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Localvore Members
& Full Veggie Only Share Members
take a LIGHT GREEN BAG
This week your bag contains:
Mesclun Mix, Spinach, Cilantro, Green Garlic, Red Beets, Russet Potatoes,
And OUT of the Bag:
Frozen Beans
Frozen Corn
Please, only take 1 of each
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Half Veggie Members
take a YELLOW BAG containing:
Mesclun Mix, Spinach, Rainbow Carrots, Yellow Onions,
And OUT of the Bag:
Frozen Beans
Basil!
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Localvore / Pantry Offerings
Slowfire Bakery Bread
Tangletown Farm Eggs
Ploughgate Creamery Butter
Lazy Lady Farm Cheese
and
Pete's Greens/ Champlain Orchards Carrot- Apple Squeeze
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Seafood, Greens, Nuts, and Beans
I was listening to The Splendid Table on VPR this Sunday and heard an interview with Dr. Drew Ramsey, a psychiatrist and author of Eat Complete.
Dr. Ramsey's new book is about using food as medication, specifically for mental health. The book sounds fascinating and the interview is a great teaser.
Eating a lot of leafy greens provides a high nutrient density and can serve as a base for many dishes, says Dr. Ramsey.
As Dr. Ramsey says, "Some people are big pharma - I'm little farmer. I think that's really where the best medicine comes from for the foundation of your health." We can help you with eating a lot of leafy greens! Thanks for making us your farmer pharmacy!
Click here to read a transcript of the interview, listen to the interview, or find out more from The Splendid Table.
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Around the Farm...
Lots of fresh stuff from the greenhouses up this week! I'm excited to have so much fresh goodness for you. Perfect in time for Earth Day as we celebrate and honor our wonderful natural world. I love being a part of a business that takes the health of our planet into consideration - from our solar powered barn to our organic growing practices, living roof of our farmstand and Waterbury store, and the fact we provide so much good food to Vermonters year round, reducing the food miles traveled between farm and plate.
We have so much fresh goodness that we're starting a short Late Spring Share on May 3. If you're already a Spring Share member, no need to sign up! You're already ready to go! If you've sent checks or paid online through our high-tech online payment system, we'll hold that payment for a future share (or return you your check). We are signing up for the Summer Share season, though!
For those of you in the NEK, we're exploring starting a CSA site in Glover. If you know anyone in that area interested in joining Pete's Greens, please have them contact me!
You'll notice this week's newsletter is light on pictures. Check out our Instagram page for lots of pictures from the farm! No need to wait until the newsletter rolls around... we post regularly!
Thanks!
~ Taylar
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Storage and Use Tips
Mesclun Mix: Lettuce is here! The mesclun mix this week features our first cuts of lettuce plus claytonia and a little baby brassica mix. The mesclun is washed and ready to eat right out of the bag.
Basil (half shares only): This marvelous herb is a member of the mint family. It is a staple in Mediterranean cooking as well as Thai, Vietnamese, and Laotian. The herb is highly aromatic, or put another way, the oils in basil are highly volatile. Thus, it is best to add the herb near the end of the cooking process so it will retain its maximum essence and flavor. Basil should be kept in a plastic bag or kept stem-down in a glass of water with plastic over the leaves, for about a week with regular water changing. Keep your basil out of extreme cold as it could damage the fragile leaves.
**All the basil for Half Veggie Share members will be in a large plastic bag.**
Fresh Green Garlic: What a treat we have for you this week! This green garlic, also called garlic scallions, is a bulb of fresh garlic. You can eat the entire stalk - every bit of the green leaf is edible! These are young garlic plants that have not bulbed up fully. While these little gems look a lot like bunching onions, take a closer look and you'll see that their leaves are flat, not tubular, and they have a distinct garlic aroma (they're just inches away as I type this and the smell is incredible!). It can be stored in your fridge wrapped in a wet paper towel and wrapped in plastic for about a week. To prep, treat it like a small leek: trim off the very bottom of the bulb and use all the tender light green parts. Dark green leaves can also be saved for stock.
Spinach: Large leaf spinach for all shares this week! Spinach is high in iron and can be eaten raw or cooked. Store it in the plastic bag in your crisper drawer.
Russet 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. Storing your potatoes in the refrigerator can make their starch turn to sugar and therefore should be avoided as doing so can give the russet potato an unpleasant, sweet taste.
Cilantro (Large shares only): A member of the carrot family and related to parsley, cilantro is the leaves and stems of the coriander plant (the seeds of the same plant are the spice known as coriander). Cilantro has a very pungent odor and is widely used in Mexican, Caribbean, and Asian cooking. The leaves and stems can be chopped and added to salads, soups, and sauces and can garnish many meals. Toss cilantro into any Mexican dish. If you can't use all your cilantro just yet and wish to save it for a future dish, you can freeze it by washing and gently drying it with paper towels. Then put sprigs loosely in a plastic bag and freeze, or lightly chop cilantro, measure by the tablespoon into ice trays, fill remaning space in ice tray with water, and after cubes are frozen, store in a plastic bag. You can take one out and thaw it anytime you need to use it.
Rainbow Carrots: Large, multi-colored carrots have a lot of kitchen functionality. Enjoy them raw or cooked, on their own or as flavor to a variety of other dishes. Store carrots loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in your crisper drawer.
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Need to Skip a Week?
If you're ever not able to pick up your share, please let us know at least one week in advance. 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!
Sorry, we cannot skip a share or change pick-up sites after noon on Monday.
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Localvore Lore
After last week's Localvore/ Pantry debacle, this week should be a breeze! I have checked and double checked and triple checked that all of our items are here and accounted for. I am so sorry for all of the confusion last week. This week, Localvore / Pantry members will pick up:
1 loaf of Slowfire Bakery Bread
1 dozen Tangletown Eggs
1 pack of Ploughgate Butter
1 piece of Lazy Lady Cheese
and
1 pint of Carrot-Apple Squeeze
This week's bread from Slowfire Bakery is Alt-Country Bread: a spelt and corn variation on our everyday sourdough. Whole spelt, spelt flakes (like oatmeal but with spelt), and cornmeal provide a nice contrast between the flecks of texture and the hints of sweetness and nuttiness they contribute.
 We know this is a special food system in the NEK when even the hens eat well! Lila let me know that her Tangletown Farm hens have been feasting on cheese and apples lately - stuff that doesn't sell at other stores and a day or two past date (but is still good to eat!) that she gets from a local food delivery driver (top picture). The hens are mostly inside these days as they wait for the fields to dry out. It's great to see how food is recycled and how producers collaborate! And how wonderfully animals get along - like this hen and pig!
Ploughgate Creamery provides this delicious butter, artisanly made in Fayston at the Bragg Farm by Marisa Mauro. This butter is made from Vermont cows, milked nearby the Ploughgate Creamery, and is cultured for 48 hours before being churned. This process gives the butter a distinct, slightly tangy, taste. Enjoy this fresh, lightly salted butter.
And a special surprise: As happens in the farm and food world up here from time to time, Laini Fondillier of Lazy Lady Farm sent a message that she had a special batch of cheese that was an accidental surprise. As Laini tells it, she was trying to make a "camemblue" cheese (camembert plus blue culture then misted with penicillium candidum until it blooms and you let it ripen) when the blue failed to get inside the rind. She has extra wheels of of this new "Whisper" cheese and we thought it would be a nice sweet complement to the share this week. This cheese is ready to eat and should be eaten within the next week or so.
And now that the suspense is built up... We're excited to share with you our new collaboration project: the Carrot- Apple Squeeze! We don't typically include beverages in the pantry share but this is an exciting new project for us. Inside every pint of this juice is one pound of Pete's Greens organic rainbow carrots and two pounds of Champlain Orchards sustainably grown apples! This is a great way to get a serving of fruits AND veggies AND keep it local! Pints are available at select retailers around Vermont. If your local store doesn't carry it, ask them to contact Champlain Orchards!
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Recipes
Here are a couple recipes to help you stir up the creative culinary juices this week. You can find more recipes by searching our website and/or our blog.
Cilantro Potato Salad
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse. Serves 5-6.
1 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds potatoes, cooked and halved (unpeeled)
1/3 cup finely minced onions
In a bowl, stir together mayonnaise with cilantro, garlic, salt and 7 turns black pepper. Add potatoes and onions and toss to combine thoroughly; cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours before serving.
Russet Potato Hash
1# russet potatoes
1 green pepper
1 yellow onion
3 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper
Quarter the potatoes and boil them in water with a little salt for about 20 minutes. Slice and sautee the onion and pepper in butter, while the potatoes boil. Set the onions and peppers aside. Drain the potatoes when they are soft but still a little undercooked. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the same pan you already used, and pack the potatoes down into the pan. Cook, without moving, until underside of potatoes is brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Turn potatoes, pack down again, and continue to cook until well browned and crisp, another 5 to 7 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring potatoes every few minutes, until crusty and golden on all sides. Stir in onions and peppers, and salt and pepper as you like it.
Spanish Tortilla
From Eating Well Magazine. Don't confuse this with the flour or corn tortillas you use to make wraps. A Spanish tortilla is a potato-and-egg omelet found on numerous menus throughout Spain. Traditionally these are cooked in heaps of olive oil. Our version uses less oil, so it's lower in calories. Serves 6.
3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 cup cooked diced potatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
6 large eggs
4 large egg whites
1/2 cup shredded Manchego or Jack cheese
3 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Cilantro
Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add potatoes, thyme and paprika and cook for 2 minutes more.
Lightly whisk eggs and egg whites in a large bowl. Gently stir the potato mixture into the eggs along with cheese, spinach, salt and pepper until combined. Wipe the pan clean; add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and heat over medium heat. Pour in the egg mixture, cover and cook until the edges are set and the bottom is browned, 4 to 5 minutes (it will still be moist in the center).
To flip the tortilla, run a spatula gently around the edges to loosen them. Invert a large plate over the pan and turn out the tortilla onto it. Slide the tortilla back into the pan and continue cooking until completely set in the middle, 3 to 6 minutes. Garnish with cilantro. Serve warm or cold.
Active time: 25 minutes | Total: 40 minutes | To make ahead: Store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.
Asian Speedy Beans
This is a quick and easy way to cook your frozen beans while adding some gourmet flavors. The recipe is intended to be an alternative method to steaming the beans, and can be made with just cooking oil, salt and pepper or any kind of seasoning you like. Use a chili seasoning for Mexican beans or curry for curried beans. The options are limitless.
1 lb bag of frozen green beans
1 tbs cooking oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbs ginger root, grated
2 cloves garlic, pressed and minced
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the cooking oil in a non-stick pan over high heat. When the oil begins to pop, about 3 minutes, add the frozen beans. Cook the beans, stirring every 30 seconds, until all of the ice has melted and most of the water in the pan has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger root, garlic and salt. Continue to saute in sauce for another 3-5 minutes, until about half the beans begin to brown. Remove the pan from heat and serve.
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