Red Wagon Farm

Roasted Pepper Ideas

Posted on August 29, 2023 by mo

We have a bumper crop of beautiful peppers this year. That means this week we lucky CSA members are getting 2 pounds of roasted peppers! Most of the peppers will be mild Anaheim peppers, all I have had are very mild with great fruity flavor and very thick juicy walls.

I am going to post a few photos of how I used my roasted chiles this week to maybe inspire a few ideas. But also check out our past recipes here for green chili or green chili sauces, breakfast potatoes, casseroles and more. Remember too, you can stash some roasted peppers away in your freezer to use this winter.

After cleaning the charred skin and most of the seeds off the chiles I have been making sandwiches and salads with them. They are so mild and tasty we have been eating them like we would tomatoes or cucumbers…just eating them. Nothing fancy.

I got some ground beef from Gamma Grass and Livestock. They are selling their grass fed beef at the farmers markets around here and also at some of our CSA pickups (This week on Wednesday at our farm on 63rd St and on Thursday at our store in Lafayette! Pick some up for dinner). I love supporting local food and this is so tasty – like expensive bison. I cooked a burger and stacked two roasted peppers and as many vegetables as I could fit on top! That orange stuff is cheese, it got kind of translucent when I melted it, but darn, it was good. I did the same ‘stack’ a few nights later with a veggie burger (if beef isn’t your thing) and it was so delicious too.

I get home pretty late on nights I work and I’m hungry and I want something fast. Grilled cheese sandwiches are often what we have. I always add some vegetable from the farm to my grilled cheese, kale grilled cheese has always been one of my favorites. This might be my new favorite now, grilled roasted pepper with tomato and cheese.

Fall is sneaking up on us, enjoy the summer vegetables for a few more weeks.

See you at pickup.

Posted in 2023, Peppers Roasted, Recipes | Comments Off

5 minute Tomatillo Peach Salsa

Posted on August 22, 2023 by mo

Salsa is basically salad, right? This is a very very basic raw salsa that comes together in less then 5 minutes and can be endlessly adapted to whatever you have or are serving. Start with this basic recipe. The flavors are intense so adding other ingredients are fun because they don’t get lost. Try adding some black beans, corn or tomatoes to make it more of a salad or relish or you could blend in some avocado to make it creamy. Adding some crumbly cheese like feta might complement a dish you are serving it with like burritos or tacos?

I used only 6 ingredients;

6 tomatillos peeled and husked,
1 peach blended in the salsa I used one more for garnish I didn’t put in the picture
1/4 of an onion
1 clove of garlic
juice of one lime
a large handful of cilantro

I put it in a blender all at once and ran it until it was smooth and add salt and pepper and tasted it if I needed more lime or salt.

Voila Simple as is but have fun to make your special house salsa with your own add-ins.

Have a great week. I’ll see you at pickup.

Posted in 2023, Recipes, Tomatoes-Tomatillos | Comments Off

Basil Pesto

Posted on August 15, 2023 by mo

Summer is in full swing and we have lots of basil, that means it’s time to make some pesto.

Making it couldn’t be easier. You just need a few ingredients and most of them are pretty much optional. Don’t like garlic? Leave it out. Don’t have any nuts? OK it will be delicious without them. Want it vegan? Leave out the cheese or use a vegan option. Have extra herbs like mint or tarragon or any other soft herb? Add them! It will make it more interesting.

This recipe is for a fairly small batch. You can easily scale this up if you have more basil or other herbs. I gave a span of amounts in the recipe, so start with the small amount and taste and add more as needed.

Start by grabbing your bunch of basil.

This bunch is about 4 cups loosely packed basil, like I said, scale this up or down as needed and taste!
2 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 to 1/2 cup grated Parmigiana (optional)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, almonds, or walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

You’ll notice I didn’t add salt or pepper. I used Parmigiana cheese and it was plenty salty. Taste and see if you need salt or not.

Strip the basil leaves off the stem. The soft stem on the top are ok to leave.

Combine basil, garlic, nuts, lemon, and the cheese in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the oil and purée until smooth. Taste and add more salt, lemon or oil if needed.

This made a little more than a cup which was plenty for a pound of pasta. If you have any leftover you can put it in a Ziplock bag or ice cube tray and freeze it for winter or add it to any salad, roasted or grilled vegetables or any grain dish. Pesto makes everything better.

I didn’t freeze my leftover pesto. I slathered on a few sandwiches.

Yay summer. Have a great week. I’ll see you at pickup.

Posted in 2023, Herbs, Recipes | Comments Off

Leeks

Posted on July 25, 2023 by mo

This week we are getting leeks in our share, they are one of my favorite alliums to eat and cook. Leeks are mild and tender and beautifully compliment just about any vegetable or protein you want to pair them with. The taste is distinct and the texture meltingly tender. We usually see leeks in the Fall or Winter CSA shares where soups and braising techniques are seasonally popular. What a treat it is to have them now, in July!

If you are new to leeks, or really any vegetable, I suggest preparing them simply to showcase their most basic taste and texture. See how to clean your leeks here then maybe try grilling them whole like this? You could serve your grilled leeks with a simple dressing or just olive oil and salt and pepper.

If you don’t want to grill or even have a grill maybe cut them into coins

and sauté them in a little olive oil and or butter. I like to use both. I added some zucchini but you could certainly just have sautéed leeks as a lovely stand alone side dish.

Herbs would be nice added here at the end of cooking. I have some pesto I think I’ll add to this and have it with salmon tonight for dinner. Here is a photo with the pesto. It was really a nice addition, yum.

Have a great week. See you at pickup.

Posted in 2023, Onions and Leeks, Recipes | Comments Off

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