December 19, 2024 - This Week's CSA Box Contents and Recipes

 

What's In The Box

Shallots or Yellow/Red Onions: This week your box will contain either shallots or yellow/red onions, packed in a paper bag. Shallots have pink skin and are more elongated in shape. They are excellent in egg dishes, sauces, vinaigrettes, etc. Some of the yellow onions are smaller, perfect for cooking whole or cutting in half and adding to pot roast or other braised dishes. Store onions and shallots in a cool, dry location in the paper bag we’ve sent them in. If you notice any sprouts starting to form, remove the sprout and use the remainder of the onion.

Italian or Porcelain Garlic: While this year’s garlic crop was not the best we’ve ever seen, we’re grateful to have had enough to make it through to the very last box. This week we’ve packed your garlic in a small paper bag, which is appropriate for storing it in until you’re ready to use it. 

Sweet Potatoes: Store your sweet potatoes in a cool location and out of direct sunlight. If you want to maximize your yields and save some time, consider baking them all at once. Remove the cooked flesh from the skin and purée it in a food processor. Freeze the pureed sweet potatoes in smaller amounts. You can use the puree for baked goods, heat it up with a pat of butter for a side dish, or use it to make sauces, desserts or as a base for pizzas or quesadillas!

Orange Carrots: Store your carrots in the plastic bag we’ve portioned them in. These carrots will store for several months, so don’t be in a rush to eat them all! The longer you store them, they may start to grow some roots on the surface and/or you may see some browning on the skin. Regardless of these changes, the carrots are still good and just may need a little extra scrubbing and/or peeling. 

Tetsukabuto Squash: This winter squash is dark green in color and more round in shape. It’s name means “Iron helmet” in Japanese. It is a cross between a butternut squash and kabocha squash. We selected this squash specifically for this point in the season as it is known to have strong storage potential. The flavor also gets better with time as the sugars become more concentrated. The flesh is moist, rich and a golden yellow color.

Purple Viking or Russet or German Butterball Potatoes: As we wash the final bins of potatoes from storage this week, we’re grateful for this year’s potato crop. Yields were strong and storage was solid. Your box will contain one of these three varieties. Keep them in a cool, dry place and away from light. We recommend you enjoy them within the next few weeks for optimal quality.

Beauty Heart Radishes: This winter storage radish is also referred to as a “watermelon” radish, due to it’s beautiful bright pink flesh and green outer edge.  Peeling is optional, but the skin does have more of that “radish bite” in it. If you prefer a more mild radish flavor, we suggest peeling them.  Enjoy this radish in salads, stir-fry, ramen bowls, or just eat thin slices of it as a snack.

Celeriac: This humble vegetable is round and knobby. Peel away the outer skin and you’ll find a solid white interior. Use this root vegetable in raw winter slaws and salads, add it to soups and stews, roast it, or add it to root mash creations.

Green Kohlrabi: We harvested these back in late September, and they are still as crispy and juicy as the day we brought them in! The exterior appearance is not as pristine as it was at harvest, but only the exterior is affected. You may notice some browning in the areas where the scales were located. This is where the leaves grew from the kohlrabi, which is a swollen stem which grows above the ground. It is not a root vegetable. If you’re not sure what to do with it, check out the recipe inspiration in this week’s Cooking With the Box!

Parsnips: We’re not sure what happened this year, but Mother Nature got creative with the shapes of this year’s parsnip crop! While these parsnips may not be “picture perfect” per the world’s standards, once you cut them up you won’t even know they were a little odd shaped to start with. Use them in root mash, soups, roasted root blends, and even baked goods! Peeling is optional.

Red Beets: Store beets in the refrigerator in the plastic bag we’ve portioned them in for you. You may cook them with or without the peel, depending upon the intended use. While you may eat beets raw, they most often are cooked.
 
Butternut Squash or Red Cabbage: This week you’ll receive one of these two items in your box. If you notice your butternut squash has some wrinkles on the skin, please don’t throw it away. The wrinkles are due to a bit of dehydration during storage. The flesh inside is still good, but we recommend using it sooner than later. These red cabbage heads are solid and will hold well in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Recipe Suggestions & Inspiration For This Week’s Box Contents
Carrot Cake Babka
Roasted Carrot & Chickpea Buddha Bowls
Brown Sugar Carrot Cake Crepes with Cream Cheese Filling & Blueberry Sauce
Vinegret (Russian/Ukrainian Beet Salad
Beet Dressed Pasta with Golden Raisins and Poppy Seeds
Vegan Spaghetti & BeetBalls
Small Batch Beet & Cabbage Sauerkraut
Kohlrabi Bistro Salad
Simple Sautéed Kohlrabi with Pistachios and Sage
Kohlrabi Salad with Tomatoes & Sage
Sicilian Kohlrabi Linguine with Thyme, White Wine & Crème Fraiche
Kohlrabi Parmesan Bake
Butternut Squash Lasagna
Brown Rice Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Cranberries
Parsnip Morning Glory Cake
Puréed Parsnip & Cardamom Soup with Caramelized Shallots
Salmon & Parsnip Chowder
Rosemary Garlic Roasted Parsnips
Sesame Chicken & Celeriac Salad
Pizza Bianca with Shaved Celery Root
Celeriac & Peanut Stir-Fry with Ginger, Scallions & Cilantro
Sweet Potato Hummingbird Cake
Roasted Sweet Potato & Black Bean Quesadillas
Sweet Potato & Bacon Pizza
Creamy White Chili with Sweet Potatoes & White Beans
One-Pot Coconut Curry Kabocha Squash Soup
Korean-Inspired Braised Kabocha Squash
Thai Pumpkin Custard (with Kabocha Squash)
Watermelon (aka Beauty Heart) Radish Toast with Miso Honey Butter
Beauty Heart Radish Salad with Miso Maple Vinaigrette & Sesame Seeds
Watermelon (aka Beauty Heart) Radish Salad with Orange, Goat Cheese & Pistachios
The Best Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto
Crispy Butternut Squash & Sage Wontons
Golden Macaroni & Cheese with Butternut Squash Purée
Crispy Onion Fritters
Brown Rice & Lentils with /Fried Onions
Scalloped Potato Gratin
Classic Spanish Potato Fritters

It's the End of the Season!

Snow covered fields and clear blue winter skies

We have reached the end of our delivery season and we are grateful to be sending you one final box, full of vegetables, to carry you into the new year!  As we embark upon the winter season in the Midwest, seasonal eating can become a bit more challenging. Nonetheless, we encourage you to continue to eat according to what Mother Nature has provided for us, which means meals based on root vegetables, storage onions, cabbage, winter squash and other storage vegetables. As we wrap up the season and sign off, we want to leave you with a few tips and tricks to navigate the next few months of cooking and eating. 

First, embrace this season as an opportunity to be creative! Sometimes we get stuck in a rut when we are eating the same selection of vegetables over and over.  But if we challenge ourselves, there is always a new recipe or preparation technique to try. This week I provided you with a few extra recipe suggestions in the “Cooking With the Box” section. If you get in a rut this winter, refer back to this list as well as the “Cooking With the Box” lists from the past few deliveries. Perhaps one of the recipe suggestions will spark some inspiration or creativity.  

Facebook Group Suggestion

Second, don’t forget to engage with your community!  Our private CSA members, only Facebook Group, will remain active over the winter and we encourage you to participate! If you find a good recipe, post it in the group and share it with other members. If you hit a tough spot and can’t think of anything to cook, query the group and see what others are making.  Winter is also a fun time to get together with friends and families for potlucks. We have one group of CSA members in the Madison area that has been getting together every winter for decades to hold their annual “Root Party.”  Get creative and see what kinds of themed gatherings you might come up with this winter!

Be forgiving….of vegetables that my not look quite as pristine.  Vegetables are living things that continue to change over time. The longer vegetables are in storage, the greater the chance of developing some surface browning or becoming a little dehydrated as evidenced by softness or wrinkling. Over time some vegetables may start to grow some roots or start to sprout. It’s important to check in on your vegetables that are in storage.  If you do start to notice sprouting, it’s time to prioritize using that vegetable.  If you notice a bad spot starting to form, cut that part away and use the remainder before the entire vegetable is affected. If there is surface browning, peel it. If a root vegetable or winter squash starts to get soft or dehydrated, use it in a soup or braised dish or turn it into a root vegetable purée. These applications will rehydrate the vegetables so it may still be used.

View of the River from
our Campsite

And when you think you just can’t eat another carrot, sweet potato, turnip or parsnip, spring will start to unfold.  The snow will melt, the trees will start to bud, and ramps will emerge in the forest signaling the start of spring and the start of a new CSA delivery season! We hope you will join us for the 2025 season. We also hope to see some of you at the farm next year and hope you’ll consider joining us for Strawberry Day, our Fall Harvest Party or even a camping trip on your schedule so you can see where all the magic happens!

Carrot, Oat & Quinoa Breakfast Cookies

Photo Credit: 
  www.loveandlemons.com

These cookies are a convenient and nutrient dense way to start your day. They are not overly sweet and have healthy fats and protein to fuel you through your day. Plus, they are high in fiber, gluten free and dairy free which means pretty much anyone can eat them! And of course, any time you can include vegetables in the first meal of the day we consider it a bonus!

Yield:  12 large cookies

1 cup oat flour (See Note Below)

1 cup rolled oats

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp sea salt

½ cup cooked quinoa

1 cup finely shredded carrots

2 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 5 Tbsp warm water

½ cup almond butter

¼ cup coconut oil, melted 

½ cup maple syrup

½ cup nuts and/or seeds

½ cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the oat flour, the remaining 1 cup whole rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and sea salt.  Fold in the cooked quinoa and then the shredded carrots, stirring until the carrots are completely coated with flour.
3. In a small bowl, combine the flaxseed and warm water and set aside to thicken for about 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine the almond butter, coconut oil, and maple syrup and stir well to incorporate. Stir in the flaxseed mixture.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and fold until just combined. Stir in the nuts and/or seeds and cranberries.
5. Scoop about ¼ cup of batter for each cookie onto the baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
6. When cookies are completely cool, they may be stored in an airtight container or frozen.

Note: You can either purchase oat flour or make your own. To make 1 cup of oat flour, put 1 ¼ cups of rolled oats in a food processor or blender and process until it becomes a fine flour.

Recipe sourced from www.loveandlemons.com.

Healing Lentil Beet Soup

Photo Sourced from
 www.feastingathome.com

This is a simple soup recipe, perfect for a cold winter night.  The author of this recipe offered the following comments: “Here’s a delicious pot of soup to start the New Year off in a vibrant, healthy way.  This healing lentil beet soup recipe is loaded up with liver-healing beets and packed with antioxidants that aid the liver in detoxing and purifying our bodies. They contain a powerful anti-inflammatory agent called betaine, a nutrient that protects cells and helps fight inflammation, soothing and healing our bodies. When you drink the beet broth, it feels as if you are giving your liver such an amazing gift!”  

Yield:  4 servings

2 tsp olive oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

3-4 cloves garlic cloves, rough chopped

½ cup dry, whole lentils (do not use split lentils)

4 cups veggie stock

2-3 cups grated raw beets

1 tsp salt, plus more to taste

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1 lemon

Garnishes (Optional)

Fresh Herbs (Dill, parsley, or cilantro), roughly chopped (optional)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pomegranate Seeds

1. Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Sauté shallot for 2-3 minutes, then add garlic. Sauté 2 more minutes until golden and fragrant. Add lentils, stock, beets, salt, cumin, and coriander. Bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes, or until lentils are cooked through and tender.  If using larger lentils you will need to cook longer, so keep simmering, covered, until tender.
2. When lentils are tender, squeeze in the juice from one lemon.
3. Taste and adjust salt and spices to your liking.
4. Serve with fresh herbs, a drizzle of olive oil and/or pomegranate seeds if you wish.

Recipe sourced from www.feastingathome.com.