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Category: 2020

  • Cabbage, Beet and Lentil Borscht

    Delicious. Satisfying. Chocked full of vegetables. Filling. Beautiful.

    I followed this recipe exactly, it’s well written and easy to follow so I am not going to rewrite it. I’ll just link to the the post and post some of my pictures making it.

    You probably have all the vegetables you need in your refrigerator. I did. I have made this with sauerkraut instead of cabbage, that was really good too.

    Chop everything up. The mandolin came in handy here, but you can chop by hand if you like.

    Chuck it all in a big pot with the lentils and the other ingredients called for and cook for about 30-40 minute.

    The vegetables release lots of water and make a delicious broth, it’s almost like a vegetables stew. The lentils add a nice satisfying texture. This can be vegan if you use vegetable oil and top it with olive oil. I like it with some crusty bread or croutons and sour cream so darn good. I do think it needs some kind of fat to top it off to balance the flavors.

    It gets better after a day or two and it makes at least 8 servings, so lunch is taken care of for a few days.

    I hope you are all well and stay that way.

    Mo

  • Winter CSA Week 3

    Hello CSA Members!

    Here is what we *hope* to bring you for Week 3 of our Winter CSA:

    REGULAR SHARE
    Beets
    CHOICE: Kohlrabi OR Hakurei Turnips
    Potatoes
    Leeks
    Spinach
    Arugula
    Red Kuri Squash

    LARGE SHARE ADDITIONS
    None for Winter CSA

    FRUIT SHARE
    Apples

  • 2 Easy Acorn Squash Preparations

    Acorn squash are a perfect side dish to go with almost any meal. They have a very mild ‘squash’ taste and aren’t as sweet as butternut squash or pumpkins.

    The skin is edible, I like it. Some people don’t. I’ll show you two ways to cook it, one you scoop the flesh out the other you eat it skin and all. Try both and see which you prefer.

    Like most winter squash, acorn squash are very hard to cut. Before cutting your squash, then you can microwave winter squash for about 3 minutes to make them easier to cut.

    Cut it in half and scoop out the seeds, use a melon ball utensil or a grapefruit spoon to make the scooping easier.

    I roast all my winter squash in a 425F oven and start checking for doneness after about an hour. If the squash is cut in smaller pieces check for doneness sooner, like 35 or 40 minutes. It’s pretty hard to over cook squash.

    Put your squash on a sheet pan lined with parchment. I like acorn squash sweet since they are pretty bland so I put in a pad of butter and some maple syrup or a little brown sugar and salt and pepper. If you don’t want sweet you can rub it with olive oil and just salt and pepper.

    I scored the squash after about 45 minutes in the oven so the butter and maple syrup would soak in a little. I finished baking it for about an hour total. That’s it. A tasty easy side.

    Here is my favorite way to cook acorn squash. Scoop out the seeds and slice the squash in about 1/2 inch wedges. I like to make a rub of equal parts miso, maple syrup and olive oil and salt and pepper. You can just use olive oil and salt and pepper. Then spread the wedges evenly on a sheet pan and bake.

    Start checking for doneness after about 35 – 40 minutes.

    I had some romesco sauce I served with this. Pesto or chimichurri sauces are great with this, pretty much any sauces you have will work, or just eat it as is.

    Look at the blisters and caramelization. Yum.

    I hope you all are doing ok and are well and stay that way.

    Mo

     

     

     

  • Winter CSA Week 2

    Hello CSA Members!

    Harvested Arugula

    Here is what we *hope* to bring you for Week 2 of our Winter CSA:

    REGULAR SHARE
    Carrots
    Cabbage
    Topped Hakurei Turnips
    Leafy Greens (Possibly Arugula OR Kale OR Chard)
    Peppers CHOICE (Possibly Roasted Sweet Peppers OR Fresh Sweet Jimmy Nardello Peppers)
    Winter Squash
    One Extra Item (Possibly Brussel Sprouts OR Radicchio)

    LARGE SHARE ADDITIONS
    None for Winter CSA

    FRUIT SHARE
    Apples

  • Different kinds of winter squash-which are interchangeable?

    I love late season and storage vegetables and I really love winter squash.

    Here is a primer of some of the different kinds of winter squash we have and which are interchangeable with each other.

    Clockwise these are buttercup, butternut, pie pumpkin (winter luxury), spaghetti, baby butternut and kabocha. We have lots and lots of information on this site about storing and cooking different kinds of squash.

    Let’s look a little deeper into what makes them unique, and similar.

    Kabocha (my favorite winter squash) and buttercup squash both have cork like stems and bright orange, very sweet and dry flesh. The shape stands up to braising in curries or stews and is delicious in soups, ravioli filling and they are dry enough to make squash gnocchi.  These two squash are completely interchangeable with each other and also with a sweet potato!  Kabocha skin is thin so I never peel it. Buttercup is a little thicker so I either peel it or scoop the flesh out and compost it.

    Pie pumpkins and butternut squash are the two ubiquitous winter squash in most people’s repertoire. Almost any thing you can do with any winter squash you can safely substitute one of these. The flesh is orange, slightly firm, slightly stringy, slightly sweet, slightly nutty and not too dry especially if you roast them. I LOVE winter luxury pie pumpkins in this pie.

    I love spaghetti squash but I always say I wish it had a different name. No, it doesn’t taste like spaghetti. It is stringy and very mild in taste, not sweet at all like other squash. It takes on the flavor of whatever you cook or serve it with. It has a chewy almost crisp texture that is sort of like rice vermicelli AND it comes with it’s own bowl! You can cook and eat your whole meal in one go! I can’t really think of anything you can substitute for or with spaghetti squash. In my experience this is the longest storing winter squash. I have kept a spaghetti squash from October to June! That’s 8 months!

    One squash I don’t have on this list or even on this site is an acorn squash. I didn’t have one here today but I’ll find one at the farm this week and fix that!

    Enjoy your winter vegetables and know they will keep for you for a long time.

    Have a great week.

    Mo

     

  • Winter CSA Week 1

    Hello CSA Members!

    Early Morning Frosty Tuscan Kale

    Here is what we *hope* to bring you for Week 1 of our Winter CSA:

    REGULAR SHARE
    Beets
    Potatoes
    Brussel Sprouts
    Radicchio
    Leafy Greens CHOICE (Possibly Bok Choi OR Kale OR Collard Greens)
    Roasted Carmen Peppers
    Winter Squash

    LARGE SHARE ADDITIONS
    None for Winter CSA

    FRUIT SHARE
    Apples

  • Tuv Ha’Aretz Partnership with Red Wagon Farm

    It has been 11 years since Red Wagon Farm and Tuv Ha’Aretz formed a partnership thanks to Rabbi Marc, Lisa Bates, and Sandy Cohn. Thank you so much to all of you who have been members in that time! In the first few years of our partnership, Tuv Ha’Aretz members did things like volunteer at our CSA pickups and there was a Tuv Ha’Aretz newsletter that was sent out frequently. There was also a large Tuv Ha’Aretz Core Committee that met monthly. We’re down to 5 members on the Core Committee (me, Beth Ornstein, Becca Gan Levy, Jerry Pinsker, and Monica LaBush) and we only meet 3-4 times each year. There aren’t many official organized activities for Tuv Ha’Aretz members anymore and it might be difficult for people to see tangible benefits of being a Tuv Ha’Aretz member. But the partnership still has tremendous value to me, Wyatt, and Red Wagon Farm!

    For starters, 2 of our 4 CSA pickups are at Nevei Kodesh and the Boulder JCC and we are very grateful for the ability to use these spaces. The JCC in particular has been incredibly supportive of our farm and CSA. Jonathan Lev and Cynthia Weinger knew our CSA pickups would be a challenge this year and they offered to host a second pickup day at the JCC if it would help us. Last fall Becca Gan Levy let us have our last pickup of the year in the barn at the JCC to help us get out of the snow!

    We have been invited to many events over the years at the JCC, Bonai Shalom, Nevei Kodesh, and Har Hashem to get to know Tuv Ha’Aretz members and build a connection. Among other things, we’ve been to multiple Seders to celebrate Passover and Sukkot and we’ve been invited to participate in the Jewish Food Fest at the JCC. We’ve also hosted Sukkot events for Mazel Tot at our farm.

    Each week we have CSA members who miss their pickups and we donate the veggies from these missed shares. For many years, Bob and Ru Wing helped to get these veggies to community members in need. This year we have partnered with Jewish Family Service to fill this role. They send volunteers to our farm each Friday to pickup and distribute these missed shares to community members. There has been an extra need for fresh vegetables during the pandemic and I know the recipients of these vegetables have been especially grateful.

    This spring we needed help recruiting new CSA members and Rabbi Marc Soloway wrote a lovely piece that was included in the Boulder Jewish News. The JCC also helped us promote our CSA.

    The most important part of the partnership between Red Wagon and Tuv Ha’Aretz has been the connection. We value each and every one of our CSA members, but for the most part we have individual connections with CSA members. Our connection with Tuv Ha’Aretz members is different. It is really valuable for Red Wagon to have the support of a whole community who shares values–even if it is just moral support sometimes! I also know I can reach out to the Tuv Ha’Aretz community if our farm needs anything. There’s also been a personal connection between me and Wyatt and so many of our Tuv Ha’Aretz members and we’ve come to know many of you as friends. I am reminded of this on the weeks that I work at all of our CSA pickups like this last week of our CSA season. I know a lot of people at each of our pickup locations and talk to many people, but I can help Kai out as part of the CSA team. However, Kai knows I’m pretty worthless on Thursdays as a part of our team and that she shouldn’t count on me for much help because I know so many of our Tuv Ha’Aretz members. I don’t get to see you very often so I value having a few minutes to catch up with each of you. Remember that when you see me standing around talking this Thursday!

    With warmth and friendship,
    Amy

  • 2020 CSA End-of-Season Thank you!

    We made it to the end of our CSA season! I almost can’t believe it. In early May I was having panic attacks (just ask Wyatt!) about coming up with a way to have a safe season for our farm crew and our CSA members. And here we are finally at the end of October. Every year it feels like a big accomplishment to make it to the end of our CSA season knowing that we’ve been able to feed our CSA members all season. But this year it feels like an especially big accomplishment!

    Thank you so much to all of our CSA members for your support! We really could not do it without you. You are the whole reason we are able to have a farm and grow food for our community. This is especially true this year. The world was so turned upside down in March and Wyatt and I didn’t even know if we’d be able to have a farm season with the whole country getting shut down. By the end of March we knew we’d be allowed to operate our farm, but we didn’t know if we could make it financially. (We knew we would lose a large amount of the farm’s income that we usually get from restaurant sales.) I asked all of you to help spread the word about our CSA to your friends and family. Did you ever come through!! We increased our CSA membership by almost 70% this year! We never would have been able to do that without your help. And I don’t think we would have been able to make it through the season financially without growing our CSA membership.

    You’ve also contributed over $8,500 to additional funds we have set up at Red Wagon:

    Farm Worker Support $5,423 (contribute money to go into our farm crew’s paychecks)
    Sharing the Harvest $1,932 (help provide reduced-rate CSA shares to community members in need)
    Red Wagon Supporter $1,173 (extra money for farm equipment)

    We had a lot of small losses with our CSA this year. We weren’t able to invite you out to our farm for any tours. And we weren’t able to have our end-of-season CSA party at the farm. Most of all we missed being able to talk to you at our pickups!

    The cold weather coming this weekend is a good reminder of why our CSA season ends in October. I know we will see some of you for a few more weeks for our Winter CSA. For the rest of you, I hope we will see you in May! Hopefully life will be a little easier by then.

    With gratitude,
    Amy

  • Lentil Soup using any Root Vegetable and any Green

    Any root vegetable is good here; rutabaga, potatoes, carrots or turnips (scarlet or Hakurei) or parsnips would all be good.

    This is super simple to make and it makes a lot, so you will have leftovers and the leftovers are great. You can throw in any extra grains or vegetables you have to freshen up the leftovers and eat this all week, oh and this just happens to be vegan.

    I love adding a little bit of vinegar to lentil dishes, I add a splash about 1/2 way through cooking when I add the greens, if I am using greens and usually a little more right before eating it. If you don’t think you’ll like the vinegar just start with just a little and add more to taste or leave it out. It will be delicious either way.

    To make this you’ll need;

    • 1 1/4 cups green lentils
    • 12 oz canned (or cartoned?) or fresh tomatoes —  (1 1/2 cups)
    • 2 large onions, chopped
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 2 tablespoons to a 1/4 cup vinegar to taste – I used white balsamic, I like the slight sweetness but any vinegar is good – red wine vinegar is good.
    • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon fresh or dried thyme leaves
    • 2 cups peeled and diced root vegetable(s)
    • 2 cups diced carrots
    • 2 cups chopped greens – collards, spinach, chard – green are totally optional
    • 6 cups water
    • crushed red pepper flakes to taste
    • freshly cracked black pepper to taste

    Peel and dice the rutabagas and dice the rest of the vegetables you are using. I don’t peel carrots. Put everything in the amounts above in a pan except the vinegar and greens.

    Simmer that for a total of about an hour. About 1/2 way through cooking add about 2 tablespoons of vinegar and your greens and finish cooking until all the vegetables are cooked through. It’s fine to cook it longer. This photo is when I added the greens it needs to cook at least 1/2 hour longer.

    I like eating this with an added splash of vinegar and olive oil and bread or croutons.

    See you at pickup.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

     

  • CSA Week 23

    Hello CSA Members!

    Here is what we *hope* to bring you for Week 23 of our CSA. This is the FINAL week of our CSA!:

    REGULAR SHARE
    Onions
    Beets
    Potatoes
    Turnips
    Bunched Green CHOICE (Possibly Kale OR Collard Greens)
    Winter Squash

    One Extra Item

    LARGE SHARE ADDITIONS
    Kale AND Collard Greens
    Garlic
    Rutabaga
    Fresh Carmen Peppers

    FRUIT SHARE
    Pre-Ordered Cases Only