Produce Subscription (Week 40)

Your boxes will be in their respective drop site locations by 9am Wednesday. (Dropsite Location Details) Find the box with your name and have at it!

If you have any questions, please call Roger on his delivery phone 626 488 5437 (if before 10a) and the farm phone 715 426 7582 (if after 10am).

Melon outside your box and more fall crops inside your boxes this week. Pick up one melon from the common bin.

Mesclun Finally some weather to make the baby salad mix grow well. This week is just the spicy stuff, so dress it accordingly (Asian twist or sweet). Or braise it in sesame oil and fresh ginger for a quick side.

Wheat berries Ok, so you now have to try them. Cook them up and freeze for quick access meals. Try warm Whole Grain Fruit and Nut Hot Breakfast Cereal, hearty Zesty Wheat Berry-Black Bean Chili, or chewy Wheat Berry Cranberry Salad.

Boc choi, green and red A simple braise in toasted sesame oil, sea salt and minced garlic (add at the end to get that great garlic punch and all of its nutritional benefits). Perfect!

Kale, White Russian Smoothie-ize it with fruit, soup it with lentils, salad it with ginger. The versatile super food.

Potato, Goldrush baking variety We have noticed hollow heart in many of our culled potatoes (not visible from the outside); it is a developmental defect, unrelated to pest or disease, but rather stress. Yes, potato stress. Have pity on the little fellas, but know that it is not harmful to humans. Just unsightly, very sorry.

Broccoli A little bit of the green stuff is back. Fairly poor showing from the Fall plantings. Deer and cabbage loupers are to blame. Just can’t keep these things covered with the highly advanced deer we have in Wisconsin.

Melons (either water or musk) Crossing our fingers again, that these will be ok. Make sure you pick yours up… it is NOT in your box.

Tomato, cherry variety Rog found his favorite— the little round cherry variety. For a guy who doesn’t like fresh tomatoes, this revelation was quite the story!

Tomato, paste A San Marzano sauce-variety for a nice fresh pasta w/sautéed onions, Italia peppers, parsley and garlic.

Tomato, slicer variety Four varieties, red to pink, smooth to ruffled.

Pepper, sweet Lunching, frying, saucing, salading. Something for every application.

Pepper (Jalapeno) Just one to zest up the last of the fresh salsas, or maybe the wheat berry salad?

Cucumber, slicers We have eeked out another week; know that they are not at their peak, but still nice and crunchy. Add some dill, sea salt and Tofutti brand Sour Supreme and serve it alongside some excellent falafel. A new favorite on the farm.

Onions, white and red For the savory meals…saute them up with the Italia peppers, slowly, then increase the heat to caramelize slightly. Nice!

Garlic, Susanville variety A soft-neck variety that is said to be great for roasting and then spreading like butter on the bread. Mild in its raw

Shallots Ooo, add this to the cucumber combo above for eating with falafel.

Parsley A sprig or two does something nice to a green fruit smoothie. Phytonutrients!

Recipes for your consideration

The uncooked, just soaked/sprouted, chickpeas/garbage beans surprised me. But this recipe is fabulous. And highly adaptable with tweaks to the spices and vegetables added. Yes, it is fried in oil, but we’ll let that slide (no pun intended!) As MP put it to me, “This is stupid good.” We whole-heartedly agree..¬

Falafel

1 cup dried chickpeas
1/2 large onion, rough chop (about 1 cup)
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, rough chop
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, rough chop
1 cup kale leaves, rough chopp
1 sweet pepper, rough chop
1 tsp salt
1 jalapeno/peperoncini pepper or 1/2-1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper
4 cloves of garlic
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp baking powder
4-6 Tbsp flour
High-heat vegetable oil for frying

Put the chickpeas in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 2 inches. Let soak overnight, then drain. Or use canned chickpeas, drained.

Place the drained, uncooked chickpeas and the onions in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, hot pepper, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed.

Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough bulgur or flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.

Form the chickpea mixture into balls about the size of walnuts, or use a falafel scoop, available in Middle-Eastern markets.

Heat 1/2 inch of oil to 375 degrees in a heavy pad (cast iron works well) and fry 1 ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little flour. Then fry about 6 balls at once for a few minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Serve alongside cucumber/dill/Sour Supreme salad or stuff half a pita with falafel balls, chopped tomatoes, onion, green pepper, and pickled turnips. Drizzle with tahini thinned with water.

Adapted from— Epicurious

This is the kale recipes to beat all. It is in the deli case at Mississippi Market (and Whole Foods, etc.) and I always “impulse” buy it when I am shopping on my way home from work. Now if one has to have a weakness such that one impulse-buys, well, this is a good one to have. Simple, quick and perfect with a few slabs of Spicy Baked Tofu alongside. Hmm, maybe I just talked myself into dinner again. Funny how that happens each week!¬

Emerald Kale Salad

2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 bunch kale, leaves stripped from stems and chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame seeds

Heat oils over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 minute. Add chopped kale and sauté for 4 minutes. Sprinkle water over kale if it sticks to the pan. Add tamari and sesame seeds. Stir to incorporate well.

You can also make this a raw salad. Add all ingredients to a large container with a tight lid. Shake it hard to bruise the kale (it’s a good kind of bruising) and distribute the ingredients well.

Adapted from: Whole Foods Cookbook

Warm and satisfying; an alternative to rice pudding with more fiber and a heartier chew..¬

Wheat Berry Pudding

1 cup wheat berries
2 tablespoons plus 3 cups soy/almond/coconut milk, divided
1 cinnamon stick
1 strip orange zest, (1/2 by 2 inches)
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Sort through wheat berries carefully; discard any stones. Rinse well. Place in a large heavy saucepan and add water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer, adding more water if necessary, until the wheat berries are tender, about 1 hour. Drain well.

Place the wheat berries and 2 tablespoons soymilk in a food processor. Pulse, scraping down the sides as necessary, until most of the wheat berries are coarsely chopped (some may remain whole).

Combine the chopped wheat berries, the remaining 3 cups soymilk, cinnamon stick, orange zest and salt in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often to prevent sticking, until the mixture is very thick, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat; discard the cinnamon stick and orange zest. Stir in maple syrup and vanilla.

Serve warm or chilled, sprinkled with cinnamon and topped with a dollop of maple yogurt, if desired. (Stir in more soymilk if the pudding gets too thick as it stands.)

Adapted from: Eatingwell.com

Everyone feel free to add your favorite recipes to the website.

Farm News

Whew! Freeeeeezing this morning. Wet hands picking little baby leaves of mustard and mizuna…frooooozzzzen. First time this year, so I am counting myself lucky (well, said counting happened AFTER I stopped crying from the re-warming pain!) Rog was bouncing around in the field at first light, freezing his tuckus off, on the tractor trying to finish the winter-wheat planting before the rain tomorrow. (It had better rain now, I tell you what!)

Grain drill and Allis, the tractor

Next week is the last week of the Produce Subscription/CSA deliveries. Ok, all together now…Big Sigh! The marathon has ended. You no longer have to conjure meals out of a ¾ bushel box. Whew, you made it. We had hoped for a Fall showing of produce, but nature (in its many manifestations) has conspired against that plan. We will load you all up with a couple of staples next week to carry you forward a bit. And will post on the market what storage crops we have produced, with an eye toward Thanksgiving planning.

Have a wonderful week, and enjoy the vegetables.

Roger and Lara