Storage Tips and Recipes
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: A hearty, colorful blend of red lettuce, spinach, claytonia, mizuna, red and green sorrel, and baby chard. Wash greens before eating and use within a week.
Brussels Sprouts: Brussels sprouts stalks for all shares this week! At the farm, we refer to them as "Russell sprouts" in honor of our favorite farm baby, Russell Perkins. You can store the whole stem in your fridge, or have your kids help snap off the sprouts before storage. There may be some harmless brown spots on the sprouts; these parts can still be eaten. If you don't like the look, roasting is a great camoflauge.
Butternut Squash: Such a versatile squash; great roasted, in soups, or pureed as a substitute for tomato sauce in pasta dishes. Sweet enough to use in pumpkin pie! Store at about 50 degrees for up to a month.
Sweet Potatoes: These sweet potatoes are from Juniper Hill Farm, a diversified organic farm. They really excel at growing sweet potatoes whereas we have failed many times over the years. Sweet potatoes are great for roasting (sliced or whole) in a 400 degree oven until they are soft enough to be pierced by a fork. Store in a dark, dry, cool place (but not in your fridge- it's too cold), and they can store for a week or two.
Celery: Wrap unwashed celery tightly in a plastic bag and store in the coldest part of your refrigerator. To maintain really crisp celery, store as you would basil or parsley. That is, place it upright in a glass of water in your fridge and cover loosely with a plastic bag. Green shares - please take your celery as an "out of bag" item!
Parsley: Much more than a garnish, parsley has lots to offer. Chopped parsley can be sprinkled on a host of different recipes, including salads, vegetable sautés and grilled fish. Combine chopped parsley, garlic and lemon zest, and use it as a rub for chicken, lamb and beef. Add it to soups and tomato sauces. It is a key flavor ingredient in the mediterranean dish tabouli and in the Argentinian chimichurri sauce (recipe below). Parsley is one of those vegetables with huge nutritional benefits, even when using just a couple tablespoons of the minced green. The vitamin content is very high (particularly vitas A, C, K, and folic acid). And what's more, the activity of parsley's volatile oils qualifies it as a "chemoprotective" food, a food that can help neutralize particular types of carcinogens.
Recipes
Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts in Brown Butter Sauce
Here's a Brussels recipe that might be a nice side to your Thanksgiving meal! This one is from the Smitten Kitchen, but is originally from a New York Times recipe.
Serves 8
Salt
2 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup very thinly sliced shallots
3 tablespoons flour
2 1/2 cups hot chicken stock
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup roasted, peeled chestnuts, halved if large.
1. Bring 4 cups salted water to a boil, add brussels sprouts and cook 10 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water. Drain again.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a 3-quart saucepan. Add shallots and cook over medium heat, stirring, until light brown. Pour contents of pan through a fine strainer into a dish, pressing to remove as much butter as possible from shallots. Place shallots on paper towel to drain. Return butter to saucepan.
3. If serving immediately, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place saucepan over medium heat and cook until butter has a nutty aroma and is turning brown. Whisk in flour and cook until mixture is light brown. Whisk in stock and cook until sauce has thickened. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, and nutmeg. Add chestnuts and brussels sprouts, folding ingredients together.
4. Transfer to an 8-cup baking dish. Scatter shallots on top. Bake about 15 minutes. Serve.
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
This is Martha Stewart's recipe, the all-around crowd-pleaser. There will not be any leftovers.
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
1/2 cup half-and-half
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons light-brown sugar (or maple sugar)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Boil sweet potatoes until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain, and return to saucepan. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring half-and-half, butter, and brown sugar to a simmer, stirring to combine; remove from heat. Add to drained sweet potatoes, and mash just until smooth; season with salt and pepper.
Cranberry Sauce
This is a tried and true, simple cranberry sauce recipe. I make this sauce every year or so and can lots of it so I can pull out a jar whenever needed. It will also freeze great and keeps in the fridge for a long time too. If you want to get a little more fancy add some apple pieces and raisins or spice it up with cloves, allspice and ginger.
3 cups cranberries
1.5 cups water
1 to 1.5 cups sugar
Boil sugar and water together 5 minutes; add cranberries and boil without stirring (5 minutes) until all skins pop open. Remove from heat when popping stops and allow the sauce to cool.
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