This Week’s Share
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Kale, Winterbor
- Lettuce
- Onions, Copra storage
- Parsley
- Peppers, Green
- Potatoes
- Winter Squash, Acorn
We have been enjoying a nice dry stretch of weather creating excellent conditions to clip, windrow, cure and pick up an acre of winter squash. This week’s squash feature stars the beautiful Acorn Squash.
Recipes
Winter Squash Recipes
Macaroni and Squash “Cheese”
Adapted from Recipes from America’s Small Farms by Haynes, Stein and Webber
3 to 4 lbs. Acorn Squash, Halved Cored and seeded
1 lb. Pasta of choice for baking
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbs. butter
2 Leeks or 1 large onion coarsely chopped
Garlic (as much as to your taste) coarsely chopped
1/2 cup white wine (or water or stock)
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1 tbs. chopped parsley
Salt and fresh black pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Place squash face down in a glass baking dish with 1 inch of water and bake until tender, about 30 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle and scoop out the flesh.
Meanwhile cook the pasta al dente (it will finish cooking through when you bake it. Drain and set aside.
Sauté leeks, garlic, salt and pepper olive oil and butter till translucent. Add the squash and white wine and simmer till the consistency of a thick sauce. Mix noodles and squash and fold back into the glass baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Yellow Split Pea soup with Autumn Squash and Kale
Adapted from Fresh from the Farmers Market by Janet Fletcher
This recipe is a meal in itself complete with all 4 food groups. Make it vegetarian and you still get a great serving of protein from the lentils.
2 Tbs. olive oil
2-3 ounces Pancetta or bacon or 2 tbsp butter
1 large onion or 2 leeks, minced,
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups dried yellow split peas
1 fresh Rosemary sprig
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 lb peeled, cubed 1/4 inch chunks of winter squash, acorn, kobocha or butternut (You will be getting a selection of these squash over the next few weeks)
½ lb. sauce tomatoes, diced
1/2 lb. kale or chard roughly chopped
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add pancetta or bacon and sauté until some of the fat is rendered off. Add onion, garlic and gently sauté about 10 minutes till soft. Add split peas, whole rosemary, broth, plus 4 cups water and bring to a simmer. Simmer gently for 45 minutes till peas are thoroughly cooked. Remove rosemary sprig.
Season soup with salt and pepper. Stir in squash and tomatoes and simmer 20 minutes more. Stir in kale and simmer till soft and add more water or stock to thin to desired consistency. Garnish with chopped parsley.
Kale Recipes
Yay more leafy greens! Rejoice in the infinite kale possibilities. You know those cookbooks of 1001 ways to cook a chicken, well; I think we should do one for kale…
Chop greens and mix into any ground meat dish, Stir into soups and stews, sauté into stir fry or simmer in coconut milk, or…
Kale Chips
A CSA member recently shared this amazingly simple kale snack. Her kids love it and now they eat kale without a fuss…
Tear kale into roughly chip size pieces. Toss with Olive oil and salt. You could spray with one of those aerosol oil things since you don’t want to soak the leaves in too much oil. Place kale ‘chips’ in a single layer on a baking sheet and put in a hot oven, 400˚-450˚F. Bake watching closely, you may have to turn a few chips to make crisp on each side…Voila, Salty Kale chip snacks!
Parsley Recipe
Salsa Verde
Adapted from Fields of Greens by Annie Sommerville
This is a great green sauce that would go great with a mild fish or tossed with a grain or bean salad…
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbs. finely chopped onion or leek
1 small clove of garlic, chopped
1 cup packed parsley
1 cup packed watercress or kale leaves (no stems)
1/2 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp champagne, white wine or rice vinegar
1/2 tsp drained capers
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Sever this salsa fresh.
Garlic Popping
We are getting closer to our goal of 29,000 garlic cloves. This Friday we will again be dividing heads of garlic into their individual cloves. Join us Friday, October 24 anytime from 9-12 or 1-4. Again all you need to bring is a warmly dressed self.