Welcome to the Pete's Greens Good Eats Fall/Winter CSA!
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Localvore Members
& Regular Veggie Only Share Members
take a LIGHT GREEN BAG
This week your bag contains:
Mesclun, Chiogga Beets, Pac Choi, Chard, Radish, Parsley, Orange Carrots, Romanesco or White Cauliflower, and Sugar Dumpling Squash
Localvore Offerings Include:
Patchwork Bakery Country French Bread
Tangletown Farm or Axel's Eggs
Pete's Greens Basil Pesto
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Half Veggie Members
take a YELLOW BAG containing:
Mesclun, Green Kale, Carmen Peppers, Radish, Orange Carrots, and Sugar Dumpling Squash
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Share Pick-Up Instructions! Please review!
Whether you are a seasoned CSA member or new to Good Eats, it's important to review the pick-up instructions before you head out to pick up your share!
Step #1:
Find your name on the Names List and check it off. The first clipboard contains a list of all share members at your site. Checking off your name helps us know who has picked up and is extremely helpful in solving any mysteries at the end of the day.
If you can't find your name or your share partner's name, please don't take a share! Call or email us and we'll figure it out.
Check your share type on the Names List. Share types are Localvore, Localvore Vegetarian, Half Veggie with Pantry, Half Veggie with Pantry Vegetarian, Veggie Only, Half Veggie Only, Pete's Pantry, Pete's Pantry Vegetarian, or Meat Share. If you are listed incorrectly or have questions, let us know.
Step #2:
Take the correct items - Select your items by following the Pick-Up Instructions posted on a second clipboard or on an attached sheet. Follow the specific item list/instructions to assemble your share. The top section of the pick up list describes what to select for the vegetable only share. Some items are delivered OUT of the bag.
The bottom section of the Pick-Up Instructions lists the localvore (non-vegetable) items for Localvore and Pantry members.
If you are sharing with someone: coordinate with your share-mate to make sure that you DON'T take double the amount of any items. All shares are packed and delivered to the sites are whole shares. Only one name is listed for each share, so if you don't see yours, check for your share partner's name.
If you're receiving something special, it is labeled separately. Please, take all of your items and only your items.
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The Fall / Winter Share is here!
Your first pick-up is tomorrow, Wednesday,
October 12.
Each week, you'll receive this newsletter with information about what's in your share, storage tips, use tips, recipes, and other items of interest.
Above: The green bags that Full Vegetable and Localvore Members will receive.
Below: Erick is holding the yellow bags that Half Vegetable members should pick up.
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Please note that the firstMeat Share pick up is not this week, it is the first Wednesday of every month starting November 2.
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Storage and Use Tips
Your bag of greens is a mesclun mix. Baby versions of kale, spinach, mizuna, mustard greens, and red leaf lettuce comprise this mix. Each week, you can expect to find a different bag of greens in your share. This is perfect for salads.
Large share members will receive either a white cauliflower or theRomanesco variety, which looks like fractals. You see this pattern in many natural forms like pine cones, nautilus shells, and even hurricanes. Without getting too technical, it is spiraling pattern that adheres to a consistent logarithm. Our Romanesco Cauliflower is one of natures more dramatic illustrations of this phenomenon. This beautiful, old variety dates back to the 16th century in Italy. It is delicious when roasted with olive oil, salt, and finished with a squirt of lemon juice and a little Pecorino Romano cheese. They can be used the same and should be stored the same.Store it in a plastic bag in your refrigerator.
Sugar Dumpling Squash - What a delightful squash! It looks like a delicata, only round instead of long. This sweet squash can be roasted whole, steamed in a pressure cooker, or roasted and cubed. The skin does not peel well. For easy cooking, slice it in half, remove the seeds and "goop", and bake it, cut side up, for about 25 - 30 minutes at 350. To make clean up easier, put them in a glass dish with a little water at the bottom. When it's done, drop in a little butter and drizzle with maple syrup. It makes a great side dish! You can also fill it with meat, veggies, or grains - like couscous, tabbouleh, rice, etc. The peel is edible but is easier to eat if you cook it in a pressure cooker. Also try cooking it with the top cut off, with butter and a sprig of rosemary inside. When it's done, pull out the rosemary, scrape the sides, and eat the flesh with the essence of rosemary. You can eat right from the squash!
This curly green kale is perfect for newcomers to kale! It's perfect for chips (see recipe below) or sauteeing with olive oil, chopped garlic cloves, and salt.
Kale is a "super veggie" and is one of the healthiest veggies you can eat. It can even provide support to your body's detox system. Strip the leaves from the stems and wash them well before chopping and cooking. Large shares are receiving Swiss chardas a lovely cooking green. It is my favorite inbreakfast when you sautee it in olive oil with garlic and salt and then scramble in an egg. It's a simple, great way to start your day! Keep kale and chard loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in your crisper drawer.
Cherry belle radishes are one of our longer growing summer crops! Large share members receive radish without the greens. Half share members receive the greens on, which can be eaten in salads or sauteed with other cooking greens. Always store the greens separately. Radishes are delicious eaten raw, cooked in butter, or roasted. For a simple breakfast, eat thinly sliced radishes on buttered toast topped with sea salt and a speck of parsley.Parsley is a very versatile herb commonly found in Italian dishes. Toss it into your pasta or pizza sauch or into eggs and other meat or vegetable dishes. If you are not able to use it within the week, consider drying it in the oven on very low heat for 15 - 25 minutes.
Large shares are receiving pac choi, a member of the brassica family (along with cabbages and kale; it is also known as Chinese cabbage or bok choy). Pac choi rates high in vitamins A and C and in calcium. It is mild enough to be chopped up raw for a salad or wilted in a pan over high heat. The deliciously crispy stems can serve as a nice substitute for celery. Store pac choi loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in your crisper drawer.
You are also receiving our famous orange carrots! This storage variety lasts a long time. Enjoy your carrots in the raw, stewed, glazed with maple, or added to any stir fry. Carmen peppers in the small share are a sweet variety of pepper. You can freeze them whole if you do not use them within a week.
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. And, if you make something that uses a lot of items from your share, please send us the recipe! We'll happily test it out and share it!
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Going out of town?
Please let us know at least ONE WEEK before. We can either skip your share and give you credit, send it the next week, or donate it to the food pantry. It's up to you!
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Localvore Lore
This week's share includes Patchwork Bakery Country French Bread, eggs, and Pete's Greens Basil Pesto.
This week's bread comes from Patchwork Farm and Bakery in East Hardwick. Anna Rosie's Country French is a reliable bread perfect for sandwiches, toast, or dipping into pasta or soup. This bread is named after Charlie's neighbor's daughter, Anna Rose, who lives at Riverside Farm. The bread is made with regionally sourced wheat and baked in a wood fired oven by Charlie Emers.
You'll receive eggs from either Tangletown Farm, a diversified poultry, pork and beef farm in West Glover, orAxel's Eggs, from a 12-year old entrepreneur who tends his flock in Greensboro. You'll be hearing more about both these farms over the next 17 weeks!
Made in our on-farm kitchen with our organically grown basil, this sweet basil pesto is a nice accompaniement to pasta dishes, spread on a sandwich, served over gnocchi, or used as a sauce for roasted veggies. It can stay frozen if you're not planning to use it for a few days. This is one of the special items from our kitchen that you will enjoy in your pantry share.
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Recipes
Romanesca Salad
While my favorite way to enjoy a romanesca is by roasting it with olive oil, salt and pepper, I thought this sounded like a great other option.
1 head of romanesco
Salt
1 stalk of celery
1/2 large red onion, or one small red onion or 1 shallot
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
1 Tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Freshly ground black pepper
Dressing
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 anchovy, minced (optional, omit if cooking vegetarian)
1/4 cup high quality olive oil
Cut the romanesco heads into quarters, stalk to tip. Cut out the tough core and any outside green leaves. Cut again lengthwise. Place into a steamer basket in a pot with about an inch of water. Sprinkle the romanesco florets with a little salt. Bring water to a boil. Cover and steam until just tender, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove romanesco florets from steamer, place into a bowl, and chill.
Thinly slice the celery. Thinly slice the red onion, across the grain. Place the red onion slices in a bowl and cover with water. This will take the onion-y edge off the onion, making it easier to eat raw in the salad.
Smash the whole clove of garlic (not cut, just smash with the flat side of a chef's knife) and place in the bottom of a small bowl. Add the vinegar and salt, stir to dissolve the salt. Add the minced anchovy if using. Then whisk in the olive oil.
Break up the wedges of romanesco into smaller chunks of florets. Place into a large serving bowl. Add celery, onions (drained of the water), parsley, capers, and lemon zest. Remove the garlic clove from the dressing and add dressing to the romanesco salad. Toss to coat with the dressing. Let marinate for at least 15 minutes, preferably an hour. Even better overnight.
Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper to serve.
Kale Chips
If you haven't made them yet, do try. They are delicious, fun, super easy to make. They come out crispy with a very satisfying potato chip like crunch. You can try different toppings ... chili powder, parmesan cheese etc, to flavor them further, but the simple oil and salt I have given below really is great.
1 large bunch kale, tough stems removed, leaves torn into pieces
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Position racks in upper third and center of oven; preheat to 400°F.
If kale is wet, very thoroughly pat dry with a clean kitchen towel; transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle the kale with oil and sprinkle with salt. Using your hands, massage the oil and salt onto the kale leaves to evenly coat. Fill 2 large rimmed baking sheets with a layer of kale, making sure the leaves don't overlap. (If the kale won't all fit, make the chips in batches.)
Bake until most leaves are crisp, switching the pans back to front and top to bottom halfway through, 8 to 12 minutes total. (If baking a batch on just one sheet, start checking after 8 minutes to prevent burning.)
Quick Stir Fry
Great stuff in the share this week for a stir fry! This recipe is from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. There is of course room for endless variations here. You can swap in and out different veggies, add nuts to the final minute of cooking, add dried chiles or chile paste for heat, add tofu or tempeh (even better if cooked and browned first), or up to 1 TB sweetener (honey, maple syrup, etc).
2 TB oil
1 TB minced garlic
1 TB fresh ginger
1/2 cup onions or scallions
1 lb pac choi (or celery)
2 - 3 large carrots
1 lb sweet peppers
1/4 cup stock or water
2 TB tamari
1 tsp sesame oil (preferably dark)
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil and almost immediately the garlic, ginger, and scallions or onions. Cook stirring for about 15 seconds, then add carrots and pac choi. Cook for a few minutes longer. Then add peppers and stock and raise the heat to high.
Cook, stirring constantly, adding liquid (water or stock) if mixture is totally dry, until the vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes. Then add the sesame oil and soy sauce.
Swiss Chard Gratin
This is not a low fat recipe, nor is it a quick one. But it was extremely well reviewed and uses a large quantity of greens. If you are seeking to pack in the greens this week while also treating yourself to some decadence, this recipe is for you. Adapted from an October 2000 recipe in Gourmet. Serves 6.
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup fresh white bread crumbs
3 oz Gruyere cheese, grated (1 cup) (parm would work too)
1 garlic clove, halved lengthwise, germ removed if green, and garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped mixed fresh herbs (preferably chives, tarragon, and flat-leaf parsley)
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup low-sodium broth (chicken or vegetable)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 lb Swiss chard, Beet Greens, Kohlrabi Greens, Sorrel (and if you are more adventurous - kale or Upland Cress) leaves and stems separated and cut into 1-inch pieces (if using kale though, don't use stems, just leaves - stems too tough)
Melt 2 tablespoons butter and toss with bread crumbs, cheese, garlic, herbs, half of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.
Boil broth in a small saucepan until reduced by half. Add cream and keep warm.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small heavy saucepan over moderate heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, whisking, 1 minute, then whisk in broth mixture and boil, whisking, 1 minute. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cook onion in remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a wide 8-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add chard stems, remaining nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring, until vegetables are tender but not browned, about 8 minutes.
Increase heat to moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add greens stems, remaining nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring, until vegetables are tender but not browned, about 8 minutes.
Increase heat to moderately high and add greens leaves by large handfuls, stirring, until all greens are wilted. Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer vegetables to a colander to drain well and press out liquid with back of a large spoon (be sure to press out as much liquid as possible!). Toss vegetables with cream sauce and transfer to a buttered 12-inch oval gratin or 2-quart shallow baking dish, spreading evenly.
Top vegetables with bread crumbs and bake in middle of oven until bubbling and topping is golden, about 20 minutes.
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