5/19 Farm Share Arrival

Time for our weekly Farm Share arrival update!  This week we received: Lacinato kale, carrots, strawberries, romaine lettuce, tomatoes (yay!), a cucumber (it's hiding under the kale), apples, and Yukon potatoes. 

This is our last share of May, but stay tuned for some recipe updates!

What To Do With All That Cabbage?

The cole slaw was a BBQ-accessory success, but what do you do with all the leftover cabbage you didn't use in the slaw?  To use the cabbage and some more of our Farm Share produce, I made an Asian-inspired salad last night that was amazing!  I take no credit, the dressing--which makes this salad--was from Gwenyth Paltrow's blog GOOP (random, I know, but she has some really great recipes!).

The recipe for the dressing is below.  For the salad, I shredded the green and purple cabbage we had, then thinly sliced 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced 6 shiitake mushrooms (my favorite mushroom!), shredded carrots, and chopped baby bok choy* (raw).  The bok choy and carrots were from our Farm Share, and this was the first time we've eaten baby bok choy raw--it was delicious in this salad!  We served the salad with wings my husband grilled, which were tossed in a modified Buffalo sauce (he added chile paste and soy sauce to compliment the dressing of the salad).  All-in-all, a great meal!

* After separating the all bok choy leaves and rinsing out the dirt that collects between the layers, I cut the stems of the bok choy on a bias until I hit the leafy tops.  I then cut the leafy tops in half length-wise, and cut those on a bias, too.  Leafy tops and stems were included in the salad.

Asian Dressing
(modified from GOOP)

Ingredients
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and finely grated
1 1"-piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
1/4 c. rice wine vinegar
2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tbs. light agave nectar
1/2 tsp. spicy toasted sesame oil (more or less to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
Coarse salt
* I added 1/2 shallot, minced 
2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds


Preparation
Whisk the garlic, shallot (if included), ginger and rice wine vinegar together and let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes.  This is a good time to cut up your vegetables if you haven't already.  Whisk the soy sauce, agave, and sesame oil into the vinegar mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Combine the cabbages, carrot, pepper and mushrooms together in a large bowl and toss with the dressing last minute, sprinkling the sesame seeds on top.

Cole Slaw

Cole slaw is a BBQ staple.  I'm typically not the biggest cole slaw fan, but you can't deny that it just goes well with BBQ, especially pulled pork and ribs.  And we were feelin' it last weekend.

Tyler Florence's Ultimate Cole Slaw
(From the Food Network)

Ingredients
1 c. mayonaise
1 tbs. Dijon mustard
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
Salt and freshly ground balck pepper
1 tbs. red wine vinegar
1 tbs. sugar, or pinch
1 store-bought bag shredded slaw mix (containing red and green cabbage and carrots) * We used our Farm Share carrots and fresh cabbage in stead of a bag of slaw mix.  In total, I used 1/2 head each of green and red cabbage to mix in with the slaw.  I used the slicing blade of our food processor to shred the cabbage, and the julienne blade to shred the carrots.

Directions
In a large bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients.  Add the shredded slaw mix and toss until combined.

Nashville Farm Share

Very good friends of ours in Nashville signed up for a TN Farm Share, which is so exciting!  I asked them to pass along some photos, because I wanted to share what a Farm Share in a different part of the country might include.

Isn't this great!?  Looks like they received bok choy, spinach, red leaf lettuce, vidalia onions, some sort of herb, meat (!), eggs (!), and a gorgeous crate of strawberries.  E, correct me if I'm wrong guessing what items you received.

The good news is, following the devastating flooding in Nashville, the farm that supplies their produce fared relatively well and didn't lose crops.  The bad news was they lost most of their chickens (so sad!), so eggs may have been an introductory treat.

I hope you enjoy seeing a different farm's share!

Spicy Kale and Turnip Greens

To compliment the goods from a recent cookout (which involves my husband smoking meat), we sautéed Farm Share blue kale and turnip greens in bacon and threw in cayenne to kick it up a notch.

To incorporate the fat (and flavor) from the bacon yet still cook the greens through, we first browned bacon in our dutch oven pan.  Then we threw in our greens, and after a few minutes of sautéing, added water (about 1/2 c.) to continue cooking the greens by braising them.  A little ground black pepper and cayenne packed a punch.  The only thing I would add is garlic, which simply slipped my mind as we threw this together.  The process of cooking greens with bacon reminds me of the how my grandma used cooked green beans: chunks of pig fat cooked into a big pot of freshly-picked green beans from their farm.  So good!

Breakfast Crêpes

Mmmm, strawberries.  One thing we have loved receiving in our share as the seasons change are strawberries!  My husband and I love big breakfasts, or brunches, and the other day I was inspired to switch up the normal pancake fare and do breakfast crêpes.

The preparation directions below look a little intimidating, which I hope isn't a deterrent to people who want to try making crêpes for the first time.  Cooking crêpes is really like cooking a thinner pancake, which simply takes attention to, and sometimes trial and error with, the heat of the pan.  I used a non-stick skillet and therefore didn't use the extra butter this recipe calls for.  I also didn't have brandy to add to the batter (and the crêpes turned out wonderfully), but I wish I had.


Breakfast Crêpes
(from Epicurious.com)

Ingredients
1 1/2 c. whole milk
3 large eggs
3 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
Scant 5 tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 c. brandy
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. all-purpose flour

For the filling
I spread a layer of plain yogurt inside each crêpe and added sliced Farm Share strawberries and blackberries.

Preparation
In a blender (I used standing mixer), combine milk and eggs.  Mix on medium-high speed until foamy, about 10 seconds.  Turn blender to low speed and remove feed top.  With blender going, add sugar and salt.  Replace feed top and blend on high speed for a few seconds, then turn blender back to low.  In the same manner, add butter, brandy, and vanilla, replacing feed top and blending for several seconds after each addition.  Turn blender off.  Add flour all at once and blend until just combined.

Place crêpe pan over moderately high heat.  With flexible spatula, spread a tiny amount of butter in pan (alternative method is to brush the pan with melted butter using a pastry brush) and heat until butter just begins to smoke.  Pour 1/4 to 1/3 c. batter into the pan.  As you pour, quickly tilt the pan in all directions to spread a thin layer of batter across the bottom.  Pour in just enough batter to cover the pan.

Cook crêpe over moderately high heat until bubbles just begin to form on the exposed surface, about 1-2 minutes.  Lift up the edge to check the cooking process - if the crêpe starts to burn before it is cooked through, turn down the heat.  If it is not nicely browned after 2 minutes, turn up the heat.

When the underside of the crêpe is browned, flip and cook another minute or less, until other side is browned.  Remove from pan and keep warm in the oven, loosely covered with foil.

Grease pan with a very small amount of butter and repeat the process.  Continue until all batter is used, stacking cooked crêpes on a plate in the oven.

Roasted Eggplant Spread

This recipe was recommended to me by a friend in Atlanta, who has a great design blog of her own...check it out!  As Taylor mentions on her blog, she loves Barefoot Contessa.  We had cable for a while, then canceled it, and will be getting it back for the World Cup.  So, maybe with more time this Summer I can plug into her show and discover more of her recipes, too!

This recipe was quick and easy, and a great way to use eggplant (which is tricky to cook successfully sometimes)!

Roasted Eggplant Spread 
(From Barefoot Contessa Cookbook and Taylor's blog)

Ingredients
1 medium eggplant
2 red bell peppers
1 sweet onion (original recipe calls for a red onion)
2 garlic cloves
3 tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
1 tbs. tomato paste


Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the eggplant, bell pepper, and onion into 1-inch cubes.  Toss them in a large bowl with garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Spread them on a baking sheet.  Roast for 45 minutes until the vegetables are lightly browned and soft, tossing once during cooking.  Cool slightly.

Place the vegetables in a food processor fitted with a steel blade, add tomato paste and pulse 3-4 times to blend.  Taste for salt and pepper.  * I like my dips to have a little kick, so to this I added some cumin and cayenne.

Cobb Salad

A slight variation from the original Cobb Salad, we cooked up eggs and bacon to make ourselves a salad the other week.  Avocado and chicken would be great additions!

With all the greens we receive, it's nice to switch things up for salads.  This salad used green leaf lettuce and grape tomatoes from our Farm Share, then we topped it with hard boiled eggs, bacon, and blue cheese.  

5/12 Farm Share Arrival

Last Wednesday we received our second-to-last box of the Winter Farm Share.  Enterprise Farm distributes Farm Share boxes by season: Winter/Spring and Summer/Fall.    The Summer/Fall share is otherwise known as the "Local" share because it is supplied mostly, if not all, by MA-area farms; whereas the Winter/Spring share is known as the "East Coast" share because farms in the South (GA, NC, SC, etc.) partner with Enterprise to supply produce that otherwise would not be available in MA due to the shorter growing period here.  We will have a hiatus from our weekly deliveries for a couple weeks (we don't receive a box the last week in May and we'll be gone the first week in June), but I look forward to sharing what great produce we receive over the Summer.  What am I most looking forward to?  Tomatoes!

Last week we received carrots, grape tomatoes, turnip greens, sweet potatoes, cucumber, red leaf lettuce, beets, an onion, and fiddleheads (see below).

I have never cooked or even seen fiddleheads before, which are apparently a New England delicacy.  I'm going to try to cook them up this week, so we'll see how it goes!

We pick up our share for this week tomorrow, so I'll be posting what we receive then very soon!  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy and/or gain some inspiration from recipes we've enjoyed over the last couple weeks.

Happy (healthy) eating!

Nashville Flood

My husband and I moved to Boston from Nashville a year and a half ago, so the flooding that has occurred in our beloved city has been devastating to see.  Fortunately, most of our friends and family there did not incur much damage from the flood.  However, the city and surrounding areas are in dire need of help.  Please visit the Nashville Red Cross for more information on how you can chip in and donate.  Nashville is such a vibrant, warm, and welcoming city--I know it will recover--but many Tennessee residents need our help.  Thank you!!

For images from the flood, go to the following links: aerial images of the flood, Nashville landmarks flooded.

5/5 Farm Share Arrival

Great Farm Share arrival this week!  We received a head of green leaf lettuce, bok choy, tatsoi, a huge eggplant, sweet potatoes, a carton of strawberries and roma tomatoes.  My last exam is Tuesday, so I look forward to cooking this great produce in the coming week.  

Happy (healthy) eating!

Sweet Potato Fries

I tried to stay out of the kitchen, but I couldn't help myself.  While studying one day, I really started craving fries.  So, I took our sweet potatoes and made sweet potato fries!

Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients
4 sweet potatoes
Olive oil
Thyme
Salt & Pepper

Preparation
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Cut sweet potatoes into 1/4-inch strips.  Toss lightly with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Lightly brush baking sheet with olive oil and place fries on baking sheet.  Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes, or until fries begin to brown.  Let cool, and toss again in salt and thyme.


Sweet Potato Fry Dipping Sauce
This is another one of my non-recipe recipes...it's so good and the perfect dip for sweet potato fries!  Compliments to Bob's Dairy Dip in Nashville, TN for the inspiration.  

Take a large dollop of sour cream (about 1/4 cup).  Add about 2 tbs. brown sugar, along with 1.5-2 tsp cinnamon.  If desired, add about 2 tsp. maple syrup.