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Author: mo

  • Lemon Garlic Bok Choy

    Bok Choy! It’s not just for stir fries and Asian dishes!

    Bok Choy is a brassica and is related to broccoli, cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts so when life gives me Bok Choy and I don’t want a stir fry, I cook Bok Choy like broccoli or kale or, prepare it raw like cabbage in a slaw.

    Probably everyone has prepared kale or Brussels sprouts by heating olive oil in a pan, add garlic, salt and pepper-add vegetables and sauté until done to your liking-squirt some lemon on it and you’re done. Super happy right?

    Let’s cook our Bok Choy like that, sort of channeling sauteed lemon garlic broccoli, (except I didn’t have any garlic how do I not have garlic? :-/ I used a shallot).

    I wanted my Bok Choy to be reminiscent of  broccoli so I left the stalks long and chopped the shallot like I would garlic.

    Heat a pan to medium high add some olive oil and the shallot (or garlic).

    Then I added the Bok Choy and some salt and pepper. It looks like a lot but it cooks down.

    Let that sear for 3 or 4 minutes, don’t mess with them, then turn them with some tongs.

    Let them sear on that side for another 3 or 4 minutes (don’t fuss with them) and turn again until they are done to your liking. If some of the pieces get done before the others move them to a plate until the rest are done.

    When they are all cooked through plate them and give them a squeeze of lemon and little more salt and pepper and voila. Lovely side dish.

    The different textures of the stalk and the leaf of the Bok Choy are really nicely contrasted in this method of cooking. It really is very reminiscent of broccoli  prepared this way.

    One of the challenges of being a CSA member is thinking outside the box with your weekly bounty, when you do, the reward is the joy and satisfaction of a simple delightful satisfying dish.

    Have a great week.

    Mo

  • Honeynut Squash

    This week we have a fun novel offering, Honeynut squash!

    Below is a photo of some Honeynuts with their bigger cousins, a couple of Butternut squash.

    Honeynuts are not small butternuts they are hybrids developed from butternut and buttercup squash. They are about the size of a medium/large sweet potato (about one pound) and much sweeter and more creamy and dense than a butternut. You don’t need to peel Honeynuts the skins are edible. If you don’t like to eat squash skin, still leave the skin on, it serves as a handy ‘bowl’ so you can easily scoop the tasty flesh out.

    When roasted, Honeynuts have a caramel malty rich flavor. The flesh is smooth and tender without any of the stringiness you get from larger squashes. They’re the perfect personal or two person-size squash and are absolutely delicious.

    Roast these much like any winter squash; Preheat your oven to 425F, Wash the Honeynut and cut them in half and remove the seeds, rub them all over with olive oil, salt and pepper.

    I roasted some of these cut side up and some cut side down to see if I liked one way more then the other. Up and down were both great. I have no preference other than if you want to put something in the cavity like syrup (the cut side up ones I put a little maple syrup in the cavity) or nuts or cheese-roast them up.

    Cook these  for 30-40 minutes, start checking to see if they are done at 30 minutes by sticking a sharp knife into one. If they aren’t tender, check again ever 10 minutes until they are done.

    Have fun with these little treats. They are one of my favorite crops we have had this year.

    Mo

     

     

     

  • Melted Leeks

    Melted leeks are a delicious side dish and a great addition to big holiday meals. A small portion of leeks packs a big flavor punch when added to heavier dishes like mashed potatoes and dressing.

    Melted leeks are super simple to make (recipe at the bottom) and can be made ahead and reheated or served at room temperature, so perfect for holiday meals! You can serve them alone, as a side dish, with your turkey or ham, macaroni and cheese, lasagna. Just a spoonful will add a nice pop to your holiday dishes, kind of how cranberry sauce adds a little zing.

    I topped some mashed potatoes with melted leeks and sage brown butter, it really elevated plain mashed potatoes. You could do the same with dressing. I didn’t mix the leeks in because some people/kids might not want leeks but you could mix them in if you like. Plus, I kind of like how it looks.

    Below photo is a simple appetizer-melted leeks and cheese on small bite size pieces of buttered toast. Sort of a deconstructed French onion soup. This would travel really well if you need to bring an snack or appetizer to a friends house.

    Melted leeks are simple and fast to make. You’ll need;

    • 3 or 4 large leeks
    • 3 tablespoons of butter
    • 3 tablespoons of olive oil
    • a splash of water, broth or white wine
    • salt and pepper to taste

    Clean your leeks and slice them into rounds.

    Add the leeks and the rest of the ingredients to a pan and cook on a medium low heat with the lid on for 20-30 minutes.

    You don’t want them to brown, just collapse and ‘melt’.

    Taste the leeks and see if you want them softer or if they need more salt or pepper. Depending on what you are eating these with you dress them up further and add a splash of cream or some parmesan cheese, maybe lemon zest?

    Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I can’t wait to use some of my CSA bounty in our Thanksgiving Feast. Leeks will be somewhere on our menu. Hope they make it on yours too.

    Have a great week.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Citrus Glazed Hakurei Turnips

    One of the most cooked and loved recipes on the Red Wagon blog is Miso Maple Turnips.  Here is very similar dish but this has an easy to make sauce that is has a bright citrus essence rather than a deep warm miso note of the older recipe. Try both!

    So fast and simple. You need.

    • 1 bunch of turnips washed and I cut mine into 1/8ths.
    • 3 tablespoons of butter
    • about 1/2 cup of orange juice. I had ‘cutie’ mandarins and used three and didn’t quite have a half cup. I went with that. As always adjust as needed.
    • Olive oil and salt, pepper for roasting the turnips (and delicata).
    • Optional toppings like red pepper flakes, nuts or peel from the citrus.

    To roast the turnips preheat the oven to 400F, mine took about 25 minutes to roast. I had extra room on my baking tray so I roasted a delicata squash on the other half of the tray because you can never had too many roasted vegetables in your life!

    Juice the citrus and put that and the butter into a pan to melt and reduce the liquid to thicken while the turnips are roasting.

    Check the turnips after 25 minutes, they are done when they are turning brown and tender when you poke them with a fork or sharp knife. Take them out of the oven and add them to the pan with the citrus butter and let all that simmer together until the sauce thickens.

    It looks like I’m making candy. Don’t worry. It’s not too sweet it just sticks to the turnips as it gets thick.

    That is it. A lovely dish to go with just about anything. This time of year I think about the holidays and food, a lot. This would be a really nice dish to go with any holiday food. It is light and bright and you could easily make it ahead and warm it up before serving or even serve it at room temperature.

    What are you doing with your turnips? Let us know in the comments.

    Have a great week.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • 2 Winter Squash Recipes; Queso and a Smoothie

    One thing is certain when you join a Winter CSA; You will be getting (eating!) lots of winter squash.

    Often times when you roast a squash for a dish at home you will have leftovers, sometimes LOTS of leftover, like I did last week. I had about 2 1/2 quarts roasted squash and no plan for using any. Not a problem! I really love to have cooked squash and vegetables at the ready so I can easily make vegetable forward dishes by just grabbing a few ingredients that are already cooked and throwing them together. Soup and chili are two of my go-to’s.

    We had friends over this weekend and I wanted a quick snack and I really wanted something decadent and cheesy. I looked in the refrigerator and saw the pumpkin puree I made earlier and remembered this macaroni and cheese recipe.  I made that recipe and left out the sage and pasta and added some roasted poblano chilis I had in the freezer. I’ll post the recipe modifications at the end of this post.

    This was good and so quick and easy because I had the roasted squash and poblanos all cooked and ready. We had leftover queso and ate it the next day with roasted potatoes, sausage and eggs for another easy delicious meal.

    Another use for the extra squash is making smoothies. Squash/pumpkin smoothies feel healthier to me than fruit heavy smoothies and homemade roasted squash is soooooo much less expensive than buying fruit.

    I usually double this and save the second portion for the next day.

    • 1 ripe banana, frozen , if not frozen you might want to add a handful of ice cubes to the smoothie
    • 1 cup squash or pumpkin puree
    • 1/2 teaspoon spice like cinnamon, ginger or mix spice
    • 1 cup milk of choice
    • 2 pitted dates, or more, depending on how sweet you want it. optional
    • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, optional
    • handful of nuts, optional

    Throw it in a blender and let it rip. I like to top it with granola. Creamylicious.

    Here is the Queso recipe with the modifications.

    • 1 cup of cooked pumpkin/squash. If you don’t have any cooked pumpkin or squash here is a ‘how to’ post from a few years ago.
    • salt and pepper
    • 4 tablespoons butter
    • 4 tablespoons flour gluten free is fine
    • 2 cups milk any kind
    • 1 to 1 1/2 cups cheese, shredded – I used cheddar
    • roasted poblano chilies, optional
    • squeeze of one or two limes to taste
    1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium cook until the butter is bubbling and it has turned golden brown.
    2. Mix in the flour and let simmer until it returns to a light golden brown.
    3. Add the milk and simmer until it thickens and add cheese to melt.
    4. Add roasted poblanos if using.

    I hope you enjoy the abundant squash we have as much as I do. Have a great week.

    Mo

    PS I also made a couple little pumpkin pies. Winter Luxury Pumpkins ROCK. I LOVE that they taste like pumpkin and aren’t very sweet. I think some squash are too sweet for pie, which sounds counter intuitive I know.

  • Why I Love Winter CSA

    I love Summer at the Farm, it is always crazy. Some years more than others, but we can always count on crazy. We can also count on things slowing down in the Fall. Somehow we make it across the finish line of our regular season CSA, we breathe a sigh of relief that Summer is over (phew, we did it!) and low and behold, Winter CSA is here (yay) and I LOVE everything about it!

    I love that almost all of you Winter CSA members are repeat and loyal Red Wagon CSA’ers. Many of you have been with us since day one. You are familiar and as excited about the Winter vegetables as I am!

    I love the winter vegetables, pumpkins and all the root crops. Winter greens are so special too, they seem like a miracle to me, how something so beautiful can grow and thrive this time of year and be so delicious.

    In the summer I don’t want to turn on the oven. I make a ton of salads and grill almost everything I cook, which is fine but I am ready for something different. Cool weather means I get  to turn the oven on and deeply slow roast vegetables and bake casseroles and pies.

    I love to slow cook some beans when it cools off and add whatever vegetables I have from CSA that week. , it’s one of my favorite meals.

    This morning was a little chilly and I was baking bread. While the oven was on I took the opportunity to roast some vegetables, my first winter luxury pie pumpkin and a baby butternut squash this season!

    I also roasted a few beets.

    I have no specific plans for any of these roasted vegetables, but I feel rich knowing I can quickly throw together some delicious meals now that the main ingredient is prepped waiting for need and  inspiration.

    It’s great to have you here with us for the next 14 weeks. Let’s have some fun in the kitchen and enjoy some delicious Winter food.

    Mo

  • Celeriac Soup

    Fall and Winter crops are here and one of my favorite vegetables is a choice this week-Celeriac! Days are noticeably shorter and cooler and I wanted some soup.

    I say all the time ‘use what you have and what you like’ and that is what I did to make this Celeriac Soup.

     

    I looked at my basic potato leek soup recipe and gathered pretty much equal amounts of whatever ingredients I had to make this soup. I bet you have most of these ingredients, or similar enough in your refrigerator and can make this soup too.

    • 1 little leek and a couple little onions washed and cut into circles.
    • 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of celeriac and a few smalls potatoes
    • 2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil to sauté the vegetables, I used a little of both
    • 4 cups of liquid maybe a little more to thin it outt. You can use vegetable or chicken stock, or water or milk-dairy or plant based. I used chicken stock today, I thought I was going to use some oat milk too, I like to mix liquids, when I took this photo, but I didn’t use it after all. But you might want to.
    • Salt, pepper and any herbs you like. I had some celery leaves so I am using those instead of herbs. I also added some bay leaves, not in this picture.
    • You can always add optional toppings to finish the soup like cheeses, seeds or nuts or some crunchy raw vegetables are all a nice way to finish a hearty soup and make dinner feel special and fun. Look in your refrigerator and pantry for yummy toppings.

    Peel the celeriac and cut up everything else and add it to a large pot. Sauté on medium heat with some butter and or olive oil and salt and pepper.

    When all the vegetables have started to soften a little add whatever liquid you are using (I added my bay leaves at this point) and cover the pan with a lid and let that simmer for at least 45 minutes or an hour or so until everything is really really soft.

    When the vegetables are done your soup is done, it’s that easy. Taste it and see if you want to add some milk or cream or salt or pepper, maybe more liquid? I blended mine a little with an immersion blender. I left some chunks, I like it chunky. If you do blend it and you used bay leaves make sure you take the bay leaves out don’t blend them!

    My soup was really nice at this point and I didn’t want to add anything except a few chives. I thought I was going to add milk or cheese but no. I had made some pumpkin bread that went perfectly with the soup. Super simple and fast.

    Taste yours you may want to add something, otherwise, your done! Dinner is served!

    Well Friends. This is Week 22. Thank you so much for your support. Winter CSA starts next week and I hope to see you at the Winter pickups, but if not hopefully next year in our regular season CSA.

    Be well.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

     

  • Any Vegetable Coconut Milk Soup

    I love a ‘clean out the refrigerator’ simple meal. I like this because it’s quick, adaptable and uses up any and all vegetables you want to throw at it. Any protein you like too can easily be added, chicken, salmon, tofu. You are basically making a tasty broth that will compliment any vegetables you like.

    Start by gathering and chopping into bite size pieces any vegetables you want to use. I find about 4 cups of chopped vegetables and 1 cup of protein (if you are adding that) is about right for 4 servings .

    You’ll also need;

    1 14-ounce can full-fat coconut milk
    4 cups of any seasonal vegetable chopped plus protein if you are using any
    1/2 can water or broth(use the coconut can to measure)
    2-inch knob of ginger, peeled and grated (~1T grated), more if you like ginger a lot.
    1 cup minced shallots, onions or leeks
    1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt, or to taste
    Optional, but highly suggested ingredients; lime, sweetener like (raw) sugar or agave, curry paste or powder. I used about 1 tablespoon of curry paste and 2 tablespoons of agave and one (sad) lime, I wish I had more lime. Herbs like basil, cilantro or mint are great too.

    I added the tomato, radish and jalapeno raw to the dish at the end, like a garnish/side salad, but you can add anything at anytime. I LOVE winter squash in this dish and serve that with rice. Depending on what vegetables you use like broccoli or eggplant, this would be great over mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower. Collards are really good here too if you blend them into the broth it reminds me of saag.

    These are the vegetables I had today.

    Cook whatever allium you are using with some oil, ginger and the curry powder or paste if you are using it, until the alliums and ginger soften.

    Add the coconut milk, water/broth and vegetables and any of the optional ingredients you are using and taste taste taste. Lime, salt and agave or sugar add so much here.

    That’s it. Serve it with noodles, potatoes, rice, naan, anything you like.

    Fall is in the air. Only two more weeks of Main Season CSA. Then the winter CSA starts.

    See you at pickup.

    Mo

     

     

  • Aphids in Organic Produce

    Aphids are natural part of organic farming. I’ll admit they are a nuisance and can be icky sometimes (they are a great food source for beneficial insects) but luckily they can’t hurt humans and are usually pretty straightforward to manage.

    Try as we might to get rid of and control aphids, you still might find aphids on some of the vegetables you get like; lettuce, kale, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. Probably others I can’t think of right now, oh, Brussels sprouts. Holy moly do aphids like Brussels sprouts.

    You might find them on the underside of leafy greens.

    Here are some on the top of this cauliflower.

    And the underside too. There are only a couple, they are hard to see, but they are there.

    We have a machine that is a conveyor belt/sprayer we use to wash soil off vegetables and also use it to try to spray aphids off vegetables we harvest. Aphids are great at hiding so you might need to do some aphid control at home in addition to what we do.

    I think the easiest way to get rid of them is to put your vegetable in a sink and spray them with the strongest spray you have and simply wash them away. Spray from the top and the bottom!

    You can also soak your vegetables before or after spraying them to give them a good once over. While they are soaking give them a good swish around the water to help dislodge the aphids. We like to soak the vegetables at the farm in addition to using the conveyor sprayer, the aphids dislodge and float to the top of the water. Wyatt likes to add some salt to the water at home and says that helps dislodge them. I’ll have to try it.

    This picture I am soaking the cauliflower after spraying, you can see a few aphids floating that I missed with the sprayer.

    Sometimes soaking or spraying isn’t even necessary. I had a cabbage with a few aphids and I just peeled off a couple leaves and it was clean as can be under a few leaves I composted.

    The only way to control aphids 100% is to use pesticides (I think about pesticide use when I am in the grocery store looking at broccoli or Brussels sprouts with no aphids or caterpillars and personally, I keep walking) obviously we aren’t willing to use chemicals and we’ll deal with aphids as they come, as best we can.

    It does involve an extra step or two on our part and sometimes yours. We hope you understand and think it is worth the trouble/effort.

    We do.

  • BIG (really big) Celery This week

    This week CSA is getting celery. It’s all really big. Bigger than what you get at the grocery store. It’s so big I had to stand across the room to take the photo. I put my rolling pin in there for scale.

    Fresh celery has a stronger, more pungent flavor than long stored celery and has more fiber (strings) than store bought. If you quickly sauté this celery to add it to vegetables or sauces, or marinade it in olive oil with lemon or vinegar for a salad, it will tame any bitterness but keep the strong celery flavor. This bean and vegetable soup would be great featuring celery. Or how about making a celery stock? Use this recipe and sub celery for the corn cobs. Risotto is so tasty made with celery stock.

    Until you are ready to use this huge celery, how are we going to store this big thing?

    I’ll show you. Cut and trim about 1/2 the outer stalks off until the stalk is the size of a store bought celery. The inner part of the plant is more tender and mild. Look at this post to see how to best store it for later. It will keep for at least a couple weeks if you store it properly.

    Chop up the outer stalks and leaves to use in the next week or so. It will keep just fine until you are ready to make something like this, subbing celery for beans. Or how about this soup, subbing celery for Bok choy?

    Here is a photo all broken down to a reasonable size to store.

    And another photo show how you can actually get it all in your refrigerator, it did take a little shoving to get it in the drawer, haha.

    Celery Butchery 101. If you want more ideas, ask us at pickup.

    Have a great week.

    Mo