The items available for Week 22 of the CSA season are: Farm Selected Items :Salad greens and Kale and for the Choice Items, left to right, top to bottom on the photo (3 for Basic and 6 for Premium shares): Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Bell Peppers, Stir fry Greens, Summer Squash (Patty pan squash, Yellow Squash, Zucchini), Cucumbers, Eggplant,Baby Bok Choy, Winter Squash (mostly Butternut squash), Tomatoes (mostly green and some tomatoes), Arugula, Radishes, Green Onions, Garlic and Fresh Herbs (Cilantro, Parsley). Not shown, but also available are Spicy Peppers (mostly Jalapeños) and Fennel bulbs. For additional recipe ideas, check out my CSA veggie Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/sheriredfearn/csa-veggies-recipes/
Salad mix (Farm Selected Item): Store in plastic bag, in refrigerator. For salad inspiration, look at this: Mesclun Salad with goat cheese, or Chart of Salad Toppings Combinations.
Kale (Farm Selected Item): store in plastic bag in refrigerator. Serving suggestions: Add to smoothies, Fall Kale salad , Cookie+ Kate’s Kale Salad with an amazing dressing, Zuppa Tuscana soup (I usually add a can of tomatoes to this soup and sometimes kidney beans), Kale Pesto (this recipe is served with pasta and roasted butternut squash) and Kale and Butternut squash frittata. To preserve: wash kale, cut off the stems, blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds, then cool in an ice bath, drain well and freeze. Frozen kale can be used in soups, added to casseroles, pasta dishes, or anything that uses cooked kale. 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, about one-half to one pound, with stems cut off (or finely chopped and added to the dish) and 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.
CHOICES (Basic shares can choose 3, Premium Shares can choose 6):
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.
Sweet Potatoes (Choice item): Store at room temperature. Basic cooking instructions: Bake (350-375F) whole until tender, or cube sweet potatoes, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and Roast at 425F. 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
Arugula (Choice Item): 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.
Winter Squash (mostly Butternut Squash) (Choice): Store at cool, room temperature. Here are a couple of delicious recipes: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Apples and Bacon or Smitten Kitchen’s Warm Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad.
Summer squash, patty pan, yellow squash and zucchini (Choice Item, 3 squash or a box 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.
Eggplant (Choice Item):Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator, but use quickly, because eggplant doesn’t store well. Eggplant can be sauteed, grilled or roasted. Some wonderful eggplant recipes (that don’t require salting and draining the eggplant) are No-Fuss Eggplant Parmesan, Eggplant Parmesan Melts and Smitten Kitchen’s Eggplant Bruschetta (which has a Mediterranean style topping).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. 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), but I have gotten away from it the past year.
Radishes (Choice Item): Store in plastic bag in refrigerator. Crisp radishes in ice water. Sliced radishes add great flavor to salads. You can also 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 , Smitten Kitchen’s chopped salad, and Radish, Cucumber and Orange Salad. Radishes are milder when roasted or cooked. I cut radishes in half and toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 425F until tender crisp (they can be roasted alongside sweet potatoes or carrots for a nice flavor and color combination).
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.
Baby Bok Choy (Choice Item): 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 also be grilled, as in this Grilled Baby Bok Choy with Miso butter! 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
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.
Spicy peppers (Choice item): Jalapeno or Anaheim peppers. Store in plastic bag, in refrigerator. Ideas: Chop and add to salsa, or our new favorite is this Jalapeno Popper Dip. 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 and used as a stuffing in Jalapeno Popper Chicken. 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).
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.
Garlic (Choice Item):Store in a cool, dry, well ventilated area; in a bowl/ basket on your counter should be fine.