Final Week of the 2015 CSA season!
This week will feature many choices in addition to the Core items everyone receives. The Core items (pictured in the top row of the vegetables) for this week are : Sweet Peppers, Salad Greens and Sweet Potatoes. In addition, the Choice items (pictured in the 2nd and 3rd rows, Kale, Tomatoes, Broccoli, Pea Shoots, Turnips, (3rd row), Leeks, Arugula, Spicy Peppers, Radishes, Bok Choy, Stir-fry greens, Beets and Swiss Chard. Small shares choose 4 of the choice items, large shares 8 (mix or match) of the choice items.
Sweet peppers: Store in plastic bag, in refrigerator. Meal idea: sauté sliced candy onions and sweet pepper for a tasty Philly Cheese Sandwich or Fajitas. Stuffed peppers are also a favorite main dish at our house; zucchini/ yellow squash can also be stuffed using the same recipe. Sweet peppers can easily be preserved by freezing and they can be frozen raw, without blanching first. Cut peppers into the desired size: diced for adding to winter casseroles, soups or sauces; sliced for fajitas; or halved (or the tops cut off) to be used for stuffed peppers (also, after freezing there is no need to parboil peppers before stuffing) and freeze in freezer bags.
Sweet Potatoes: Store at room temperature. Here is a compilation of Sweet Potato Recipes, to give you some ides. For a savory sweet potato dish try these: Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Pecans and Goat Cheese and Curried Lentils and Sweet Potatoes.
Salad mix: Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. Wash before eating, and dry well. For salad inspiration, look at this: Mesclun Salad with goat cheese, or Chart of Salad Toppings Combinations.
CHOICES (small shares choose 4 different items, large shares 8 items):
Broccoli: Store in a loose plastic bag in the refrigerator. Peeling the stems with a pairing knife is a great way to make the stems more tender. My go-to method of cooking broccoli is to quickly peel the main stem and then separate the head of broccoli into “trees” and cook (blanch) in salted- boiling water for 1 minute, then drain well, pat dry and roast on a cookie sheet with olive oil salt and pepper (and I often add a little savory BBQ rub seasoning) at 425F, for 10 to 15 minutes until broccoli is cooked to the desired doneness. Here’s a couple of recipe ideas: Broccoli Salad, Roasted Broccoli and Sweet Potatoes Miso Bowl, and Roasted Broccoli. Broccoli can be paired with leeks as in this Potato, Leek and Broccoli Soup.
Tomatoes: Store at room temperature, NOT in a plastic bag.
Spicy peppers: Store in plastic bag, in refrigerator. The spicy peppers are abundant this Chop and add to salsa, or use in this Jalapeno Popper Chicken. If you want to try water-bath canning, try this Jalapeno Jelly (I’ve used a combination of peppers). Anaheim and poblano peppers can be stuffed, as in these Chicken and Cheese Stuffed Anaheim Peppers, or Black beans and Cheese stuffed Poblano Peppers, or Rice and Beef stuffed Peppers. Peppers can be frozen; slice or dice and then place in freezer bags, can be used in fajitas, or anywhere you would use cooked peppers (after thawing the peppers are soft).
Leeks: store in plastic bag in refrigerator. Leeks are a kind of onion and can be used in many recipes (quiches, tarts, soups) interchangeably with onions. Here is a recipe for Leek Potato Soup . Typically the white and light green sections are used, but the dark green leaf portions can be used to season vegetable or chicken stock. Leeks need to be washed well, since dirt can get in between the layers.
Beets: Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. Both the roots and leaves are great. Here is a compilation of recipes: Huffington Post Beet Recipes (we have enjoyed recipe #4, French Peasant Beets). Beets make a great addition to salad, as in this Roasted Beet Salad with Pea Shoots and Beet salad with Goat Cheese .
Pea Shoots: Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. Pea shoots are the trimmed top couple inches of a baby pea plant and have a similar flavor to sugar snap peas. Pea shoots make a great topping to salads, in wraps (Spring Rolls) or in this: Roasted Beet Salad with Pea Shoots and Huffingtonpost has a variety of Pea Shoot Recipes.
Arugula: store in plastic bag in refrigerator. This slightly spicy salad green is wonderful in this Roasted Sweet Potato Arugula Salad! Arugula is also wonderful topped with thinly sliced steak, as in this: Skirt Steak Salad with Arugula and Blue Cheese. Combine arugula with pasta in this Goat Cheese and Arugula over Penne dish. Arugula can also be sautéed in olive oil with some garlic just until wilted. Arugula is great in this Arugula Soup that our whole family enjoys (2 onions can be substituted for the 6 shallots in the recipe, larger potatoes can be used instead of the salad potatoes). Some other ideas are listed in this: Top 5 Uses for Arugula Besides Salad.
Bok Choy: Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. Here is a basic bok choy recipe with great instructions: Stir-fried Bok Choy. 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). Bok choy can be sliced and added to soups during the last few minutes of cooking.If you would rather eat bok choy raw; it can be chopped and dressed with an asian- style dressing: Bok Choy Salad. Bok choy can be added to soup, as in this: Thai Coconut Soup with Bok Choy and mushrooms.
Kale: store in plastic bag in refrigerator. Baby Kale is great in Kale salad or in any kale dish, but it doesn’t need as much time to cook. Try this Zuppa Tuscana soup (I usually add a can of tomatoes to this soup and sometimes kidney beans). Or, try this method of fixing kale:
Kale, Sausage and Beans
8 to 16 oz. smoked sausage (or omit and increase beans, for a vegetarian version), sliced
1 Onion, chopped
3 (or more) cloves garlic, finally chopped
1 can (or about 2 cups, peeled) tomatoes, with liquid
Kale, 7- 10 leaves, removed from stem and chopped (with Baby kale, add a couple l handfuls of kale leaves, chopped)
1 can drained (or about 2 Cups, cooked) white beans, like great northern or cannellini beans
Brown the sausage in a skillet and then remove sausage to a paper towel lined plate and drain off excess oil. Saute the onions in olive oil over medium heat, till soft and golden, 5- 10 minutes. Add chopped garlic and kale, stir to begin to wilt. Then add tomatoes and cover: lower heat and cook until kale is tender, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in beans and sausage and season to taste (red pepper flakes are a good addition). Can be topped with shredded parmesan cheese.