What's in the box?
Napa cabbage (large share only)
choy Sum/ vitamin green (Medium and large share)
Green onions
green butter head lettuce
red rapids head lettuce (medium and large)
Hakuri salad turnips
Scarlet Queen turnips (medium and large)
Broccoli!
Dill
Collard Greens
Sugar snap peas (edible pods)
Notes on the box...
This Butter head lettuce is fantastic. seriously head lettuce doesn't get much better. Dill is a nice addition to a creamy salad dressing for all the lettuce.
The collard greens are still quite tender and delicious. They haven't turned bitter from the hot weather and we have been enjoying them in lunches regularly. These large leaves are great for making veggie wraps. Blanch them briefly in boiling water a few at a time, take them out and put into cold water, cut out the hard stem, then use them for making wraps. Fill them with whatever you can dream up! Polenta with cheese and sausage? YES. Avocado, green onions, and turkey? You bet! Scrambled eggs, cream cheese, and red pepper? Do it up! Or, of course, there's always cooking them with bacon. The quick and easy way to prep collard greens for cooking is to slice or pull the stems off, stack them up, roll them into a cigar like tube, then slice across to make thin ribbons of collards. They cook up quickly and easily.
Pea season is short and sweet. We know how much everyone loves them. We were really missing our Amish neighbors from the old farm that used to come help us with picking peas. It takes a loooong time to pick enough peas for all the boxes. Enjoy them while they are here!
Next week...
We will be moving into the early summer stretch, not officially summer, but not quite the end of spring. This means tender sweet cabbage, and the first of the summer squash and zuchinni, closely followed by the green beans and cucumbers.. also more head lettuce, Broccoli, and green onions... and cauliflower, too.
Cheese Shares...
This week we have a pint of lovely whole milk ricotta and the first of our aged cheese for you to try.
The Ricotta is great in classic lasagna or used to stuff shells, but it's also wonderful dolloped on pizzas, added to scrambled eggs, or you can go sweet or savory with a ricotta tart. It should keep for a week in your fridge.
The aged cheese is a Manchego recipe, but made from our cows' milk. It's still young, so it is quite mild compared to other Manchego you may have tasted. We are naming this cheese Antares. It's a good all purpose cheese. I was planning on using some for cooking, but Otto and his friend Emery took the whole wedge and ate it by just taking giant bites out of the wedge! The rind is thin and it is edible, but not everyone enjoys eating the cheese rind. Otto and Emery sure did, but I rarely eat the rinds of cheese. Have a little taste and decide for yourself. When tasting aged cheese, to get the most flavor, allow it to come to room temperature. I don't know much about wine, so if you have any suggestions for pairings, please share!
Recipes
Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing (from Huffington Post)
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
- 2-3 tablespoons sour cream
- 1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh tarragon, dill, parsley, chives or celery leaves (or a combination)
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced with a microplane grater
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- few dashes Tabasco sauce (or hot sauce of your choice, but a little vinegar is what you're looking for)
Combine all ingredients into a mason jar (just trust us on this one). Shake like the Dickens. Forget you ever whisked salad dressing before. Open, taste, season to taste with salt and plenty of fresh black pepper. Seal, and shake again. Instant ranch dressing nirvana.
links this week...
on the farm
Inga from Around the Farm Table on PBS came to our farm! We will be in an episode airing in the fall. She's a good friend and it was really nice to have her out to the farm. Have you seen Around the Farm Table?? It's really fun to watch. Check it out sometime on PBS or online.
