Red Wagon Farm

Boiling Potatoes

Posted on July 14, 2014 by mo

I was at the Red Wagon booth at the Farmer’s Market Saturday getting some new potatoes. The same type of potatoes you will be getting this week, and someone asked me how to cook new potatoes.

I said, I would probably just boil them and put some herb butter on them. New potatoes are so yummy you don’t want to mess too much with them.
They said, how long do you boil them?
I said, until they fall off a knife when I stab them.
They said, can I over cook them, will they fall apart?
I said, check the Red Wagon Blog on Monday and I’ll explain with pictures.

So, where you go inquisitive person at the Farmers Market.
Boiled potatoes 101

Start with some beautiful potatoes from Red Wagon Farm, scrub the dirt off. No need to peel. Different sizes are OK if you have fingerling or new potatoes they will be different sizes, that is just how they are.
If you have larger potatoes cut them into similar sizes for even cooking. If they are small and different sizes just pull the little ones out as they are done.

Put your potatoes in enough COLD salted water to cover the potatoes by an inch or so, and bring to a boil. Don’t start with warm or hot water, it makes for a weird texture of potato and the outside will cook faster than the inside and you will have a mess.

Potatoes in pot

After 10 minutes or so check one of the smaller potatoes to see if it is done. It will probably take longer, more like 15 minutes but check, you don’t want over cooked potatoes.
Get a SHARP knife, like a paring knife. Not a table knife, it’s too thick.
Stab one of the potatoes and if it slides off the knife it is done. If it stays on the knife put it back and check again in a few minutes.
Check out my video of a perfectly done potato in slow motion.

Riveting huh? The shadow of the potato falling is funny.

I just put some salt and pepper and butter and some herbs from the garden on these potatoes and they were perfectly delicious.
Dressed Potatoes

This picture is why I did the video. I kept trying to show the potato falling and couldn’t get it in still photography. No potato, just splash, splash,splash.
It made me lol. Hope you all are having fun with your food!

Knife

Posted in 2014, Potatoes, Recipes | Comments Off

Vegetable Frittata

Posted on July 14, 2014 by mo

Look at some of the lovely vegetables we get this week.

Summer Veggies

I grilled the zucchini and onions for dinner last night.

Grilled Veggies

The broccoli raab too.

Wilted Greens

I often cook a large portion of my CSA share early in the week, for two reasons.
First, it takes up less room in the refrigerator when it’s cooked.
Second, it makes for easy and quick meals later in the week.

I knew I would have lots of leftover grilled vegetables from last night so I will make a frittata for tonight’s dinner.
You can use any cooked vegetables or grains or pasta you have to make this. I love frittata’s made with leftover pasta and vegetables.
I just used the leftover grilled vegetables this time.

FRITTATA

This will serve 2 people generously.

olive oil and/or butter
5 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup milk, cream, half and half, or even sour cream or yougurt.
tender fresh herbs, whole leaves or coarsely chopped.
some grated firm or hard cheese, Cheddar, jack, Parmesan, (optional)

Preheat your broiler to finish the top of the frittata.
Warm the vegetables in a pan on the stove in a bit of olive oil and/or butter in an OVENPROOF pan large enough to also hold the eggs.

Tossed in pan

Crack the eggs into a bowl and scramble with the herbs and a little salt and pepper.
Add your milk product, and fresh herbs and stir to combine.

Eggs and cream

Pour the egg mixture over the warmed vegetables in the skillet, adjusting the heat down so the eggs set without overcooking on the sides or bottom.
Don’t stir the pan. You want the eggs to set as one unit. This isn’t a scramble. If you mess up you will have a delicious scramble, so don’t worry too much. It will be delicious no matter what. But, do try to be patient.
This is what ‘set’ eggs look like, ready be finished under the broiler. More runny than you imagine I bet. Error on the side of runny, you don’t want really hard eggs in this dish. Put some cheese on now and put it in the oven to broil.

Frittata start

You want the frittata to puff slightly and start to brown at the edges and on top.
I like the eggs set and puffy on the edges, but barely set and soft in the center.

Bake till puffy

Now go sit on the patio with a simple salad, good bread and a glass of wine and enjoy this lovely meal!

Posted in 2014, Eggs, Recipes | Comments Off

Inside the Squash Blossom

Posted on July 7, 2014 by lnmayer

This Saturday, before heading to the Boulder Farmer’s Market, I ventured out to Teller farm, one of our two growing locations. At Teller, there is a spectacular back drop of Long’s Peak and the Front Range with a foreground of even rows of crops like cucumbers, zucchini, and melons. The vines are still subdued for the time being, behaving in their straight rows, but will soon spill over their neat edges and resemble a thicket of Kudzu. One must be careful not to trample the vines. If one is stepped on, it makes an unmistakable squish-popping sound.

I came here with one intent and one intent only— squash blossoms, vibrant orange squash flowers. These fragile blossoms are a delicacy with a succulent texture and subtle taste reminiscent of summer squash.

When harvesting these beautiful specimens, more often than not there is a buzzing surprise inside. This Saturday, almost every flower I gently twisted from the plant contained a jubilant honey bee. When I looked inside, I felt as if I was intruding and interrupting a private moment between the bee and the flower. Each bee was powered with an orange pollen as bright as the blossom itself. When a bee was present, I had to gently shake her out. Sometimes she would simply fly away and carry onto the next blossom, sometimes she would almost stumble out as if intoxicated and fall to the ground before coming to her senses and flying away.

The act of picking the blossoms inspired a simple joy for me — alone in this quiet field, basically picking flowers like a kid skipping through a field and witnessing an act of ecological importance. This quiet moment, however, had to come to an end as the time for market quickly approached. I gently loaded my bounty in the box truck and headed towards Boulder, my arms slightly itching from the spines on the squash leaves.

Posted in 2014, Farm | 2 Comments

Grilled Beet Burger

Posted on July 6, 2014 by mo

This recipe is a little more involved then I usually post but these burgers are so darned good I felt like I needed to share it with you.

We entertain a lot and at any given gathering about 1/2 the people here are vegetarian. Serving vegetarian burgers is somewhat unsatisfying to me. It feels like a cop-out, especially if I put any effort at all into the meat dish.

Until now. This is a deliciously interesting and satisfying burger.

Beet Burger

I found the recipe here and pretty much follow amounts exactly. Most beet recipes want you to roast the beets. In the summer using the oven is off putting to me. In this recipe you grate the raw beets and then you saute them with the other ingredient, so this comes together pretty quickly.
Sometimes I use sunflower seeds instead of walnuts or I sub chipoltle powder for smoked paprika. The smokiness of one or the other of the spices is an important element of the burgers so don’t use plain paprika or omit it, you’ll be missing out.

The other tip I can give you in this recipe is to make sure you caramelize the onions. The char sweet taste of the onions with the smoked paprika bring a really satisfying element to this (and other vegetarian) dishes.

Onions

The recipe is pretty straightforward once you have all the ingredients assembled. You throw it all in the food processor and form patties. The author of the recipe says that she had trouble forming the patties and that the mix is crumbly. That has not been my experience, ever. The burgers hold together well, and aren’t dry or crumbly.
Here they are on the grill. When I grill them I wipe a little oil on the patties so they don’t stick, that is why they are kind of shiny.

Grilling burgers

Add a little cheese if you like.

Adding cheese

And yum. Here you go.

Burger

This recipe is easily doubled or tripled. You can make these ahead and they freeze really well.
Leave a comment if you make these and let me know how you liked them.
Until next week.
Mo

Posted in 2014, Beets, Recipes | 1 Comment

Kale and Apple Salad

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Amy

I have eaten this wonderful salad several times at Oak at 14th. I just made it recently for the first time. The Denver Post got the recipe from Oak chef and owner, Steve Redzikowski. Click here for Steve’s recipe: Kale and Apple Salad Recipe

Kale and Apple Salad Ingredients

I went heavy on the kale and didn’t candy the almonds. Here’s what I put in my salad: kale, apple, hakurei turnips, almonds, lemon juice, Parmesan, olive oil, salt, pepper, and chile powder. Basically, you chop everything up and mix it in a bowl.

Kale and Apple Salad

The salad is delicious and chopping the kale finely makes it easy to eat. Plus it leaves you feeling super healthy!

Posted in 2014 | Comments Off

The Hot Days of Summer

Posted on June 30, 2014 by lnmayer

With the summer heat on the rise, minds shift to thoughts of sandy beaches and cool waters. We humans may not do well when the temperatures reach over 90 degrees, but the veggies planted in the fields for our CSA shares flourish in such conditions. This is the time of year when the fields are about to explode with a diversity of crops and these crops will not wait for us.

When it comes to providing food for our CSA shares, the planning for this explosion of food begins far in advance to ensure we will have the means to fulfill our weekly commitments. From the actual planting that begins when it seems one should still be playing in the snow to the specific daily harvest lists for a given CSA pick up day, things are still contingent on the season at hand. Hot or cool, dry or moist- all these weather conditions dictate how crops grow and how quickly they are ready for harvest. For instance, this week, we have to go and see what is ready, which leaves a mystery crop and a question mark by one item on our list.

Many of the types of crops we offer in the spring, like sugar snap peas and fava beans, are time sensitive in that they only have a window of a couple weeks and they need to be picked when they are plump and ripe. And when they are on- they are on and we have to make the most of this small time frame. Then, there are other types of crops, like most herbs, turnips and beets that we’ll have until the fall frost, and some even after that point. The harvest never stops changing and, plainly, never stops. For us, the farm crew, growers and other food producers, this means those sandy beaches will have to wait.

Posted in 2014 | Comments Off

CSA week 7

Posted on June 27, 2014 by leonieredwagon

Week 7 is here and happening!

Meet Carrots. Carrots enjoys carrots!

This week we hope to bring you…

Regular Share
-Lettuce
-Carrots
-Garlic
-Hakueri Turnips
-Choice: Kale OR Bok Choi
-Mystery Item…1 other item depending on what is available in the field

Large Share Additions
-Extra Garlic
-Extra Mystery Item
-Basil

Posted in 2014 | Comments Off

Cauliflower ‘Alfredo’ Sauce

Posted on June 23, 2014 by mo

*This post was updated with photos and notes on 10-2025

This one of my favorite dishes to make and eat. Cauliflower ‘Alfredo’ is lush and creamy without being heavy and rich and is really satisfying.

This is a super adaptable dish, you can make it vegan, or add milk, or cheese or chicken stock. You can soak a handful of cashews overnight and blend them into the sauce to add fantastic richness and protein or add some leftover rotisserie chicken for a delicious weeknight chicken alfredo pasta that is healthy! Try this sauce on pasta or with on roasted vegetables, or even on pizza instead of red sauce.

I sauteed some chard and mushrooms and topped it with some cauliflower sauce here.

It’s rich but not overly so. Most recipes I have seen for this cauliflower sauce use milk, you can use any milk-plant or animal base or add nutritional yeast or any hard cheese. Use what you like and what you have, and I think you will be very happy with the result. Seriously you guys, you should make this.

Cauliflower ‘Alfredo’ Sauce

1 whole garlic bulb, minced
2 tablespoons oil. I used olive oil
5-6 cups cauliflower use the stems and all trimmed and cut into small pieces.
2 cups water
salt and pepper
½ cup milk (optional, any milk is fine)
1/3 cup nutritional yeast, soaked cashews or Parmesan cheese, optional but really good
a squeeze of lemon to finish

INSTRUCTIONS

Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Add the cauliflower and cook, covered, for 7-10 minutes or until cauliflower is fork tender. Do not drain, you will use some of the water to thin the sauce.
Sauté the minced garlic and oil in a large nonstick skillet over low heat. Cook until the garlic is soft and fragrant but not browned (browned or burnt garlic will taste bitter). Remove from heat and set aside.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cauliflower pieces to the blender. Add 1 cup cooking liquid, sauteed garlic, salt, pepper, and milk if using. Blend or puree for several minutes until the sauce is very smooth, adding more cooking liquid or milk depending on how thick you want the sauce.

Pureed Cauliflower

Taste and see if it needs any salt and if you are adding cheese or nutritional yeast do that now and taste it again and add a squeeze of lemon.

Cauliflower is packed full of all the B vitamins, loaded with antioxidants and also contains carotenoids, and phytonutrients, so it’s not just delicious it’s so healthy too!

Posted in 2014, Cauliflower, Recipes | 7 Comments

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