What’s in This Week’s Share

Vegetables:

Corn – Butter & Sugar

Kale -Champion & Red Russian

Beets

Red Romaine Lettuce

Green & Yellow Beans

Red Tomatoes

Green Tomatoes

Sungold Tomatoes

Fruit:

Paula Red Apples

Yellow & White Peaches

Nectarines

Kale

Storage & Handling Tips: Keep unwashed greens in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Add a paper towel to absorb any condensation. Thick cooking greens like kale will keep up to 2 weeks. Fill a large basin or a clean sink with lukewarm water to rinse the leaves to remove any dirt. The jagged and wrinkled leaves have crevices for soil to hide.

Cooking: Cooking kale for longer usually brings out its natural sweetness and it is quite hardy so it won’t turn to mush. Since the stems are thicker than the leaves, cook them separately. Fold the leaf in half and cut off the stem. The stems can be stacked and cut into 1 inch wide strips. Cook them before adding the leaves. Kale pairs well with spices such as dill, thyme, nutmeg, and coriander.

Leaves can be sauteed in olive oil rendered with bacon and garlic, an onion, and salt until tender – spritz with lemon juice or sherry vinegar and mix with raisins and pine nuts; blanch thin strips of leaves for 3-5 minutes or whole leaves 10-15 minutes; kale leaves can replace spinach in most recipes; add to soups and stews at the last 10-15 minutes of cooking; add leaves to omlettes or scrambles, quiches, lasagna, mac n’ cheese, or crepes. Cook all three varieties that you received in your box together to get a full and deep flavor.

Beets

Storage & Handling Tips: Beets can stay in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks. Remove the leaves and place the beets in a plastic bag and the beets within a damp paper towel. Whole beets should not be frozen if they are more than 2 inches across. scrub, boil, skin, cool and then cut into desired slice and freeze in a labeled plastic bag or container for up to 6 months.

Cooking: Beets are edible both raw and cooked. raw, with all their nutrients still plentiful and un-lost, they are great as a crudite on a veg platter or shredded into a salad.  They add color to dishes, whether it is a deep purpley red, yellow like Burpee’s Golden, or orangey with pink woven rings like Chioggia. They can be boiled whole (don’t top and tail until after it’s cooked). Scrub clean and then boil in salted water for about 2 hours, depending on the size, until a knife smoothly cuts through – but don’t test it too many times as the damage will cause bleeding. Beets can also be roasted in tin foil with olive oil for about an hour at 425F. After the beets have been cooked, cut the top and bottoms off and peel under running water. The leaves can be sauteed and cooked just like spinach or eaten raw after washing. beets can also be pickled!
Warning: beet juice stains!! wear cloves and an apron. cutting off the leaves will also cause bleeding sap.

Recipes:

Fried Green Tomatoes

4-5 green tomatoes, cored, thickly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, or panko

4 tbsp butter

Season the tomato slices and dip into the beaten egg. Toss lightly in the crumbs. Fry in a skillet over moderate heat, browning both sides.

Kale Chips

1 bunch kale, washed and dried

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 300F. Tear the leaves off the ribs and tear into large pices. Place the leaves in a bolw and drizzle with the olive oil to coat. Place on 1 or 2 parchment paper-lined baking sheets in a single layer and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven until crisp, about 20 minutes. Great snack!

Quinoa Salad with Roasted Beets, Crumbled Goat Cheese and Kale

1 bunch beets, scrubbed
1 bunch kale leaves, stems removed
2 cups cooked quinoa
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves sliced thinly
2 oz crumbled goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 425F. Place the beets, whole, greens removed, into a tin foil sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Cook until tender, about 30-40 minutes for small beets or about an hour for larger beets. Allow to cool then cut off any remaining stems and peel away the skin.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan and then add the garlic. Stir for about 30 seconds. Add the kale and saute so that the greens are coated in the oil and absorbing the fragrant garlic until tender. Add the quinoa and beets and season with salt and pepper. Stir so that the quinoa is warmed, covered in the purple beet juice and everything is evenly distributed. Sprinkle over the crumbled goat cheese (feta cheese would also be a good salty choice) and slightly toss so that it melts a bit. Transfer to a large bowl and serve warm or at room temp. Sprinkle with dill (optional).

Sauteed Beet and Bean Salad

5-6 beets

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 1/2 mixed yellow & green beans, trimmed

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick) butter

2 tbsp lemon juice

parsley

Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss beets with oil in a roasting pan, sprinkle with salt, then with foil. Bake until beets are tender, about 30 minutes. Uncover and let beets stand at room temperature. Peel beets when cool enough to handle. Cut beets into quarters or halves depending on size.

Cook haricots verts in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and transfer to bowl of ice water to cool. Drain and pat dry. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add lemon juice, then beets. Toss well. Stir in beans and parsley; sauté until heated through, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot or at room temperature. Feel free to serve on top of a bed of red romaine lettuce with some fresh sungold tomatoes.

Potato, Bean and Corn Salad

4 pounds small white boiling potatoes (about 2 inches in diameter)

5 tablespoons cider vinegar

3 tablespoons coarse-grained mustard

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, or to taste

1 1/2 lb green & yellow beans

6 ears corn