Cooking With This Week’s Box:
This Week’s Summary of Recipes
and the Vegetables They Utilize:
This week’s featured vegetable is kohlrabi. This is another unique vegetable, like
fennel, that really is in a class all its own.
In this week’s newsletter, we’re featuring another tasty recipe from Dishing Up the Dirt by Andrea
Bemis, Kohlrabi Fritters with Garlic
Herb Cashew Cream Sauce (See below).
This farmer girl knows her vegetables and has even more recipes
featuring kohlrabi on her website. My other recipe suggestion for kohlrabi this
week is the Shanghai-Inspired Stir-Fried Pork with Kohlrabi & Bok Choi, a recipe featured in our newsletter back in 2015. This is the perfect way to use both kohlrabi
and some of the bok choi in this week’s box.
Bok choi is such a good candidate for stir-fry, as are the sugar snap
and/or snow peas in this week’s box. So,
lets do this Shrimp and Baby Bok Choi Stir Fry with the bok choi, peas and some of the tender little carrots! This recipe doesn’t call for the carrots, but
I think they would be a nice, sweet colorful addition to the vegetable
mix.
This is the perfect week to make Green Top Carrot Soup! In my first year at the farm, Richard
challenged me to find a way to use the green tops on carrots. Truthfully, I had never eaten a carrot top
and didn’t know it was even possible. I
was up for a challenge and came up with this recipe that uses not only the
carrot tops in the box, but also fennel and some basil! It’s a light, creamy pureed soup that is
great served with a good piece of bread for dinner or lunch. If you aren’t in the mood for soup, use the
carrot tops and basil to make Carrot Top Pesto. You can use this delicious creation as a
spread for sandwiches or toast, scramble it into your morning eggs, or toss it
with pasta for a quick dinner. If your
fennel is still available, use it to make this Pizza with Spring Onions & Fennel. The purple Cipollini onions in this week’s
box are an excellent onion for this recipe.
As for the fennel, you’ll mostly be using the bulb, so take whatever
remaining fronds you have from the tops and use them to make Blended Lemonade with Ginger and Fennel. Serve it with the pizza for a light dinner!
Ok, lets talk cucumbers and zucchini, as both of these crops
are in the peak of their production this week and they are plentiful in your
box! Lets start with cucumbers. BonAppetit.com has a collection of 53 Cool Cucumber Recipes That AreShockingly Easy! Surely you can find a few recipes here to put
these beautiful cucumbers to use this week.
Check out the recipe for Kale & Cucumber Salad with Roasted Ginger Dressing using the lacinato kale, cipollini onions and the fresh garlic in the box. I also want to make the Falafel Fritters Bowl with Cucumber and Yogurt Sauce and I want to try this recipe for Cucumber Lime Paletas (popsicles). I never would’ve thought to make a popsicle
from cucumbers, but why not!
Ok, now for the zucchini.
Zucchini is one of those vegetables that can be used in a wide variety
of applications, so even if you think you don’t like zucchini, look around and
I guarantee there will be some way you can use zucchini in your meals this
week. At the very least, use it to make
this simple Chocolate Zucchini Cake. As long as we’re on cake, we might as well
use some of the zucchini to make this savory Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake. Serve it with a simple creamy cucumber salad
and you have a simple dinner with plenty left over for lunch the next day.
Purple Cipollini Onions: Pizza with Spring Onions & Fennel
Fresh Garlic: Kale & Cucumber Salad with Roasted Ginger Dressing
Zucchini: Chocolate Zucchini Cake; Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake; Zucchini and Dark Chocolate Pancakes with Maple Yogurt
Cucumbers: 53 Cool Cucumber Recipes That Are Shockingly Easy!; Kale & Cucumber Salad with Roasted Ginger Dressing; Falafel Fritters Bowl with Cucumber and Yogurt Sauce; Cucumber Lime Paletas (popsicles)
Lacinato Kale: Kale & Cucumber Salad with Roasted Ginger Dressing
Sugar Snap and/or Snow Peas: Shrimp and Baby Bok Choi Stir Fry
Kohlrabi: Kohlrabi Fritters with Garlic Herb Cashew
Cream Sauce (See below); Shanghai-Inspired Stir-Fried Pork with Kohlrabi & Bok Choi
Fennel: Green Top Carrot Soup; Pizza with Spring Onions & Fennel; Blended Lemonade with Ginger and Fennel
Baby Bok Choi: Shanghai-Inspired Stir-Fried Pork with Kohlrabi & Bok Choi;
Shrimp and Baby Bok Choi Stir Fry
Green Top Carrots: Shrimp and Baby Bok Choi Stir Fry; Green Top Carrot Soup; Carrot Top Pesto
Welcome to July! This
week we are cooking out of our 10th CSA box of the season. Don’t worry or fret yet, we still have twenty
more delicious boxes to enjoy before winter closes in on us again. Green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, corn and
more will be here before we know it….with some of those coming as early as next
week! (A little birdie told me beans and potatoes will likely be in next week’s
box). This week we are wrapping up
strawberry season with our last pint of berries. Thank goodness for our late variety that has
performed very reliably this year, AC Valley Sunset. As the sun sets on our valley this week, we
hope you enjoy and savor these last few tastes of fresh, sweet
strawberries. You can do something fancy
with them if you’d like, but I really think just eating them as they are will
imprint the best memory to hang on to until next summer.
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| Shrimp and Baby Bok Choi Stir Fry Picture from food52 |
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| Pizza with Spring Onions & Fennel Picture from New York Times Cooking |
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| Kale & Cucumber Salad with Roasted Ginger Dressing Picture from bon appetit |
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| Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake Picture from 101 Cookbooks |
Still have some zucchini left? Don’t forget about breakfast! Use it to make Zucchini and Dark Chocolate Pancakes with Maple Yogurt. I think it’s totally fine to have chocolate
for breakfast when you serve it with zucchini!
We’re almost at the end of the box, but we do still have
some kohlrabi tops remaining. You didn’t
think I would forget about those did you?!
I will slice the kohlrabi tops thinly and saute them with some fresh
garlic, a little minced onion and some bacon.
Once they’re wilted down, they’ll get scrambled with eggs and Richard
will enjoy them for breakfast. If you
are into green smoothies, you could add the kohlrabi tops to your smoothie as
well. Not into smoothies or eggs? Then how about pasta? Thinly slice the kohlrabi leaves and saute
them in olive oil or butter with some garlic.
Toss in some cooked pasta and top it off with Parmesan. See those kohlrabi tops are pretty useful!
Have a great week and I look forward to cooking with you
again next week!—Chef Andrea
Featured Vegetable: Kohlrabi
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| Kohlrabi growing in the field |
Kohlrabi is
seeded in the greenhouse in early March and transplanted to the field as early
as possible in April, along with other vegetables in the same family of cole
crops including broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. Kohlrabi is reliably the first of this family
of vegetables to be ready, so it has earned its “niche” in seasonal eating
while we wait for broccoli and cauliflower to make heads.
 |
| Shanghai-Inspired Stir-Fried Pork with Kohlrabi & Bok Choi |
To use
kohlrabi, first remove the fibrous peel from the bulb prior to eating. You can do this easily by cutting the
kohlrabi into halves or quarters and then peeling away the outer skin with a
paring knife. The flesh is dense and crisp,
yet tender, juicy and sweet with a hint of a mild cabbage flavor. The leaves on kohlrabi are edible as well, so
don’t just discard them. They have the
texture and characteristics of collard greens, so you could use them in any
recipe calling for collards. They are
also good eaten raw. Just make sure you
slice them thinly and toss them with an acidic vinaigrette to soften the
leaves. To store kohlrabi, cut the stems
and leaves off. Store both leaves and
the bulbs in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.
The leaves will keep for about 1 week, and the bulbs will last up to
several weeks if stored properly.
Kohlrabi Fritters with Garlic Herb Cashew Cream Sauce
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
1 large or 2 medium kohlrabies, peeled (about 1 pound)
1 medium-sized russet potato, peeled (about ½ pound)
1 small onion, diced
1 ½ Tbsp minced fresh dill
1 ½ Tbsp minced fresh parsley
1 tsp fine sea salt
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
⅓ cup grapeseed oil (or other oil for high heat cooking)
Garlic Cashew Herb Sauce (recipe below)
1 large or 2 medium kohlrabies, peeled (about 1 pound)
1 medium-sized russet potato, peeled (about ½ pound)
1 small onion, diced
1 ½ Tbsp minced fresh dill
1 ½ Tbsp minced fresh parsley
1 tsp fine sea salt
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
⅓ cup grapeseed oil (or other oil for high heat cooking)
Garlic Cashew Herb Sauce (recipe below)
- Preheat the oven to 250°F. Using the large holes on a box grater, grate the kohlrabies and potato. Alternatively, you can use the grating attachment on a food processor to do the same thing. Transfer the grated vegetables to a dish towel, wring out any moisture, then put them into a bowl.
- Add the onion, dill, parsley, salt, and flour to the grated kohlrabi mixture. Stir in the eggs and mix until everything is well incorporated.
- Heat the grapeseed oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Spoon ¼ cup of the mixture into the skillet and flatten it gently with a spatula. Add 2 or 3 more fritters to the pan. Cook this batch of fritters until they’re golden brown and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Drain them on a paper-towel-lined plate before transferring them to a baking sheet to keep them warm in the oven while you finish making all the fritters.
- Serve the fritters with the sauce and enjoy.
Garlic Cashew Herb Sauce
Yield: 1 to 1 ½ cups
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
2 ½ Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 ½ Tbsp minced dill
2 ½ Tbsp minced parley
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
2 ½ Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 ½ Tbsp minced dill
2 ½ Tbsp minced parley
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Drain the soaked cashews and rinse them under cold water. Place the drained cashews with ½ cup water, lemon juice, oil, garlic, dill and parsley into a high-speed blender. Whirl away on high until smooth and creamy; this will take about 2 minutes, so be patient!
- Scrape down the sides and add extra water, a little at a time, until you reach a smooth and creamy consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add more water to thin if necessary.
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