May 28, 2020 - This Week's Box Contents, Featuring Baby White Turnips!

Cooking With This Week's Box

Baby Spinach: Spinach & Filo Feta Bundt Cake; Bright Spring Salad; Mini Ham & Cheese Spinach Breakfast Pies

Egyptian Walking Onions: Miso Butter Brothy Beans with Scallions; Korean Spicy Green Onion Salad

Green Garlic: Spicy Pork & Turnip Soup with Soy-Pickled Eggs (see below); Radiant Bok Choy Soup; Korean Spicy Green Onion Salad

Asparagus: Bright Spring Salad; Asparagus Ribbon Salad

Red Radishes and/or Diana Radishes: Bright Spring Salad; Buttered Radish Tartines

Baby Arugula: Bright Spring Salad; Asparagus Ribbon Salad; Arugula Gimlet

Hon Tsai Tai: Radiant Bok Choy Soup; Hon Tsai Tai & Shiitake Potstickers with Sesame Honey Dipping Sauce

Little Gem Head Lettuce OR Baby Bok Choi: Bright Spring Salad; Radiant Bok Choy Soup

Saute Mix: Bright Spring Salad; Mini Ham & Cheese Spinach Breakfast Pies

Baby White Turnips: Spicy Pork & Turnip Soup with Soy-Pickled Eggs (see below); Turnip Greens Pesto Pizza

Turnip Greens Pesto Pizza

A little rain and some heat means things are happening fast around here!  You can almost see the radishes and asparagus growing as you watch them!   This week we have another hearty box of greens to enjoy along with gorgeous little baby white turnips!  So lets get started cooking!  This week’s featured recipe comes from Andrea Bemis’ Dishing Up The Dirt blog.  If you haven’t checked out Andrea’s blog, you really should.  Her recipe collection is an awesome resource for finding seasonal recipes you can make from a CSA box.  She herself is a farmer and grows vegetables for CSA and market customers.  She gets it!  This week’s recipe for Spicy Pork & Turnip Soup with Soy-Pickled Eggs (see below) is very easy to make and full of flavor.  Soy-Pickled Eggs might seem a little odd, but I’m telling you they are delicious.  Really, it’s the combination of the soup, the egg and a little kim chi that makes this soup a keeper.  Several years ago I featured Andrea’s recipe for Turnip Greens Pesto Pizza.  That’s right, use the greens to make a pesto which is the sauce for the crust.  It’s delicious!

Arugula Gimlet, photo by Alex Lau for bonappetit.com

Once again, I’m excited to see so much great interaction in our Facebook group!  Way to find some good uses for our greens!  This Spinach & Filo Feta Bundt Cake is a masterpiece that will blow you away, both in appearance and taste.  Someone also shared this recipe for an Arugula Gimlet.  Arugula in a cocktail?  Why not?!

We’ve seen pretty hearty harvest numbers for asparagus this week, so enjoy the big bunch!  I have two asparagus salad recipes to share this week.  The first is from loveandlemons.com and is called Bright Spring Salad.  Take your pick as to what you want to use for the base of the salad.  Baby arugula, lettuce, saute mix or spinach would all work.  Top it off with asparagus, radishes, roasted chickpeas and a light vinaigrette.  The other asparagus salad I want to recommend is this Asparagus Ribbon Salad.  This is a creation by Sarah Britton from My New Roots blog.  She uses baby arugula tossed with light honey lemon vinaigrette as the base and tops it off with shavings of asparagus spears, pecorino cheese and toasted hazelnuts!

Mini Ham & Cheese Spinach Breakfast Pies
photo from runningtothekitchen.com

I like to work as many vegetables into breakfast as I can.  I also like things that are easy to eat on the go, such as these Mini Ham & Cheese Spinach Breakfast Pies.  This recipe calls for shallot and garlic cloves, but you can sub in green onions and green garlic.  You can also use saute mix or spinach as the green.

This week we are sending one of our favorite spring specialty greens, hon tsai tai.  This green is related to bok choi, so you can really substitute it for bok choi in any recipe.  I came across this recipe for Radiant Bok Choy Soup.  There is a lot of nutritious goodness in a bowl of this soup!  The broth is based on coconut milk flavored with garlic, ginger, onions and turmeric.  You can also add mushrooms and tofu if you like.  If you’re looking for a fun weekend cooking project, consider making Hon Tsai Tai & Shiitake Potstickers with Sesame Honey Dipping Sauce featured in last year’s newsletter!

This week we’re harvesting overwintered Egyptian Walking onions as well as Potato Onions.  Both of these are multiplier onions that we plant in the fall when we plant garlic.  You can use them as you would any other green onion, but do notice their unique flavors.  Both of these onions have a very distinct oniony flavor and are very savory.  I like this simple recipe for MisoButter Brothy Beans with Scallions which really lets the onion stand out.  I also like this recipe for Korean Spicy Green Onion Salad.  Serve this as a little condiment or side salad alongside grilled meats or other barbecued items.

Do you have any radishes hanging out in the refrigerator?  If so, you’re lucky!  Use them to make these simple, but very tasty, Buttered Radish Tartines.  There is nothing like the combination of butter, salt and fresh radishes in the spring!

That brings us to the bottom of another box!  As we take a glimpse into the next week, it looks like we’re going to start harvesting rhubarb and likely salad mix!

Have a good week—

Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Baby White Turnips

By Chef Andrea

We call them Baby White Turnips, but they are also often referred to as Hakurei or salad turnips.  Every year I gravitate back to the same adjectives to describe this vegetable.  Simply put, they are pristine with their bright white roots and contrasting green tops.  You’ll find these turnips to be mild flavored, tender & slightly sweet.  The edible greens have a mild mustard flavor and are delectable, so make sure you get your money’s worth and put them to use!  Both the greens and the turnips are tender enough to either eat raw or just lightly cook them.

Baby white turnips thrive in the cool of spring and again later in the fall.  If you think you don’t like turnips, I encourage you to give these a try.  Likely your opinion was based on improperly cooked storage turnips.  Compared to the common purple top turnip, or other storage turnips, salad turnips are much more mild and subtle in both flavor and texture.  The storage turnips we grow in the fall are meant for storage purposes and thus have a thicker skin compared to a salad turnip.  Baby white turnips also mature much faster and are ready ahead of other early season root crops such as beets and carrots. 

To prepare the turnips for use, wash both the roots and greens well to remove any dirt.  You can prolong the shelf life by storing the greens separate from the roots.  These turnips have such a thin exterior layer, there is no need to peel them.  They are delicious eaten raw in a salad, or just munch on them with dip or a little salt.  You can also cook them, but remember to keep the cooking time short and the preparation simple.  One of our favorite ways to eat them in the spring is simply sautéed or steamed in butter with the greens wilted on top.  They are also delicious stir-fried or roasted.  The greens may be added to raw salads, turned into pesto, or lightly sautéed, steamed or wilted.

Creamy Turnips, Grits & Greens

Baby white turnips have become more popular in recent years, so the likelihood of finding some interesting recipes is greater now than when I was first introduced to them over 10 years ago!  For starters, check out our recipe archives where you’ll find other recipes such as Creamy Turnips, Grits & Greens; White Turnip Salad with Miso Ginger Vinaigrette and Turnip Greens Pesto Pizza.  If you’ve been with us in past years you may know these are amongst my favorite things to make with these turnips!  Another great place to find more recipes is Andrea Bemis’s blog, Dishing Up the Dirt .  I’ve sourced recipes from Andrea’s blog for several years and keep going back because she has a lot of good ones!  She’s also a vegetable farmer who develops seasonal recipes for her own family and her CSA members.  She just might have the largest original collection of recipes using baby white turnips on the internet!  I popped over to her blog last week looking for a specific recipe only to find she recently posted a new recipe featuring baby white turnips!  I couldn’t resist, so one of this week’s featured recipes is Andrea’s Spicy Pork & Turnip Soup with Soy-Pickled Eggs.  Whatever you end up making, I hope you enjoy these pretty little beauties as much as I do!

Spicy Pork & Turnip Soup with Soy Pickled Eggs

Yield:  6 servings

Soup:

1 pound ground pork

2 Tbsp finely grated fresh ginger

¾ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

½ tsp ground cumin

Hefty pinch of salt and black pepper

1 Tbsp olive oil

3 stalks green garlic, finely chopped (white and green parts), or garlic cloves

1 bunch baby white turnips, with greens

4 cups water

2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce + additional to taste

1 tsp fish sauce

Optional (But highly Recommended) Toppings:

1-2 Tbsp kimchi

1 Tbsp fermented chili paste

Soy Pickled Eggs:

6 eggs

2 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole OR 1 stalk green garlic cut into ½” pieces

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

¾ cup low sodium soy sauce

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

1. Gently lower eggs into a large saucepan of boiling water.  Cook 7 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl of ice water and let cool until you can easily handle them.  Peel the eggs and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, bring garlic, pepper flakes, soy sauce, rice vinegar and 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium size saucepan.  Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the eggs.  Let the eggs marinate in the mixture for at least one hour or in the fridge overnight.
3. Prepare the turnips by separating the green tops from the turnips.  Wash both well, then cut the turnips into ½-inch chunks.  Roughly chop the greens into bite-sized pieces.  Set both aside.
4. Mix the pork, ginger, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt and pepper in a large bowl until combined.  Set aside.
5. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium high heat.  Add the green garlic and cook for about 1 minute, stirring often.  Add the pork and use a wooden spoon to break up the meat a bit.  Cook until lightly browned and no longer pink.  About 5-7 minutes.  Add the water, turnips (reserving the greens for later) and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer until the turnips are fork tender, about 10 minutes.  
6. Add the turnip greens, soy sauce and fish sauce and give the pot a good stir.  Simmer for about 5 minutes longer to let the flavors meld.  Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed.
7. Cut the soy pickled eggs in half.  Portion the soup into bowls and serve with the quick pickled eggs and fermented chili paste and/or kimchi.  

Recipe borrowed from DishingUpTheDirt.com, a blog by Andrea Bemis!