Harmony Valley Farm: August 3, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Edamame

This is a big week for sweet corn harvest, as well as green beans and edamame! We are also starting to see more tomatoes coming in, and it won’t be long until we have melons! But for this week we’re turning our focus to Edamame! These sweet beans are great to eat as a snack, or incorporate them into other preparations such as this week’s Asian Edamame Crunch Salad (See Below). I also included a recipe for Edamame with Spicy Garlic Sauce, in case you’d like more finger food.

This week I started sprinkling in some tomato recipes, but get ready because there will be many more tomatoes yet to come! For this week though, consider starting with this article for Our 59 Best Cherry Tomato Recipes for Summer and Beyond. While we don’t technically grow Cherry Tomatoes, you can substitute any of our smaller varieties when a recipe calls for them. Of course, you could pair them with some fresh sweet corn for this Sweet Corn Frittata with Cherry Tomato Compote.

As for the zucchini, I went looking for more dessert options for utilizing them and was pleasantly surprised to find some interesting things. Perhaps you want to try Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Brownies; Peanut Butter Zucchini Cake; Apple Zucchini Crumb Bars or Brown Butter Zucchini Carrot Cake!

I’m going to close out there for today but get ready! I’ll be back next week with more tomatoes, possibly some shelling beans, eggplant and maybe even a few melons!

Have a good week-----Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Edamame

by Andrea Yoder

Edamame (eh-dah-MAH-may) is a fresh soybean that has grown in popularity in the United States over the past few years but has been a part of Japanese and Chinese cuisine for much longer. True edamame intended for fresh eating is quite different than oil-seed soybeans and tofu beans most often grown to make tofu and other processed soy products. The edamame varieties we grow were developed specifically because they produce a sweet bean that doesn’t have a “beany” aftertaste and is the preferred variety in Japan and China for fresh eating. Seed varieties for tofu beans are typically much less expensive than varieties for fresh eating, thus in this country the edamame found in the frozen section, either in the pod or shelled, is likely a tofu bean with that “beany” aftertaste. We actually save our own seed, which still comes at a cost, but allows us to grow our preferred, clean tasting varieties.

Edamame resembles a small lima bean encased in a pod. The beans are sweet and tender and best eaten lightly cooked. Unlike sugar snap peas, edamame pods are not edible and should be discarded. Edamame is hard to shell when it’s raw. It is easiest to cook edamame in its pod first and then remove the beans from the pod. To cook edamame, rinse the pods thoroughly with cold water. Bring a pot of heavily salted water (salty like the sea) to a boil. Add the edamame and boil for about 3-4 minutes. You should see the pods change to a bright green color. Remove the edamame from the boiling water and immediately put them in ice water or run cold water over them to quickly cool them. After the beans are cooked you can easily squeeze the pod to pop the beans out, either into a bowl or directly into your mouth! Once you’ve removed them from the pods, they are ready to incorporate into a recipe or eat as a snack.

You can also roast edamame in their pods. There’s a basic recipe on our website, but basically you toss the edamame pods with oil and seasonings of your choice. Serve the beans whole with their pods still on. While you won’t eat the pod, you can use your teeth to pull the edamame out of the pod and in the process, you’ll pick up the seasoning on the outside of the pod!

Edamame is often eaten as a simple snack, but you can also incorporate it into vegetable or grain salads, stir-fry, fried rice, ramen bowls, steamed dumplings, or pot stickers to name just a few suggestions. They pair well with any combination of traditional Asian ingredients such as sesame oil, soy sauce and ginger. They are also a nice, bright addition to brothy soups such as miso soup. If you follow the suggested method for boiling edamame before shelling them, the bean will already be fully cooked, so if you are adding edamame to a hot dish or recipe, do so at the end of the cooking.

You can store fresh or cooked edamame for up to a week in the refrigerator, but it is best to eat them soon for the sweetest flavor and best texture. If you want to preserve edamame for later use, simply follow the cooking procedure above, then freeze the beans either in their pods or remove them and freeze just the bean. It’s fun to pull something green out of the freezer in the winter to enjoy it as a snack or incorporate into a winter stir-fry or pan of fried rice.

Asian Edamame Crunch Salad

Photo from www.choosingchia.com

Yield: 4 servings

2 cups of shelled edamame

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup shredded purple cabbage

2 green onions, chopped

¼ cup roasted cashews, chopped

¼ cup cilantro, coarsely chopped

Sesame Dressing:

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 Tbsp rice vinegar or lime juice

2 tsp tamari or soy sauce

1 tsp maple syrup

2 tsp grated ginger

Salt & black pepper, to taste

In a large mixing bowl, combine edamame, quinoa, bell pepper, carrots, purple cabbage, green onions, cashews, and cilantro. Toss gently to combine.
Prepare the dressing by mixing olive oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar, tamari, maple syrup, ginger, salt, and pepper together in a small cup or jar.
Pour the dressing onto the salad and mix together to combine and serve.
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Recipe borrowed from www.choosingchia.com/asian-edamame-crunch-salad.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Let me tell ya, I really look forward to Thursdays in the summer; August 3, 2023 at 5:26 PM