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

July 20, 2017: This Week's Box Contents, Featuring Sweetheart Cabbage

Cooking with this week’s box……

This week I want to introduce you to Alexandra Stafford, the blog writer behind alexandracooks.com.  Alexandra lives in Upstate New York with her husband and four kids.  She stays busy cooking with the vegetables from her own CSA share and shares her recipes on her blog.  She also writes for Food52.com and recently published a cookbook about bread.  Both of the recipes featured in this week’s newsletter come from her blog.  So lets dive into the box and talk about this week’s featured vegetable first, Sweetheart Cabbage! 

The first recipe in this week’s newsletter is Alexandra’s Thai-Style Slaw with (or without) Chicken. (See Below) It makes a nice main dish salad as it is light enough for a hot summer evening but filling enough to satisfy you.  In addition to the cabbage, this slaw also uses carrots, snow peas and the green tops from the Cipollini onions as well as sliced onion.  This recipe does make about 8 cups of slaw, so if you are a smaller household you will have leftovers or may want to cut the recipe in half.  The slaw is delicious to eat as it is the next day, or repurpose it into spring rolls!  They are pretty quick and easy to make and transport well if you want to take them for your lunch.  If you’ve never worked with rice spring roll wrappers, be patient with yourself.  Your first few will likely tear, but that happens to everyone and you can usually stick them back together.  The other recipe option to consider using your cabbage for this week is The Simplest Slaw, (See Below) which is also featured in the newsletter.  As the name indicates…it is a very simple recipe!  It will leave you with a bowl of creamy cabbage slaw that will make a nice accompaniment to a grilled burger, pan-fried fish, or a barbecued pulled pork sandwich.

Alexandra has some other interesting vegetable focused recipes I’d like to highlight.  You know those bushy carrot tops I’m always encouraging you to eat?  Well you can always fall back on pesto or chimichurri, but here’s another idea to try.  Alexandra has a recipe for Fried Greens Meatless Balls.  This recipe calls for a lot of greens, so you could use the carrot tops along with chard if you like, or any beet tops, amaranth or other greens you might have remaining from last week’s delivery.  There are some good ideas for variations in the comments listed below the recipe, so you might want to peruse them to see what other people have tried.  These Fried Greens Meatless Balls would pair nicely with Alexandra’s New Potatoes with Green Harissa.  These tasty potatoes will make good use of basil and any other herbs you have available from your herb garden.  The recipe calls for 1 pound of potatoes, but you have 2 pounds in your box.  You can either double the recipe if you’re feeding more people, or use the other pound of potatoes to make Crushed Potatoes with Cream and Garlic.  This is a recipe from Nigel Slater’s cookbook that we featured in a previous newsletter.  They are an excellent accompaniment to steak or roasted chicken.

The red chard this week is one of my favorite box contents!  I’ve had my eye on Alexandra’s Swiss Chard Salad with Lemon,Parmesan and Breadcrumbs for awhile now.  Chard is usually eaten cooked, but it is tender enough to eat raw if you slice it thinly.  This could easily become a main dish salad by adding some protein such as chicken, tuna or some chickpeas or white beans. 

During the summer we often have sandwiches, good for dinner and easy to make again for lunch the next day.  This week I’m going to use the baby arugula to make Skirt Steak Sandwiches with Herbed Mayonnaise and Arugula. You’ll need to pick a few more herbs from your herb garden to make the mayonnaise.  Serve these sandwiches with Alexandra’s Cucumber and Feta Salad.  This recipe is part of another recipe, so scroll all the way to the bottom of the blog post and you’ll find it. 

What shall we do with the zucchini this week?  Well, I haven’t made zucchini fritters yet this year, so I think it’s time.  Check out Alexandra’s recipe for Zucchini Fritters with Tzatziki.  Her Tzatziki doesn’t call for cucumbers, but I think I’ll dice some up and add it in. 

Lastly, we need to use the broccoli!  I’m saving some of the broccoli to make this Summer Breakfast Strata.  It calls for a small head of broccoli and some zucchini.  I may substitute more broccoli for some or all of the squash and might even add some mushrooms.  Her recipe calls for garlic scapes, but the fresh Italian garlic will be a great substitute.  We’ll enjoy this for Sunday brunch along with a few pieces of bacon and fresh fruit. 

Lastly, before next week’s box rolls around I’ll pull out all the odds and ends of vegetables remaining and turn them into stir-fry.  I’m going to use Alexandra’s Stir-Fried Veggies and Tofu recipe that has a simple 5-ingredient sauce to put on the stir-fry.  Richard isn’t a big fan of tofu, so I’ll probably substitute chicken instead. 

There you have it…this week’s box is all used up.  Thank you Alexandra for helping us find a use for everything in the box!  Now it’s time to start planning what to do with the tomatoes, eggplant and peppers that we’ll be picking very soon!  Have a great week and have fun cooking!—Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature:  Sweetheart Cabbage

Sweetheart cabbage is a unique cabbage both in appearance as well as other characteristics.  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.  One of the unique attributes of sweetheart cabbage is that it does fare well as an early-season cabbage.  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 where salad mix and lettuce are not available.  You can recognize sweetheart cabbage by its pointy head with tightly wrapped leaves. 

Sweetheart cabbage may be eaten raw or lightly cooked.  I recommend slicing it thinly or shredding it for use in vegetable slaws or other raw salads.  It can also be used to make spring rolls (see this week’s recipe) or you may use the leaves as a wrap in place of tortillas or bread.  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!   

Store your sweetheart cabbage loosely wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.  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 6-8 cups of shredded cabbage.

Thai-Style Slaw with (or without) Chicken 

Yield: 6 servings

2 chicken breasts, about 1 lb., (optional)

6-8 cups shredded cabbage

2 Tbsp olive oil

½ tsp kosher salt

1 cup thinly sliced snow or sugar snap peas*

2 to 3 carrots, thinly sliced or shredded

6 scallions, thinly sliced (May substitute the green onion tops in this week’s box)

1 small bunch cilantro, roughly chopped to yield about 1 cup

1 small red onion or purple cipollini onion, thinly sliced

¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice and the zest of 2 limes

1 Tbsp fish sauce

1 ½ Tbsp sugar 

½ tsp Sriracha, plus more to taste

*Note from Chef Andrea:  The original recipe called for red peppers, but the author encourages you to substitute whatever vegetables you have in season.  I chose to use snow peas in place of the peppers.

1. If you are using the chicken, bring a small pot of water to a boil and salt the water as if you were going to boil pasta.  Drop in the chicken breasts. Cover the pot. Remove pot from heat. Let stand 15 minutes. Uncover. Remove breasts. Let cool briefly. Pull/shred into pieces.
2. Meanwhile, cut the cabbage in quarters and remove the core. Thinly slice the cabbage and place in a large bowl. Pour in the oil. Sprinkle evenly with the salt. Massage the cabbage with your hands. Really squeeze it firmly until it shrinks in size and becomes more saturated in hue.
3. To the bowl of cabbage, add the peas*, carrots, scallions, cilantro, and red onion. Add the chicken, if using.
4. Make the dressing: Stir together the lime juice, lime zest, fish sauce, sugar, and Sriracha. Pour over the bowl of vegetables. Toss to coat evenly. Taste. Adjust with more salt or Sriracha as needed.

Chef Andrea’s Variations:  This recipe was written by Alexandra Stafford and was featured on her blog, alexandracooks.com.  The actual recipe may be found at Food52.com.  It is delicious as it was originally written, however here are a few variations you might want to consider trying.  

Chef Andrea's Spring Rolls with a Basil leaf added!

• In addition to the cilantro, add fresh basil and/or mint to the slaw.
• Consider garnishing the slaw with chopped roasted peanuts or cashews
• If you have any leftover slaw, repurpose it the next day to make fresh spring rolls using rice paper wrappers.  Simply soak the rice wrappers in water for 20-30 seconds to soften them, then put some of the slaw in the middle of the wrapper and roll it tightly like a burrito.  If you plan to do this with the leftovers, I’d recommend saving about ¼ to ⅓ of the dressing to use as a dipping sauce with the spring rolls. 

Simplest Cabbage Slaw

Yield:  4 to 6 servings

½ cup sour cream

½ cup buttermilk

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, plus more to taste

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste

1 small head cabbage, cored and finely shredded

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1. Whisk together the sour cream, buttermilk, vinegar, sugar, and salt. Taste. For more bite, add another teaspoon of vinegar. Stir and taste again. Adjust with more salt if necessary.
2. In a large bowl, toss together the cabbage and onion. Add the dressing and toss to coat. Taste. Adjust with more salt if needed.

This recipe was written by Alexandra Stafford and may be found on her blog, alexandracooks.com.  This is a simple, basic slaw recipe that you can tweek to your liking.  Add some shredded carrots or chopped fresh herbs if you’d like.  Or, just keep it simple.

Featured Vegetable this Week: SWEETHEART CABBAGE

by Andrea Yoder

This summer cabbage has become one of our favorites over the past several years since we started growing it. Not all cabbages fare well in the early part of the season, so we save the bulk of our cabbage plantings for the fall when the weather is more cool and the cabbages thrive. Sweetheart cabbage is a little different though. It’s characterized by a pointy head with tightly wrapped leaves. It is known as a salad cabbage and has a mild, sweet flavor with tender leaves. It grows well even in the early part of the summer.

Sweetheart cabbage is characterized by a pointy head.

Since sweetheart cabbage is known as a salad cabbage, it can be used in a variety of raw preparations. I recommend slicing it thinly or shredding it for use in vegetable slaws or other raw salads. It can also be used in spring rolls, or use the leaves as a wrap in place of tortillas or bread. Sweetheart cabbage is also tasty when lightly cooked. It’s an excellent candidate for a stir-fry alongside a host of other early summer vegetables including snow peas, broccoli, carrots, onions, garlic and summer squash. You could also use it in a filling for egg rolls or just simply saute it with butter and fresh garlic.

Store your sweetheart cabbage loosely wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. 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.

Thai Beef Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

This recipe was adapted from The Frog Commissary Cookbook. It is a simple way to turn leftover steak into the next day’s lunch or a quick summer dinner. Feel free to substitute or add other vegetables to the mix as they are available, such as sweet peppers, broccoli, kohlrabi, etc.

Thai Beef Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

4 to 6 servings

Spicy Peanut Dressing:

½ cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar

⅓ cup sunflower oil

1 tsp salt

2 tsp maple syrup 

1 tsp minced garlic

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 ¼ tsp soy sauce

1 ¼ tsp siracha or hot sauce (optional) 

2 tsp minced fresh ginger

2 Tbsp lime juice

½ cup chopped salted, roasted peanuts

Salad: 

12-16 oz cooked, rare steak (sirloin, flank or other of your choosing), cut into 1 ½” x ¼” strips 

1 large or 2 small cucumbers, cut into bite-sized chunks

1 cup snow peas, stems removed, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 cup shredded carrots

2 cups finely sliced sweetheart cabbage

¾ cup thinly sliced onion

4 oz salad mix, lettuce or other salad greens

1. Prepare the dressing by whisking together all the ingredients (except for the peanuts). Refrigerate until ready to use. Stir in the peanuts just before serving.

2. About 10 minutes before serving, combine all the veggies, except for the salad mix, in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss the vegetables with enough of the dressing so that everything is lightly coated. Portion the salad greens onto individual serving plates. Top the greens with some of the vegetable mixture, slices of beef, and chopped peanuts. Drizzle with more of the dressing.