Cooking With This Week's Box
Wild Ramps: Ramped
Up Mac & Cheese (see below); Ramp Pesto; Ramp Butter; Nettle & Mushroom Pizza with Ramp Cream; Creamed Spinach
& Ramps; Spring Spinach Chop Salad with Creamy Buttermilk Ramp Dressing
Overwintered Spinach: Ramped Up Mac & Cheese (see below); Nettle
Soup (see below); Creamed Spinach & Ramps; Spring Spinach Chop Salad with Creamy Buttermilk Ramp Dressing; Vegan Spinach & Chive Pesto
Overwintered Parsnips: Parsnips with Brown Butter, Pecans and Maple; Parsnip, Lemon & Poppy Seed Muffins with Lemon Drizzle
 |
| Chef/Farmer Andrea receiving the ramp harvest! |
So, lets get started.
First up this week are RAMPS! We
weren’t sure the season would extend into our first delivery week, but we got
lucky and they are actually in their peak this week! I have to admit, it’s been a super busy
spring and I’ve had to turn to more quick and easy cooking because I simply don’t
have time to spend hours in the kitchen right now.
One evening a week or two ago I needed to put
dinner on the table quickly and I really just needed a little bit of
convenience. I reached for a box of
macaroni and cheese, but aside from being convenient, I wasn’t very excited about
having it for dinner until I decided to ramp it up. So, this week one of the recipes I’m sharing
with you is for Ramped Up Mac & Cheese (see below). With just a little extra effort, you can
transform a simple package of macaroni and cheese into something worth eating
by adding sautéed ramps and greens. The
recipe calls for half a bunch of ramps, which is a good amount for someone
trying ramps for the first time. If
you’re a seasoned ramp veteran, don’t be afraid to use an entire bunch! Of course, there are many other things you
can do with ramps. Ramp Pesto and Ramp Butter are two of my standard “go-to” recipes each spring and serve as ways I can
preserve the ramp flavor. Both of these
items can be frozen for use later in the winter. Once you’ve made ramp pesto, you can use it
in a variety of ways. Add a spoonful
into scrambled eggs, cooked rice or pasta or use it as a base for pizza, spread
it on toast, or serve it with grilled steak or salmon. Ramp butter can be used in a variety of ways
as well. Of course it’s delicious spread
on toast or bagels, but you can also use it in some other less traditional
ways. Tuck it under the skin of a whole
chicken before you roast it, melt a pat of ramp butter on top of a hot steak,
or use it to butter cornbread, savory pancakes, etc.
 |
| Making Ramp Pesto! |
 |
| Nettle & Mushroom Pizza with Ramp Cream |
Ramps pair so nicely with other spring vegetables and
this recipe for Nettle & Mushroom Pizza with Ramp Cream has received rave reviews over the past few years. Make sure you read our blog post from several years ago before you start handling nettles. Nettles are eaten in other parts of the world
and soup is a common way to enjoy them.
The recipe for Nettle Soup
(see below) in this week’s newsletter comes from Fire & Ice, a new cookbook
I picked up this winter that features recipes from several Scandinavian
countries. This recipe is perfect for
this box as you can utilize 4 different vegetables in one preparation! This recipe calls for 12 ounces of
nettles. Each bunch of nettles will
yield about 5-6 ounces, so you can make up the difference with spinach. The recipe calls for green onions. You can substitute ramps and/or green garlic
if you don’t have green onions. This is
a pretty lean soup that gets its richness not only from the cream, but from the
fact that it’s so packed with nutrients and flavor!
Overwintered vegetables are very
important part of our early season CSA boxes.
You’ll find overwintered vegetables to be more flavorful and sweet. When I first started working here, one of the
first greens I had available to cook with was overwintered spinach. I created this recipe for Creamed Spinach & Ramps which is still a favorite 13 years later!
Of course you can also enjoy this flavorful spinach as a fresh, raw
salad. This Spring Spinach Chop Salad with Creamy Buttermilk Ramp Dressing is a great option.
 |
| Parsnip, Lemon & Poppy Seed Muffins with Lemon Drizzle Photo from veggiedesserts.com |
Spring-dug, overwintered parsnips are so sweet and
delicious. One of my favorite ways to
prepare these is Parsnips with Brown Butter, Pecans and Maple. These are a nice accompaniment to ham or
grilled pork chops, but you could also serve them with corn pancakes. If you are looking for a little different use
for parsnips, check out this recipe for Parsnip, Lemon & Poppy Seed Muffins with Lemon Drizzle. I tried this recipe last year and it was a
hit!
Overwintered sunchokes are the other spring-dug root
vegetable we turn to in the early part of our season. Sunchokes are also known as Jerusalem
artichokes. They do contain inulin which
is a non-digestible fiber that can cause abdominal discomfort if you eat too
much at one time. So, I recommend you
try sunchokes in small amounts. Several
years ago I developed this recipe for Chili & Lime Sunchoke Salsa. You use it more as a condiment, so just a few
tablespoons at a time. It’s a great
topping for tacos or served on top of a piece of fish or chicken. I also keep coming back to a recipe I created
back in my early days. Chili-Roasted Sunchokes. Sunchokes have a pretty high moisture
content, so when you roast them they get crispy and crunchy on the outside, but
the inside gets light and fluffy.
 |
| Vegan Spinach & Chive Pesto, photo from food52.com |
You may have noticed by now that our early season boxes
are heavy on onion/garlic selections! So
lets talk about what you’re going to do with the chives in this week’s box.
Chives may be used as a vegetable, but they’re usually thought of as an herb
that is used in smaller quantities.
Don’t be afraid to go all out and use chives in larger quantities so
they don’t go to waste! This recipe for Vegan Spinach & Chive Pesto can come together very quickly and can be tossed with pasta for a quick
dinner. Every year I also have to
mention Richard’s favorite spring uses for chives, Chive & Parmesan Popcorn! If you make it like Richard does, you’ll have
to use a spoon to eat it!
 |
| Feremented Hot Green Garlic photo by Ted Cavanaugh for bonappetit.com |
This is the time of year when I transition from using
stored bulbs of garlic to fresh green garlic.
I use green garlic anytime a recipe call for garlic. I also came across this recipe for Fermented Hot Green Garlic and I want to try this this year. The
recipe calls for the equivalent of about 2 bunches of green garlic. You can either save your bunch from this week
and pair it with next week’s bunch of green garlic, or you can cut the recipe
in half. This is a great way to preserve
something in this week’s box!
That brings us to the bottom of our first CSA box of the
season! I know some of the vegetables in
this week’s box may be new to you, but hopefully I’ve given you a few ideas to
get started with. Many of the recipes I
referenced this week are recipes I created and/or that I’ve been using myself
for many years. Don’t forget I am a
resource for you, so if you have a question that isn’t answered in the
resources available on our bog and/or website, feel free to send me an email (andrea@harmonyvalleyfarm.com).
Have a great week and get ready to start cooking with
sorrel and asparagus next week!—Chef Andrea
Vegetable Feature: Wild Ramps!
Ramps have an onion-like bulb that tapers into a stem supporting delicate, lily-like rounded leaves. While they resemble an onion, they are really more than “just another onion.” Ramps have a distinct aroma and flavor that cannot be duplicated by any other vegetable. It’s hard to describe their flavor, other than to say they are distinctly rampy!
 |
| Ramps growing wild in the woods |
Ramps are a delicate vegetable and should be handled with care. It’s important to store them in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them. We recommend wrapping them in a damp towel and storing them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. The bulb portion of the ramp will store longer than the leaves, so some people choose to separate the bulb from the leaf and store them separately.
 |
| Spaghetti with Ramps & Mushrooms |
If you are trying ramps for the first time, start with something as simple as adding them to your scrambled eggs. You can also find ramp recipes we’ve featured in previous newsletters in our searchable recipe database on our website. Here are a few of my favorite ramp recipes that I look forward to every year:
- Ramp Pesto
- Nettle & Mushroom Pizza with Ramp Cream
- Ramp Butter
- Creamy Buttermilk Ramp Dressing
- Ramp Deviled Eggs
- Creamed Ramps & Spinach
- Spaghetti with Ramps & Mushrooms
We hope you too come to value and appreciate this unique spring vegetable and the place it holds in our line-up of seasonal vegetables available to us in the Midwest. It will be here and gone quickly, so enjoy them while they are here, for it will be another full year before we see them again!
Ramped Up Mac & Cheese
1 box (6 oz) macaroni & cheese
6 cups water
4 Tbsp butter
½ bunch ramps
2 cups roughly chopped spinach
½ cup milk, plus more as needed
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
1. In a large saucepan over high heat, bring 6 cups of water to a rolling boil. Stir in the pasta and boil gently for 6-8 minutes. It should be just slightly undercooked when you remove the pasta from the heat and drain it in a strainer. It will finish cooking in the cheese sauce.
5. Add the cooked pasta along with a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Return the pan to a simmer and cook for a few more minutes or until the sauce has thickened a bit and the pasta is fully cooked. You may add milk as needed to thin the sauce further.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and taste. Adjust seasoning with additional salt and black pepper as needed.
Recipe by Chef Andrea
Nettle Soup (Nässelsoppa)
This recipe was borrowed from Darra Goldstein’s book, Fire & Ice, Classic Nordic Cooking. In the introduction to this recipe she says: “Scandinavians eagerly anticipate the first nettles poking up aboveground as an early harbinger of spring. The nettles are gathered when still young and are made into a delicate soup with a brilliant green hue. Lacking wild greens, you can make the soup with baby spinach in the spring….Sorrel and potatoes are tasty additions as well. No matter the ingredients, this soup is packed with vitamins.
Yield: 4 servings
2 Tbsp butter
3 large green onions, coarsely chopped, including the tops*
2 Tbsp flour
3 cups chicken stock
12 to 16 ounces fresh nettles and/or spinach
½ cup plus 2 Tbsp half-and-half
¾ tsp salt
Freshly ground white pepper, to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
2 hard-boiled egg yolks, finely chopped
Snipped fresh chives
1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the green onions, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook until they release their fragrance, a few minutes. Sprinkle with the flour and stir for a minute more, then gradually add the stock, whisking all the while.
2. Raise the heat to bring to a boil. Add the nettles and/or spinach, lower the heat, and simmer, covered, until the greens are wilted, about 5 minutes.
3. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender for a few minutes until well blended but still retaining some flecks of green. Return the puree to the pot and stir in the half-and-half.
4. Reheat the soup gently over low heat. Stir in the salt and season with pepper and nutmeg to taste.
5. Garnish with the egg yolks and chives.
*Note: You may substitute ramps or green garlic for the green onions. Use whatever you have!
