This Week’s Share:
- Arugula
- Carrots
- Fava Beans
- Garlic
- Lettuce
- Potatoes
- Stir-Fry Mix
Arugula – This nutty, mildly spicy green, can bring its signature flavor to just about any dish you dare. Try it chopped in scrambled eggs with fresh herbs and garlic, wilted on soups, sprinkled on pizza right out of the oven, as a welcome addition to any pasta dish (just toss with warm pasta right after draining), or use it to liven up cool summer salads be they green, pasta, orzo, couscous, or potato (see recipe below).
Carrots – That’s right, this week’s share has the first carrots of the season. Baby carrots are young carrots harvested earlier than their soon to be larger more mature siblings. Baby carrots are crisp, tender, sweet, and delicious. If your baby carrots survive the journey home to your kitchen you can try them in the Golden Sesame salad dressing recipe below.
Fava Beans – New for the CSA this year we’re trialing three varieties of Favas. They all taste great and none should need the double shelling sometimes associated with these fat beans. For more information on favas there’s a great article in the Spring 2007 “Edible Portland” as well as a recipe for Egg Noodles with Fava Beans, Leeks and Morels. Since leeks aren’t in season you can leave them out or substitute fresh garlic, or onions. If you have leftover fennel from last week that would be a great substitution as well.
Garlic – The garlic in your share this week is called Romanian garlic which is a sub-variety of Porcelain garlic. Porcelain garlic, one of eight distinct garlic varieties, characteristically has larger cloves, a strong flavor, and stores up to eight months. However the garlic you are receiving this week is uncured. Uncured garlic is mature garlic that has not yet been dried for storage (for more information on curing garlic at the farm see the Field Notes section below). Still being moist the skin covering the cloves does not yet have the familiar papery parchment-like quality, but is still a bit tough and is better removed than eaten. Because the garlic has not yet been cured it should be stored in the refrigerator and has a milder flavor than it will eventually develop during the curing process.
Lettuce – Summer means fresh green salad. Top with Golden Sesame Dressing (recipe below), then sprinkle with a mixture of toasted sesame, sunflower, and poppy seeds.
Potatoes – Potatoes are traditionally cured after harvest to thicken the skin. This week you are receiving new potatoes. These freshly harvested, uncured potatoes have a thin delicate skin and are particularly flavorful. This week we have three varieties: the red is called Sangre, the blue is All Blue, and the white is Yukon Gold. Note the festive color scheme for the upcoming holiday, and enjoy them in the recipe below.
Stir-Fry Mix – This week your stir-fry mix is a blend of Red Russian kale, tatsoi, and mustard. Tatsoi is the smallest of the chois (you may recall other chois from earlier shares like Joi Choi, Mei Qing, and Fuyu Shomi). This hearty little green can withstand temperatures down to 15 degrees Fahrenheit and can be harvested from under the snow. Try cooking the stir-fry mix in a wok. Heat the oil (try peanut oil with a little sesame oil) over medium heat. Quickly cook some minced garlic and grated fresh ginger careful not to burn. Add greens and toss for a couple of minutes. Add a splash of rice vinegar or tamari, and toasted sesame seeds if desired.
Recipes
Tricolor Potato Salad with Arugula and Garlic-Mustard Vinaigrette
adapted from:Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings;
by Edward Espe Brown
serves 6-8 people
- 3 pounds red, white and blue new potatoes
- 6 large shallots, thinly sliced; or 1 small or 1/2 large sweet onion, minced
- 5 or 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- freshly ground pepper to taste
- 4 1/2 tablespoons sherry wine (or balsamic) vinegar
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1 bunch arugula (about 4 oz)
Wash the potatoes and cut into bite-size chunks: halves, quarters, eighths, depending on the size of the potatoes. Cook the potatoes in boiling, salted water until tender (they should slide easily off a fork), about 6-8 minutes.
Whisk shallots or onions, garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, together with the vinegar in a large bowl. Whisk in the olive oil.
Drain the potatoes, toss with the vinaigrette, and let cool for 20 to 30 minutes.
Fold the arugula into the potatoes. If you do this when the potatoes are still hot the arugula will cook slightly, soften and sweeten. The cooler the potatoes are the crisper and more pungent the arugula will be. I prefer somewhere in the mid-cooling range. This dish can sit for a while before serving, remember to check and adjust seasoning (salt, pepper, vinegar) just before serving.
Golden Sesame Salad Dressing
adapted from: The Moosewood Restaurant Kitchen Garden;
by David Hirsch
- 1/2 cup grated raw carrot
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (organic of course)
- 2 tablespoon chopped scallion whites
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup tahini
Puree the carrot, lemon juice, scallion, water, mustard, and salt in a food processor or blender until smooth. Slowly add the tahini while continuing to blend. The dressing will thicken as it sits. Keep refrigerated for up to 10 days.
Introductions
Hello, my name is Michael. As a first-year apprentice I have a hand in many aspects of the farm; from seeding and watering in the greenhouse to weeding, irrigating, transplanting, and harvesting in the fields. It’s a great way to learn sustainable farming practices and participate in alternative food systems. I also value the opportunity to interact with some of you shareholders at the SE Ankeny CSA pick-up site which I facilitate every other Tuesday night alternating with our Crew Leader Shannon.
I first became interested in sustainable agriculture and food politics through a career path in education, which found me participating in the Teacher in Residence Program at Slide Ranch, in Marin County, California last year. Slide Ranch is a field trip destination for San Francisco Bay Area youth. Getting them out of the city and onto the ranch gives them an opportunity to discover their connections to the natural world by exploring where their food comes from by milking a goat, feeding chickens, and cooking from the organic garden.
The experience I had at Slide Ranch helped me refine my goals: I would like to start a small market garden at a school or other community space in an effort to help children and adults make connections with the natural world while modeling and educating about alternative food systems.
It is both a privilege and an honor to be working towards my goals at SIO where the produce, the farm, and the people have been so good to me.
Field Notes
As the intensive spring plantings transition into the more measured pace of summer planting we have found time to catch up on other aspects of fieldwork like weeding, covering and uncovering recently planted beds with a floating row cover (better known as re-may) for pest control and as protection against cold nights, and continuing to tie the growing tomatoes to vertical stakes to maintain good health and manageability for future harvest.
Josh, our Special Project Manager, is at it again. Last Friday he finished building the handsome stackable garlic drying racks he designed just in time for our first garlic harvest. Designed for compact stacking while maintaining proper air-flow for curing, this welcome addition will allow the garlic to dry for winter storage while bringing flavor and pungency to its full intensity.
