Red Wagon Farm

Vegetable Broth from Leek Greens

Posted on January 3, 2024 by mo

We are asked all the time; can I do anything with leek tops? Yes! Make some homemade vegetable broth! It is so easy to make and far superior tasting to anything you can buy. Making broth at home takes an hour or so and just a few minutes hands on time and lucky you, you are in a CSA so you most likely have everything you need to make at least 2 quarts of broth almost every week!

Soups, risotto, grain dishes, stews, braising dishes all will taste brighter and more interesting with homemade broth.

This is a photo from last weeks haul. I knew I wanted to make broth with all those beautiful green tops and trimming; leek tops, carrot tops, kale stems and lettuce heart.

Here are the leeks trimmed.

You’ll want to wash the green leek tops really well and save the white leek body for another use.

I cut the tops up so the dirt will fall out and put them in the sink with lots of water and swish them around really well.

Cut up everything else you are using and wash them separately from the leek tops, the leek tops are really dirty but everything else you can wash together.

There are no rules here, use what to have and what you like; potato peels, apple cores, seeds and guts from butternut squash, peels from beets or kohlrabi, anything–really try anything you have. I’ve never made broth and thought, oh, that didn’t work…. I will say, when you have leeks you almost don’t need anything else. They are that flavorful on their own.

Cover the prepared leek and vegetable tops and scraps with water, just barely cover them, and add some salt and pepper and maybe a bay leaf or some herbs if you like and bring it to a boil. Boil it medium hard for 5 minutes or so then lower it to a strong simmer for about an hour. Make sure the vegetables stay covered with water, but not too much you don’t want to water it down.

All the vegetable scraps and peels are mostly water and will break down after cooking for an hour or so and it will smell great when it is done. Taste it as you go add salt and pepper if needed. It is really interesting at first it will taste like mud, like ewww… you will think, this isn’t going to work. After a half hour or so you will start to taste each vegetable and think; I don’t know, is this going to be good?… and after an hour or so it will taste round and full and really flavorful and you will wonder how you ever used store bought broth out of a box.

When it’s done let it cool and strain it and store it for a week in the refrigerator or freeze it.

Make some risotto or minestrone soup and enjoy. I’m sure you will be happy with your efforts.

Posted in 2024, Onions and Leeks | Comments Off

Roasted Green Chile Charro Beans

Posted on January 3, 2024 by mo

I was raised calling this dish Charro (cowboy) beans. This is a wonderful complex brothy variation of chili using roasted green chiles vs. classic red-tomato laden, chili.

This one pot-big batch, robust dish can be made in a pot on the stove, in an Instant Pot, or in a crockpot. A whole pound of roasted green chilies add so much flavor combined with the beans makes a magic broth. You can add tomatoes and meat if you like. It is endlessly adaptable to all sorts off toppings and side dishes. But the star and co-star here are the green chiles and beans.

All you need are a few ingredients and some time. You can make this quickly with canned beans but it won’t be nearly as delicious as if you make it with dried beans. I like to use either pinto or yellow eye beans. Start by soaking the beans for at least a couple hours if you can. If you don’t have time just give it more cooking time. The beans will cook eventually.

I used;

1 pound of dry beans (sub 3 cans of beans if not using dry) soaked if possible. I soaked mine overnight.
1 pound of any variety of roasted chiles defrosted peeled and chopped. I used mild Anaheim.
Optional pint jar of tomatoes, I had some canned tomatoes from this summers You-pick tomatoes at the Farm. I bet lots of you have summer tomatoes in your pantry or freezer too! You can use store bought canned tomatoes of course.
1 shallot or onion or leek chopped
a couple bay leaves, salt and pepper
Optional-bacon, ham, chorizo I didn’t use it and didn’t miss it at all.
5 cups of water or stock. I always use water but some people like to use stock.
2-3 Tablespoons of olive oil. I forgot to put it in the photo but I always put some oil, or even butter (sounds weird but it is delicious) when I cook beans if I am not using meat. The fat makes the beans creamier and sometimes the beans foam up when cooking and it keeps the foam down….and fat=yum.

Here are my soaked beans drained and rinsed and vegetables chopped, tomatoes, 5 cups of water and bay leaves.

I dumped everything into my ancient crockpot with some salt and oil.

Put the lid on (mine doesn’t fit right because I broke the original decades ago) and set it on high for about 5 hours. 8-10 hours or overnight on low.

If you are using an Instant Pot follow the directions it comes with for making beans. I think it takes about 30 minutes on high under pressure and use the natural release, but check with your Instant pot directions to be sure. If you are making these on the stove top just keep checking after 2-3 hours until they are done to your liking.

The house smelling great is usually the best way to tell when the dish is done, but do test your beans and don’t count on the time I’ve given. It’s just a guide. Taste if you need more salt (you will).

This will make several servings and keeps well in the refrigerator for a week. I look forward to making some breakfast burritos and fajitas with some of these Charro bean leftovers this week. You can freeze any extras too. The beans are a little mushy when you freeze them but still just as tasty. I like to use frozen leftovers for refried bean dishes, like tostadas.

Happy New Year All.

Posted in 2024, Peppers Roasted, Recipes | Comments Off

Shaved Apple Kale Salad

Posted on December 20, 2023 by mo

This seemingly simple kale salad has been on the menu at Oak at Fourteenth restaurant for over a decade. I think it is because it is a perfect balance of salty-tart-sweet-crunchy-and a little bit of spice.

The chef-partner Steven Redzikowski has shared the recipe in local magazines and on social media several times. I have used his recipe and made it dozens of times and it is truly a restaurant quality salad if you don’t stray too far from the suggested portions and ingredients. I’ll copy the recipe below and put my comments in paratheses.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 medium lemon
2 cups thinly sliced kale (any kale works, just slice it thinly)
1/4 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup roughly chopped candied almonds (you can use any candied nut (I use honey roasted peanuts sometimes) or even seeded granola if you can’t eat nuts. The sweetness from the candied nuts adds a much needed balance to the tartness in the salad. If you aren’t using candied nuts or granola add a little honey or agave or some other sweetener.)
1 apple-sweet not tart apple (slice it very-very thinly-you want a thin slice of apple in every bite)
About 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
About 1/4 tsp. pepper
Ichimi togarashi* or red pepper flakes (*available the Asian area of the grocery store. You can use any red pepper flakes but the togarashi is really nice mild finely ground spice. The spice is a nice balance to the tartness of the apples.)

Whisk together oil, zest, cheese and lemon juice in a medium bowl.

Add kale, apple and almonds, then toss to coat.(Really-really-really toss this salad. I use my hands to tumble it in the bowl to make sure every single nook-and-cranny of the kale and apples are coated with the dressing and the candy coating from the nuts is ‘melting’ a bit to become one with the salad.)

Season with salt, pepper, and ichimi togarashi and pile it high on a serving dish.

Like I said, don’t stray too far from the suggested amounts or ingredients. The beauty of this salad is the clean simplicity and balance; kale, apple, nut, salty and a hint of spice in every bite. Thanks for the recipe Steve, Chef’s kiss.

Posted in 2023, Apples, Kale, Recipes | Comments Off

Seed (and Nut) Crusted Delicata

Posted on December 13, 2023 by mo

This time of year I can’t get enough roasted winter squash.

We celebrated Hanukkah this weekend I made these cute little seeded delicata rings and they were gobbled up as fast as the latkes! Everyone loved them!

These are super easy to make.

Preheat your oven to 400F. Cut two delicata squash (that’s how many fit on my sheet pan) into 3/4 inch rings and scoop out the seeds and rub them really well with olive oil and salt and pepper. I used garlic too, I don’t think I would use garlic again.

In a food processor I added;

3 tablespoons of turbinado sugar (you can use any sugar you like, coconut or maple would be nice here if you have it, or just brown sugar would work too.)
1/4 cup almonds (use what you like, or just use all seeds)
1/4 cup sesame seeds. I used white and black.
You could add cinnamon or herbs, I didn’t but I will next time.

Pulse all that in the food processor until it is like sand then press one side of the oiled squash into the seed mix and arrange on a baking tray seed side up.

I baked these for about 1/2 hour covered and uncovered for another 10 minutes. I covered the tray with another tray so they wouldn’t dry out and so the sugar in the crust wouldn’t get too dark. I wasn’t sure what would happen. I’d never made these before so I was cautious.

You could roast them uncovered and they would be more caramelized and crunchy than mine were.

I also roasted a couple delicata “boats” while the oven was hot and added the last bit of the nut/seed/’sand’ mix to the hollow of the squash. Yum.

I will be making this again and again. It was easy and very very tasty everyone love them.

Posted in 2023, Recipes, Winter Squash | Comments Off

Lemon Garlic Bok Choy

Posted on December 6, 2023 by mo

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.

Posted in 2023, Bok Choy, Recipes | Comments Off

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