May 7, 2020 - This Week's Box Contents, Featuring Ramps!

Cooking With This Week's Box

Wild Ramps: Ramped Up Mac & Cheese (see below); Ramp Pesto; Ramp Butter; Nettle & Mushroom Pizza with Ramp Cream; Creamed Spinach

& Ramps; Spring Spinach Chop Salad with Creamy Buttermilk Ramp Dressing

Overwintered Spinach: Ramped Up Mac & Cheese (see below); Nettle Soup (see below); Creamed Spinach & Ramps; Spring Spinach Chop Salad with Creamy Buttermilk Ramp Dressing; Vegan Spinach & Chive Pesto

Overwintered Parsnips: Parsnips with Brown Butter, Pecans and Maple; Parsnip, Lemon & Poppy Seed Muffins with Lemon Drizzle

Overwintered Sunchokes: Chili & Lime Sunchoke Salsa; Chili-Roasted Sunchokes

Chives: Nettle Soup (see below); Vegan Spinach & Chive Pesto; Chive & Parmesan Popcorn

Nettles: Nettle & Mushroom Pizza with Ramp Cream; Nettle Soup (see below)

Green Garlic: Fermented Hot Green Garlic

Chef/Farmer Andrea receiving the ramp harvest!

Welcome to the 2020 CSA season!  We are so glad you’ve chosen to join us for a year of “eating out of the box.”  If you are new to our CSA this year, I’d like to introduce you to our weekly “Cooking With the Box” article.  Every week from now until the end of our deliveries in December, I will meet you here to walk through each week’s vegetable box offering suggestions, recipes and ideas for utilizing every item in your box!  The purpose of this article is to provide you with inspiration and ideas for different ways you can put your vegetables to use.  While I know every recipe selection may not resonate with every person each week, I hope you’ll use this article to spark your own creative ideas.  As we cook through the box each week, I encourage you to have fun and remember that life is research.  Don’t be intimidated by a vegetable or a recipe.  This is your place to learn, experiment and be free to try new things.

So, lets get started.  First up this week are RAMPS!  We weren’t sure the season would extend into our first delivery week, but we got lucky and they are actually in their peak this week!  I have to admit, it’s been a super busy spring and I’ve had to turn to more quick and easy cooking because I simply don’t have time to spend hours in the kitchen right now. 

Making Ramp Pesto!

One evening a week or two ago I needed to put dinner on the table quickly and I really just needed a little bit of convenience.  I reached for a box of macaroni and cheese, but aside from being convenient, I wasn’t very excited about having it for dinner until I decided to ramp it up.  So, this week one of the recipes I’m sharing with you is for Ramped Up Mac & Cheese (see below).  With just a little extra effort, you can transform a simple package of macaroni and cheese into something worth eating by adding sautéed ramps and greens.  The recipe calls for half a bunch of ramps, which is a good amount for someone trying ramps for the first time.  If you’re a seasoned ramp veteran, don’t be afraid to use an entire bunch!  Of course, there are many other things you can do with ramps.  Ramp Pesto and Ramp Butter are two of my standard “go-to” recipes each spring and serve as ways I can preserve the ramp flavor.  Both of these items can be frozen for use later in the winter.  Once you’ve made ramp pesto, you can use it in a variety of ways.  Add a spoonful into scrambled eggs, cooked rice or pasta or use it as a base for pizza, spread it on toast, or serve it with grilled steak or salmon.  Ramp butter can be used in a variety of ways as well.  Of course it’s delicious spread on toast or bagels, but you can also use it in some other less traditional ways.  Tuck it under the skin of a whole chicken before you roast it, melt a pat of ramp butter on top of a hot steak, or use it to butter cornbread, savory pancakes, etc.

Nettle & Mushroom Pizza with Ramp Cream

Ramps pair so nicely with other spring vegetables and this recipe for Nettle & Mushroom Pizza with Ramp Cream has received rave reviews over the past few years.  Make sure you read our blog post from several years ago before you start handling nettles.  Nettles are eaten in other parts of the world and soup is a common way to enjoy them.  The recipe for Nettle Soup (see below) in this week’s newsletter comes from Fire & Ice, a new cookbook I picked up this winter that features recipes from several Scandinavian countries.  This recipe is perfect for this box as you can utilize 4 different vegetables in one preparation!  This recipe calls for 12 ounces of nettles.  Each bunch of nettles will yield about 5-6 ounces, so you can make up the difference with spinach.  The recipe calls for green onions.  You can substitute ramps and/or green garlic if you don’t have green onions.  This is a pretty lean soup that gets its richness not only from the cream, but from the fact that it’s so packed with nutrients and flavor!

Overwintered vegetables are very important part of our early season CSA boxes.  You’ll find overwintered vegetables to be more flavorful and sweet.  When I first started working here, one of the first greens I had available to cook with was overwintered spinach.  I created this recipe for Creamed Spinach & Ramps which is still a favorite 13 years later!  Of course you can also enjoy this flavorful spinach as a fresh, raw salad.  This Spring Spinach Chop Salad with Creamy Buttermilk Ramp Dressing is a great option.

Parsnip, Lemon & Poppy Seed Muffins with Lemon Drizzle
Photo from veggiedesserts.com

Spring-dug, overwintered parsnips are so sweet and delicious.  One of my favorite ways to prepare these is Parsnips with Brown Butter, Pecans and Maple.  These are a nice accompaniment to ham or grilled pork chops, but you could also serve them with corn pancakes.  If you are looking for a little different use for parsnips, check out this recipe for Parsnip, Lemon & Poppy Seed Muffins with Lemon Drizzle.  I tried this recipe last year and it was a hit!

Overwintered sunchokes are the other spring-dug root vegetable we turn to in the early part of our season.  Sunchokes are also known as Jerusalem artichokes.  They do contain inulin which is a non-digestible fiber that can cause abdominal discomfort if you eat too much at one time.  So, I recommend you try sunchokes in small amounts.  Several years ago I developed this recipe for Chili & Lime Sunchoke Salsa.  You use it more as a condiment, so just a few tablespoons at a time.  It’s a great topping for tacos or served on top of a piece of fish or chicken.  I also keep coming back to a recipe I created back in my early days.  Chili-Roasted Sunchokes.  Sunchokes have a pretty high moisture content, so when you roast them they get crispy and crunchy on the outside, but the inside gets light and fluffy.

Vegan Spinach & Chive Pesto, photo from food52.com

You may have noticed by now that our early season boxes are heavy on onion/garlic selections!  So lets talk about what you’re going to do with the chives in this week’s box. Chives may be used as a vegetable, but they’re usually thought of as an herb that is used in smaller quantities.  Don’t be afraid to go all out and use chives in larger quantities so they don’t go to waste!  This recipe for Vegan Spinach & Chive Pesto can come together very quickly and can be tossed with pasta for a quick dinner.  Every year I also have to mention Richard’s favorite spring uses for chives, Chive & Parmesan Popcorn!  If you make it like Richard does, you’ll have to use a spoon to eat it!

Feremented Hot Green Garlic
photo by Ted Cavanaugh for bonappetit.com

This is the time of year when I transition from using stored bulbs of garlic to fresh green garlic.  I use green garlic anytime a recipe call for garlic.  I also came across this recipe for Fermented Hot Green Garlic and I want to try this this year.  The recipe calls for the equivalent of about 2 bunches of green garlic.  You can either save your bunch from this week and pair it with next week’s bunch of green garlic, or you can cut the recipe in half.  This is a great way to preserve something in this week’s box!

That brings us to the bottom of our first CSA box of the season!  I know some of the vegetables in this week’s box may be new to you, but hopefully I’ve given you a few ideas to get started with.  Many of the recipes I referenced this week are recipes I created and/or that I’ve been using myself for many years.  Don’t forget I am a resource for you, so if you have a question that isn’t answered in the resources available on our bog and/or website, feel free to send me an email (andrea@harmonyvalleyfarm.com).

Have a great week and get ready to start cooking with sorrel and asparagus next week!—Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Wild Ramps!

By:  Chef Andrea Yoder

Ramps are one of the earliest spring vegetables and, for many, are a sign of hope that spring has returned and winter is over!  While they can be propagated from seed or by transplanting ramp bulbs, they grow best in the wild where they grow, spread and multiply on their own.  Ramps are only available for a few weeks in the spring.  Most years we get about 4 weeks of harvest, but we’ve also seen years where the season is only 3 weeks and then they’re gone.

Ramps have an onion-like bulb that tapers into a stem supporting delicate, lily-like rounded leaves.  While they resemble an onion, they are really more than “just another onion.”  Ramps have a distinct aroma and flavor that cannot be duplicated by any other vegetable. It’s hard to describe their flavor, other than to say they are distinctly rampy!

Ramps growing wild in the woods

We’ve been wild-harvesting ramps for over 30 years in our valley.  When we started harvesting them many years ago, very few people even knew what they were or how to use them.  In fact, Richard used to give them away at the farmers’ market because no one was buying them!  Now, they’ve developed a strong following and are more of a spring delicacy. As with many plants that grow wild, we do need to ensure we’re harvesting them sustainably and responsibly so we don’t overharvest them and damage the ramp populations in our woods.  If you’re interested in learning more about our harvest methods, please read the thorough article we posted on our blog back in 2017.

Ramps are a delicate vegetable and should be handled with care.  It’s important to store them in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them.  We recommend wrapping them in a damp towel and storing them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.  The bulb portion of the ramp will store longer than the leaves, so some people choose to separate the bulb from the leaf and store them separately.

Spaghetti with Ramps & Mushrooms

The entire ramp is edible with the exception of the roots on the very bottom of the bulb which should be trimmed off.  Ramps may be eaten either raw or cooked.  The flavor and aroma is a bit more pungent when eaten raw and mellows a bit with cooking.   Naturally, ramps pair very well with other spring vegetables.  You really can’t go wrong in pairing ramps with mushrooms, spinach, nettles, and asparagus to name a few.  They also go well with eggs and may be used in any kind of an egg preparation from scrambled eggs to quiche, frittatas, omelets, deviled eggs or even egg salad.

If you are trying ramps for the first time, start with something as simple as adding them to your scrambled eggs.  You can also find ramp recipes we’ve featured in previous newsletters in our searchable recipe database on our website.  Here are a few of my favorite ramp recipes that I look forward to every year:

• Ramp Pesto
• Nettle & Mushroom Pizza with Ramp Cream
• Ramp Butter
• Creamy Buttermilk Ramp Dressing
• Ramp Deviled Eggs
• Creamed Ramps & Spinach
• Spaghetti with Ramps & Mushrooms

We hope you too come to value and appreciate this unique spring vegetable and the place it holds in our line-up of seasonal vegetables available to us in the Midwest.  It will be here and gone quickly, so enjoy them while they are here, for it will be another full year before we see them again!

Ramped Up Mac & Cheese

Yield: 4 servings as a side dish; 2 servings as a main dish

1 box (6 oz) macaroni & cheese
6 cups water
4 Tbsp butter
½ bunch ramps
2 cups roughly chopped spinach
½ cup milk, plus more as needed
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste

1. In a large saucepan over high heat, bring 6 cups of water to a rolling boil.  Stir in the pasta and boil gently for 6-8 minutes.  It should be just slightly undercooked when you remove the pasta from the heat and drain it in a strainer.  It will finish cooking in the cheese sauce.

2. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the vegetable and cheese sauce.  Finely dice the lower bulb portion of the ramps.  Finely slice the ramp leaves and keep them separate from the bulbs.

3. In a medium skillet or saucepan, melt 2 Tbsp of the butter over medium heat.  Add the ramp bulbs and saute for several minutes or until the ramps are fragrant and starting to soften.  Add the ramp leaves and spinach.  Allow the greens to wilt down.

4. Once the greens are wilted, add the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter to the pan and allow it to melt.  Add the milk and cheese packet.  Stir until butter is all melted and the cheese is thoroughly mixed into the sauce.

5. Add the cooked pasta along with a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.  Return the pan to a simmer and cook for a few more minutes or until the sauce has thickened a bit and the pasta is fully cooked.  You may add milk as needed to thin the sauce further.

6. Remove the pan from the heat and taste.  Adjust seasoning with additional salt and black pepper as needed.

Recipe by Chef Andrea

Nettle Soup (Nässelsoppa)

This recipe was borrowed from Darra Goldstein’s book, Fire & Ice, Classic Nordic Cooking.  In the introduction to this recipe she says: “Scandinavians eagerly anticipate the first nettles poking up aboveground as an early harbinger of spring.  The nettles are gathered when still young and are made into a delicate soup with a brilliant green hue.  Lacking wild greens, you can make the soup with baby spinach in the spring….Sorrel and potatoes are tasty additions as well.  No matter the ingredients, this soup is packed with vitamins.

Yield:  4 servings

2 Tbsp butter

3 large green onions, coarsely chopped, including the tops*

2 Tbsp flour

3 cups chicken stock

12 to 16 ounces fresh nettles and/or spinach

½ cup plus 2 Tbsp half-and-half

¾ tsp salt

Freshly ground white pepper, to taste

Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

2 hard-boiled egg yolks, finely chopped

Snipped fresh chives

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the green onions, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook until they release their fragrance, a few minutes.  Sprinkle with the flour and stir for a minute more, then gradually add the stock, whisking all the while.

2. Raise the heat to bring to a boil.  Add the nettles and/or spinach, lower the heat, and simmer, covered, until the greens are wilted, about 5 minutes.

3. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender for a few minutes until well blended but still retaining some flecks of green.  Return the puree to the pot and stir in the half-and-half.

4. Reheat the soup gently over low heat.  Stir in the salt and season with pepper and nutmeg to taste.

5. Garnish with the egg yolks and chives.

*Note:  You may substitute ramps or green garlic for the green onions.  Use whatever you have!