Tag: Pacific Northwest

CSA Newsletter – Week 21

Farewell Veggie Lovers

Hi folks,
We made it. Twenty-one straight weeks of real, good, food. We know, it wasn’t always easy, there were probably times where you let a kohlrabi sit in the bottom drawer of your fridge for weeks until it krinkled up like a shrunken head. We forgive you for that. It happens. You did your best! You ate so much good food! And you had to actually take the time to cook to do so. Give yourselves a pat on the back, folks. Any amount of time spent devoted to cooking and eating good food can seem impossible in this busy, modern world that we’ve constructed, but you made it happen. Celebrate! With more vegetables!

This last box is a good one. Black radishes are like the new-age susty* jack’o’lantern as they can be carved into intricate skulls for any day of the dead celebration, before eventually being consumed, of course. They have an intense, feel-it-in-your-nose kind of wasabi heat that only a brassica root knows how to give you. Polish people that I did not know lived in Oregon come and find us at market just for these radishes, so they must be pretty good… But of course you also have a pie pumpkin this week, so you could always keep it old school and carve that up before making a brilliant pie creation as well. The possibilities are endless.

Thanks so much for supporting us this season. Farming is no easy task, and community support is required for it to function. And thanks so much to everyone who read any or all of these newsletters! It’s been lovely sharing some of our experiences on the farm with you this season. You’ve been a fabulous audience, and we hope to see you again next season.

Best, Laura Bennett

 *Susty is short for sustainable, but more like how a hipster says it

Table of Box Contents

• Black Radish—Black radishes are like watermelon radishes’ evil twin, with a much stronger bite that is almost medicinal. Radish dichotomies the likes of which have never been known. These radishes are excellent shredded into salads and eaten raw for maximum nutritive content, but they can also be mellowed nicely when roasted or caramelized (see recipe). Black radishes also make for a great pickle! Add cider vinegar, water, honey, and your spices of choice for a crisp mellowed experience.
• Parsnips—These sweet roots are similar to a carrot or a sweet potato, and can be utilized in similar ways. I especially love to chop thin parsnip sticks to make pan-fried parsnip fries (you only need a half-inch of oil, but you can only do one layer at a time) dipped in aioli (see past recipes).
• Thyme—Hang and let dry to use over time.
• Bok Choy—Fall’s crisp offering to replace lettuce
• Shallots—Those garlic x onion crosses that make your eyes water with a fury no regular onion can muster. Excellent used with or instead of onions in any dish.
• Pie Pumpkin—For anyone who has never made a pumpkin pie, please take this as a sign that you should do so. It’s really not that hard. Just buy a crust, look up a recipe, and make the filling, we won’t judge you. Enjoy!
• Lacinato Kale—Also known as black kale, Lacinato has savoy cabbage genes which are responsible for its unique, rumply, thick leaves. I like to make many thin slices down the leaves to break them down into small pieces before braising and then dressing. Caesar dressing goes great! It’s just as easy to make as aioli in a mason jar.
• Green Kabocha—The roasted chestnut of giants. Roast it, add your lipid of choice (butter, oil, ghee), and salt it. It has such a nutty flavor and creamy texture.
• Nicola Potatoes—waxy, buttery, and versatile

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Warm Quinoa Salad w/ Roasted Black Radishes, Kabocha Squash, and Sautéed Lacinato Kale

Adapted from http://www.adailysomething.com/2017/11/warm-quinoa-salad-with-roasted-black-radishes-kabocha-squash-and-sauteed-collard-greens.html

Ingredients

• 1 bunch Black Radishes, quartered
• 1 lb Blue Kabocha Squash, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus more for dressing
• 4 sprigs Thyme
• Sea Salt
• Black Pepper
• 1 1/2 cups Quinoa, uncooked
• Chicken Broth for cooking quinoa
• 1/2 Purple Onion, sliced
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 bunch Lacinato Kale, roughly sliced
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1/4 cup Raw Pumpkin Seeds
• 1/4 cup Dried Cranberries
• Juice from 1/2 Lemon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare quarter black radishes and slice squash into ½-inch pieces. Place on baking sheet and add thyme sprigs. Drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, flip everything over, and roast for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and put aside.

2. While vegetables are roasting, cook quinoa according to package instructions, using chicken broth instead of water. When cooked, remove from heat and keep covered.

3. While quinoa is cooking, slice purple onion and sauté in 2 tbsp olive oil. Add garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant. Add sliced collard greens. Toss well, add 1/2 cup water, and cover. Steam until greens are tender, about 10 minutes.

4. Assemble salad: place quinoa in a large bowl. Layer collards and roasted veggies. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and cranberries. Drizzle juice from 1/2 lemon and olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Alternatively, use dressing of your choice! ENJOY!  

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Stir-fried Beef w/ Bok Choy & Black Radishes

Adapted from https://food52.com/recipes/58394-stir-fried-beef-with-bok-choy-and-turnips

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp high heat Oil, divided
• 1 1/4 lbs Flat Iron Steak, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
• Kosher Salt
• Black Pepper
• 2 Green Garlic Stems, chopped (or a few cloves of garlic)
• 4 medium Turnips or Black Radishes, coarsely chopped
• 1 lb Bok Choy, stems and greens coarsely chopped, separated
• 3 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Sriracha
• Sesame Seeds

Instructions

1. In a large wok, heat 2 tablespoon of canola oil over high heat. Season beef with salt and pepper and add to wok. Cook for 2-4 minutes, until meat has browned. Transfer meat to a large bowl and stir in hoisin sauce. Cover and set aside.

2. Pour out extra liquid from wok. Lower heat to medium high, then add remaining canola oil to wok. Add in garlic, scallions, and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in turnips and bok choy stems. Cook until stems soften, about 5 minutes, then add in bok choy greens. Pour in soy sauce and Sriracha, then cook about 2-4 more minutes, until greens are wilted. Adjust salt to taste.

3. Serve beef over vegetable mixture. Top with sesame seeds.

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

  

  Print

  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.

Hi folks,

We can’t believe it’s already week eighteen! There are only three more weeks of CSA to go after this! Our cauliflower, broccoli, and romanesco game is on point with some of the biggest and most pristine florets that I’ve ever seen. Brassicas will be stealing the spotlight for the next few weeks; they just love this weather. Though we might have icy fingers, muddy boots, and full-rain gear strapped on, you can see the dew-covered broccoli plants standing strong and almost glowing in the cool air.

Things are slowing down significantly out at the farm. We moved our start time to a luxurious 7:30 am and the summer sensation of feeling rushed at all times has officially passed. Now we play the weather game where we wait as long as we can to harvest our winter storage roots so that they can sweeten up with cold temperatures, but not too long into the rainy season that the ground is too wet to work with. Our sunchoke patch is bursting with ten-foot tall sunflowers, the last hurrah of their growth cycle before root harvest. I can’t wait for those savory mushroom-like morsels! Even when things seem like they are coming to an end, there are still so many beginnings to look forward to.

Best, Laura Bennett

Table of Box Contents

• Delicata—Delicata is particularly versatile, being incredibly sweet and easy to cut into a variety of shapes. You can bake them as boats or roast them in stuffed halves. My favorite is to slice them into half-moon shapes and sauté them with garlic and poblanos, and serve with fried eggs & chili oil.
• Jester—This flashy squash is a cross between acorn squash and delicata, and as you can see it has the shape of an acorn and the coloring of delicata. I find myself using it more like an acorn squash, cooking it like my mother did by baking it in halves with brown sugar, butter, and bacon, but there are a thousand better ways to utilize it as well! The skin isn’t quite as delicate as delicata, but it’s not the toughest either, so munch if you feel so inclined.
• Cauliflower—Cauliflower is the vegan dream! You can make the creamiest sauces, dips, and dressings with blended cauliflower (both steamed and raw) that are completely dairy free. I once was quite skeptical of some vegan chicken wings that were served to me until I realized that they were just fried cauliflower in a tasty wing sauce—it was SO GOOD (see link: https://food52.com/recipes/39759-general-tso-s-cauliflower). And as always, you can just chop up some little white trees and enjoy them raw in their sweetest, crunchiest form.
• Dried Shallot
• Lacinato (Black Kale)
• Bunched Carrots
• Harvest Moon Potatoes
• Sweet Red Italian & Orange Bell Pepper
• Dried Sweet Onions
• Red Leaf Lettuce

Recipes

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Potato Hash with Sweet Peppers & Onions

Adapted from  http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2012/09/potato-hash-with-bell-peppers-and-onions.html 

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 6 medium Potatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1 Onion, diced
• 1 Sweet Bell Pepper, diced
• 2 tsp fresh Parsley, chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup Parmesan, freshly grated

Instructions

1. Preheat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes, toss to coat with oil, and place a lid on the pan. Allow the potatoes to cook covered for 10 minutes.

2. Remove the lid and increase the heat to medium high. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes and vegetables turn golden brown.

3. Add the parsley and garlic; cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve immediately.

4. (LB Addition) Then plop a couple fried eggs on there, and you’ll be set.