season of cold and dormancy. Our fall harvests are holding up well in our storage facility, and our high tunnels continue to yield fresh greens. During these short winter days, our winter greens actually experience negligible growth. That's why we planned ahead before the first frosts by planting our greens with sufficient time to size up before winter set in. Even though growth has slowed, they are still full of life and flavor under their protective blankets. In fact, winter greens often sweeten in the cold, as sugars are a natural defense against damage.   We're planning ahead for the big thaw, too. Even now, we are putting up new high tunnels that will serve us once the ground can be worked. When the first signs of spring are on the horizon, we will already be busy in the greenhouses starting seeds and prepping soils for new crops.            Storage and Use Tips    Mesclun - This week's mesclun is a mix of spinach, lettuce and claytonia. These beautiful greens are straight from our high tunnels and are perfect for salads. Store in your crisper drawer and enjoy within a week.   Potatoes - Also known as Idaho or baking potatoes, Russets are in the class of starchy potatoes, as opposed to waxy varieties like red and fingerling. They are high in vitamin C and B6, as well as natural sugars. Russets make great baking potatoes, and are ideal for mashing and making fries. Store potatoes in a cool dark place.   Sunchokes - Also known as Jerusalem artichokes, are in the full share this week. You might know of this plant as a beautiful yellow flower on tall stalks that blooms in summer. The tubrous roots, which appear in your shares, are also edible. Eat with or without the skin, and prepare as you would potatoes: roast, saute, bake, boil, or steam. They can be stored for a few weeks in your fridge.   Beets - Golden beets are a great treat this week! We love growing colored beets to mix it up from the classic deep red. Beets are great shredded in salads, and extra delicious when roasted. These golden beets don't impart their color onto whatever they are cooked with, like their red counterparts sometimes do, so  use them to create colorful dishes with pasta, chevre, greens, etc.!   Onions - The yellow onions in your share this week are a mix of our onions and those from our friends at Riverside Farm in East Hardwick. Store them in a cool place, even in your fridge, if you don't intend to eat them quickly.   Garlic - This week's garlic is a mix of our garlic and some from High Mowing Seeds in Wolcott. These beautiful bulbs would be great roasted whole as an addition to any recipe that highlights the complex flavor of roasted garlic. Store in a cool, dark, well ventilated place (a paper bag in your basement would do).   Savoy Cabbage - Green savoy cabbage is a beautiful head of cabbage that has crinkled leaves. Their leaves are also more delicate and more loosely packed than their green cabbage cousins. Eat like you would any other cabbage (great in slaws, salads, and spring rolls). Store unwashed, loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer. Don't worry if the outer leaves begin to discolor or tear on you, just remove them to expose the perfectly good leaves remaining below.   Frozen Squash Puree -  In the fall we put up our year's worth of squash puree. The annual making of our squash puree is a joint effort. High Mowing Seeds grows several super sweet varieties of winter squash in order to collect the seeds for their customers. They do the seed extraction at our farm and we take all the flesh of the squash and steam it to make the puree. This squash puree came from a butternut variety and it has a very high sugar content. You can use the puree as a side dish, or in soup, or to make pumpkin pie.   Frozen Chard -  Frozen chard, like spinach, is great for casseroles, lasagnas, quiches etc.  Thaw it, squeeze out the excess liquid and add it in.  Or let it thaw on counter til it softens up enough to saw with a knife, and saw off section to use a lesser amount in a dish.  You can put the remainder back in freezer.      Veggie Storage and Use Tips are on our website too, so please bookmark the recipe and storage tip section.  I am sure you will find it useful. Changes to Your Delivery? If you will be away some upcoming week, and need to make changes to your share delivery, let us know at least 1 week before the change. You can have your share donated to the Food Shelf, or you can skip your share delivery and you will retain a credit on your account toward the purchase of your next share.   Localvore Lore   This week's localvore share includes Golden Crops Rolled Oats, Raw Vermont Honey, and Smitty's Farm Raspberries.   Golden Crops Oats are from organic grower Michel Gaudreau and Golden Crops Mill, just across the Vermont border in Quebec. Michel grows quite a few different grains on his farm and mills grains for organic growers in his area. He has a great operation in a beautiful setting surrounded by his fields. Michel's Golden Crops Mill makes many organic grains available locally that we might not otherwise have local access to. These are beautiful, clean organic rolled oats ideal for oatmeal (try this recipe), granola, cookies, streusel toppings etc.   Frozen Raspberries from Smitty's Farm in Derby VT are bringing you the fresh, sweet taste of summer! Greg Smith has over 5 acres of berries, including raspberries, that are organically grown. These treats don't need sweetening, but they would certainly be delicious over your favorite plain yogurt along with the locally produced Raw Honey that rounds out your share. Most of this honey is from McFarline's Apiary in Benson, VT. Tim McFarline raises bees that are free of any chemical treatments, producing a high quality, healthful and delicious honey. Recipes   Baked Oatmeal   Caitlin Bourassa of InPower Wellness sent us this delicious recipe that uses several of your localvore items this week; we hope you enjoy it as much as she does!   Serves 12 (or a family of four for 3 mornings)   This recipe is about making your morning routine healthier and easier. Whip up a pan on Sunday, and wrap yourself around a hot bowl of slightly sweet, nourishing whole grains for the rest of the week. You can get creative with toppings, too, making each morning a little something special. Kid-friendly, too!   2 tablespoons coconut oil (melted) or pastured butter 3 organic eggs 3½ cups raw, whole milk, or a vegan milk of choice 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ½ cup maple syrup (or other natural sweetener) 4 cups rolled oats 1½  tablespoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 cup frozen raspberries ½ cup raisins or chopped dried apricots 1 cup crushed walnuts, almonds, or pumpkin seeds (optional)   In a medium bowl, whisk together coconut oil (or butter), eggs, milk, maple syrup and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Slowly fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Use a little oil to grease a baking pan (I use a 8.5 x 13-inch pan) and pour in contents. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35-45 minutes. Reheat in toaster oven each morning for an easy, healthy breakfast and top with your favorite whole yogurt, nut butter, hemp seeds, whatever you fancy!   Caitlin is a CSA member as well as a certified health coach who specializes in one-on-one coaching to improve an individual’s overall health and well-being.       Pan-Fried Jerusalem Artichokes in Sage Butter 3 tablespoons butter, divided 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 pound Jerusalem artichokes,* scrubbed, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds 3 tablespoons coarsely torn fresh sage leaves, divided 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley   Melt 1 tablespoon butter with olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add Jerusalem artichokes and half of sage. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until brown and just beginning to soften, turning frequently, about 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer Jerusalem artichokes to shallow serving bowl. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and sage to skillet; fry until sage darkens and begins to crisp, about 30 seconds. Add lemon juice; simmer 1 minute. Pour lemon-sage butter over Jerusalem artichokes in bowl, tossing to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley.   Learn more about this recipe here.       Thai Slaw Cabbage Wraps     One of Molly’s (our harvest manager) favorite ways to use cabbage in the winter is to use it liberally in homemade spring rolls. The recipe I’ve included here has ingredients that hint at summer, but feel free to improvise! Substitute finely minced onion for the scallions and leave out (or substitute for) the fresh cilantro if you don’t have it. And add any winter vegetables that might work well- think sunchokes, carrot, or mesclun!   4 oz. rice noodles (vermicelli) 3 cups shredded head cabbage 6 oz. baked teriyaki flavor tofu, chopped 1 cup finely chopped scallions 1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro ¼ cup chopped roasted peanuts 2 tbsp. sugar 1 clove minced garlic 1 tsp. fresh grated ginger, divided ¼ cup + 1 tbsp. lime juice, divided ½ cup salted natural peanut or almond butter 1½ tbsp. soy sauce 2 tbsp. brown sugar ½ head cabbage, shredded Spring roll or rice paper wrappers, optional   Soak vermicelli noodles. Drain, set aside. Place drained vermicelli, shredded cabbage, tofu, scallions, cilantro, and roasted peanuts in a bowl. Heat 2 tbsp., ½ tsp. ginger and garlic with ¼ cup water in a sauce pan. Heat over medium heat, until sugar has dissolved. Add a pinch of salt. Remove, stir in ¼ cup lime juice and let cool. Pour dressing into vermicelli salad and toss. Make the peanut sauce: whisk together peanut butter, ½ tsp. grated ginger, soy sauce and brown sugar with hot water to thin.   Place slaw in red cabbage bowls and drizzle with peanut sauce, or wrap up tightly in spring roll wrappers and fry in oil. Or, use rice paper wrappers and eat without adding a cooking step! You can dip them in the peanut sauce rather than wrapping it inside.       Butternut Dumplings with Brown Butter and Sage   Winter is the perfect time to spend a little more time making something really special for dinner. This recipe for butternut dumplings, or gnocchi, is one great way to create a hearty meal that your family will love.   1 package frozen squash puree, thawed and excess liquid drained off 4 medium baking (russet) potatoes, pierced 1 egg 11/2 tablespoons kosher salt 1 pinch nutmeg 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional, for dusting Oil 1 bunch sage, leaves chiffonade    8 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/2 cup grated Parmesan   Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake potatoes directly on the rack of oven for 1 hour. Split the potatoes and allow to cool slightly, or until you can handle them. Don't let them cool completely. Scoop the flesh of the potatoes into a bowl, add the squash, and mash with a hand masher. Mix in the egg, salt and nutmeg. Then add the flour and mix until a soft dough forms. Do not do this in a mixer, it will overwork the dough. Add flour by the spoonful if it's still too moist.   Turn out onto a floured board and divide into 8 portions. Roll out into ropes and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Line the pieces up on a floured sheet pan as you work. At this point you could freeze them on the pan until solid, then transfer to zip top bags and store in the freezer.   In a large pot of boiling, salted water gently drop in the dumplings. Don't overcrowd. As they begin to float, remove them with a slotted spoon and toss them into an ice bath.   Drain off the water and toss in a little oil. Store loosely in containers until ready to use. To reheat, in a saute pan over high heat add 1 tablespoon of soft butter. Cook until the butter begins to foam and turn brown. Add 2 teaspoons sage leaves and 1 cup of dumplings. Cook for an additional minute until the dumplings are heated through. Repeat until you have desired amount of servings. Plate and top with freshly grated Parmesan.       Golden Glow Salad   Stacie is an NYC blogger who creates recipes for her and her young family. This recipe uses “mildly sweet and soft, but firm beets; buttery and crunchy almonds; sour and gently spicy plump raisins. And, then, to add some tangy goodness, I plated the salad on top of creme fraiche”. Doesn’t get any better than that.   5 large golden beets, roasted & cut into 1/4′s or 1/8′s depending on how large they are 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 1/2 Tbsp white wine vinegar 1/3 c slivered almonds, lightly toasted until golden brown 1/4 c pickled golden raisins salt 2-3 Tbsp creme fraiche, you can substitute plain whole milk yogurt dill, for garnish   Toss beets with oil, vinegar, almonds, raisins and salt to taste.   Whip creme fraiche until soft and spoon into the center of a serving platter (or small amounts into the center of individual plates). Spread into a tidy circle using the back of your spoon. Neatly plate salad on top, leaving an edge of creme fraiche showing. Garnish with dill. Devour and feel the glow!