Another week of great variety for the 2016 Redfearn Farm CSA Season! The items available for Week 12 of the CSA season are: Farm Selected Items (shown on the top left of the photo): Sweet Bell Peppers, Eggplant and Cabbage and for the Choice Items (roughly top to bottom, L to R): Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Green Onions, Green Beans, Swiss Chard, Yellow squash/ zucchini, Kohlrabi, Beets, Onions, Garlic, and Fennel bulbs (and not pictured, Salad Greens!). For additional recipe ideas, check out my CSA veggie Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/sheriredfearn/csa-veggies-recipes/
Sweet Bell Peppers (Farm selected Item and Choice): 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.
Cabbage (Farm Selected Item): Store in the refrigerator. Cabbage can be stir fried, roasted, paired with Kielbasa Sausage, made into salad or into Sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is one of the best ways to preserve cabbage.
Eggplant (Farm selected Item): Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator, but use quickly, because eggplant doesn’t store well. Eggplant can be sauteed, grilled or roasted. Here’s a page with detailed instructions about eggplant preparation and recipes: Fine Cooking: How to cook Eggplant. It is great combined with zucchini and tomatoes (such as in Ratatouille). For eggplant recipes from Italy to China, check out these: Global Eggplant Recipes. A wonderful eggplant recipe (and one that doesn’t require salting and draining the eggplant) is Smitten Kitchen’s Eggplant Bruschetta (which has a Mediterranean style topping), and this No-Fuss Eggplant Parmesan. Moussaka is a greek dish with eggplant. Here is a relatively simple recipe for Moussaka recommended by a CSA member (and also tried and deliciously approved by the Redfearn family). Some chefs suggest salting and draining the prepared (sliced, cubed, etc) eggplant for at least 20-30 minutes before cooking (this takes away any bitterness and also, helps the eggplant to absorb less oil during cooking).
CHOICES (Basic shares can choose 3, Premium Shares can choose 6):
Cucumbers (Choice item): store in plastic bag in refrigerator (our cucumbers are not waxed, so will lose moisture and become rubbery if not wrapped). Recipe Ideas: Cucumber infused Water, Smoothies with Cucumbers, Cucumber Salads: Creamy Cucumber Salad with Greek Yogurt and Dill, Cucumber Salad with Garlic and Ginger and even Stir-fried Cucumbers! Pair with tomatoes in an Israeli Salad, Cucumber, Tomato, and Avocado Salad, Greek Salad and Panzanella Salad. Cucumbers are the base for the Mediterranean sauce, Tzatziki. Cold Cucumber Soup is also a refreshing way to use cucumbers.
Tomatoes (Choice Item): store at room temperature in a bowl or basket.
Basil (Choice Item): To keep basil fresh, trim the stems and place them in a glass or jar of water, just like cut flowers. Loosely cover it with a plastic bag and leave it on the counter. Do not refrigerate or basil will darken.Here are some ways to use basil: top sliced tomatoes with chopped basil and olive oil, make Pesto, or use to season Italian dishes, or even in Thai dishes (although it is not authentic Thai basil), such as in this Thai Green Curry Chicken. If you need to preserve basil leaves; it can be pureed with olive oil and frozen (in ice cube trays or small plastic bags. For more detailed instructions for preserving basil, click here. If you need more ideas for how to use basil, check out this link: 34 Basil recipes to carry you through summer.
Green Onions (Choice Item): Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. Use in lots of Chinese/ other asian recipes (General Tso’s chicken and Korean beef are two Redfearn favorites) chicken salad, egg salad, salad dressing to name a few.
Green Beans (Choice item): 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 4 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, beans can also be frozen at this point). 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: crumbled bacon, toasted slivered almonds, stirred into the beans after cooking. Also, these Roasted Green Beans are great.
Swiss Chard (Choice Item): Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. The swiss chard leaves have a very mild flavor similar to spinach. Both the stem and the leaves can be eaten and I usually use both together; chop the stems like you would celery and begin cooking the stems before adding the greens. This is a basic swiss chard recipe: Swiss Chard with Balsamic Vinegar. Our family really likes this Swiss Chard, Sausage, White bean casserole ( I use the stems and leaves of the chard). This Swiss Chard and Ricotta Crostata is a wonderful recipe, and one of my all-time favorites. Swiss chard leaves can be used just like spinach in my Crustless Spinach Quiche recipe. Swiss chard can also be used in curry, as in these: Saag Paneer (I have used a bunch of swiss chard in place of spinach in this recipe; I washed, then coarsely chopped the chard stems and leaves, and then processed the swiss chard while raw in a food processor) and Curried Lentils and Sweet Potatoes.
Yellow squash (Choice Item, 3 squash will count as one item): store in plastic bag in refrigerator. Yellow squash nearly interchangeable with zucchini and is great raw or sautéed, grilled, or baked into zucchini bread (my kids favorite way to eat zucchini!). Raw zucchini/ squash makes a fresh, flavorful salad as in this: Summer Squash Salad with Lemon Citronette. Zucchini (sliced and broiled or pan fried) can take the place of pasta in lasagna. If you want more ideas, you can try Baked Zucchini Fries, Squash baked eggs or Zucchini Fritters or Chocolate Zucchini Bread or these main dishes Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables (this is a great recipe to use a lot of vegetables, including zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, peppers, onions and garlic), Cheesy Zucchini Casserole (which we make with shredded sharp cheddar, instead of Velvetta). Here’s a couple other zucchini recipes, recommended by CSA members: Curried Zucchini Soup, Zucchini Tots, Sauteed Zucchini with Cherry Tomatoes (don’t overcook the zucchini!), and Zucchini Chocolate Rum Cake. To preserve: Zucchini or Yellow squash can be shredded and frozen to use in Zucchini bread recipes.
Beets (Choice item): Store in plastic bag in 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), Roasted Beets with Feta. Beets make a great addition to salad, Roasted Beet Salad with Pea Shoots and Beet salad with Goat Cheese .
Kohlrabi (Choice Item): 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. A simple preparation of kohlrabi is Butter- braised Kohlrabi: Peel kohlrabi, 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. Eaten raw, kohlrabi is fresh, crisp, and the ideal ingredient for a summer slaw, such as this Kohlrabi and Carrot slaw or in this excellent Kohlrabi- Apple Salad!
Sweet Bell Peppers (Choice Item): 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.
Onions (Choice Item):Store in a cool, dry, well ventilated area; in a bowl/ basket on your counter should be fine, but NOT right by Potatoes (Onions produce ethylene, which can cause potatoes to go bad). Here is some inspiration if you need more ideas of how to use onions: 50 Onion Recipes.
Garlic (Choice Item):Store in a cool, dry, well ventilated area; in a bowl/ basket on your counter should be fine.
Fennel Bulbs (Choice Item): Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. There are three parts to fennel: the bulb, the stalks and the fronds (the dill-like frilly top). The bulb is the most commonly used part of the vegetable in recipes; such as Caramelized Fennel or a Fennel Salad (this one is paired with blood oranges). The fennel stalks can be used when making vegetable/ chicken stock to add a subtle fennel flavor (the fennel stalks can be frozen to store). The fennel stalks are a bit tougher than the bulb, but can also be very thinly sliced and added to the fennel bulb slices. This leek and fennel soup uses all the parts of the fennel (and is a vegan recipe) and Tomato-Fennel Soup is also popular. And this Crispy Cream-braised Potatoes and Fennel is very tasty. This page lists a variety of fennel recipes: Fennel recipes you will make over and over. One fennel bulb is also used in this Swiss Chard, Sausage, White bean casserole . Here are additional ideas for how to use all parts on the fennel.
Salad Greens (Choice Item): Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.