Cooking With This Week's Box
Sorrel: Pasta with Sorrel Butter & Nettles (see
below); Strawberry-Orange Sorrel
Smoothie (see below); Frosty Sorrel & Banana Smoothie; Spring Greens Soup
Wild Ramps: Spring Greens Soup; Absurdly Addictive Asparagus; Ramp Deviled Eggs; Rustic Ramp Tart; Vegan Nettle & Ramp Pesto
Overwintered Spinach: Sauteed Mushrooms & Spinach with Spicy Garlic Sauce; Indian-Style Creamed Spinach
Nettles: Pasta with Sorrel Butter & Nettles (see
below); Spring Greens Soup; Coconut Chicken & Chickpea Curry with Nettles; Vegan Nettle & Ramp Pesto; Nettle, Sorghum and Bourbon Cocktail; Stinging Nettle Cupcakes
Green Garlic: Absurdly Addictive Asparagus; Sauteed Mushrooms & Spinach with Spicy Garlic Sauce; Indian-Style Creamed Spinach
Welcome to our second week of “Cooking With the Box!” For those of you who are joining us for the
first time, I am Chef/Farmer Andrea and every week I meet you here to walk you
through the box. I offer recipe
suggestions and links for every item in the box in hopes that something will
strike your fancy or inspire you to make your own creation. Lets not forget that cooking and eating can
be a lot of fun, so dive in and try some new recipes!
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| Frosty Sorrel & Banana Smoothie |
Lets start off with our featured vegetable, sorrel. Sorrel is most commonly used in soups and
sauces for fish, which are quite tasty but certainly not the only thing you can
do with sorrel! One of this week’s
featured recipes is Pasta with Sorrel
Butter & Nettles (see below).
This recipe starts with making sorrel butter. If you have extra remaining, you can either
use it in your morning scramble, spread it on a piece of toast, or freeze it to
use another day! This recipe includes
chicken (optional) and nettles and comes together pretty quickly. When you serve it, be sure to garnish the
dish with freshly grated Parmesan and chopped chives. The second featured recipe is for a Strawberry-Orange Sorrel Smoothie (see
below). I love putting sorrel into
smoothies. It just seems to be an
invigorating way to start the day and sorrel pairs well with berries, bananas
and other fruits. This is a sister
recipe to my Frosty Sorrel & Banana Smoothie from 2017.
I was recently reminded of a recipe I created several years ago for Spring Greens Soup. This is a powerhouse soup that uses sorrel,
ramps, sunchokes, nettles & chives!
This is the week to make this recipe while you have all of the
vegetables. Nettles are often used in
soups such as the Spring Greens Soup, but there are a lot of other options for
using this vegetable as well. There were
some great suggestions from members in our private Facebook Group over the past week. I had forgotten about this recipe for Coconut Chicken & Chickpea Curry with Nettles. We published this recipe in 2018 and it
features not only nettles but sunchokes as well. Another
member shared this link for a Vegan Nettle & Ramp Pesto. It’s nice to have a jar of pesto in the
refrigerator as it may be used in a wide variety of ways to create a quick
meal. I also have two suggestions for less traditional ways to use nettles. I’ve mentioned the Lemon and Stinging Nettle Cupcakes before, but I’m telling you they are delicious!
I also came across this recipe for Nettle, Sorghum and Bourbon Cocktail. Surely you can find something to do with your
nettles!!
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| Absurdly Addictive Asparagus, photo by Rocky Luten for food52.com |
Can we ever get our fill of asparagus this time of year? I want to try this recipe for Absurdly Addictive Asparagus. With a name like this, how can we not try
this!? The recipe calls for leeks and
garlic. I would suggest substituting
ramps and green garlic. You really can’t
go wrong with asparagus and eggs. I’d
suggest trying Andrea Bemis’ recipe for Spring Vegetable Quiche with Cashew Herb Crust. It’s a nice gluten free alternative to a
regular pie crust.
This recipe for Parsnip Gratin with Gruyere and Thyme was another recipe from the Facebook
Group. It calls for 2 ¼-2 ½ pounds of
parsnips. Last week and this week’s
boxes each have about 1.5 pounds each. I
also like this recipe for Spicy Honey-Glazed Parsnips. It’s basically roasted parsnips kicked up a
few notches!
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| Rustic Ramp Tart, photo from food52.com |
This is our final week of ramps, so make sure you select your recipes
carefully—it will be a full year before we see these again! I’m going to make Chef Boni’s Ramp Deviled Eggs. I also want to make this Rustic Ramp Tart.
I love the flavor of overwintered spinach when it’s cooked. This week I want to make Sauteed Mushrooms & Spinach with Spicy Garlic Sauce,
using green garlic of course! It’s an
easy dinner to make served with a side of rice.
I also have my eye on this Indian-Style Creamed Spinach made with coconut milk.
That does it for this week’s box.
We’re crossing our fingers that we see a few warm days and a touch of
rain this week. We have a few crops
coming up soon, but they’re still a little small. We’re hoping to have baby arugula and some
fresh radishes next week. We also have
some cute little mini-romaine lettuce growing in our tunnel greenhouse. I think they’re going to make it and if they
do, lettuce wraps will be on the menu!
Have a great week!—Chef Andrea
Vegetable Feature: Sorrel
By Chef Andrea
Eating with the seasons can be an exciting, yet sometimes challenging adventure in the spring. For many people, some early spring vegetables may be less familiar and come with a bit of a learning curve. Most of the early spring vegetables are perennial plants that are either wild harvested, such as ramps and nettles, or are crops we planted in a previous year that start poking through on their own early in the spring. Some of these vegetables include sorrel, chives, rhubarb and asparagus. They play an important role in nourishing our bodies and have unique nutritive properties that help us transition from winter into a new season. If you are not familiar with these vegetables, they might be a little intimidating at first. However, don’t let a vegetable intimidate you, just dive in and start learning how to enjoy something new! Don’t worry, we’ll help guide you along the way!
This week we are featuring sorrel, a unique perennial plant that is amongst the first greens of the season. Sorrel leaves have a pointy, arrow shape and are thick in texture and bright green in color. You’ll recognize sorrel by its tart and citrus-like flavor if you nibble on a raw leaf. It has a bright flavor that will call your taste buds to attention. It is a very nutritious green that contains antioxidants as well as vitamin C, fiber, iron, magnesium and zinc.
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| Sorrel Hummus |
The acidity of sorrel makes it a natural companion to rich foods such as cream, butter, sour cream, yogurt, buttermilk, duck, and fatty fish (salmon & mackerel). Additionally, it pairs well with more “earthy” foods such as lentils, rice, buckwheat, mushrooms and potatoes. As with many other spring vegetables, it pairs well with eggs and is often used in quiche, scrambled eggs, custard etc. Don’t be afraid to think “outside of the box” and explore some other interesting ways to use sorrel such as in desserts including sorbet, ice cream and panna cotta or beverages including smoothies and cocktails! Sorrel also pairs well with citrus fruits and berries.
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| Spiced Lentils with Nettles & Sorrel Yogurt Sauce |
If you’re looking for a vegetarian main dish, the recipe for Spiced Lentils with Nettles & Sorrel Yogurt Sauce is excellent. There is also a recipe for Spring Greens Soup that uses not only sorrel but four other vegetables from this week’s box!
We hope your spring is off to a good start and you are enjoying these early boxes. Don’t forget we have an awesome Facebook Group available to all CSA members. This is another great resource to find recipe suggestions and talk to other members about vegetables!
We hope your spring is off to a good start and you are enjoying these early boxes. Don’t forget we have an awesome Facebook Group available to all CSA members. This is another great resource to find recipe suggestions and talk to other members about vegetables!
Strawberry-Orange Sorrel Smoothie
Yield: 2 servings
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup milk (dairy or dairy-free alternative)
¾ cup fresh orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups frozen strawberries
2 ounces sorrel
¼ cup maple syrup
6-10 ice cubes
1. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Put the lid on and blend on high speed until all ingredients are thoroughly blended and the mixture is smooth.
2. Serve immediately.
Recipe by Chef Andrea
Pasta with Sorrel Butter & Nettles
Yield: 3-4 servings
Sorrel Butter:
2 ounces sorrel leaves, roughly chopped
1 stick butter, softened
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pasta:
9-10 oz dried pasta (bow ties, shells, fettucine or pappardelle)
1 Tbsp olive oil
12 ounces (2 each) boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 cups loosely packed nettle leaves (1 bunch)
6-8 Tbsp sorrel butter
Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½-⅔ cup chives, minced
Parmesan cheese, for serving
1. First, prepare the sorrel butter. Put roughly chopped sorrel in the bowl of a food processor and blend briefly until coarsely chopped. Add the butter, lemon juice and black pepper. Blend until all ingredients are well combined. Set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to package instructions or about 5 minutes until al dente. Drain the water and set the pasta aside.
3. While the pasta is cooking, heat a medium saucepan on the stove top over medium heat. Add the olive oil and once the oil shimmers, add the chicken. Season with salt and black pepper. Cook until browned on one side, then flip the pieces over.
4. Add the nettle leaves to the pan along with the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Put a lid on the pan and continue to cook the nettles and chicken for 2-3 minutes or until the nettles are wilted. Remove the lid from the pan and cook until nearly all the moisture in the pan has evaporated.
5. Add the sorrel butter to the pan. Once melted, add the pasta and gently toss to combine all ingredients and thoroughly coat the pasta with the butter.
6. Once the pasta is fully heated through, remove the pan from the heat. Adjust seasoning to your liking with salt and black pepper.
7. Serve garnished with freshly grated Parmesan and chives.
Recipe by Chef Andrea
