Every week we'll send you snapshots of veggies in your share. You can always find more recipes and storage info on our blog and website.
Spinach: This week's greens is a big bag of greenhouse spinach. Enjoy spinach raw or cooked. The greens are pre-washed and ready to eat. Unopened, this bag will last for at least a week or 10 days. Opened, it will start to deteriorate after a few days.
Peter Wilcox Potatoes - Peter Wilcox potatoes are in your share this week! Wilcox potatoes are beautiful purple potatoes. They are nicely textured, firm but not waxy, and wonderful whether roasted, boiled, or sliced into wedges or fried. They have a full earthy flavor that hints of hazelnuts. For best visual and nutritional effects, leave the skin on while cooking.
Goldball Turnips: Goldballs are a yellow turnip with a taste similar to rutabaga. Try pickling them or mash with butter, or cube and use in soups and stews. Keep turnips loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in your crisper drawer. They will last for several days, and even weeks. Peel before eating.
Daikon Radish: The long white vegetable in Everyday Large bags is the daikon radish or Chinese radish. Raw daikon is great sliced thinly in soups and stir-fries, or grated in slaws and salads. These radishes will keep well wrapped loosely in a plastic bag in your crisper drawer.
Beets: Everyday Large and Fancy shares are receiving a bag of our scrubbed clean baby beets! These are a mix of gold and red beets. They're ready for roasting or boiling, with no need for scrubbing or peeling. They will last for about 10 - 14 days. Everyday Standard shares are receiving red beets. Beets are delicious when roasted, boiled, or grated raw into a salad or slaw. Store in your crisper drawer.
Shallots are a member of the alium family being similar to both garlic and onions. They grow in cloves similar to garlic and have a sweet, mild flavor like a sweet or Spanish onion. They are well known for their ability to be caramelized or cooked down to where the sugars are reduced or concentrated. When eaten raw, they are much sweeter and milder than even sweet onions. You can slice them thin and saute them in recipes that benefit from a sweet, mild onion flavor. When minced, they are fantastic in homemade vinaigrette and pan sauces. Store them in a cool, dark place.
Using Your Frozen Veggies: Don't forget to take your frozen veggise! They will be in a cooler - "out of the bag"! I have been using our frozen veggies for a couple years now and I love having access to great organically grown local vegetables in winter. I live alone and often I do not need a whole bag of vegetables. For a quick and easy approach to using frozen veggies, take a bag of frozen veg out of the freezer, grab a serrated bread knife, and saw off a hunk of frozen veg and toss it into a waiting pot of boiling water for a quick warm up. Tie up your bag and pop that back into the freezer. I use a lot of our frozen vegetables in the same way - corn, broccoli, red peppers etc. I throw sawed off hunks in pasta sauces, saute pans, etc. It may be a bit of a crude method, but it's a time saver and a great option if you don't need a whole bag. You can also plan ahead and let them thaw out before using! You may need to give them a good squeeze or two to get some of the moisture out. The tomatoes are easy to use without thawing if you throw them directly into a pot.
Featured Recipes
Beet, Potato, and Walnut Salad
Add some bread and cheese to this salad and you've got a great meal!
1 1/2 pounds medium beets, scrubbed
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts (optional)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives
1 to 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with racks in top and middle. Place beets on a large piece of foil on a baking sheet. Fold foil around beets and crimp ends to form a packet. Cook beets on sheet on middle rack, 30 minutes.
On a rimmed baking sheet, toss potatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange potatoes, cut side down, on sheet. After beets have cooked 30 minutes, place potatoes on top rack. Cook 15 minutes. Flip potatoes and sprinkle with walnuts (if using). Cook until walnuts are toasted, potatoes are golden, and beets are tender when pierced with a knife, 5 to 10 minutes.
Remove beets from foil and let cool. Transfer potatoes and walnuts to a large bowl. Rub beets with a paper towel to remove skin and cut each into 4 to 6 wedges, depending on size. Toss beets with potatoes, walnuts, and chives and season to taste with vinegar.
Turnip Hash
I testify to the deliciousness of this recipe! With a pile of turnips collecting in my fridge, I wondered what to do with them on Saturday evening. I decided to try this recipe from our archives. It was simple and oh so heavenly! If you have a picky eater or non-turnip lover in the family, try this recipe then ask them to reconsider! This recipe is a basic one that can be used with turnips, rutabagas or potatoes. The stock adds flavor while cooking and softening the starch. Feel free to add any kind of breakfast meat or tempeh, Anaheim peppers, greens or other veggies for a turnip hash "surprise". I ate this as part of my dinner Saturday night then again Sunday morning for a protein-rich breakfast along with eggs, tempeh, and my sauteed CSA frozen spinach.
6 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, diced small
2 c turnips, diced small
2 c hot chicken or veggie stock
2 Tbs butter
1/2 c Parmesan or another hard Italian cheese (optional)
1/2 c parsley, rough chop
Salt and pepper, to taste
Warm the chicken stock in a sauce pan over medium-low heat. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and turn the heat to medium. Toss in the onion and cook until translucent. Add the turnips and cook for 2 minutes. Ladle in some of the hot chicken stock and cook until absorbed. Continue until all of the stock has been added, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the butter and grated cheese off the heat. Garnish with parsley.
Caramelized Shallots
What to do with all the shallots besides tossing them into a stir fry? Make these caramelized shallots! This recipe, from the Smitten Kitchen, is a great way to maximize the sweetness of the shallots.
6 tbs unsalted butter
2 pounds fresh shallots, peeled, with roots intact
3 tbs sugar
3 tbs good red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbs chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Melt the butter in a 12" oven-proof saute pan, add the shallots and sugar, and toss to coat. Cook over medium heat for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the shallots start to brown. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper and toss well.
Place the saute pan in the oven and roast for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the shallots, until they are tender. Season, to taste, sprinkle with parsley, and serve hot.
Roasted Carrots & Parsnips with Shallot & Herb Butter
5 large carrots (about 1 lb.), peeled
4 large parsnips (about 1 lb.), peeled
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1-1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
2 Tbs. minced shallot
2 Tbs. finely chopped fresh chives
1-1/2 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
1-1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 clove garlic, minced
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 450°F.
Cut the carrots and parsnips into 2 x1/4-inch matchsticks. Put them in a large bowl; toss with the oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and toss again. Transfer the vegetables to a 10x15-inch Pyrex dish and roast, stirring every 15 min., until the vegetables are nicely browned, 40 to 45 min.
Meanwhile, combine the butter, shallot, chives, rosemary, thyme, and garlic in a small bowl and stir well. Add the butter to the roasted vegetables and toss to coat. Serve immediately.
Za'atar Roasted Carrots
I made these for dinner last night - a delightful dish to finally utilize za'atar, a Middle Eastern spice that is typically a blend of thyme, sumac, and sesame seeds. Simple, but tastes very complex! The tahini adds a delicious hint of nuttiness. From The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon cookbook.
1.5 lbs carrots, cleaned
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice, and zest (note: I used lemon juice)
2 tsp za'atar
2-3 Tbsp tahini
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/3 c. crumbled feta (optional)
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1/4 c. chopped parsley
Pre-heat oven to 400F.
Trim the carrots. Cut them in half lengthwise and if they're large, crosswise on a diagonal as well. Mix together the olive oil, citrus, za'atar, and some sea salt. Toss the carrots in the spice mixture and spread onto a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 22 - 25 mins until the edges begin to brown. Mix together the tahini and lemon juice. Drizzle the carrots with the tahini mixture and sprinkle with the feta, sesame seeds, parsley, and a pinch of freshly ground pepper.
Roasted Beet and Onion Salad
If you are one of those folks who have never developed a love for beets, try roasting them. Roasting sweetens them and deepens their earthy flavor. Roasted beets keep well in the fridge for 4-5 days and are great tossed onto daily green salads. This recipe brings together roasted beets and roasted onions and tops them with dill. The original recipe is adapted from one by Clifford Wright. You could roast the onions and beets together but please watch the onions closely, they will be bitter if they blacken too much. The beets will take longer to roast.
2 medium size onions, sliced across the grain in 1/4 " rings
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 lb beets, roasted, peeled and sliced (roast all of your beets and save remainder for other salads)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped dill
1 ounce toasted almonds, chopped (2 tablespoons chopped)
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place beets in a glass baking dish and add 1/4 inch of water and cover tightly and place in oven. Large beets over 8 oz will take 50-60 means to roast. Roast til they are easily pierced with a fork. Toss the sliced onions with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and salt to taste, and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Toward the second half of the roasting of the beets, place the onions in the oven and roast 15 minutes, turning the onions over halfway through. They should be nicely browned and just beginning to blacken around the edges, but not charred. Remove from the heat.
Remove beets carefully when roasted, and the skins will slip from them easily (you can run them under cool water briefly if too hot to handle when removing skins, they will still retain some warmth. Slice beets into discs.
Arrange the sliced beets on a platter. Arrange the onions over the beets. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Whisk together the vinegars, salt and pepper to taste and the remaining olive oil. Drizzle over the onions and beets. Sprinkle on the dill and the almonds, and serve.
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