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  • Celeriac Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

    I have a few favorite recipes that I turn to again and again. For the Fall and Winter holidays this Parsnip Cake is a favorite, it has a great texture and keeps for several days. It can be made a day or two ahead and it’s just fine, maybe better.  The slight vegetal flavor and spice are just what I want in a fall dessert. For a couple years now our parsnip crops have failed for one reason or another so I haven’t made Parsnip Cake for at least a couple years. I was planning my Thanksgiving menu wishing we had some parsnips for the cake, and a light bulb went off….parsnips and celeriac are ‘related’ (Apiaceae family).

    I love celeriac and had celeriac,  I wanted to make  the Parsnip Cake and didn’t have any parsnips, so…I used my recipe for parsnip cake and subbed equal amounts of celeriac for parsnips and voila.

    After successfully subbing celeriac for parsnips I’m confident you could use any carrot cake recipe you like and sub parsnips, celeriac, beets or even rutabagas and be happy with the results. Some vegetables might be more pronounced but I’m sure all will be delicious. I like this recipe because it uses melted butter instead of oil giving the cake a nice refined texture, not heavy and oily like most carrot cakes.

    There is a pretty good amount of celeriac, you can see here in the batter before it’s baked. There is some apple in there too to add to the moisture level and give it a tart sweetness.

    The cakes bake nice and even and are easy to handle.

    Recipe Celeriac Cake

    • 12 tablespoons of butter
    • 250gm turbinado sugar (can sub raw sugar or brown sugar)
    • 100gm maple syrup
    • 3 eggs
    • 250gm all purpose flour
    • 2 tsp baking powder
    • 1 tsp baking soda
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 2 tsp all spice
    • 250gm grated celeriac
    • 1 apple grated (I didn’t peel it)
    • 50gm chopped nuts
    • zest and juice of one small orange (I used a mandarin)
    Instructions:
    • Preheat the oven to 350F and grease two 8 inch cake pans. I also put parchment in the bottom of the pans. I do this out of habit. I don’t know if you need to do this step or not. I always do so I mention it here.
    • Melt the butter, sugar and maple syrup in a pan, let it cool a little
    • I used a hand mixer to add the eggs to the butter and syrup mixture
    • Add the flour, baking powder/soda/salt to the above
    • Add grated celeriac and apple, pecans, orange zest and juice to the above and mix
    • Divide the batter between the two pans and bake for 45-50 minutes or so until they are firm to the touch (in the middle) and brown. They will just start to pull away from the side of the pan when they are done.
    • When the cakes are done cool them before removing from the pans. I had to run a knife around the sides of the pan to release the cakes.

    I made a basic cream cheese frosting for this cake. For the Parsnip cake I make a mascarpone filling. Both are delicious and could use either, or you could just dust it with some powdered sugar.

    Let me know if you try this. I think you will really love it.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • End-of-season thank you!

    Winter Squash harvest
    Winter Squash harvest

    It doesn’t feel like another farm season is coming to a close! It always goes by so fast! Yesterday I was at our CSA pickup in North Boulder. I saw many people that have been CSA members for 15+ years. I also met a brand new CSA member who just joined a few days ago and wanted to try our CSA for the very last pickup of the season. We have so much gratitude for all of these CSA members and everyone in between!

    Farming is very hard. Growing vegetables is always challenging–weather, water, pests, and diseases, but it is so much more than that and it feels like it has gotten a lot harder in the last handful of years. The economics of farming, the chronic labor shortages and high turn-over rates, the rising cost of expenses, the time it takes to comply with an increasing number of  regulations. Wyatt and I have had to work more and more each year and are stretched pretty thin.

    Onion harvest
    Onion harvest

    The thing that keeps us going is you! Our CSA members! We count on the consistency and stability of our CSA. Our members show up week after week and year after year. We’ve distributed our vegetables many different ways over the years: farmers’ markets, our farm store, to local restaurants, and more. While we value these opportunities and connections, they also have a lot of challenges. Our CSA is by far the thing that works best for us at Red Wagon.

    We’ve also been working hard on building a great team at the farm. It’s still not easy but it feels like we’re finally getting somewhere this year. Many of you have seen Mo, Kai, and Brie at our CSA pickups. Javier has been with us in the field for many years and even brought a handful of his family members from Mexico this year to help with our labor shortage. We are really hoping they will return to work with us again next year! It has been a huge relief to know they will show up to work every day and do a great job. We also started our Working CSA Member program in 2021. It started as a desperate attempt to fill holes in our staff. We now have about 20 workshare members and half of them have been with us for multiple years. They are such a valuable part of our team!

    I feel like I can never adequately express why our CSA members are so valuable to us–you might just have to take my word for it. But you really are the thing that keeps our farm going. We hope to keep feeding you for many years to come!

    With gratitude,
    Amy

  • Roasted Green Chile Meatloaf

    This is a fast, fun and delicious take on a traditional dish. You can use any ground meat or ground meat substitute to make this.

    I got the original recipe here, my changes are in parentheses.

    -1 ½ pound ground meat or meat substitute (I used ground turkey and turkey sausage)
    – 1 whole finely chopped onion
    – 1 cup finely roasted chopped green chile (I used 1 pound of roasted chopped poblanos)
    – 2 eggs (I used one egg)
    – ½ cup Italian bread crumbs
    – 2 tablespoons of Filtered Honey (I used agave)
    – 1 can Rotel with green chile (I didn’t use this)
    – 1 finely chopped bell pepper (I didn’t use this)
    – 1-8 oz. can of tomato sauce (I used salsa)

    Instructions:

    1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
    2. Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl until well incorporated.
    3. Place mixed ingredients into a glass baking dish 9×13 (I used a loaf pan)
    4. Bake for 45 minutes.
    5. Top with ketchup to taste (optional) and bake for 15 more minutes. (I mixed salsa and brown sugar! Yum!)
    6. Serve hot or cold!

     

  • Roasted Green Chile Tomatillo Pozole

    This is a great meal using either roasted poblano or Anaheim chiles. Pozole is a traditional Mexican stew made with homily, red or green chiles, some sort of protein-traditionally pork but chicken or beans are easily substituted. Topping pozole with fresh ingredients like cabbage and radishes make this a festive meal great for holidays but easy enough for weeknight meals.

    Homily is an ingredient you might not be familiar with. You can find dried or canned homily in the Mexican food section of any grocery store. I used dried homily (follow cooking directions on the package) canned is fine to use too.

    I based this dish using this recipe, the original recipe is VERY detailed. I’ll post my modified/simplified version but do check out the original recipe if you want to take a deep dive into pozole.

    Green Chile Tomatillo Pozole you can double or triple this. Leftovers are great.

    • 4-5 cups stock, I used chicken but vegetable is fine
    • 1 pound boneless chicken breasts, pork or 2 cans drained beans
    • 1 pound tomatillos husks removed and washed (if you can’t find fresh tomatillos canned are fine, they are in the same isle as refried beans and enchilada sauce.)
    • 1 large onion chopped
    • 1 pound of roasted green chiles skins and seeds removed chopped
    • 2 or three cloves of garlic
    • 1 teaspoon each of cumin and oregano-salt and pepper!
    • 2 or 3 cups of cooked homily, drained
    • garnishes like cabbage, avocado, radishes, lime, cilantro, onion slices

    Cook the chicken, if using, in a large heavy-bottomed pot, bring the stock and spices to a boil. Add the chicken breasts, cover and simmer gently over low heat until  tender and cooked through, about 25 minutes. Transfer the chicken breasts to a plate and shred and return the chicken back to the stock.

    Make the green chile sauce. In a blender add tomatillos, onion, garlic, roasted chiles and garlic. Blend until smooth, scraping down sides if necessary.

    Pour the green chile sauce into the chicken soup pot. Add the the hominy and bring to a gentle simmer over moderate heat. It will turn dark green and thicken up add water or more broth if it is too thick. Taste the soup.  Season with salt, pepper and maybe a squeeze of lime.

    Serve with whatever garnishes you like.

  • Winter CSA 2024/2025

    We are excited to announce our 2024/2025 Winter CSA! Click here to join.

    Details:

    • Two Pickup Locations:
      • Wednesdays at Red Wagon Farm at 7694 N 63rd St, Longmont (near Niwot).
      • Thursdays at Red Wagon at Thomas Open Space at 1640 W Baseline Rd, Lafayette.
    • Pickup times: 3 to 6 pm.
    • Pickups are from 10/30/24 – 1/30/25
    • Weekly Veggie Share $611 (13 pickups)
    • Biweekly Veggie Share $329 (7 pickups)
    • Mushroom and Coffee Shares also available.
    • Prices are prorated if you join after Oct 30.

    Possible crops we will have (depending on weather and availability):

    Tucking chard into the caterpillar tunnel.
    Tucking chard into the caterpillar tunnel for winter harvest.
    • Greens: lettuce, spinach, arugula, bok choi, kale, chard
    • Onions, garlic, leeks, shallots
    • Potatoes
    • Carrots
    • Beets
    • Cabbage
    • Roasted chiles
    • Winter squash
    • Pie pumpkins
    • Herbs
    • Kohlrabi
    • Fennel
    • Rutabagas
    • Celeriac
    • Winter radishes
    • Turnips
    • Apples, Pears

    2024 Biweekly Dates Winter CSA

    Click here to join now!
    Email csa@redwagonfarmboulder.com with questions.

  • Green Chile Black Bean Burger

    I love vegetable burgers. Not the mass produced fake meat type, but homemade with lots of actual vegetables and grains! I don’t usually eat them on a bun, but you of course can! I like them along side lots of fresh salad like vegetables and crunchy pickles and onions.

    There are roasted chilies in the patty. I put more on top with some cheese. This is vegan if you leave off the cheese or use a vegan alternative cheese.

    Green Chile Black Bean Burger-makes 6 big burgers. This looks like a long list but you probably have everything in your pantry except the corn and chilies.

    1 can black beans, rinsed and drained and mashed
    ¼ cup onion, diced
    1 cup cooked brown rice
    1 cup panko or bread-crumbs
    2 roasted green chilies diced (=1/4 to 1/2 cup), more if you want to top your burger with chilies
    ½ cup corn. I used raw cut off the cob
    2 tablespoons salsa (helps to hold everything together, use more if your burger isn’t easy to form into a patty)
    2 teaspoon cumin
    1 teaspoon garlic granules
    1 teaspoon, chili powder
    1 teaspoon onion granules
    1 teaspoon salt
    ¼ teaspoon pepper

    Gather your ingredients.

    Mash your beans and cut up your vegetable and put everything a a bowl big enough to mix everything together. 

    Not looking too yummy yet :-(

    Shape this mix into 6 patties. Heat a heavy skillet to medium and film it with oil and brown them for about 4-5 minutes and carefully flip them over. You can add more chilies and or cheese now, if you want.

    You can make the patties shaped but uncooked, a day or two ahead of when you want them. They freeze really well too, shaped and -cooked or uncooked, if you can’t eat them all in a week or so. I like to use leftovers like taco meat, in nachos or a burrito-or TACOS!

    If you try these let me know how you liked them.

    Mo

     

  • Freezing Whole Tomatoes and Tomatillos

    Just a quick post to let you know that you you don’t have to make sauce or peel and prepare tomatoes or tomatillos for later use. You can easily freeze pop your whole tomatoes or tomatillos and it couldn’t be simpler.

    Just put your washed and dried tomatoes or tomatillos in the freezer on a tray until they are frozen hard.

    When they are completely frozen move them to a plastic bag for long storage and to take up less room. Return them to the freezer, use them in 6-9 months.

    When you’re ready to use your frozen tomatoes or tomatillos, just let them thaw at room temperature. Once they’ve defrosted, the tomato skins peel right off! Use the tomatillos without peeling.

  • Storing Shredded or Spiralized Zucchini

    It recently dawned on me that I can shred or make ‘zucchini noodles’ (like they sell at Whole Foods) at home, at a fraction of the price, and store it for at least a week in containers in the refrigerator.

    I find (and Whole Foods knows) if I have food prepared and ready to use I am more apt to make things like zucchini bread, quesadillas or zucchini pancakes. Once the zucchini is shredded, making other at a later date isn’t overwhelming and literally takes a few minutes and there is almost no clean up.

    Shred your zucchini with a box grater or your food processor or if you have a spiralizer use that. Pop the prepared zucchini in the container and cover it until you are ready to use it.

    This zucchini has been stored for 8 days and still looks great. I put a paper towel in the bottom of the container and I think it balanced the dampness of the vegetables. I think for baking and cooking the spiralized noodles I like the stored zucchini better than freshly grated. 

    I am positive that carrots and winter squash will store just as well like this. I’ve never frozen zucchini but I think I’ll try it and I’ll report back. If you have luck freezing zucchini let me know how you do it. Until then I’m off to make some zucchini bread!

  • Herb Packed Cucumber (or Zucchini) Salad

    This is a great summer salad when cucumbers and zucchini are crisp and tender and herbs are abundant.

    You can use either zucchini or cucumbers here and any soft herbs-mint, basil, tarragon, parsley, chives, dill, cilantro. I like to mix and match what I have.

    Herb Packed Cucumber Salad

    • 1 pound of cucumbers or zucchini sliced thin. I love my mandoline for this but you can use a knife
    • 1 small onion sliced thin
    • juice of one lime
    • 1/2 teaspoon honey, agave or sugar
    • 1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt, you can use any dairy free options too if you like
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil (I forgot this in the photo)
    • 1/2 -1 cup chopped soft herbs. I had chives, mint and parsley today

    Place cucumber (or zucchini) in a colander with a pinch of salt and leave it to drain for about 1/2 hour. Put the sliced onion, lime juice, agave and a pinch of salt in a bowl to marinate while the cucumbers drain.

    After 1/2 hour put everything (add herbs, sour cream and a little olive oil) in a serving dish and mix it up really well. 

    Taste and see if it needs more salt, sweetener (for balance) or lime and enjoy!

     

     

     

     

  • Chard Smoothie

    I love making green smoothies. Kids love making green smoothies too. It’s kind of magical turning vegetables into something so seemingly decadent.

    The amounts of greens and add in ingredients are infinitely adaptable to seasons and dietary preferences.

    All you need is something green, a liquid for easy blending and for me bananas are a must ingredient and the rest is up to you.

    The basics for two smoothies are;

    • one bunch of chard leaves (stems removed) about 4 cups
    • 2 bananas, some people like to freeze their bananas, I don’t. I like smoothies not too frozen
    • 1 cup liquid like almond milk, coconut milk, orange or pineapple juice
    • 2 or 3 Tbsp. seeds or nuts. I love cashews or hemp seeds, almonds are good too.
    • optional ingredients, more fruit or vegetables, I added a couple clementines, cucumbers are great in smoothies, apples, celtuce, herbs like mint or basil, ice if you like it thicker. Dates are good if you like a sweeter smoothie.

    Put everything in a blender and let it rip. I try to always make enough for two smoothies, one for today and one for tomorrow.