Author: GTF Office

CSA Newsletter – Week 20

Getting Botanical with Celery

Hi folks,

We cannot believe that there is only one more week of CSA after this! We’ve been thoroughly enjoying the rare, warm, sunny October days out in the fields. Any October day in Oregon that doesn’t require full rain gear is a very good day. This week you have celery in your box. You’ve already received celery root – celery’s staut, hardy cousin – but I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some other vegetables in the celery family who all have similar flavor profiles, growth habits, and flower structures, known botanically as the inflorescence.

The celery family is known as Apiaceae, and is home to carrots, parsnips, parsley roots, parsley, cilantro, dill, fennel, lovage, and other such aromatic plants that don’t grow as well in our climate such as caraway and cumin. The familiy is also home to various weeds such as queen anne’s lace, poison hemlock, and cow parsnip, a tall weed that you find growing near water in Oregon.

One leading feature that ties this plant family together is the flower structure, known as an umbel. And to follow along with our theme of fractals from last week, Apieaceae flowers are often made of compound umbels—an umbel made of umbels. When you see an umbel, that you will now able to site ID a plant family! Take a peak into the world and see if you can spot Apiaceae on your plate or on the ground.

Best, Laura Bennett

 Table of Box Contents

• Celery—First of the season folks, woo! Don’t believe the gossip about celery taking more energy to chew than you get from eating it; they’re blasphemous lies. Most vegetables decrease in their nutritive content when cooked, but celery retains most of its nutrition and is therefore a great addition to soups and stir-fries, in addition to being crunchy and refreshing raw.
• Delicata Squash
• Butternut Squash
• Cauliflower—This week you’ll be receiving either a green or white cauliflower.
• Bunched Carrots
• Swiss Chard
• Green Bell Pepper
• Sweet Colored Bell Pepper—Enjoy the last of these gems!
• Leeks—Buttery onion magic
• Nicola Potatoes 
  

  Recipes

  

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  Roasted Butternut Squash Coconut Curry Soup/Puree

  Adapted from Food52 recipe:

  https://food52.com/recipes/1060-roasted-butternut-squash-coconut-curry-puree-soup 

  Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil, plus more if needed
  • 2 1/2 medium Butternut Squashes, cut in half and seeded
  • 2 pinches Salt & Pepper, plus more to taste
  • 2 tbsp Coconut Oil
  • 2 large Yellow Onions, chopped
  • 1 Sweet Peppper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 Jalapeno Pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 4 cloves Garlic, chopped
  • 2 inches Fresh Ginger, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tbsp Soy Sauce, naturally brewed (tamari)
  • 1 tbsp Red Curry Paste
  • 2 tsp Garam Masala (preferably) or Curry Powder
  • 14 oz Coconut Milk
  • 2 cups low/no sodium Vegetable Broth
  • 1 handful Cilantro, chopped

  Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375° F and coat a large cookie sheet with olive oil.
     

  2. Sprinkle each half of butternut squash with salt and pepper and lay cut side down on cookie sheet. Bake for about an hour until fork tender. Let cool for a bit and peel skin off, I used an old grapefruit spoon, but you could use a paring knife. Cut into chunks.

  3. While butternut squash is roasting you can get started on the soup. In a large heavy bottomed pot heat up coconut oil at medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger and sauté till onion turns translucent (about 8 minutes). Add the red pepper and jalapeño. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about another 10 minutes (stirring and taking care not to burn).

  4. Add in soy sauce, red curry paste, garam masala/curry powder and stir to coat. Add the coconut milk, veggie broth, and 2 1/2 of the roasted butternut squashes and stir to combine. I used my potato masher to further mash up the butternut squash.

  5. Bring to a boil and simmer for approximately 30 minutes. Puree if desired in batches in blender. Return to pot and add extra broth depending on how thick/thin you want it to be and season to taste. When ready to serve, sprinkle the cilantro over it.

   

  

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  Chard Agrodolce

  Adapted from Food52 recipe:  

  https://food52.com/recipes/14237-chard-agrodolce 

  Ingredients

  • 1 bunch Rainbow Chard or Swiss Chard, stems and leaves separated, with stems chopped into 2- to 3-inch pieces and leaves chopped into thirds
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin Olive Oil (or butter)
  • 1 pinch Salt
  • 1/4 cup Chicken Stock
  • 1/4 cup White Wine
  • 2 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
  • 2 tbsp Honey
  • 2 tbsp Toasted Pine Nuts (optional)

  Instructions

  1. Sauté the chard stems in the olive oil and a little salt until they start to break down, about 6 to 8 minutes.
     

  2. Add the stock and wine and let them cook down for about 5 to 6 minutes, then add the chard leaves. Once they have wilted, add the vinegar and honey.

  3. Let it cook down until the liquid has mostly evaporated and the chard is soft. You can add some toasted pine nuts over the top if you want some added crunch.

Hi folks,

This week’s box is home to a very special guest—Romanesco. This unique fractaled beauty is a very direct view into the ways in which plant growth is defined by mathematical laws. Fractals are infinite patterns that repeat at multiple scales. Staring in at the florets of a romanesco you can get lost in the same way as you can with computer-generated fractal images.

Once upon a time I was fairly obsessed with fractals. I played around with geometry any time that I had a pen, constructing logarithmic spirals that obeyed the same laws of the Fibonnacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…) that cells and leaves and branches must obey as plants grow. The arrangement of leaves on a stem, of stems on a branch, and of branches on a full plant is known botanically as phyllotaxy. These arrangements allow for leaves and branches to occupy their own space and maximize sunlight exposure without shading one another. Modern engineers even copy this organization to create hip highrises with balconies that each have privacy and a nice view. All plants obey these laws of nature, but certain plants such as romanesco are simply good at flaunting it. Just a little piece of farming that is often never seen.

Best, Laura Bennett

Table of Box Contents

• Romanesco—This is probably the coolest vegetable you’ll ever see. Its fractal structure looks like it was digitally created with the Mandelbrot set when in fact it is just a product of nature. Its texture is quite like cauliflower but with a nuttier flavor. Cut the spears off stem by stem to maintain their perfect fractal shape.
• Buttercup Squash—Buttercup squash is moist like a sweet meat squash with a Kabocha-like chestnut flavor. The blue stem end is known as a turban and makes this squash very nice for stuffing with a lid.
• Watermelon Radish—We started growing this radish a few years ago and it has been a farm favorite ever since. It is a large radish that is pale green on the outside with a pink burst center. The flavor varies throughout the season, but they can range from mild to quite spicy depending on the weather. Their texture however is consistently crisp and refreshing.
• Savoy Cabbage—When a leaf is said to be savoyed, it means that it’s rumply, like lacinato kale, which has savoy cabbage genes in its history. These rumples allow for many nooks and crannies to be filled with soups and sauces, making for a particularly delicious cabbage experience and textural delight.
• Red Russian Kale
• Cilantro
• Bunched Carrots
• Nicola Potatoes
• Pepper Surprise
• Dried Sweet Onions
• Red Leaf Lettuce
• Tomato

Recipes

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Vegetarian Stuffed Buttercup Squash

Adapted from https://all-thats-jas.com/buttercup-squash.html 

Ingredients

• 1 Buttercup Squash, about 3 to 3 1/2 pounds
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil, divided
• 1/2 cup Quinoa
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 8 oz Crimini (Baby Bella) Mushrooms, quartered
• 2 large leaves of Kale, stem removed and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp White Wine or Water
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp Dried Cranberries
• 1/4 cup Raw Almonds
• 2 stems fresh Parsley, finely chopped
• 2-3 oz feta cheese (optional)

Instructions

1. Cut a hole on top of the squash, shaping a lid by inserting your knife on an angle. Discard seeds and loose fibers. Rub the inside with some oil. Set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Place quinoa in a saucepan and cover with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat immediately and let gently simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a large skillet. Sauté the onions, mushrooms, and kale until soft, 3-5 minutes.

5. Add the wine, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook for about 5 more minutes. When the liquid is almost evaporated, add cranberries, almonds, and parsley. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust the flavors.

6. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the cooked quinoa. Add the crumbled feta cheese and toss to combine. Fill the buttercup squash with the quinoa stuffing.

7. Place the squash on a baking sheet. Replace the lid on top and bake for about an hour, depending on the oven and on the size and type of the squash. Check the squash flesh with a knife from time to time and stir around the stuffing with a spoon.

8. The squash is ready when skin is browned and bubbly and the flesh is soft. Garnish with parsley and feta.