Thursday, June 27, 2024

June 27, 2024 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Salad Cabbage

 


What's In The Box

Salad Cabbage: This week you will receive one of two varieties of salad cabbage that we grow in early summer. “Tiara” is a round variety and “Sweetheart” is a pointy headed cabbage. Both of these varieties differ from storage cabbage in that they are more tender and mild flavored. They are great for salads, slaws, or may be lightly cooked such as in this week’s featured recipe.

Garlic Scapes: We are in our final week of garlic scapes. We plan to start harvesting fresh bulbs of garlic next week! Enjoy this final taste of fresh, bright garlic flavor in a batch of Garlic-Scape Cilantro Pesto!

Purple & White Scallions: We are nearing the end of scallions which means we’ll be switching over to fresh Sierra Blanca onions within the next week or so. Scallions are an important part of Chinese cuisine and form the base of many dishes along with garlic and ginger. Consider using scallions to make a tasty stir-fry this week!

Cauliflower or Broccoli: This week we’re harvesting our first crop of cauliflower. Despite having a bit of a wet spring, these plants are actually producing some nice cauliflower. The heads are on the small side but remember to use the stem portion along with the florets to maximize yields. We are in between two crops of broccoli this week, so the harvest has been a little light. We’ll have more coming next week.

Green and/or Slicer Cucumbers: We are pleased to see our cucumber crop kicking into production! There is a nice pile of cucumbers in your box this week to get the season started. Enjoy them as a stand-alone cucumber salad or add them to a cabbage slaw or noodle salad. You can also preserve them by making a jar of refrigerator pickles or fermenting them. 
 
Zucchini and/or Scallopini Squash: Zucchini is one way nature keeps us hydrated during the heat of summer and it’s also one of the most versatile summer vegetables! Use it in stir-fry, casseroles, salads, or baked goods. Store at room temperature as it will sustain chill injury if stored for extended time in the refrigerator.  
             
Green Top Chioggia Beets: Be careful not to confuse the radishes and the beets this week! One way to distinguish between the two is to cut open one of the roots. Chioggia beets will have candy stripes inside! To retain the stripes, it’s best to either eat them raw or roasted. Don’t forget to use the edible green tops as well!

Green Top Orange Carrots: The ultimate sign of a fresh carrot is when it still has its green tops attached! This early variety of carrot is known for being a tender carrot. Munch on them raw, add them to slaws and salads, or lightly cook them. The green tops are also edible and are packed with nutrients, so put them to use! There are recipe suggestions below.

Green Top Red Radishes: Don’t confuse this week’s radishes with the beets. When you cut into a radish it will be entirely white on the inside. Use the roots in salads, munch on them raw with a bit of salt, or if you prefer a milder radish flavor you can roast them. Don’t let those bountiful tops go to waste! Add them to a stir fry, incorporate them into a green drink, or turn them into pesto!

Cilantro: This is one of our “bread and butter” crops and we have an abundant supply right now! Cilantro is an herb that is used around the world. Add it to tacos, Vietnamese noodle salads, Indian curries, or juice it along with cucumbers and lime juice!




Vegetable Feature: Salad Cabbage

Sweetheart Cabbage
This year we have two varieties of salad cabbage, Tiara and Sweetheart. Tiara is a round cabbage and sweetheart cabbage forms a pointy head. Both are smaller varieties typically only weighing about 1¼ to 2 pounds on average. These varieties are intended to be grown as an early-season cabbage and are known as “salad cabbage” because the leaves are tender enough to be eaten raw in salads. Another reason we grow this variety for summer harvest is that it gives us another option for a “salad green” during early summer when lettuce is more difficult to grow.

Preparation & Usage
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 Tips
Store your cabbage in the refrigerator loosely wrapped in a plastic bag. If you don’t need to use the whole head at one time, just trim off the portion you need and put the remainder back in the refrigerator. If your cabbage starts to get soft or a little dehydrated, don’t throw it out! It’s still good and is perfectly usable for making soup or any other dish where you’ll be cooking the cabbage.

Health & Nutrition 
Cabbage is packed with nutrients including vitamins C and K, fiber B6 as well as antioxidants.



A Recipe For Peace: Embracing Diversity & Remembering Our Humanity

By Andrea Yoder

“You can learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together.”—Anthony Bourdain

I am not a historian, a philosopher, a scholar or an academic. I write, but I would not call myself a writer. I am not as well-read in world affairs as I should or could be. I have traveled to only three countries outside of the United States. I identify as a human being, with a heart, living in a global community and I often seek to explore and understand different parts of the world and its people through food. This is the language I speak and thankfully, food is something that is shared by every other human in the world. Our common thread.

As we started the CSA season this year, the state of the world weighed heavy on my heart—and still does. I kept thinking to myself “what can I do?” The things that are happening in the world—in Palestine, but other areas as well (Ukraine, Sudan, Congo, sadly the list goes on), are incomprehensible to me. I cannot recall where I saw this quote, but it was something like “We judge that which we do not understand.”  As I reflected on these words, I thought maybe if we can understand more about other people and where they come from, that may be the start of breaking down walls and barriers of judgement. Perhaps the effort to become more informed could be an entry point for compassion & basic considerations of humanity, the first step in a recipe for peace. 

As I started looking at recipes to feature with each week’s delivery, I was drawn to looking at other cultures to see what I might learn from other parts of the world and how they prepare vegetables and incorporate them into their meals, traditions, celebrations, etc. I started with a recipe from India, found a rhubarb stew from Persia (Iran), a simple Hungarian Kohlrabi Soup, and an Israeli Fennel, Kohlrabi and Green Onion Salad. Yes, I will definitely be featuring some Palestinian recipes as well in upcoming weeks as more summer vegetables fill our plates. I also hope to explore some other areas of the world I know nothing about with the intention to embark on a steep learning curve. Perhaps we may honor the people of Congo with some recipes that represent Congolese culture or perhaps Sudanese cuisine. There is a vast world to explore.

I do not know fully what cultures, religions, or belief systems are represented within our membership. There may be people from India, China, Argentina, Palestine, South Africa, Israel, Mexico, Korea, Greece and beyond. There may be people in our membership who are Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. There may be Muslims, Buddhists, Baptists, Mennonites, Catholics, Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, and Jews. There may be people in our membership who support abortion and those who do not. We feed everyone. We may not personally agree with everyone’s beliefs, but we invite everyone to come to our table for peaceful, respectful conversation and acknowledge the sovereign right to agree to disagree.

Can we, the people of one CSA community in the Midwest, be a representation of a world living in peace, respecting each other? Can we be a representation of humans teaching other humans how to be good humans through example? Can we sit together and share meals and food in an effort to learn each other’s stories and in doing so cultivate compassion and recognize that beneath the skin we are all the same? Can we open our hearts to share another’s pain, and can we speak up to say enough is enough? Can we lead with love even when it’s so very hard to do? I challenge myself with these questions.

I recently had the opportunity to watch a documentary entitled “Where The Olive Trees Weep: No One Is Free Until We All Are Free.” The introduction to this film reads as follows: “Where The Olive Trees Weep offers a searing window into the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. It explores themes of loss, trauma and the quest for justice…..Ancient landscapes bear deep scars, having witnessed the brutal reality of ancestral land confiscation, expulsions, imprisonment, home demolitions, water deprivation, and denial of basic human rights. Yet, through the veil of oppression, we catch a glimpse of resilience—deep roots that have carried the Palestinian people through decades of darkness and shattered lives. This emotional journey bares the humanity of the oppressed while grappling with the question: what makes the oppressor so ruthlessly blind to its own cruelty?” 

After the release of this film earlier this month, the directors hosted 21 days of discussions looking at the history and current situation of the Palestinian people. They have interviewed leaders in faith, physicians, poets, artists, lawyers, activists, psychologists, all in an effort to understand what got us to the point we are at right now while simultaneously seeking answers and direction for a peaceful way forward for all. I have watched the discussions each day and this experience has been such a gift to me and has helped me be a quick study. I have cried and allowed my heart to break over and over as the names and faces become real to me. It is no longer “Palestinians,” but rather people with names who have suffered and died. People who have risked imprisonment simply by participating in some cases. People who had to choose their words carefully for fear they would be arrested. While my heart is still very heavy, my hope in humanity is renewed. I have watched Palestinians and Israelis come together to have conversation. I have watched people of differing religions come together in prayer. We cannot assume a belief system simply because one is Israeli, Palestinian, American or anything else. Through coming together, we can work with the common thread of a longing for PEACE.

If you are interested in viewing the film, you may find more information about how to do so HERE. You will also find some helpful resources if you wish to become more involved.

As we prepare to pack this week’s CSA boxes, I am very much aware of how very blessed we are to be able to farm the land we are stewards of, to produce food for all of your tables. In a world where there are farmers without land and abandoned fields without caretakers while people face malnutrition and famine, the food we pack in CSA boxes feels even more sacred. Thank you for being part of our CSA community and our global community. May we all do our part to create a world where we are all free and live respectfully in peace, one meal at a time.



Charred Cabbage with Hazelnuts & Chile Butter

Photo from the book:  Ripe Figs: Recipes and Stories
from Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus
This week’s recipe comes from Yasmin Kahn’s beautiful book, Ripe Figs:  Recipes and Stories from Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus.  This is a book worth having on your shelf, both for the recipes Yasmin has created as well as the stories she shares that offer us insight into the history and lives of the groups of people who now call the regions of Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus home.  Yasmin states that “At the time of writing, an estimated five million refugees have come through Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus in the last five years—the biggest movement of people that Europe has seen since the Second World War.  This is a huge number by any standards, but perhaps just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the kind of migration our planet might see as the climate and financial crises escalate, or if we face another health pandemic.  Migration, and how we deal with it, is one of the key issues of our times.” 

The result of immigration from a food perspective is an intermingling of the culture, cuisine and traditions each group brings with them, their way of remembering “home.”  This week’s recipe is simple in preparation, but full of flavor and a great way to highlight our summer salad cabbages.  


Yield:  4 servings as a side dish

1-2 salad cabbage(s) (Tiara or sweetheart) (approximately 1 ¾ lb)
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp coriander seeds
¼ tsp ground allspice
4 Tbsp olive oil
Mounded ¼ cup blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped
3 Tbsp salted butter
½ tsp pul biber (Aleppo pepper), plus more to taste**
Handful of parsley leaves
Salt & Black Pepper, to taste
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. 
  2. Cut the cabbage in half, keeping the stem intact, then cut each piece into thirds so you end up with 6 thick wedges.  You’ll get some random pieces falling off, but that’s OK, you can transfer those bits straight to a rimmed baking sheet.
  3. Place the cumin and coriander seeds in a dry pan over medium heat and toast them for 1 minute or so until their aromas are released. Grind the spices in a mortar and pestle and then mix in the allspice, oil, and ½ tsp salt. Spread this spiced oil over the cabbage, using your fingers to massage it into each piece.
  4. Heat a griddle pan until it is very hot. Sear the wedges for about 4 minutes on each side until they are charred, then transfer to the baking sheet and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the stalks are soft and tender.

**NOTE:  Aleppo Pepper, aka pul biber, is a common Middle Eastern condiment and flavor enhancer.  Some describe this chile variety as having a slow-building heat with hints of cumin and a bit of fruitiness.  Aleppo Pepper is available in the United States, so you just may find it at your local spice shop or food co-op.  However, if you cannot find it you may make a comparable substitute by mixing paprika with cayenne pepper in a  4:1 ratio.  To make an amount you can work with for this recipe, mix 1 tsp of paprika with ¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper.  This amount will be sufficient for the 1/2 tsp quantity called for in the recipe with a little extra to add if you want additional flavor and/or heat. 

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