Harmony Valley Farm: June 2, 2022 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Pea Vine

This week’s box of vegetables is packed with all kinds of possibility! What am I saying? Every box is packed with possibility! I have to admit I have some seasonal favorite recipes that I look forward to every year such as Pea Vine Cream Cheese (see below) and White Turnip Salad with Miso Ginger Vinaigrette. I also know we have some members who look forward to making this Sesame Soy Hon Tsai Tai & Chicken Salad every year. With specialty greens such as pea vine and hon tsai tai, you have to seize the moment and make your favorites because they are only available for 1-3 weeks at most! This week we are featuring the delicate Pea Vine. While I have my favorite recipes from past years, I was also excited to create a new way to use pea vine. This week’s featured recipe for Green Curry with Pea Vine & Rhubarb (See below) was a recipe I came up with as Richard and I were doing our Sunday afternoon tour through the fields to check on crops. I wanted to challenge myself to use both pea vine and rhubarb in the same recipe in new ways.

We are excited that our rhubarb field is producing so well this year and we’re able to include it in your boxes for a third week! I went kind of crazy finding new recipes and ways to use rhubarb in hopes that perhaps you’ll find a new favorite rhubarb recipe. If you want a simple recipe, try this Rosemary Lemon Rhubarb Spritzer. If you’re up for a bit more fancy recipe, try either the Cardamom Crème Brûlée Tarts with Roasted Rhubarb or Rhubarb Braised Beef with Rhubarb Kimchi. If you need something in between, go for the Rhubarb Raspberry Bread Pudding. If none of those appeal to you, invite a few friends to hang out with you on the patio and use the rhubarb to make these Rhubarb and Rose Ramos Gin Fizz cocktails!

What are you going to do with those pretty little, pristine baby white turnips? Well, I often don’t get past sautéing them with butter, salt and pepper. They are so tasty on their own they don’t need much added to them! That being said, two of my favorite recipes from past years include Turnip Greens Pesto Pizza and of course the White Turnip Salad with Miso Ginger Vinaigrette. I also found this recipe for Radish & Turnip Hash with Green Garlic. This is the perfect CSA Box recipe for this week and will be on the menu for Sunday brunch!

Photo from thekitchn.com

Speaking of brunch, if you are not already including vegetables in your breakfasts throughout the week, I challenge you to find some creative ways to do so. It’s a great way to start your day and will help you successfully eat through the CSA box each week. Try something like the Radish & Turnip Hash with Green Garlic or Tartine Style Roasted Asparagus and Spring Onion Croque Monsieur. If those recipes require more time than you have in the morning, just keep it simple and add vegetables to scrambled eggs. This week’s box has lots of options for doing this including asparagus, green onions, green garlic, spinach, arugula, turnip tops, radish tops or pea vine! You can also blend some greens into a smoothie or spread Pea Vine Cream Cheese on a bagel. See what you can come up with and share your ideas with us in our private Facebook Group. I can’t wait to see how you start your day!

Ok, that’s a wrap for this week. As we turn the page on the calendar to June, we have a lot to look forward to. Of course, June is the month for strawberries, but we’re also looking forward to kohlrabi, salad cabbages, garlic scapes and the first zucchini & cucumbers! Have a good week and I’ll see you next time.

Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Pea Vine

by Andrea Yoder

This week we continue our spring leafy greens extravaganza with pea vine! This is another unique green that holds a very specific spot in our seasonal greens line up. Pea Vine is an immature pea plant that is harvested before the vine starts to develop blossoms. It is more of a delicate green with a mild, sweet pea flavor. It may be eaten raw or lightly cooked and is packed with nutrients that will leave you feeling invigorated!

Pea Vine in the field

Unless you go to a regional food co-op that carries our products, you will seldom find pea vine in the grocery store. You may find pea shoots that are more like a sprout. While our pea vine is still an immature plant, it is more developed than pea shoots. The tendrils and leaves are tender, but the main stem of the plant can sometimes get tough depending on how mature the plant is at harvest. Most of the upper stem is still tender while the mid to lower portion may be a little more coarse. In past years we’ve had members comment that the pea vine is “stringy.” There are several ways to deal with this issue and still extract full flavor and benefit from the pea vine. The first option is to pick the tender leaves, tendrils and thin stems off the main stem. You can use those in salads, lightly cook them, or add them to fresh beverages like smoothies or green juice drinks. Do not throw the stem away as it still has flavor that can be extracted! Simmer the stems in hot broth, sauces, or soups to extract the flavor, then discard the stems.

Another alternative is to use pea vine in some way where you blend or chop the leaves and stems in a food processor or blender. This is not only a quick way to prepare pea vine, but it also maximizes the yield and benefit you get from this green. I typically still discard the lower few inches of the bunch if that portion of the stem is more tough, but I utilize the remainder of the plant. If it is chopped very finely using a blender or food processor, you can turn it into pesto, add it to smoothies, incorporate it into soups, or make Pea Vine Cream Cheese (one of our favorite farm recipes!).

If you are using pea vine in sauces, soups or broth, I recommend rough chopping the pea vine into smaller pieces and adding it to hot broth or a sauce base. Let the pea vine simmer briefly to extract the flavor, but don’t overcook it or you’ll lose the bright pea flavor. When I say simmer briefly, it only takes a few minutes to wilt the pea vine in a hot liquid or a hot pan if you are using the leaves. The stems may take a few minutes more. Once you’ve infused the flavor of the pea vine into the sauce or broth, you can strain it out to remove it. If you’d like to extract just a little more flavor, blend the mixture before straining it.

Pea vine goes well with cream, butter, cheese, pancetta, prosciutto, bacon and ham, eggs, lemon, lime, mint, parsley, chives, spring onions, green garlic, radishes, asparagus, and mushrooms. You may use it in fresh salads, pasta, or rice dishes, brothy soups like miso soup or a ramen bowl, or creamy soups. This week I decided to turn it into a green curry dish, inspired by Thai cuisine, but by no means an authentic Thai recipe! Sometimes Thai recipes call for tamarind, a tropical ingredient with a sweet and sour flavor. While we can’t grow tamarind in Wisconsin, we can get the same effect with rhubarb! In this recipe rhubarb is cooked in coconut milk and then the hot mixture is blended with raw pea vine. The cooking time once the pea vine is added is minimal which helps to maintain the bright, subtle flavor of peas.

Store pea vine loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator until ready for use. Wash it in a sink of cold water before using. If you are going to sauté it in oil or use it in a fresh greens salad, shake off the excess moisture or put it in a salad spinner first.

Green Curry with Pea Vine & Rhubarb

Yield: 6 servings

2 Tbsp Sunflower Oil

16 oz Chicken Breast*

3-4 pieces Green Garlic or Green Onions

1 Tbsp Fresh Ginger, minced

1 ½ cups Asparagus, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 cup Baby White Turnips, medium dice

1 jar (4 oz) Green Curry Paste

2 cans (13.5 fl oz) Coconut Milk

2 cups Rhubarb, medium dice

1 bu Pea Vine

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce

1-2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

Salt and Black Pepper, to taste

Cooked Jasmine or Basmati Rice or Rice Noodles

*Note: If you prefer to make this dish vegetarian, substitute firm tofu or mushrooms in place of the chicken.

Place coconut milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the green curry paste then add the rhubarb. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the rhubarb is soft, approximately 10-15 minutes.
Remove from heat and set aside for a moment. Roughly chop the washed pea vine and place it in a blender or food processor. Depending upon the size of your machine, you may need to work in two batches. Carefully pour the hot coconut milk mixture over the pea vine. Blend until the mixture is smooth. If you have a powerful blender that is able to process the pea vine and rhubarb into a smooth mixture, you may choose to use it just as it is. If your mixture is more coarse than you like it, pour it through a strainer. Set the coconut milk mixture aside.
In a large sauté pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned on one side, then stir to release the pieces from the bottom of the pan and brown the other side.
Finely mince the lower white portion of the green garlic or green onions. Thinly slice the green tops and set aside. Once the chicken is browned, add the minced white portion of the green garlic/onions and ginger to the pan with the chicken. Sauté for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the quartered turnips and asparagus. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, then add the coconut milk mixture along with soy sauce, 1 Tbsp maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Remove from heat and adjust seasoning to your liking with additional salt, pepper, soy sauce and/or maple syrup.
Serve over hot cooked rice or rice noodles.
Garnish with the sliced green garlic or green onions.

Recipe by Andrea Yoder

Pea Vine Cream Cheese

Yield: 2 cups

4 cups pea vine, roughly chopped and packed (approximately 1 bunch)

3 Tbsp sunflower oil

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp salt

8 oz cream cheese, softened

½ cup green onion, minced

Roughly chop one bunch of pea vine and put it in the bowl of a food processor. Add the oil, vinegar, and salt. Pulse the food processor a few times to start chopping the pea vine. Continue to run the food processor until the pea vine is processed to a very fine texture.
Cut the softened cream cheese into cubes and add it to the food processor. Process briefly, just enough to gently incorporate the cream cheese into the pea vine mixture.
Scrape the cream cheese mixture into a bowl. Fold in the minced green onion. Refrigerate the cream cheese mixture for 1-2 hours or overnight to allow the flavors to develop before you use the cream cheese.

**Note** Any extra cream cheese mixture can be used in a variety of ways. A few ideas include: Spread it on your morning bagel; Serve it with grilled chicken breast; Spread it on a grilled flat bread and top with raw, fresh vegetables for a raw pizza.

Recipe by Andrea Yoder

1 comment:

Pamela S said...: Yum! This pea vine cream cheese is delicious!; June 8, 2022 at 12:19 PM