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.
Mesclun: This week's mix includes baby kale, lettuce, mustard, arugula, and mizuna. Keep the greens cold once you get home; if it warms up, they'll start to deteriorate.
Mustard Greens: Related to kale, cabbage, and collard greens, mustard greens are the peppery leafy greens of the mustard plant. Ruby Streaks Mustard has a delicate texture and mild, sweet yet mildly pungent mustard flavor. Greens are tender enough to liven up salads, and stout enough to stand on their own in steamed or stir-fried dishes.
Ramps are wild onions that grow in the moist woods of Vermont. These ramps come from a local forager who has sustainably gathered these wild treats for you to enjoy this week from his family's land in Hardwick. Ramps can be chopped like scallions and taste great sautéed and used in place of onions or leeks, added to scrambled eggs, or even sprinkled raw over salads. You can use both the white bulb and the leaves. The leaves are much milder in flavor but make a nice green addition to lots of meals.
Asparagus: A special veggie this week! We have freshly picked asparagus from 4 Corners Farm in Newbury, VT. Kim and Bob Gray grow a wide variety of fruits and veggies. Kim called us up late last week and asked if we could use some asparagus. I said of course, as it is something we do not gow here at Pete's Greens and it is a delicious short-season spring crop. Try asparagus in a frittata, as a side dish, or grilled with a drizzle of olive oil and some herbs (great use of your ramps or green garlic). Here's a tip to store your asparagus bunch: Stand the asparagus up in a glass or jar with about an inch or two of water, making sure all the ends are sitting in the water. Loosely cover the asparagus with a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator for up to a week. If the water looks cloudy, just change it as needed.
Green Garlic Scallions: Green garlic is garlic that is still fresh, and not cured. Keep this in your fridge and use as you regularly would use garlic.
Scallions: often referred to as green onions, are a young onion with a small, white tip and a bright green, tall stem. You can use the whole thing in a recipe but I usually chop off the very bottom of the bulb, and then keep chopping up the stem until the chopped parts become less moist/crisp and more fibrous/leafy. The remaining parts make an excellent addition to soups or salads bringing a mild onion flavor and nice hint of color.
Dill: It may be a less common herb, but dill is a flavorful addition to fish, vegetables, and eggs, and goes well with cheese. Store it in a damp paper towel inside a plastic bag or to preserve it, you can dry it or wash it, chop it, dry it, then freeze it. Dill goes great with beets, in Greek-style dishes, or with beets.
Savoy Cabbage: With savoy cabbage, most of the colorful outer leaves are removed after storage, leaving a mostly green head with savoyed, crumpled leaves. Savoy cabbage holds up well when fermented in kraut or cooked in soups and sautees. Saute with a little butter and a splash of milk or cream to quickly soften the leaves and bring out its sweet flavors on the stove top. You could also try a refreshing slaw tih grated beets and celeriac and a sesame oil, cider dressing with green garlic and cilantro. Store cabbage in a plastic bag in your crisper drawer for a few weeks.
Frozen veggies: This week it's a grab bag of frozen veggies! We've loaded up the coolers with an assortment of veggies, one each for the Everyday Large, Everyday Standard, and Fancy / Localvore share members. Please take one package. You may find corn, cauliflower, beans, tomatoes, zucchini, or broccoli in your cooler.
Featured Recipes
Grilled Beets
Just in time for grilling season! You can use this same method with carrots and potatoes, adapting the seasoning to your tastes for the day or with whatever herbs you have on hand.
1 bunch beets, greens trimmed off
1 onion, chopped
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
fresh thyme or dill (optional)
Heat up the grill.
Peel the beets and chop into small pieces. Add these to a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs (if using). Pour onto 2-3 large foil pieces and seal (this steams the veggies which gets them nice and tender). Put on grill for about 15-20 minutes, or until soft.
Ginger Garlic Savoy Cabbage
Savoy cabbage is nice as a side dish; try serving alongside pork chops. You could add some red pepper flakes and onions, or even some hot pepper relish to spice it up! This week's herbs offer a lot of opportunity for flavor to cabbage.
1 head savoy cabbage
2 tbs light olive oil or sesame oil
1 tbs minced garlic
salt and pepper
1 1/4 tbs ginger, minced
Juice of 1 lime
Heat wok or large skilled to medium high heat, wait until the oil is hot. Add cabbage and stir fry until cabbage just starts to wilt. Add garlic, salt and pepper and cook 1 minute. Add ginger and cook 1 minute. Drizzle with lime juice and serve.
Scallion Pancakes
This same formula can be used to make pancakes with other members of the onion family, especially shallots and spring onions. Try using peanut oil for this recipe.. If you omit the soy -– making these pancakes a perfect accompaniment to braised foods that use European seasonings -- you can use any vegetable oil or even a good olive oil. Recipe from The New York Times.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Big bunch of scallions or spring onions, about 1 pound (you could even try replacing these with ramps and/or green garlic)
1 egg
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 cup flour
Peanut, canola or olive oil as needed
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil while you trim the scallions. Roughly chop three bunches, and mince the fourth. Add the larger portion of scallions to the water, and cook about 5 minutes, or until tender. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Puree the cooked scallions in a blender, adding just enough of the cooking liquid to allow the machine to do its work.
Mix the puree with the egg and soy, then gently stir in the flour until blended. Add pepper to taste, then the reserved minced scallions. Film a nonstick or well-seasoned skillet with oil, and turn the heat to medium-high. Drop the batter into the pan by the tablespoon or quarter cup, and cook about 2 minutes to a side, or until lightly browned. If necessary, the pancakes can be kept warm in a 200-degree oven for about 30 minutes.
Potato, Scallion and Goat Cheese Frittata
Frittatas are one of the easiest things you can make. They make a filling and healthy dinner and you can use any veggies you've got on hand. You can also throw some meat in there to bulk it up a bit- ham, bacon and turkey are all great additions, and cheese of all sorts is welcome as well.
10 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise on the bias
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 cup crumbled soft goat cheese (4 ounces)
Garnish: green garlic or scallions, thinly sliced lengthwise and cut crosswise into 3-inch ribbons
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together eggs, cream, scallions, and thyme in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 10-inch nonstick, ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and softened, about 6 minutes.
Pour egg mixture into skillet, and distribute evenly using a rubber spatula. Stir to combine with potatoes. Bake until set but still loose in the center, about 10 minutes.
Remove from oven. Sprinkle goat cheese over top. Bake until cheese melts and eggs are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Slide frittata onto a serving plate. Garnish with scallion ribbons, and cut into wedges.
Marinated Veggies with Mustard Dill Dressing
All the veggies can be prepared a day in advance and thrown together easily. The dill adds a whole new element to the dish!
For marinade
2/3 cup white-wine vinegar
2/3 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons dill seed
2 garlic cloves, forced through a garlic press
1 teaspoon salt
2 pounds beets, scrubbed and trimmed, leaving about 1 inch of stems attached
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 1/2-inch cubes
5 sticks celery, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 onion, peeled and cut into cubes
For dressing
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
Make marinade:
In a small saucepan bring marinade ingredients to a boil stirring until sugar is dissolved and cool.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Wrap beets tightly in foil and roast in middle of oven 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until tender. Combine potatoes, celery, and onion on a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in the oven until tender.
Unwrap beets carefully and cool. Slip off beet skins and slice beets, transferring to another bowl. Add potatoes, celery and onions and marinate, covered and chilled, at least 4 hours. Vegetables may be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
Make dressing:
In a bowl whisk together mustard, vinegar, water, sugar, and salt and add oil in a stream, whisking until dressing is emulsified. Whisk in dill.
Just before serving, drain beets, potatoes, celery, and onions. Arrange vegetables decoratively on a platter and drizzle with dressing.
salt and pepper, to taste
Asparagus with Almond and Yogurt Dressing
From Smitten Kitchen
2 large eggs
1/3 cup whole blanched almonds, Marconas if you can get them
Yogurt dressing
1 cup plain yogurt (strained or Greek-style if you can find it)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon table salt
Asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pounds asparagus spears, tough ends trimmed or peeled
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
Squeeze of lemon juice
Drizzle of olive oil
Coarse sea salt
Hard-boil your eggs according to your favorite method. I like to put my eggs cold in a pot of water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once it comes to a boil, I set the timer for 10 minutes and reduce the heat to a moderate simmer. When the timer goes off, I drain them and plunge them in ice water for a quick cooling. While they cool, toast your almonds. [If you have time, cook the eggs 24 hours or more in advance. Older hard-boiled eggs peel more cleanly.]
In a 12-inch heavy skillet, toast your almonds over medium heat, tossing them frequently until they’re lightly bronzed. [Marcona almonds often come already toasted and in a bit of olive oil. If you’re happy with their color, use them as is. If not, you can put the almonds and oil in the skillet to toast them more deeply, as I did.] Let cool.
Once eggs and almonds are cool, coarsely chop both and set aside.
Make your yogurt dressing, whisking all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Adjust seasonings to taste. Spread 1/2 cup dressing in a thin layer over serving dish and set aside.
Reheat heavy 12-inch skillet over medium high heat. Add oil, and once the oil is fully heated, add your trimmed asparagus spears — placing half in one direction and half in the other allows them to fit better. They won’t fit flat in a single layer, but you should try to spread them as evenly as possible. Cover the skillet with a lid (foil if you don’t have one that fits) and let skinny spears cook for 3 minutes and fatter ones for 5. Remove the lid, increase the heat to high, season the asparagus with salt and black pepper, and use tongs to cook the spears until they’re crisp-tender and well-browned along a side or two, about 5 minutes more for skinny spears or 7 minutes for thicker ones.
Transfer asparagus to dressing-coated serving dish. Sprinkle spears with an additional squeeze of lemon juice, if desired, a tiny drizzle of olive oil, chopped almonds, eggs and a bit of coarse sea salt. Dollop with additional yogurt dressing. Then dig in.
ed up as many of our wash house/ office/ greenhouse crew as I could find, and here we are among the cucumbers and tomatoes! This week, I plan to catch up with all the rest of the field crew. These days it's hard to pin down Pete, Isaac, Steve Perkins, and Melissa. Collectively, we have about 60 years of experience at Pete's Greens!
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