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Baby Arugula box

2016 CSA Winter February 27

CSA  February 27

CSA List:
• Kale
• Baby Salad Mix
• Baby Arugula
• Baby Green Sorrel
• Flat Parsley
• Dill
• Cilantro
• Mint
• Lemongrass
• Butternut Squash
• Basil Pesto

Planet Earth Div hydro house

Planet Earth Div hydro house

It is a pleasure to share with our CSA members some of the best tasting greens on the planet: Baby Arugula and our Micro Mix. The tender and velvety leaves make it easy to just grab a pinch and nestle them onto any plated meal. And for a treat this week, included with some kale for you this week, is a copy of a kale chip recipe:

– jelly roll pan
-leaves of kale, prepped
-1-3 tablespoons oil
-salt and pepper, spices to liking
-oven 300-325F

(a jelly roll pan is a double bottom cookie sheet with sides)
To prep your kale, just give it a check for any natural debris or water, dry where necessary and remove any of the greater sized ribs or veins of fibrous tissue that run thru the middle of the leaf.
Rip by hand or cut with scissors your pieces into large sections. Toss these pieces with your oil and seasoning, being sure that your greens are evenly coated with the oil. Spread the prepped pieces out on your pan…i like to use a sheet of parchment paper between the baking sheet and the greens. Besides salt or pepper, we like to use spices like garlic, cumin and smoked paprika. We have even had chips that were curry flavored..use your imagination and your favorites for these greens. We love to use the pesto here, adding to the oil then tossing the oil with the greens… Bake your chips up for about 10 to 15 minutes, checking for doneness along edges and turning the chips over, if you like. Bake for another 7-9 minutes or until the leaves are cooked all the way through. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a bit while prepping a presentation plate with paper. Use tongs to move the chips from pan to plate and serve with a side of nutritional gourmet salt to taste. These chips have turned even the most biased into rabid kale eaters!

 

Baby Arugula box

Baby Arugula box

We hope you are enjoying the best the land can offer each week in your CSA share! Please don’t hesitate to lend us your feedback by giving us a call on the order line: either 877-ARUGULA or 434-985-3570, then press extension 1 for the office desk. Also, we are interested in your recipes and will feature them in the weekly column to share with everyone.
To your health & pleasure, always, love, leslie.

Clean Water Farm Award 2002

Clean Water Award

Chickweed

2016 CSA Winter February 20

 2016  CSA Winter February 20  -Chickweed Pesto

  • Rainbow Chard
  • Baby Salad Mix 8×8
  • Baby Arugula 8×8
  • Baby Green Sorrel
  • Flat Parsley
  • Dill
  • Cilantro
  • Mint
  • Poultry Herb Blend
  • Butternut Squash
  • Chickweed Pesto

Im so grateful that my Dad would take us camping and my Mom would teach us about picking the right kind of berries…this budded a fascination with what was edible out in the “wild”. And the wild was everywhere, even the city. My favorite plant drawing of my Dad’s is of a dandelion, coming up out of New Orleans’ pavement. Noticing the wild in the yard or sitting on electric lines wasn’t too hard in such a lush city as ours, but this backyard connection to the environment stayed with me throughout all my journeys. One plant epitomizes a thread in the tapestry of those experiences: Chickweed. Once i started studying plants with handbooks, Chickweed was a plant that seemed to thrive just about anywhere in my world, and i would find it hiking high in the mountains or strolling along a valley stream. Noticing it is still important to me as i regularly chomp on this stuff while working and use it for skin irritations or injury. Stellaria Media is the scientific name of this useful ally and crisp low-lying green. It has a demure white flower in the shape of a small bursting star. It is rich in vitamins and nutrients and carried some of the surviving Native peoples on the Trail of Tears being that it grows up twice a year, even under the snow! This strong plant is considered a weed by many, but maybe these folks don’t know how useful it is. Stellaria is the plant that healed our Sunny Girl when she was a kitten, having an abscess from a sting or a bite to the neck. This precious herb gives so much; i like to use it from the inside out. So this week, from our garden in the middle of winter, we bring you fresh ground Chickweed Pesto! Try this with a white fish or chicken and your sorrel for a yummy meal. The pesto can be used to turn your butternut squash into a savory treat by cubing the peeled flesh and rolling the squash in dobs of pesto, then roasting it.
The Chard, beautiful colorful and nutritious! Try this as a quick pan fry with walnuts. i like to use my cast iron skillet for just about everything…a little olive oil, adding nuts to roast a bit and then the greens at the end.

 

 Chickweed

Chickweed

Chickweed

Chickweed

Chickweed

To your health & pleasure, always, love, leslie.

Baby Tatsoi

2016 CSA Winter February 13

2016 CSA Winter February 13

  • Mixed Field Greens
  • Baby Tatsoi 8×8
  • Baby Arugula 8×8
  • Baby Green Sorrel
  • Flat Parsley
  • Dill
  • Cilantro
  • Thai Basil
  • Mint
  • Butternut Squash
  • Basil Pesto

 

2016 CSA Winter for  February 13 Switching you back to the heavy lifter, basil pesto, this week. Even though the sun has turned around the clock to longer days, we are now in the coldest month for our region. The days may sometimes be long and dark but basil lightens and brightens the way. The best anti-depressant in my book, in the form of good food.

There are many greens in this week’s offering that are good and nutritious additions to the likes of stir-fry, quiche, omlettes, heck! just a quick scramble of eggs with your handful of baby arugula and you have yourself a delicious hot breakfast…Baby arugula is another heavy lifter: “ARUGULA!” we say sometimes like tugboats in a fog…pushing onward, it knows the way. Flavor, sure it is yummy! But the benefits…it just makes itself so easy to munch on whether in a salad, a steak dinner, a lasagna, or a quick egg dish. Sprinkle fresh leaves on top as a garnish so as to appreciate the velvet of the leaf and fresh flavor. Another classic you have this week is the Baby Tatsoi. It is a shell-like dish in shape, and we like in fast, stir-fry situations also. Having it in noodles and pasta is a must as the heat from the other veggies and noodles gives it a steamy wilt. And the leaves will shine . This method of adding it at the last minute works well with Thai and Vietnamese style noodle soups. By itself, just heat up a skillet on medium, add oil or butter, garlic or fresh grated ginger, and toast that up a bit…add your tatsoi at the last moments for that shiny wilt and then slide onto a plate as a side dish or garnish. It is sweet in the end. Herbs for your health also!

Mint this week to warm as digestive tea, and consider drying any unused portion for a jar presentation on the shelf. Cilantro, from mental health to physical well being, this would pair nicely in a Thai noodle soup as a topping at the end. Consider the power punch of parsley: i read somewhere that parsley is the highest vitamin C containing herb. And some dill fronds to sweeten your meals.

To your health & pleasure, always, love, leslie.

Chocolate Mint In Greenhouse

Chocolate Mint In Greenhouse

Baby Arugula

Baby Arugula

Baby Tatsoi

Baby Tatsoi