Whew. We weren’t sure how to fit all the items we’d harvested this week into the boxes and in the end we didn’t. Our gigantic Herbal Bouquet had to stay outside, which is fine since it really is so pretty. Spring is prime season for lots of herbs, many of which are blooming and delicious just now. Here are my daughter Emma and our friend and workshare member, Nicole, showing off their creations. We really do love packing up the boxes and hope you enjoy opening them just as much!
And now, a word about holes: “Don’t panic, it’s organic!” We use no chemicals whatsoever on our veggies, so whatever bugs we can’t pick off with our hands or hide the plants from with row covers, will make holes in the produce. Holes are your guarantee that our stuff is pesticide-free. Sometimes we do abandon a crop to the bugs, but usually we harvest the veggies if they still taste great. The arugula this week is a good example. The flea beetles got to it early, and I actually intended to pull the whole crop and toss it to the pigs. But I tasted and found it was fabulous, so there you go!
Every delivery, I’m going to try to list each item on the harvest list in order of fragility. In other words, when possible try to eat the first things listed first. Special handling instructions will be listed with the vegetables and recipes will follow the list.
Circle M Early Summer Salad Mix - These multi-colored leaves are are a mix of various mesclun lettuces and radicchios that have a crisp flavor that is stronger than baby greens. We’ve paired them with the nutty flavor of mache, a European salad favorite, that is the darker, smaller leaves. Finally, we added the tangy taste of pretty arugula leaves.
Pea Shoots – These tender tendrils are trimming off the tops of pea vines. Eat these sprinkled in with a salad. Try just alone as a beautiful snack. Or chop and saute in olive or sesame oil and eat over pasta or rice.
Red Flame Head Lettuce - This pretty red-tinged ruffled lettuce is the sort of lettuce you associate with spring – sweet and tender leaves with very little bitterness.
Arugula – Very flea-beetle-bitten, but so delicious. Spicy and nutty with no bitterness. We love a few leaves of this crisped on top of pizza. Try it wilted over pasta, or fresh in our Spring Arugula Pesto recipe listed below.
Baby Bok Choi - Tender and delicious. Use both leaves and the celery-like ribs in stir fry or Asian soups.
Chive Blossoms – These are a spring alternative to garlic, which won’t be ready until it’s hot out. But these flower heads off the chive plants are terrific in their own right, either blended up in a recipe like garlic, or used to garnish a salad or fish dish. Madison chefs deep-fry them in tempura.
Spinach – This spinach is still tender enough to eat raw as salad, but beefy enough to cook up, too. Spinach hates the heat, so we are already seeing a lot of our plants bolt, so this is probably our last offering until fall.
Nettles – No, we are not crazy, though some of you thought we were when you found nettles in your boxes last spring. But most of you tried them and were pleasantly surprised. The nettle leaves are in a bag by themselves and have serrated edges with visible pickers. DON’T TOUCH THEM! We’ve washed them for you so you can use them directly in a recipe like spinach. Wear gloves to chop them, if you want. Farm member Cherie says they rock in quiche. Easier yet, stuff them into a large jar and cover with boiling water. Leave overnight, then strain off the liquid and you’ll have a fabulous spring tonic tea. Once they are cooked or steeped they have no more sting and they are safe to handle and eat. The benefits of nettles are too many to list, but I’ll just say they are great source of calcium, vitamin C and minerals, and are great for hair, skin, hay fever and energy levels. A great idea for this box is to make a tea infusion that is half nettle and half lemon balm. The taste is summery, and you get the heath beneftis of both extracted into the water.
Salad Turnips – These fabulous sweet white Hakurei turnips are one of my favorite spring treats. We planted these back in May, but when we went to start harvesting them this past week, we found they’d been heavily munched by some hungry underground forager. But we saved out the best and encourage you to simply peel the damaged parts off and give these garden pearls a try. I eat them raw whole, or diced up into salads, but they are a wonderful addition to any soup or stir fry. And don’t discard the tops! Turnip greens are nutritious, delicious and sooo healthy. Add to soup or any saute.
French Breakfast Radishes – Not your typical radish, these long giants keep their mildness even when the heat comes on. Slice thinly and enjoy on a piece of buttered baguette – a wonderful summer breakfast, courtesy of the French!
Broccoli - We admit that we are quite proud of this gorgeous broccoli! Broccoli is tricky to grow in the spring because both too-hot weather and too-cold weather can cause it to bolt. We had to start this in the house in March to give it a good head start. When we planted it out in May, we covered it with floating fabric to deter cabbage moths and flea beetles from devouring it, and then we got lucky with the weather. Use the whole stem of this tender, fresh flower!
Sprouting Purple Broccoli – We didn’t get much of this pretty broccoli, unfortunately, because it really is stunning. We’ve given you each a stalk in hopes that you’ll be able to decorate a salad or something else with it.
Viola Flowers – These sweet-smelling blooms are edible, and we usually put them in the salad mixes. But this week we had so many, we thought we’d keep them separate so you could decorate cakes, cheese spreads and other fancy dishes with them.
Rhubarb - Perfectly ruby red! Use this now, in the yummy muffin recipe below, or simply chop and freeze to save for cooking with later. A great idea for this week is to visit a U-pick strawberry farm and get enough to make strawberry-rhubarb freezer jam.
Herbal Bouquet: Tarragon is the tallest stalk here, with very long narrow leaves. Use in all sorts of French cuisine, pairing it with broccoli, cooked greens, beets, potatoes and eggs. Great in a very simply salad dressing of olive oil and white wine vinegar. Lemon Balm is the bushy, light green leaved bunch that looks sort of minty. Very summer flavor good in asparagus dishes and fruit salads. Makes a great tea alone or combined with nettle. Oregano has smaller, more rounded leaves that are dark green. A must in Mexican, Greek and Italian dishes. Cilantro is the finely-cut, parsely-like leaves. What would summer be like without cilantro!? Useful in both Mexican and Asian cuisines. The stalks of purple blossoms are Sage Flowers. Use like sage, or just to garnish a drink. The crazy curly flower bud is a Garlic Scape. This is the seed head of garlic, and can be chopped finely and be used just like garlic in recipes. This week try our Scape and Shoot Saute. Finally, we included a purple iris and some stalks of penstemon because we had them and they were pretty. Don’t eat them, though!
Arugula and Chive Blossom Pesto
2 C young arugula, stems and leaves
1/2 C grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
4 chive blossoms
1 chive blossom for garnish
Combine all in a food processor bowl and process until combined and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over warm pasta or toss with roasted potatoes, pulling apart the final blossom and tossing the pink bulb-lets over the top of the food. This also makes a great alternative to mayonaise on sandwiches.
Spinach Balls
From Edible Earth, a cookbook by local authors Lisa Kivirist & John Ivanko, featuring recipes from their award-winning green B&B, Inn Serendipity, showcasing local and seasonal produce. www.innserendipity.com
2 C. cooked, cooled spinach or Swiss chard, finely chopped and packed. Squeeze out the water.
2 C. seasoned stuffing mix
1 C. grated Parmesan cheese
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 C butter (1 1/2 sticks) softened
1/2 t. salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until blended. Roll level tablespoonfuls into balls about the size of walnuts (about 40 total) and arrange them on an ungreased jellyroll pan or cookie sheet, close but not touching. Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned. Freezes well.
Scape and Shoot Saute
This easy recipe makes a nice topping for either pasta or Asian noodles or rice. Have some Bragg’s Aminos or soy sauce on hand to season, or add salt to taste while cooking. Heat on medium two tablespoons of wok oil and add a drop of sesame oil in a wok or large skillet. Finely chop two garlic scapes, stems included, and add to pan. Cook briefly and then add pea shoots to pan, tossing
just until slightly dark green and somewhat wilted. Remove and serve over rice, noodles or pasta.
Rhubarb Streusel Muffins
This recipe comes courtesy of farm members Bryn and J.D. who modified a Joy of Cooking recipe. Yum!
Combine in large bowl:
2 C. flour
2/3 C. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp lemon zest
Combine in small bowl:
2 beaten eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 C. buttermilk
4 Tbsp melted butter
Preheat oven to 400. Add contents small bowl to large, mixing just until combined. Scoop into buttered muffin tin. Chop 1/2 lb (about 2 cups) rhubarb and sprinkle over muffins. Make streusel and top muffins, press into tops. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
Streusel: Combine 2/3 C. flour, 1/3 C. brown sugar, 1/3 C. sugar, pinch salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 5 Tbsp butter.
Please do return your boxes and the large plastic liners to us. We will re-use those. Also – we will take back all smaller plastic bags that don’t have rotted vegetable matter in them.
