Our Spring share is off to a great start!
How did your first pick up go? There were some errors in picking up last week, such as some people getting the wrong bag, so please be sure to take care in picking up your food. If you have friends or family picking up for you please be sure they understand what they should pick up. It can be very upsetting for a member to find that the bag they are supposed to get isn't there when they go to pick up.
I am hoping that instructions were clear and easy to follow. Please let me know if you had any difficulties or have any questions. Because so many are new this share and we have had new folks join us this week, I am posting the pick up instructions again below.
We are so grateful to our hosts for giving us a place to deliver our food to you! They are very important to us and could use your support. If you pick up your share at a business please consider going inside and giving them your business. Or just go in and say hi! Regardless of where you pick up please be mindful of leaving the pick-up site clean and tidy for other members and the host. Also, if there's an insulated blanket over the food please replace it after getting your share in order to keep the food fresh.
Thank you! ~Sara
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Share Pick-Up Instructions! Please review.
Whether you are a seasoned CSA share member or new to Good Eats, it's important to review the pick-up instructions before you head out to pick up your share!
Clipboard #1,
Find your name on the Names List - Find your name on the pick-up list and check it off. The first clipboard contains a list of all share members at your site. Note that only one name is listed for each share. If you can't find your name on the list, look for your share partner's name (only one of you is listed). Checking off your name lets 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.Clipboard #2,
Pick-Up Instructions - Select your items by following the Pick-Up Instructions. These are poste d on the second clipboard. 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 portion of the share. The bottom section of the Pick-Up Instructions lists the localvore (non-vegetable) items that Localvore and Pete's Pantry members should select.
If you are sharing a share 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.
Please note that the first Meat Share pick up is not this week,
it is the first Wednesday (or Thursday for some sites) of every month
starting March 4th and 5th.
Which color bag do I take?
If you are a Localvore or Veggie Only member take a tan / light green bag shown in the picture below at left.
If you are a Half share member (with or without pantry) take a bright yellow bag shown below at the right.
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What To Do If You Have a Problem at Pick Up
Although we do our best to make sure that every delivery and pick-up goes smoothly, there are the occasional shortages and disappointments. Should you arrive at your pick-up site to find that your name (or share partner's name) is not on the list, one or more of your items are missing or that some of your produce is in unsatisfactory condition, please let us know right away!
Our goal is 100% satisfaction. If you email us (or call if you can not email) as soon as you discover the problem, we may be able to resolve it the same day or the following day. If you would like to receive an item that you missed at pick-up, you must contact us by Friday morning.
If we have not heard from anyone, by Thursday afternoon (for Wednesday deliveries) or Friday afternoon (for Thursday deliveries) our site hosts are instructed to donate leftover food, ensuring that they do not end up with bad food on their hands.
If we can not resolve your issue right away, email us to arrange a replacement or substitution. These will generally come in the next week's delivery.
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 Picking Up Your SharePlease review your confirmation email or visit our Delivery Site page for pick up times and locations of pick up sites. If you have any questions about your pick-up please email us. The quickest way to reach me is really by email, but you may leave a message on voice mail at 802.586.2882 x 2
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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 Pantry, or you can skip your share delivery and you will retain a credit on your account toward the purchase of your next share.
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Seeding, seeding and more seeding
Spring is bound to arrive one of these days! We're hopeful of that as you can see by some of the various seedlings already going in our headhouse.
Pictures from top to bottom: Emilie moving seedlings to a warmer part of the headhouse
Kale coming up!
Lots of onions
Various seedlings - see any that look familiar to you?
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Storage and Use Tips
The bagged greens are a mix of our shoots and is made up of sunflower and radish shoots. Eating shoots has extra benefits in that shoots are packed with all of the proteins, carbohydrates, and minerals a growing plant needs and therefore are extremely nutritious despite their tiny size! Though they of course can be eaten raw they're also good on sandwiches, in spring rolls, and in the korean traditional dish - Bi Bim Bap!
Red thumb potatoes - these fingerlings are rosy inside and out. Their tender easy to clean skin needs no peeling. Just scrub and prepare. Cut these into 1 1/2 inch chunks, toss liberally with oil and salt and roast in a 400F (with fresh rosemary if you have it!) oven until crispy and golden at the edges. It doesn't get much better than that! Store in a cool dry place away from onions.
Our carrots are crunchy and sweet - I'm always amazed at how tasty these carrots are! They should be stored loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer, where they will keep for a couple of weeks. Store them away from apples, pears and other produce that create ethylene gas, which causes them to become bitter.
Leeks are a relative of the onion. They look like large scallions, and have a more subtle, mild flavor than our yellow onions. They are often used in soups but they can be served as a dish on their own (see recipe for braised leeks below), or sliced raw into salads. Store leeks dry and loosely wrapped in plastic in the refridgerator, but use them within a week or so.
Our red beets have a smooth round shape and deep red color. They may be eaten cooked or raw. Grated beets make a fabulous addition to salads and slaws. Grate some early in the week and place them in a tupperware and then sprinkle them into salads all week. Roasted beets are extra delicious, roasting carmelizes the sugar in the beets. Cube beets and roast them in the oven with a drizzle of oil at 400F until they are tender and just browning at the edges. If you don't eat them all right away, cool and toss into a container and add these to salads. The red beets will bleed when cooked so if preparing with other veggies be mindful of that fact that you will end up with a uniformly technicolor dish.
Frozen tomatoes - we freeze tomatoes in the peak of summer when they are sweet and abundant. They freeze very well, and are best used when they are frozen or just off frozen as they are easier to handle this way. If you run a frozen tomato under warmish water in your hand, the skin will separate and come right off and you can pinch the top and bit of core out at the same time. Then toss the fleshy tomato into the pan you are cooking in. If you are looking for chopped tomatoes, just let them thaw a bit and chop away before they completely thaw and are to soft to handle.
Frozen sweet peppers - large share members will also receive frozen sweet peppers. Keep them frozen until you are ready to use them. They will be delicious sautéed and thrown onto a pizza, added to a salad, or cooked into lasagna, casseroles, soups, or sauces. Last week I took out a package of peppers, thawed it out, and sauteed it with some onions and garlic for a great side dish!
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Localvore Lore
We're very pleased to send out Full Sun Company oil again. This is the first time we're sending out their Sunflower oil; prior to this we've sent out their canola oil. This oil is low in saturated fat and rich in oleic, monounsaturated fatty acids, and Omega-3, 6, and 9 and is a great source of vitamin E as well. It's very suitable for medium heat sautéing. For best nutrition when cooking, keep oil under 350℉. 
Full Sun Company exists because a couple of guys were united on working together to create a venture that was successful and fun, and is helping family farms grow. Their goal is to support local food systems by delivering affordable, high-energy foods and feed ingredients and sustainable ag solutions. They began in early 2014 by processing sunflower & non-gmo canola oil crops into edible oil and high-protein meal. We hope you enjoy this unique sunflower oil!
The Organic Wheat Berries are from Butterworks Farm. Jack Lazor grows several varieties of wheat on the farm and to make flour, dried wheat berries are ground in a mill. These are the same kind of wheat berries that were used to make the whole wheat pastry flour we sometimes send in the share. Instead of grinding these wheat berries into flour however, you can cook with them. They make a great salad, pilaf, stuffing, casserole, salad garnish or substitute for rice. You can cook any kind of wheat berries. Softer wheat varieties may soften faster than hard varieties, but another factor in how quickly they soften is how dry the wheat berries are. Just like beans, if they have been sitting in your cupboard for 3 years they will probably take longer than those harvested 8 months ago.
To cook wheat berries, just put them in a pan of salted water with a ratio of 1 part wheat berries to 3 or 4 parts water. Bring them to a boil and simmer for 45-60 minutes until they are cooked and softened. Then drain. They might take a bit longer. Cooked wheat berries will keep in the fridge for 5-7 days and you can freeze them too.
Dried cranberries are coming to you from the VT Cranberry Company.
Even though it's a native fruit of Vermont, it's actually not that easy to find local VT cranberries. Bob Lesnikoski aka "Cranberry Bob" provides us with this week's Vermont grown dried cranberries. Bob takes his cranberries, lightly sweetens them and dries them out for you to enjoy. The cranberries are wonderful added to baked goods, salads (see recipes below), in oatmeal, baked goods, or just eaten plain.
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Recipes
We also provide you with recipes to help you fully enjoy your weekly bounty. Got a great recipe you want to share? Email me - I would love to share with our members!
Curry Carrot-Leek Soup
I don't know about you but I am living on homemade soups this time of year. I often just improvise based on what's in my fridge or veggies on hand about to go bad, but getting inspiration from recipes such as this is pretty nice. As always, feel free to experiment based on what you have, or follow this recipe. Enjoy!
1 pound thinly sliced leeks, white parts only
1 pound carrots, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons butter or stick margarine
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
In a large saucepan, saute leeks and carrots in butter until leeks are tender. Add potato and curry powder; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add broth, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the vegetables are very tender. Cool slightly. Process in batches in a food processor or blender until pureed. Return to the pan; heat through.
Mama's Potato Soup
This is one of Amy's favorite soups. It's a simple Mexican style soup that uses a pretty basic assortment of vegetables, but they come together beautifully and it's delicious. And spicy, read below! The recipe comes from the Garlic Lovers Cookbook put out by Gilroy Garlic Festival Association. (Gilroy, CA is the self proclaimed garlic capitol of the world). Makes 4-6 servings.
2 TB sunflower oil
4 cloves garlic
1 cup finely chopped onion
3 medium sized tomatoes (perfect place to use your frozen tomatoes - or 1.5 to 2 cups canned)
*1/2 cup green chilies (or just 2 jalapenos or chili peppers or crushed red pepper to taste or what have you - see below!)
1 TB flour
2 quarts chicken broth (or turkey or veggie broth is great too)
2.5 cups peeled raw potatoes, cut into small cubes
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tsp black pepper
2 medium-sized carrorts, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini (or half a bag frozen)
Garnish with handful of grated cheddar for each bowl of soup.
*Optional - a dollop of sour cream in the bowls
*Optional - Cilantro - if you have fresh or frozen cilantro, toss it in!
*Hot peppers - I once actually put the amount of peppers specified in the recipe, using jalapenos and served it at a party. Holy Moly. I would come across people who'd been sitting for half an hour or more at the table, teary eyed and sweating, trying to get through a bowl of soup, having downed a couple beers in the process just to cool it down. I find that just a couple peppers is plenty spice. In the summer I can hot peppers so I have them around to use in winter. I used 2 canned green chile peppers in my most recent batch.
Heat oil in a 3-Quart saucepan and add garlic, onions, tomatoes and green chilies; saute for 3 mins. Stir in flour and cook for 2 more. Continue stirring as you pour in the hot broth. Add potatoes, salt and pepper. Cover pan and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Add carrots and zucchini and cook for 15 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender. Top dress with a handful of grated cheddar and add a dollop of sour cream if it suits you.
Braised Leeks with Parmesan
This recipe is the one that turned me into a leek lover. Those who are not sure if they like leeks will never doubt again!
2 leeks
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup dry white wine, like sauvignon blanc
3 T Parmesan, freshly grated
Cut the ends and the dark green leaves of the leeks, and cut in half lengthwise. Place in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes, then run under the faucet to remove any sand that may be lingering in between the layers. Peel off thick outer layers and discard.
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a wide, heavy skillet that will accommodate all of the leeks in one layer. Place the leeks in the pan, cut side down, and cook, shaking the pan and moving them around with tongs, until they are lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Using tongs, turn the leeks over and cook on the other side until they are lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Turn the leeks back over so that the cut side is down. Peel off the outer layers if they are papery, as they will not soften when the leeks are braised. Pour in the wine and stir to deglaze the bottom of the pan, then add enough water or stock to come just to the top of the leeks. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, until the leeks are thoroughly tender when pierced with a knife. Most of the liquid should have evaporated by this time. Meanwhile, preheat the broiler.
Transfer the leeks to an oiled ovenproof pan if your skillet cannot go under the broiler. Using tongs, turn the leeks so that the flat side is up. If there is still a lot of liquid in the pan, pour it off. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the leeks. Place under the hot broiler until the cheese has melted and is beginning to color. Remove from the heat and serve.
Homemade Vodka Sauce
The only ingredient that makes everything taste better is bacon. This sauce is no different. The use of bacon-flavored vodka gives this sauce a smoky, meaty, almost spicy flavor that will blow regular sauce out of the water. This sauce is so good you'll find a reason to put it on anything and may even start eating it with a spoon!
1/4 cup butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup bacon-flavored vodka
1 (28 ounce) can of stewed or diced tomatoes, with juices, OR 1 bag frozen tomatoes
1 cup light cream
Salt and peppper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
In a 3-quart skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Stir in vodka and heat for about 10 minutes or until half the liquid has evaporated. Stir in tomatoes and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes. Gradually add in cream and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until mixture has thickened.
Remove from heat and sprinkle in Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Serve with your favorite dish and enjoy!
Wheat Berry Salad with Cranberries, Green Onion, Toasted Pecans, and Feta
Dressed with a simple balsamic vinaigrette, this no-fuss salad is a breeze to whip up. The cranberries added a touch of sweetness to the mix, and all the savory, tangy, crunchy, nutty components played nicely together.
½ cup soft wheat berries
2 cups water
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup finely chopped green onion
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
4 ounces feta cheese, cubed
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon whole grain Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
The wheat berries take about an hour to cook through, so you want to get these going first. Rinse the wheat berries, then, in a saucepan, combine them with the water and salt. Bring to a rolling boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for one hour or until tender. All the liquid should be absorbed.
Meanwhile prepare the vinaigrette by whisking together the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mustard, and honey. Set aside.
Combine the cooked wheat berries, green onion, cranberries, pecans, and feta. Dress with as much vinaigrette as you’d like. I use about ½ the amount this recipe makes
Shoots Salad with Dried Cranberries and Roasted Beets
Feel free to get creative with this salad. You can roast any of your veggies to beef it up a bit.
6 TB cranapple or apple cider
3 TB apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 small shallot, minced
7 TB sunflower or extra-virgin olive oil
1 TB butter
3-4 beets, peeled and cut into 1" slices
Shoots
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Whisk cider and vinegar in bowl. Add minced shallot, salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in oil. Rewhisk before using. Preheat oven to 450°F. Combine beets and butter, salt and pepper; toss to coat. Roast for 20 to 40 minutes untl tender.
In a large bowl, toss shoots with half of dressing. Divide among plates; top with beets. Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with dried cranberries.
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