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Category: 2024

  • Winter CSA Week 12

    Hello CSA Members!

    It’s hard to believe we’re already in week 12 of winter CSA. The season seems to have flown by.

    This week’s low temperatures make harvesting and outdoor work extra exciting (challenging!). We’re running the heater in our greenhouse now, which we hadn’t had to do yet this winter.

    Today, the alpacas, llama, and goats at the Longmont farm location were lucky enough to be allowed to roam about. They got very excited at the aromas of parsley and lettuce, as I brought the harvest out!

    Below is a list of what we hope to bring you during week 12 of our winter CSA.

    1 – Greens
    2 – TBD
    3 – Roasted Peppers or Rutabaga
    4 – Carrots or Beets
    5 – Turnips
    6 – Leeks
    7 – Winter Squash (Various: kabocha; blue hubbard; delicata)

    PLEASE NOTE: Winter CSA pickup is from 3pm-6pm. The CSA season runs through January 25th, 2024. (January 18th is the last pickup for Biweekly A members.)

  • Vegetable Broth from Leek Greens

    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.

    Mo

     

     

  • Roasted Green Chile Charro Beans

    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.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

     

  • Winter CSA Week 11

    Hello CSA Members!

    Happy 2024! Here’s to a joyful, healthy year. We all have a head start on health, of course, eating local organic produce on a regular basis.

    Can you believe that we are still harvesting a few crops from the field? We’ve been so fortunate in that sense with this mild winter weather. It sort of balances out the late spring/summer that set us back earlier this year. Turnips, carrots, and kohlrabi are still going strong out there.

    We’re starting to move from our growing tunnels to our greenhouse for things like lettuce, kale, chard, and bok choi. Here’s a photo from last week; what gorgeous afternoons with the sun so low in the sky.

    Below is a list of what we hope to bring you during week 11 of our winter CSA.

    1 – Greens Zone
    2 – TBD
    3 – Roasted Peppers or Winter Radish
    4 – Carrots
    5 – Turnips
    6 – Allium Choice
    7 – Winter Squash (Delicata)

    PLEASE NOTE: This year, we are holding our pickup from 3pm-6pm (an hour earlier than summer CSA).

    If your friends and family still want to join our winter CSA, you can have them Click here for the sign-up link. CSA runs through January 25th, 2023 (January 18th for Biweekly A members).

  • Any Vegetable Peanut Noodle Salad

    This post was updated 6/11/24.

    This is a favorite quick meal I turn to time and time again for a few reasons; one is the unique ‘cooking’ method. Cooked noodles are drained in a colander as usual but over  vegetables. Doing so wilts the vegetables to a perfect ‘al dente’ and provides all the cooking needed. This dish is endlessly adaptable to any vegetables and proteins you have on hand and prep is as easy-chop your vegetables, boil the noodles-toss with a delicious sauce-eat.

    Today I had bok choy, green garlic and some chives. Carrots, turnips, lettuce past its prime for salads, broccoli, peppers are all good here.

     

    Recipe for Noodle Salad 2 servings

    • 1 -12-oz noodles. I used soba but any rice or wheat option is great too
    • about 4 cups chopped or shredded vegetables and herbs

    For the sauce

    • 1/4 to 1/2 c peanut butter to taste, you can use another nut or seed butter if you prefer
    • 1/4 c rice wine vinegar
    • 1/4 c soy sauce
    • 2 Tbsp honey
    • 1 Tbsp minced ginger
    • 1/4 c water

    While the noodles cook chop the vegetables then combine peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, honey, ginger, garlic, and onion with a 1/2 cup of water in a small saucepan.  Cook over medium to low heat until all ingredients are well combined and sauce is thick and bubbly.

    When noodles are cooked place the prepared vegetables in a colander.

     

     

    Drain the noodles, hot water and all over vegetables to drain when the vegetables just start to cook quickly rinse the  with cold water to stop everything from cooking any more.

     

    You can kind of see how the vegetables just barely cooked.

    Toss the vegetable-noodle mixture with sauce, you won’t need it all.

    Serve the extra on the side and dress with any protein you like and hot sauce and nuts or seeds for added dressing.  Either serve now or chill in the refrigerator to serve later for leftover or lunch.

     

    Until next time.

    -Mo