The warm temperatures this week are making things grow fast after all the stormy weather we’ve been having. The cauliflower is not maturing uniformly, so we’ll give half of you cauliflower this week and the other half next week. This is our first spinach and cilantro of the season and we’re harvesting off a new planting of kale. We’ll be getting head lettuce in probably by next week, but for now enjoy the salad mix.
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This sauce will seem creamy, but the texture comes from the pureed green garlic and leek or onion, not from any dairy product. Use this on fish and seafood, chicken, or tofu. It can be stirred into soups or pots of grains or beans to add depth of flavor as well. When the green garlic season is over, you can still use this recipe, just use blanched or roasted garlic cloves instead. This sauce can be used hot or cold.
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I have to confess to loving potato chips when they are well made. I also think parsnips are great. I love them for their earthy sweetness. This dish combines the best of them both. There are two ways to cook them here, and there are two shapes that are discussed as well. The round chips are, well, chips, and are great for snacks or as a side, while the ribbons are great as a garnish as well as snack. Having been spoiled by using restaurant deep fryers, I seldom deep fry anything now. If you do wish to deep fry, be sure to use oil at least 1½ inches deep and not to overload the pan or the chips won’t get crisp.
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Although this dish seems ridiculously simple, the flavors meld to yield a sophisticated tasting dish which dish is quite popular here, even with the kids, who normally don’t care for hot spinach dishes. The flavor of the mushrooms helps mitigate the sometimes strong earthiness of spinach. This dish is easy to riff on, making it flexible and fun to make. Add tofu and leftover grains for a one-dish meal. Some spinach has stems that are unpalatable-chewy or stringy-but some have tender, succulent stems. If this spinach falls into the latter class, by all means use the stems. You will have to chew on a couple stems to know if they will work. If they do not, just ignore the recipe instructions pertaining to them.
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This is a simple salad of big earthy flavors and it makes a nice foil to rich dishes. It can also be a base for an entree salad, draped with strips of grilled beef or tofu, or bits of roast chicken. I would not add much in the way of lettuce, although the addition of mizuna and cresses such as peppercress or watercress would certainly work. Some softer, mildly sweet blue cheese such as Bleu d’Auvergne, Gorgonzola, or Fourme d’Ambert would go well, and you can scatter some dried cranberries or cherries over as well.
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This dressing goes especially well with the Arugula Roasted Beets, and Almond salad. I like the Tourangelle line of oils, especially the nut oils. I find them to be full flavored, fresh, and relatively inexpensive for the quality, which I find to be consistent. Toasted almond oil is one of those “secret ingredients” that will add verve to many dishes, and can even be used for sautéing.
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Inspired by South Western flavors and things you find in a taqueria, this is a colorful dish with a mildly piquant flavor.
INGREDIENTS:
1 bunch of radishes, Purple Plums, Cherry Belle, what have you, washed well
5-6 scallions, roots sliced off and cleaned, outer skin of white part removed with a paper towel
Olive oil as needed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon each cumin seed and coriander seed, freshly ground
Salt and pepper to taste
1 juicy lime, halved
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We do realize that we have been giving you a lot of carrots to start off the CSA this year, but you will be getting a break after this week. Unfortunately this week marks the end of the over-wintered Chantenays that are our family favorites. We dug and topped them all last week because they were showing signs of sending up seeders, which they always do coming into spring (the carrots develop a tough, woody core and are practically inedible once the plants go to seed). If you can’t use all of your carrots this week, don’t worry—chantenays are a great storage carrot and they will still be good for weeks to come. The next block of carrots we will be harvesting from will be of the mokum variety, a tender, sweet, early carrot in the Nantes class.
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Food from the UK has some of the noisiest names, and can be so, ummm, bland. Bangers and Mash. Bubble and Squeak. And Champ… When made right, this is not a bland dish. Although usually made with green onions, I have tweaked this traditional Irish recipe and used green garlic instead. It is a simple recipe that is all about the ingredients.
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INGREDIENTS:
1 bunch green garlic
1 medium brown onion*
Thyme leaves from two sprigs
1 tablespoon olive oil or olive oil/ butter combined
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
½ cup water, white wine, white vermouth, or a combination
1 teaspoon sugar (or as needed)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (you may or may not need this)
1 bunch green garlic
1 medium brown onion*
Thyme leaves from two sprigs
1 tablespoon olive oil or olive oil/ butter combined
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
½ cup water, white wine, white vermouth, or a combination
1 teaspoon sugar (or as needed)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (you may or may not need this)
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These appear in many Moroccan and Middle Eastern dishes, as well as elsewhere. They add a lemony tartness and imbue dishes with lemon fragrance as well, but they are subtler. Typically, only the skin is used with the pulp being discarded. Some preparations call for pureeing the skin, which adds a silkiness to the dish.
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Not sure what to call this. Not quite a sauce, not quite a salad. I guess I’d call it a condiment or topping, which is how this came to life. I had a bunch of Meyer lemons to use up, and was looking for something to top some grilled fish with, and stumbled onto this idea. This won’t really work with other lemons as they are too sour and the rind is usually too thick. Look for Meyers with the thinnest skin, or cut back a little on the amount of lemon you use. Try this on grilled fish or chicken, pan seared scallops, or toss with boiled shrimp. Goes well with broccoli and pasta, too. You will want to use a very sharp knife for this recipe!
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These last few storms we’ve had have brought the yearly total rainfall to a little above half of what we normally get here. The rain can make harvesting and planting tricky at times, but we are happy to have it. And as a friend pointed out the other day, having the rain strung out into spring this way, instead of falling during a short period where it often just ends up running off to the sea, is more beneficial for the surrounding native vegetation.
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INGREDIENTS:
parsnips
other roots (carrots, turnips, beets)
potatoes (optional)
orange juice
tamari soy sauce
olive oil
parsnips
other roots (carrots, turnips, beets)
potatoes (optional)
orange juice
tamari soy sauce
olive oil
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Inspired by Indian and Middle-Eastern cuisine, this dish has some heat to it coupled with big flavors. Make it without the chilis if you are not in the mood for heat. I use green Du Puy lentils here because they hold shape better than the more common brown lentil, but you can use either one.
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This dish is easy to throw together and has big impact in the flavor department. Given that vegetable sizes are not exact, the measurements for the oil, butter, and salt are more of a guideline, really, and should be adjusted as needed. Be sure not to have too much liquid in the pan bottom or you may get mushy vegetables. A little bit of liquid in the pan bottom is fine, and will make a nice sauce at the end to be poured over the vegetables. If you do not have the turnips, skip them and use more parsnips or try adding carrots. Cut the carrots like the parsnips, but maybe a little smaller as parsnips cook faster than carrots. You could also use leeks here. Try cutting a leek on the diagonal into 1-inch long rounds and adding them into the mix.
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“Sformato” sounds more elegant than “Flan of Broccoli”, but I think more people get the idea with the latter name. I know, sounds funky, but vegetable custards have a long tradition. Think of quiche, or frittatas. Pretty much the same thing, just bigger and has a crust. These are a bit more elegant, and work well in a fancy menu as well as every day cuisine. They are easy to add things to, play well with other items on a plate. For instance, I can see laying down a bed of the Carrot Sauce (Using thyme or sage instead of curry.), then putting the flan on top of that, and then drizzling the plate with a balsamic vinegar reduction syrup. Bold colors on the plate and big flavors in the mouth.
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When we did our subscriber survey last year we asked what your main reasons were for being part of a CSA. The choices were: to eat more vegetables, to support small sustainable organic farms, to get the freshest food possible, and to connect with where food is grown and support a local economy and community. There was also an “other” option which allowed you to write in your own reasons. All of the options got lots of votes (you could choose as many options as you wanted), but a lot of people also wrote in the other category: “to eat seasonally.”
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This is a riff on part of a recipe from “Eleven Madison Avenue” that caught my eye. I like to play with vegetables in the kitchen, treating them as one might a piece of protein like a roast or steak. Here carrots get to be the roast. I like how such a simple recipe can yield complex flavors, and how the flavors can vary by merely cooking the carrots longer. This recipe will work with any carrot, as long as you adjust the recipe to accommodate the size of the carrots. This was made using bunched Chantenay carrots that averaged 6 inches long and 1½ inches at the widest part of the crown. Although the cooking time is lengthy, once the carrots are in the oven there is nothing to do to them. You could also cook these ahead of time and reheat them later, although the texture will be a little different.
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This is a simple recipe combining young mixed lettuces, some nuts, and the Basic Celeriac Salad. The dressing is the one made for the celeriac. This is one of those things that take only moments to throw together provided you have this stuff on hand. I like to wash and dry my lettuces when I get them, then store them in a box lined with towels in the refrigerator, so I have them ready to go at a moments notice. As long as they are well dried they will keep perfectly well for at least a week. Just be sure to cover them up and close the box tightly. The celeriac stores well once made also.
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This is a basic celery root salad I use for many things. I combine it with young lettuces, or with sharper greens such as rocket and pepper cress, and it is great with microgreens added in. It makes a nice accompaniment to roast chicken or a foil for firmer fish such as halibut, tuna, salmon, or swordfish. I also like it as part of a hearty “salad” made of grains like wheat berries tossed with mizuna, rocket, frisee, and nuts. This is one of those dishes where I prefer my Ben-Riner slicer (use the medium comb), but a food processor with a medium grater plate or a box grater (use the large holes) will work also.
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Plastic bags have been in the news this week, as Santa Cruz banned stores from giving people plastic bags to carry home their purchases. We have had a few comments from CSA subscribers about the plastic liner bags that we use in the CSA boxes, wondering why we use them. This is a topic that we have thought a lot about and have actually reduced our packaging a lot in the past year. We wish it were as easy as eliminating the plastic bags altogether, but have found that the issue is more complicated than that. We appreciate that our members are concerned about the environment and want to explain the purpose and benefits of the plastic bags that we use.
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INGREDIENTS:
6 cups braising greens, washed and chopped or torn into 1 inch bits
½ pound oyster mushrooms, torn into strips
1 leek, white and some of pale green part, split and cut into 2 inch lengths, then cut lengthwise into 1/8th inch shreds
6 cups braising greens, washed and chopped or torn into 1 inch bits
½ pound oyster mushrooms, torn into strips
1 leek, white and some of pale green part, split and cut into 2 inch lengths, then cut lengthwise into 1/8th inch shreds
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I like the idea of using vegetables to make sauces. I feel it can make for a lighter dish with unusual flavor combinations, and it allows me to get another vegetable on the plate in some instances. I frequently make a carrot sauce using carrot juice which I reduce to a glaze, but I wanted something less sweet, and more directly “carroty”, and light. This is the result. This was used with grilled sturgeon that was dusted with curry powder, and served with a quenelle of mint yogurt.
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Welcome, from Jeanne and Steve
The mild weather made our more limited winter deliveries almost easy for us this year, with relatively few days of harvesting in heavy rain and muck, but it looks like winter storms are blowing in this week in force, just in time for our first spring harvests!
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from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Algerian Couscous with Saffron and Seared Cauliflower There seems to be as many recipes for Algerian couscous as there are Algerian cooks. I took bits and pieces from several recipes, adapting to what vegetables I had and the time I had. Since I didn’t have time to roast the cauliflower, I opted to sear and caramelize it. Delicious! Wash and chop the cauliflower into large bite-sized pieces. Melt butter in a large flat-bottom pan. Sprinkle in ground cumin, freshly ground sea salt and flower pepper. Add the cauliflower and cook till seared and nicely caramelized. Meanwhile cook the couscous. Bring 2 C water, a splash of olive oil, and a pinch of saffron threads to a boil. Add 2 C whole wheat couscous. Cover with a lid and remove from heat. Let stand for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Gently stir in cauliflower, diced tomatoes, and sliced almonds. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss with olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice. Serve hot.
In classic French cuisine, a pave is a cube or squarish block of food resembling old French paving stones. This potato gratin uses little liquid and is cooked under weight so it is compact. This is a two day affair (for the best results, but could be hurried along. See Notes and Tips) and takes a little work, but tastes great and is a nice addition to a fancy meal. Once made, the second day work to get it on the table goes quickly.
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