July 1, 2021 - This Week's Box Contents, Featuring Sweetheart Cabbage!

Cooking With This Week's Box

Sweetheart Salad Cabbage:
Coconut Quinoa Coleslaw with Minty Tahini Dressing (See Below)
Kale Slaw with Creamy Mustard Dressing (See Below)

Fresh Porcelain Garlic:
Caramelized Garlic Pizza with Fresh Basil for Garlic Lovers!
“Fresh Garlic is a Summer Treat”

Scallions or Desert Sunrise Cipollini Onions:
Olive Oil Roasted Spring Onions
Steamed Fish with Ginger & Spring Onions

Green Curly Kale:
Kale Pesto
Black-Eyed Pea Masala with Kale

Zucchini and/or Sunburst Scallopini Squash:
Baked Zucchini Fritters
Garlic Shrimp and Zucchini Wrap

Green and/or Silver Slicer Cucumbers:
Simply Dressed Cucumber & Mint Salad
Smoky Grilled Chicken with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

Broccoli:
Lentil Broccoli Bites with Cream Sauce
Buffalo Chicken Broccoli Cheddar Bites

Sugar Snap or Snow Peas:
Snap Pea Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
Garlic and Parmesan Sugar Snap Peas

Violet Queen Salad Turnips:
Miso Turnips & Black Sesame Soba Noodles
Sesame Ginger Turnip Rice Bowls
 
Green Top Gold, Red or Chioggia Beets:
Chilled Beet Soup with Dill & Beet Greens Gremolata
2021 HVF Vegetable Feature Article All About Beets….Including Links to Over 20 Recipes!

Red Boston Lettuce:
Firecracker Vegan Lettuce Wraps
Butter Lettuce and Herb Salad (with Fennel & Scallions)

Hello Everyone! 

Caramelized Garlic Pizza with Fresh Basil for Garlic Lovers
photo from garlicdelight.com

It’s an exciting week here at the farm…..we started harvesting fresh garlic!  We usually wait until July, but the crop looks good and Richard says it’s time to start!  I included a link to an article, “Fresh Garlic is a Summer Treat" from FineCooking.com.  This article is a quick read and a good “one-stop-shop” for learning how to use fresh garlic.  If you are a garlic lover, you may also want to try this recipe for Caramelized Garlic Pizza with Fresh Basil for Garlic Lovers!

Before I go any further, I should mention this week’s featured vegetable which is the beautiful and unique Sweetheart Cabbage!  While this cabbage may be cooked, it is a salad cabbage known for being tender and tasty eaten raw.  This week I included two unique slaw recipes from two of my favorite cookbook authors.  The first is for a Coconut Quinoa Coleslaw with Minty Tahini Dressing (See Below), a recipe credited to the very talented Sarah Britton.  Now that we’re in the heat of summer I’ve transitioned to eating big vegetable salads for lunch.  I like this recipe because it includes several sources of healthy fat and protein to fuel you through the afternoon without feeling too heavy.  The other recipe is from Amy Chaplin, another very talented plant-based chef and cookbook author.  Her recipe for Kale Slaw with Creamy Mustard Dressing (See Below) is very fitting for this time of year and specifically this week’s box!  In addition to cabbage, this slaw also includes kale and fennel.  It’s garnished with sunflower seeds and dressed with a creamy cashew butter-based dressing.

Black-Eyed Pea Masala with Kale
photo by Laura Murray for bonappetit.com

If your basil plants are in need of a trimming, consider using this week’s kale to make a batch of Kale Pesto.  Use it throughout the week as a spread on sandwiches or wraps, toss it with hot pasta, or use it as the sauce base for a pizza.  You can also freeze this pesto if you want to tuck it away to enjoy during the winter when green things are more sparse.  If you’re not in a pesto mood, then maybe you want to transport your tastebuds to India and try out this Black-Eyed Pea Masala with Kale.

Is anyone going to a Fourth of July celebration or cookout this weekend?  If so, maybe you want to include this Smoky Grilled Chicken with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce on your menu.  If you’re not going to do a full meal, but want to focus on small bites and appetizers instead, then maybe you want to go with these Buffalo Chicken Broccoli Cheddar Bites or Firecracker Vegan Lettuce Wraps!

Chilled Beet Soup with Dill & Beet Greens Gremolata
photo from dishingupthedirt.com

As we wrap up this week’s Cooking With the Box conversation, I want to remind you that last week’s Vegetable Feature Article All About Beets included over 20 recipe links!  If you didn’t have a chance to take a look at that article and the recipes, consider doing so this week.  I also included a link this week to Andrea Bemis’ Chilled Beet Soup with Dill & Beet Greens Gremolata, a recipe she posted on her blog this week!

Alright, I’m signing off for another week.  I hope you have a Happy 4^th of July and enjoy this week’s vegetable selections!

See you next week!---Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Sweetheart Cabbage

By:  Chef Andrea Yoder

Description: You can recognize sweetheart cabbage by its pointy head with tightly wrapped leaves.  We plant most of our cabbage for harvest in the fall as cabbage thrives and tastes better when it is grown in more cool temperatures.  However, one of the unique attributes of sweetheart cabbage is that it does fare well as an early-season cabbage, which is exactly the reason why we’ve selected it for this early summer slot.  It is known as a “salad cabbage” because the leaves are tender enough to be eaten raw in salads and the flavor is mild and well-balanced.  Another reason we grow this variety for summer harvest is that it gives us another option for a “salad green” during the part of the season when salad mix and other more delicate salad greens are more challenging to grow.

Preparation & Use: Sweetheart cabbage may be eaten raw or lightly cooked.  Lightly rinse the outer leaves before using.  If you don’t use the entire cabbage for one preparation, wrap the remaining portion of cabbage and store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.  One cabbage typically yields 7-10 cups of shredded cabbage.  You’ll be surprised by how much cabbage is packed into these dense little heads!

If you’re using it for vegetable slaws or raw salads, slice it very thinly or shred it.  If you choose to cook it, I’d recommend a quick cooking method such as stir-frying or grilling and be careful not to overcook it!

Storage: Store your sweetheart cabbage loosely wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.  While it’s not intended for long term storage, it will store for several weeks in the refrigerator.  Just don’t forget about it!

Kale Slaw with Creamy Mustard Dressing

Yield: 4-6 servings

Dressing:

2 Tbsp raw cashew butter

2 Tbsp water

1 small garlic clove, pressed

1 Tbsp unpasteurized apple cider vinegar

1 tsp ume plum vinegar 

2 Tbsp whole-grain Dijon mustard

Sea salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salad:

5 cups thinly slicked kale 

2 cups thinly sliced cabbage

1 medium carrot, cut in matchsticks

1 small bulb fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 thinly sliced scallions

2 Tbsp toasted sunflower seeds

1. Make the dressing: Place cashew butter and water in a small bowl, and mix until smooth.  Stir in garlic, vinegars, mustard, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Add olive oil, mix again until smooth and creamy, season to taste, and set aside.
2. Make the salad: Place kale, cabbage, carrot, fennel, scallions, and sunflower seeds in a large salad bowl; toss to combine.  Drizzle with dressing; toss until slaw is evenly coated and serve.

Recipe borrowed from At Home In the Whole Food Kitchen, Celebrating the Art of Eating Well by Amy Chaplin.

Coconut-Quinoa Coleslaw with Minty Tahini Dressing

Yield: 6 servings as a main dish, 8 servings as a side dish

Quinoa:

½ cup quinoa, soaked if possible

Scant 1 cup water

¼ tsp fine sea salt

Minty Tahini Dressing:

½ cup tahini

¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice

2 Tbsp cold-pressed olive oil

1 Tbsp pure maple syrup

¾ cup water

Pinch of sea salt, plus more as needed

1 packed cup fresh mint leaves

Vegetables:

4 packed cups shredded green and/or red cabbage

2 packed cups shredded kale

3 medium carrots, julienned

1 cup sugar snap peas, julienned 

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 Tbsp cold-pressed olive oil

¼ tsp fine sea salt

1 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut

1. Make the quinoa: Rinse the quinoa well.  In a small saucepan, combine the quinoa, water, and salt.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cook, covered, until all the water has been absorbed and the quinoa grains are tender, about 20 minutes.  Fluff with a fork.
2. Meanwhile, make the dressing: In a blender, combine the tahini, lime juice, olive oil, maple syrup, water, salt, and mint leaves; blend on high until smooth and creamy.  Season with more salt as needed.  Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, kale, carrots, and snap peas.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, and salt together and pour over the vegetables.  Toss well and lightly massage the liquid into the kale and cabbage, then let marinate for 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Preheat a dry skillet over medium heat.  When hot, toast the coconut, stirring often, until golden brown and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.  Immediately remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.
6. Finish the salad: Add the quinoa and coconut to the vegetable bowl.  Toss well to combine.  When ready to serve, dish out portions and allow guests to pour the dressing on their salads.

Recipe borrowed and adapted just slightly from Naturally Nourished by Sarah Britton