Cooking With This Week's Box
Italian Garlic: Charred Cauliflower with Garlic Tahini Sauce
Red & Yellow Onions: French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwich; Brussels Sprouts with Caramelized Onions; How To Caramelize Onions; How to Make Caramelized Onions in the Slow Cooker; Top Five Ways to Use Caramelized Onions; Moroccan Spiced Warm Red Cabbage Salad
German Butterball, Peter Wilcox or Purple Majesty Potatoes: How To Freeze Potatoes; Easy Vegan Scalloped Potatoes; Steamed Carrot Pudding
Broccoli Romanesco OR Cauliflower: 15 Cauliflower Recipes Disguised as Comfort Food; Charred Cauliflower with Garlic Tahini Sauce
Orange Carrots: Carrot Cake Oatmeal; Steamed Carrot Pudding; Moroccan Spiced Warm Red Cabbage Salad
Black Nebula Carrots: 2019 Black Nebula Vegetable Feature article; Roasted Purple Carrot Soup with Curried Lentils; Carrot Parsley Salad
Magenta Red Summercrisp Lettuce: Waldorf Chicken Salad; 40 Great Steak Salads; Beef Steak Salad with Dried Cherries
Brussels Sprouts: Hoisin Glazed Brussels Sprouts (see below); Creamy Brussels Sprout Slaw with Apple and Toasted Almonds (see below); Brussels Sprouts with Caramelized Onions
Korean & Jalapeno Peppers: Salt-Cured Chilies
Purple Daikon Radish: Soy-Pickled Daikon Radish
Jester, Festival or Butterscotch Butternut Squash: Stuffed Winter Squash; 17 Stuffed Winter Squash Recipes
Hello Everyone and welcome to the last week of October!! After this week we have four more CSA boxes remaining. Don’t forget our delivery schedule changes a little bit in November and December so we can dance around the holidays. Make sure you check your HVF calendar and know when you have a delivery. This week we’re excited to be packing tasty Brussels sprouts in your boxes! I turned to two of my favorite cookbook authors for Brussels sprout recipe inspiration this week. First, Hoisin Glazed Brussels Sprouts (see below) from Andrea Bemis which could make a nice meal along with some steamed rice and grilled beef. The second recipe is from Sarah Britton and is for a raw slaw. Her recipe for Creamy Brussels Sprout Slaw with Apple and Toasted Almonds (see below) is light and refreshing, but also packed with nutrient dense ingredients. This slaw is substantial enough to serve as a vegetarian main dish, or you can eat it as a side dish.
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| Brussels Sprouts with Caramelized Onions photo from eatgood4life.com |
Caramelized onions have been on my mind this week. Have you ever had them or made them? They are so sweet, silky and delicious and I just don’t make them enough! Tis the season though because I love eating caramelized onions with Brussels sprouts! If you’ve never had this combo, give it a try. Here’s a recipe for Brussels Sprouts with Caramelized Onions to guide you. If you’re caramelizing onions for the first time, consider this tutorial on How To Caramelize Onions. It’s not difficult, you just need a little time and some patience. You can make them on the stovetop, or check out this article, How to Make Caramelized Onions in the Slow Cooker. If you don’ know what to do with caramelized onions, here’s an article entitled: Top Five Ways to Use Caramelized Onions. If the suggestions in that article don’t appeal to you, consider making this over the top, to die for French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwich!
We’re coming down to the last of our potatoes. We have enough for the next two boxes and then we might be finished for the season. If you’re looking to put something in the freezer now so you can enjoy it later in the winter when you aren’t picking up a CSA box, consider freezing potatoes. Now, you can’t just stick a raw potato in the freezer and walk away. If freezing potatoes is new to you, check out this article, How To Freeze Potatoes. If you don’t have storage space or the desire to freeze potatoes, then try this recipe for Easy Vegan Scalloped Potatoes. It’ll be a nice alternative to the traditional rich dairy based scalloped potatoes.
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| Charred Cauliflower with Garlic Tahini Sauce photo from saltandwind.com |
We may be coming into the home stretch with cauliflower. It’s been a heck of a year and we hope you’ve enjoyed cooking with it. If you’re looking for something new to try this week, check out this article for 15 Cauliflower Recipes Disguised as Comfort Food. This collection includes a link to this recipe for Charred Cauliflower with Garlic Tahini Sauce.
This may be our last week for lettuce as well. We’re crossing our fingers that the escarole and radicchio will make it to harvest. In the meantime, use this week’s Magenta Red Summercrisp lettuce to make a main dish salad such as this Waldorf Chicken Salad. If you want to go for a beef salad, consider making this Beef Steak Salad with Dried Cherries. If neither of these recipes appeals to you, check out the selections in this collection of 40 Great Steak Salads.
We’re moving into the heart of root vegetable season, so get ready! Carrots aren’t new, but they will continue to be a mainstay vegetable in our diets throughout the winter. Some boxes this week will receive orange carrots while others will receive the mysterious Black Nebula carrot. If you receive the black nebula carrots, please check out our 2019 Black Nebula Vegetable Feature article. This article will tell you all about this unique carrot and you’ll find two delicious recipes. Have you ever had purple soup? Check out this recipe for Roasted Purple Carrot Soup with Curried Lentils. It has the most beautiful purple color! The other recipe is for Carrot Parsley Salad, an insanely easy salad to make! Carrots can be used in sweet and savory dishes and you can eat them any time of the day, even for breakfast! Try this Carrot Cake Oatmeal. You could also turn them into dessert with this Steamed Carrot Pudding, which interestingly contains a potato!
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| Roasted Parsnips with Caramel and Sour Cream photo by Julia Gartland for food52.com |
This week’s boxes also have parsnips! This recipe for Roasted Parsnips with Caramel and Sour Cream came through my inbox earlier this week. Check it out—making parsnips for dessert! There’s a video on this link if you want the visual. Please note this recipe calls for two pounds of parsnips, but this week’s boxes only have 1.25#, so you’ll need to adjust the recipe. You could also use the parsnips to make Parsnip Biscuits. In this recipe you will cook and puree the parsnips before incorporating them into the biscuits.
We didn’t know if they’d make it, but we did one final picking of Korean chili peppers. If you haven’t made Salt-Cured Chilies yet this fall, this is your last chance!
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| Moroccan Spiced Warm Red Cabbage Salad photo from food52.com |
And what are you going to do with the dense, compact heads of gorgeous red cabbage? Travel to the other side of the world and make this Moroccan Spiced Warm Red Cabbage Salad. You could also make this Turkish Red Cabbage Salad which is easy to make and is a great accompaniment to Chicken Kebobs!
Lastly, lets lay out our plans for this week’s winter squash. All three varieties we’re pulling from this week seem to be storing very well and all three are also appropriate for stuffing! Here’s a tasty Stuffed Winter Squash recipe, but if this one doesn’t appeal to you, Check out this recipe article entitled: 17 Stuffed Winter Squash Recipes.
We’re at the bottom of another box! Get ready, we’re going to be delivering sweet potatoes and baby ginger next week!
Have a great week!---Andrea
Vegetable Feature: Brussels Sprouts
By Chef Andrea
Brussels sprouts are a popular crop many members have come to adore when they realize how delicious they are when harvested fresh, in the peak of their season AND cooked properly. Brussels sprouts are another selection in the family of Brassicas which include cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage. They resemble little cabbages and grow on stalks with leaves similar to collards. We start Brussels sprouts from seed in the green house in the spring and then plant the transplants to the field where they require a 4-6 month period to reach their full potential. Brussels sprouts are a hearty vegetable and can take cold temperatures. In fact, we like them to be “kissed by the frost” a few times before we even think about harvesting them. This year they were more than kissed, they were actually frozen solid! The cold exposure changes the flavor making them more sweet, which contributes to a better tasting sprout overall. While they can tolerate some frost, there is a point when the temperatures drop into the teens and the plants become susceptible to damage. Knowing we were going to see temperatures in the low twenties to high teens this week, we decided to make harvesting all the Brussels sprouts a priority. If we had tried to pluck them all off the stalk in the field, we never would’ve finished harvesting them! So, the crew stripped the leaves, cut the stalk at the base and brought them in on the stalk. By the end of the day Saturday we had 50 bins of Brussels sprouts in the cooler containing about 6,800 stalks! Now, on frosty mornings we work in the warmth of the greenhouse popping them off the stalks.
Now that you know fresh, frosted Brussels sprouts are going to taste the best, lets talk about proper cooking. In my youth I did not adore the drab, olive green little cabbages that made the house smell funny when Mom cooked them. In my adult life I realized that it was not the Brussels sprouts I disliked, but rather my mother’s overcooked approach to preparing them! For just a moment lets talk about the science of Brussels sprouts. As with other vegetables in this family, Brussels sprouts are packed with phytonutrients that make them nutritional powerhouses! One nutrient compound they contain are glucosinolates, a sulfur containing nutrient that protects and benefits our bodies in many ways including protecting our cardiovascular system and providing anti-cancer effects. These sulfur containing compounds also contribute to their flavor, but this is where we need to talk about the fine line between a delicious tasting Brussels sprout and one that has crossed the line because it is overcooked. As you cook Brussels sprouts these sulfur compounds are released. When overcooked the flavor becomes strong, pungent and, in my opinion, just not very enjoyable. Brussels sprouts may be roasted, boiled, steamed, sautéed. Regardless of the cooking method you choose, it’s important to cook them just until they become bright green and are tender, but still with a little bit of firmness remaining. The next stage after this is where they turn olive green, get soft and mushy and develop a strong smell from all the sulfur compounds volatilizing into the air! The other important thing to remember when cooking Brussels sprouts is to let them breathe. It’s best to cook them uncovered as it lets the sulfur compounds dissipate into the air instead of building up in the pan under the lid. |
| Sheet Pan Chicken with Sweet Potatoes, Apples and Brussels Sprouts, photo from wellplated.com |
To prepare sprouts for a recipe, use a paring knife to trim a little bit off the base of each sprout which will allow a few outer leaves to fall off. If the sprouts are small, you may cook them whole. If they are a little larger you may want to cut them into halves or quarters. I should mention that Brussels sprouts may also be eaten raw in slaws and salads. In their raw form they are generally sliced very finely. Brussels sprouts are a natural pairing with other vegetables including garlic, onions (especially caramelized onions), winter squash, root vegetables, sweet potatoes and mushrooms. They also pair well with fall fruits including apples, cranberries, pomegranate, and lemons. In my kitchen, they also have an attraction to butter! They also pair well with other dairy products including Parmesan, feta and blue cheese as well as cream. Their strong flavor goes well with salty, cured meats such as bacon and sausage as well as toasted nuts. A drizzle of maple syrup, honey or even balsamic vinegar is also a nice way to finish off a Brussels sprouts recipe.
Store Brussels sprouts in the refrigerator in the plastic bag we’ve portioned them in for you. They will keep for several weeks, but we recommend you eat them within a week or two. We are grateful to share the bounty of this year’s harvest with you and plan to pack them in the next few CSA boxes! Enjoy!
Creamy Brussels Sprout Slaw with Apple and Toasted Almonds
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| Photo from Naturally Nourished by Sarah Britton |
Yield: 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side dish
⅓ cup raw almonds
1 packed cup flat-leaf parsley, leaves and stems
½ pound Brussels sprouts
1 apple
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Creamy Maple Vinaigrette
2 Tbsp cold-pressed olive oil
4 tsp Dijon mustard
4 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp pure maple syrup
¼ cup plain yogurt
2 pinches fine sea salt
2 pinches freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
- Prepare the slaw: Preheat the oven to 300°F. Spread the almonds on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and roast until fragrant and slightly darker in color, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Roughly chop the almonds and the parsley leaves, finely mincing the stems.
- While the almonds are roasting, wash and trim the Brussels sprouts, removing any damaged outer leaves. Slice them as thinly as possible using a knife or a food processor with the shredding attachment. Place in a large bowl.
- Core and slice the apple into thin sections. In a small bowl, immediately toss the apple sections with the lemon juice to prevent browning.
- Make the dressing: Whisk together the olive oil, mustard, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, yogurt, salt, and pepper.
- Add the apples, almonds, and parsley to the shredded Brussels, pour the dressing over top, add a generous amount of black pepper, and fold to combine.
Recipe borrowed from Sarah Britton’s book, Naturally Nourished.
Hoisin-Glazed Brussels Sprouts
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| Photo from Dishing Up the Dirt by Andrea Bemis |
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Hoisin Sauce
2 Tbsp grapeseed oil (or other neutral cooking oil)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp tahini
2 tsp sriracha hot sauce
Brussels Sprouts
1 ½ Tbsp grapeseed oil (or other neutral cooking oil)
1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced in half or quartered if large
- Make the sauce: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce, maple syrup, rice vinegar, tahini, and sriracha. Cook, whisking occasionally until the mixture is thick and smooth, about 5 minutes. Pour the hoisin sauce into a jar and set it aside.
- Prepare the Brussels sprouts: using the same skillet (no need to clean it), heat the grapeseed oil over medium-high. Add the Brussels sprouts and cook until they are a deep golden brown and lightly crisp on all sides, about 8 minutes. Stir in half of the hoisin sauce and continue to cook for an additional 2 or 3 minutes, stirring often. Serve warm or at room temperature with additional sauce on the side.
- Store any extra sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Recipe borrowed from Andrea Bemis’ book, Dishing Up the Dirt.
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