The vegetables for Week 8 of the Redfearn Farm CSA are (clockwise from bottom left): Bok Choy, Lettuce, Turnips, Green Beans (center), Kohlrabi, Candy Onions, Zucchini or Cucumbers (there will be a choice), and Radishes. When you pick up your CSA box, check the table at your pickup location and follow the instructions regarding choosing cucumbers and/or zucchini.
Bok Choy: store in plastic bag in refrigerator. Bok Choy in Garlic Sauce. Cooked (leftover) Bok Choy can be added to fried rice. Bok Choy can also be cooked and used inside egg rolls (I just followed the instructions on the back of the package of egg roll wrappers).
Lettuces: store in plastic bag in refrigerator. Wilted lettuce is great, especially if the lettuce is strong flavored: Wilted Lettuce salad
Turnips: store the roots and leaves, separately in plastic bags in the fridge. To use turnips, first cut off the top and bottom of the turnip and, using a paring knife, slice and peel the skin off. The turnip is then ready to be cut into the desired sized pieces and cooked or eaten raw. If the flavor of turnips is too strong, try boiling peeled, diced turnips in salted water until just tender (1/2 inch pieces took about 5 minutes). Turnips can be added to potatoes in Scalloped Potatoes and Turnips.
Butter- braised Kohlrabi and turnips:
Peel kohlrabi and turnips, and thinly slice (1/8 to 1/4 inch thick) and cook in a skillet with butter and olive oil and salt and pepper, add about 1/2 cup of chicken broth, cover the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. Optional: Cream can be added at the end.
Roasted turnips with Walnuts and Craisins
Preheat oven to 425 F.
Peel and wash turnips. Cut turnips into ½ inch squares and place on a baking sheet, add 1-2 Tablespoons oil (I used coconut oil) and mix thoroughly to coat the turnip pieces and add salt and pepper to taste. Roast for about 10 minutes and then stir or flip turnip pieces over, add a handful of walnuts and stir to coat with some oil and roast about 5 minutes and then add a handful of Craisins to the pan and roast about 5 minutes or until turnips are just barely tender.
Green beans: store in plastic bag in refrigerator. Basic cooking instructions: trim the stem end off and leave beans whole or snap into shorter pieces. Heat a pot of salted water to boiling, add beans, and boil 2 to 3 minutes, until almost tender- crisp. Drain beans very well (if you will be finishing the beans later, cool the bean beans to prevent further cooking). Heat butter and olive oil in a skillet (about 1 T each, can be increased or decreased to taste) over medium heat, add beans and salt and pepper to taste, and stir until tender, toward the end of cooking add 1 or 2 cloves garlic (chopped) if desired. Additions: toasted slivered almonds, stirred into the beans after cooking.
Kohlrabi: Both the leaves and the bulbous stem (the round part) are edible. The bulbous part can last for a couple weeks in the fridge, but the greens should be use within a couple days, both should be stored in plastic bags in the refrigerator . The bulb should be peeled by cutting off a thin slice on the top and bottom of the bulb and using a paring knife to cut the skin off the kohlrabi bulb.Here is a link with recipes using the kohlrabi bulb and greens, including one of our favorites, the kohlrabi patties: Kohlrabi Recipes. The kohlrabi patties can also be made using both shredded kohlrabi and turnips (and carrots can be added, too), that are first salted and excess moisture squeezed out.
Spring Candy Onions: Store at room temperature. Spring onions have not been cured/dried so they will not last as long as storage onions. The green stem (if any) can be sliced and used like chives or green onions. These candy onions turn very sweet when sautéed or caramelized.
Cucumbers and Zucchini: store in plastic bag in refrigerator
Radishes: Remove the greens and store in plastic bag in refrigerator. Crisp radishes in ice water. You can just eat them straight with butter and a sprinkle of salt. There are many variations of radish salads, here are a couple: Radish and Mint Salad and Smitten Kitchen’s chopped salad. Here are several Radish Appetizer ideas.
Farm update: The cucumbers and zucchini/ summer squash have been hit with insect damage, but more plants are already growing and ready to take their places. There are lots of green tomatoes on our tomato plants, and as they ripen we will begin including them in the CSA shares. The sweet and hot peppers and eggplants are also growing very well. New potatoes will begin to be harvested in the next couple weeks.