Veggie Tacos, Anyone? A Recipe from the LIC CSA Chef

Part of our commitment to our members is to share our knowledge of the vegetables delivered each week. At this past week’s distribution, Wednesday, July 25, 2012, our resident CSA Chef, Lilit provided a wonderful demonstration for members using zucchini, onions, and eggplant delivered that day to whip up delicious vegetable tacos. They were loved by all who stopped to watch, talk, and eat.

If you weren’t able to attend, or couldn’t stay to watch, the recipe is available in PDF for printing and saving and we’re some photos of Chef Lilit in action on Wednesday are below.

Hmm…makes me hungry just posting this!

Enjoy!

Pesto Recipes. Yum!

At distribution this past week, our CSA Chef, Lilit whipped up several delicious versions of pesto using on hand kale, garlic scapes, beet greens, and arugula. Members enjoyed all of them and kept asking for more! At least, some did, like me, who ate several crackers with the garlic scape and arugula version (eeps!).

Recipes can be found on this amazing Pesto Ingredient and Recipe Sheet prepared by our Chef. Photos from the event are below.

Veggie Share, Week 21

Today, members will be receiving the following goodies:

-1 lb. fingerling potatoes (rusiian banana)
-2 heads broccoli
-1 bunch turnips
-1 head lettuce
-2 peppers
-1 Butternut
-1 bunch collards
-1 lb. onions
-1 bunch arugula

View this week’s recipes from the farm chef, Carol Hargis and read the letter from Farmer Chris and his family.

If you want to read/print out the newsletter as a newsletter in print, you can!

Enjoy!

Beets, Leeks, and Chef Daniel – Food Demonstration #2

Just in time for the delivery of beets yesterday,  Chef Daniel whipped up a delicious beet salad with the help of a recipe and some improvisation. If you were there and got to chat with him as he made the salad then you know that he added mint (which the recipe doesn’t call for), leeks instead of chives, mustard seed powder in lieu of Dijon mustard, and may or may not have used chopped hazelnuts (this I’m still unsure about!).  I also saw him begin making a vegan version of the salad with olive oil instead of sour cream (If anyone tasted the vegan version, please let us know what you thought of it in comments).

Substitutions and all, the Beet Salad with Apples and Raisins was refreshing and delicious! Chef Daniel definitely struck gold with this recipe (courtesy of Just Food).

Photos of Chef Daniel and his lovely assistant, Veronique, mixing and sharing are below. The beets tip sheet with recipes is available on PDF (just ignore my hand written notes – I forgot this needed to be shared this with all of you. Oops!). Can’t wait to see what the chef whips up the next time. Until then, happy eating!

Veggies, Week 8

Today, members will receive the following goodies:

-1 bunch leeks
-2 peppers
-.5 mesclun
-1 culy parsley
-1 lb. zuch/squash
-1 bunch of beets
-1 melon*
-2 cukes

*We were short about 30 melons–I made a note on the list, and we will send down the remaining next week. Our melons were significantly damaged by the hail in May, and are therefore yielding much less than hoped for–Sorry. 

View this week’s recipes from the farm chef, Carol Hargis and read the letter from Farmer Chris and his family.

If you want to read/print out the newsletter as a newsletter in print, you can!

Enjoy!

Tips and Ideas for Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi.

What is Kohlrabi? (If you’re like me, a LIC CSA member, you had no idea it even existed until last week!)

Kohlrabi is a cross between a cabbage and a turnip. It’s name is German meaning “cabbage turnip.”  The part of the plant that is eaten is actually an enlarged stem from which the leaves develop and has a mild flavor similar to a sweet broccoli stem.  More information is available on the Kohlrabi tip sheet (courtesy of Just Food).

Kohlrabi is a vegetable that was included in our distribution on July 6th. Luckily for members, our CSA Chefs , Daniel Herskowitz and Christy Robb, put together a great 2-hour demonstration showing how to clean, cut and prepare this odd and excitingly new vegetable.

We did capture some of the demonstration via photography and we have the kohlrabi tip sheet with recipes (from Just Food) that Daniel and Christy gave out to members.  Which means even if you missed it, you still have the details!

Enjoy!

Also, please stay tuned for future demonstrations because we plan to provide them in video format in the future. Hooray!

Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts Recipe

This is the only way to eat brussels sprouts: cut in half and cooked until deliciously tender inside and perfectly brown and crusted on the outside.

Use brussels sprouts that are on the small size and tightly closed. You can finish these with many different types of cheese but I tend to go for Parmesan when the weather is good. I trade that in for heavier cheeses like gruyere or Gouda in colder weather. I finished them off with some toasted hazelnuts the other night – delicious!

24 small brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice

Wash the brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top and gently rub each half with olive oil, keeping it intact (or if you are lazy just toss them in a bowl with a glug of olive oil).

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your largest skillet over medium heat. Don’t overheat the skillet, or the outsides of the brussels sprouts will cook too quickly. Place the brussels sprouts in the pan flat side down (single-layer), sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, cover, and cook for roughly 5 minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they’re tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for a few more minutes.

Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized. Use a metal spatula to toss them once or twice to get some browning on the rounded side. Season with more salt, a few grinds of pepper, and a dusting of grated cheese. While you might be able to get away with keeping a platter of these warm in the oven for a few minutes, they are exponentially tastier if popped in your mouth immediately.

Serves 4.

Swiss Chard

I never liked Swiss chard, until several years ago I had some that had been freshly picked from a friend’s garden. It was so sweet and buttery I couldn’t believe it was actually Swiss chard. It was then I learned that freshness was the key determinant to whether chard was delectable or detestable. Last night we had Swiss chard that we had picked up from Whole Foods. It was good, quite good. But not nearly as fantastic as the chard we had a week ago that we had bought from the farmer’s market. So here’s a hint. If the thought of Swiss chard leaves you uninspired, get some from a farmer’s market that has been freshly picked.

LIC CSA Swiss Chard is freshly picked by our farmer Chris the day before you receive it!

Swiss Chard Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch of fresh Swiss chard
• 1 small clove garlic, sliced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp water
• Pinch of dried crushed red pepper
• 1 teaspoon butter
• Salt

Method

1 Rinse out the Swiss chard leaves thoroughly. Remove the toughest third of the stalk, discard or save for another recipe (such as this Swiss chard ribs with cream and pasta). Roughly chop the leaves into inch-wide strips.

2 Heat a saucepan on a medium heat setting, add olive oil, a few small slices of garlic and the crushed red pepper. Sauté for about a minute. Add the chopped Swiss chard leaves. Cover. Check after about 5 minutes. If it looks dry, add a couple tablespoons of water. Flip the leaves over in the pan, so that what was on the bottom, is now on the top. Cover again. Check for doneness after another 5 minutes (remove a piece and taste it). Add salt to taste, and a small amount of butter. Remove the swiss chard to a serving dish.

Radish Dip

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 6 radishes, quartered
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

DIRECTIONS

1. Place garlic in the container of a food processor, and pulse until finely minced. Add radishes, and mince. Add cream cheese, and mix until well blended. Transfer to a serving dish, and chill until serving.

“This spicy radish dip is loved by all and so easy to make. Adjust the amounts of radish and garlic to suit your taste. Serve with crackers or vegetables.”

Sunshine Squash

Similar in appearance to a pumpkin, this variety of squash is a Kabocha winter squash that has a bright reddish-orange skin. Common Kabocha varieties include the Green Kabocha and the Orange Kabocha, also known as the Sunshine squash. Good for baking, the golden orange flesh of the Sunshine, which is a tender stringless flesh, provides a sweet nutty flavor as a side dish, as a filling for pies, as a soup squash, or when prepared in baked goods. Small and globe-shaped, the Sunshine squash typically grows to 3 or 4 pounds in size.Kabocha squash can be baked whole or in halves. To bake whole, pierce the skin with a fork several times and place in a low baking pan with water. To bake one half, cut the squash lengthwise and remove the seeds. The half section can then be placed on a baking pan with the outer skin placed down on the baking pan. When selecting a Kabocha squash, which is generally available all year round, do not select those that have a tender skin or show pitting. The outer skin should be hard with a stem that is intact and looks fresh. Store up to one month in a cool dry location with good air circulation. When cut open, the fresh sections of squash can be stored in plastic wrap and refrigerated for a week or less. Kabocha squash are also known as Delica, Ebisu, Kobacha, Japanese Pumpkin, Japanese squash, and Hoka squash.

Recipe: Kabocha Squash, White Bean and Kale ragout

Adapted from a NYT recipe
1 3-pound sugar pumpkin, butternut or kabocha squash
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or canola oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 large leeks, cleaned and chopped, white and light green parts only
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (or use 3 cups cooked white beans)
2 cups vegetable broth
3/4 pound kale, center ribs removed, leaves thinly sliced (about 6 cups)
2 ounces grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese ( 1/2 cup), more to taste, optional
1/3 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped, plus whole berries for garnish (optional)
Coarse sea salt and grated parmesan, for garnish.

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Using a vegetable peeler or paring knife, peel pumpkin or squash. Trim stem, then halve pumpkin or squash and scoop out seeds (save for roasting if desired). Cut flesh into 1-inch cubes.
2. Spread cubes out on a large rimmed baking sheet. In small saucepan, combine butter or canola oil, syrup, 1 teaspoon vinegar, kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and cayenne. Cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until butter melts; pour mixture over squash and toss to coat evenly. Roast, tossing occasionally, until pumpkin or squash is very tender and caramelized at edges, about 30 minutes.
3. In a large skillet, warm olive oil over medium heat. Add leeks, garlic, rosemary and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are very soft and not at all browned, about 15 minutes. Add beans and broth and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Stir in kale, and cheese if desired. Simmer until kale is cooked down and very tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in pumpkin or squash and chopped cranberries; season with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Garnish with additional cranberries (if desired), sea salt and parmesan.

Yield: 8 to 10 side-dish servings; 6 main-course servings.