May 6, 2021 - This Week's Box Contents, Featuring Wild Ramps!

Cooking With This Week's Box

Wild Ramps: 
Wild & Wonderful Ramp Chowder (See Recipe Below)
Wild Rice Bowl with Ramps and Asparagus (See Recipe Below)
Ramp Butter
Ramp Deviled Eggs
 
Overwintered Spinach: 
Creamed Ramps and Spinach
Spring Spinach Chop Salad with Creamy Buttermilk Ramp Dressing
 
Watercress:
Asparagus & Watercress Pizza
Mushroom, Parmesan and Watercress Omelet
 
Overwintered Parsnips:  
Spiced Honey Parsnip Bread
Roasted Parsnip Salad
 
Overwintered Sunchokes:
Important information about how to best utilize and enjoy Sunchokes.
Lacto-fermented Pickled Sunchokes
Chili-Roasted Sunchokes
 
Chives:
Sunchoke and Chive Soup
Chive and Parmesan Popcorn
 
Nettles:   
Important information about how to handle and prepare nettles.
Nettle & Mushroom Pizza with Ramp Cream
Nettle & Ramp Pesto
Nettle Tea
Nettle Soup
 
Green Garlic: 
Spaghetti with Green Garlic and Olive Oil
Asparagus & Green Garlic Soup with Parmesan Croutons
 
Asparagus: 
Roasted Asparagus with Breadcrumbs & Herbs
Asparagus, Spinach & Feta Quiche

Asparagus, Spinach & Feta Quiche
photo from twopeasandtheirpod.com

Welcome to the 2021 CSA season!  We’re happy you’ve chosen to journey through another year with us and I hope you are ready to roll up your sleeves and get cooking in the kitchen!  My name is Andrea and I am a professionally trained chef.  Each week I will share recipe ideas and links in this space we call “Cooking With the Box.”  Some weeks you may choose to prepare some of these recipes, while at times these recipe links may simply serve as a launching pad for your own creative cooking ideas.   Either way is perfect!

 
I also encourage you to use some of the other resources we have to offer you including the searchable recipe database on our website.  This is where we’ve archived recipes from past years, many of which have become farm and member favorites we turn to every year! Lastly, I encourage you to participate in our private Facebook Group, just for members.  This is a great platform for sharing recipes with other CSA members and is one way we can create a supportive community for each other. 

Nettle & Mushroom Pizza with Ramp Cream

This week’s box is packed full of special spring vegetables, an eclectic mix of wild-harvested vegetables we forage for as well as some crops we overwinter in order to extend the season and give us something to harvest and eat before our spring planted vegetables are ready.  If you are new to our CSA, some of these items may be new to you and you may be unsure what to do with them!  This is where I have to insert my vegetable mantra which is: “Never Be Intimidated by a vegetable!”  I hope the resources and support we offer you each week are helpful, but if you do have any additional questions you are always welcome to call or email me! 

 
Have a great week and enjoy your first CSA box!
--Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Ramps!

By: Chef Andrea Yoder

Description: Ramps, sometimes referred to as “wild leeks,” are one of the first signs of spring we see emerging on the wooded hillsides of our valley.  They have a very short season which is typically only 3-4 weeks.  The flavor of ramps is similar to onions or garlic, but they really have a unique flavor that is best described as “rampy!”  Ramps resemble a green onion, except they have tender, delicate, lily-like leaves and the base of the ramp becomes more bulb-like as it matures.

Preparation & Use: Ramps may be eaten raw or cooked and can be used in ways, similar to a green onion.  When raw, they can be quite pungent, however the flavor mellows with cooking.  You can eat both the leaves and the lower bulb, just trim away the roots.  Ramps pair well with cream, cheese, bacon and other spring vegetables including mushrooms, asparagus, nettles and spinach.  Ramps also pair well with eggs in scrambles, frittatas and quiche and are often incorporated into pasta and rice dishes.  Ramp pesto and ramp butter are simple preparations that may be used fresh or can also be frozen as a way to preserve that delicious spring flavor!

Ramp Pesto

Storage: The leaves on ramps are delicate and the most perishable portion of the plant.  We are in our final week of harvest and did have rain ahead of harvesting some of this week’s ramps.  Ramps that are more mature and harvested under these conditions often have a shorter shelf life.  Thus, we encourage you to eat them within a few days of receiving them.

Store ramps in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.  If you are going to keep ramps for several days, it’s a good idea to wrap the leaves with a damp paper towel.  The bulb portion of the ramp will store longer than the leaves, so some may choose to separate the bulb from the leaves and store them separate.

Cultural & Historical Background: Back in the early days before ramps were popular and customers came looking for them, Farmer Richard actually gave ramps away at the farmers’ market!  That’s right, he couldn’t sell them so he gave them away with hopes that people would give them a try and come to like them so much they’d buy them!

Ramps growing in the woods

Growing Information: Ramps grow wild in the woods on north-facing hillsides early in the spring.  While they can be replanted in woodland areas that are conducive to supporting ramp populations, it takes awhile for them to multiply and spread.

Additional Points of Interest: We have been wild-harvesting ramps in our valley since the mid-80’s.  Many individuals are concerned about the sustainability of harvesting ramps.  Of course, we want our ramp populations to remain sustainable as well, thus we carefully manage our harvests.  We harvest from private land which allows us to rotate harvest areas.  Additionally, ramps grow in clumps and we’re careful to only take about half of a clump while leaving the other half undisturbed.  We’ve been implementing this practice since the very beginning and our ramp populations remain strong and healthy!  With the future in mind, we have been planting ramps in a few wooded areas on our land over the past few years.  It will be awhile until we can harvest from these areas, but they are well-established and we’re hopeful they’ll thrive into the future!

Wild & Wonderful Ramp Chowder

Yield:  4 Servings

photo from healthstartsinthekitchen.com

2 Tbsp butter

1 cup ramp bulb and greens roughly chopped

4 cups russet potatoes, peeled & diced

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

⅛ tsp white pepper

Sea salt, to taste

2 cups half & half

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese 

Optional Toppings:

Crumbled bacon

Shredded Cheese

Ramp greens, thinly sliced

1. In a Dutch oven or other heavy bottom pot, over medium heat, melt butter.  Sauté ramps in butter until soft.
2. Add the potatoes, broth and pepper.  Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through. (Note:  Taste your broth while heating and season with sea salt.  Ideally the liquid that the potatoes are cooking in should be well salted, perhaps a little tiny bit over salted).
3. Reduce heat to low.  Add half & half and shredded cheddar cheese, stir well to combine.  Cook over low heat until everything is well incorporated, do not boil.  
4. The flavors deepen and it will thicken up a little more if you let it set off heat for 30 minutes before gently reheating and serving.  If you prefer an even thicker soup, you can blend 1-2 cups of the soup in your blender until smooth, then add it back into the pot.
5. Garnish individual bowls with toppings of your choice including crumbled bacon, shredded cheese or thinly sliced ramp greens.

Recipe borrowed from healthstartsinthekitchen.com.

Wild Rice Bowl with Ramps & Asparagus

Yield:  Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side

photo from abetterhappierstsebastian.com

1 cup wild rice

1 pound asparagus

1 bunch wild ramps

½ cup slivered almonds

2 Tbsp butter, divided

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a medium pot over high heat, bring 3 cups water to a boil.  Stir in wild rice, reduce to a simmer and cover.  Cook 40-45 minutes or until rice kernels just begin to open.  Fluff with fork and drain off any excess cooking liquid.  Place a clean kitchen towel over the pan and put the cover back on.  Set aside, off heat until ready to assemble the dish. (Note:  the towel will absorb any steam or moisture from the rice so it will be fluffy)  
2. Meanwhile, while rice is cooking, trim the ends of the asparagus spears and cut into ¾-inch pieces.  Set aside.  Divide the ramp greens from the bulbs.  Chop the greens into bite-sized pieces and dice the bulbs.  Set aside.
3. In a skillet over medium heat, melt 1 Tbsp of butter.  When the butter is foaming, add asparagus, season generously with salt and pepper and cook until just slightly wilted, tossing frequently, about 4 minutes.  Remove asparagus from skillet and set aside.  Return pan to medium heat and melt additional ½ Tbsp butter.  Add ramp bulbs and sauté briefly, about 1 minute.  Add in ramp greens, season with salt and pepper and cook an additional minute until the greens are wilted.  Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Over medium heat, melt remaining ½ Tbsp butter.  Continue cooking down butter until it begins to brown slightly, swirling the pan to cook evenly.  When lightly browned, add slivered almonds, salt and pepper, tossing to coat.  Continue to cook over medium heat until almonds are toasted, about 3 minutes.
5. Reduce heat to low and add rice, asparagus, and ramps back to the pan.  Toss to combine all ingredients and season with additional salt and pepper to taste.  Serve warm.

Recipe adapted from abetterhappierstsebastian.com.