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Category: Peas

  • Pea Shoots

    One of the best parts of being a part of a CSA is getting unusual or unfamiliar vegetables. This week everyone will be getting pea shoots in their shares and to some of you I bet this is a new item.

    Pea shoots are the top tender growth of the pea plant. Can you see the tip-top of the plant with the tendrils and delicate leaves?  That is all we harvest for pea shoots.

    Unsurprisingly they taste just like peas! They are very tender with a fresh-crunchy texture.

    You can store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for at least a week.

    One of my favorite ways to  enjoy pea shoots is in pesto.

    You can use them in salads, on sandwiches, or add them to a stir fry or fold them into scrambled eggs.

    I think you will love using them in different dishes all week.

    Have fun eating and I’ll see you at pickup.

    Mo

  • Pea Shoot and Green Garlic Pesto

    I love Pesto!! I love Pesto made from almost anything green. Arugula,  Collards, Sorrel, and of course Basil.

    This week I wanted some pesto and it is too early for basil and I ate my arugula so I found myself eyeing a bag of pea shoots in the vegetable bin and I also saw some green garlic lurking next to the pea shoots…that is about all I needed to make pesto; something green, garlic, and oil. If I have some nuts or seeds and hard cheese like Parmesan I use it, but it isn’t necessary.

    This is what I had. Let’s make some pesto!

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    Pea Shoot and Green Garlic Pesto

    • 1/3 of a cup of nuts or seeds. I had toasted walnuts
    • About 3 cups of pea shoots
    • Green garlic, I used about 1/3 cup
    • 1/3 olive oil. You might want a little more
    • 1/3 to 1/2 cup of hard cheese like Parmesan-optional
    • salt and pepper

    DIRECTIONS

    In a food processor or blender, combine nuts, pea shoots, Parmesan and garlic. Pulse until roughly chopped. Add salt. With motor running, slowly drizzle in olive oil. Blend until well-combined and it is the thickness you like.

    Scrape the pesto into a bowl and use immediately, or store in a jar with a thick covering of olive oil and use within three days. You can also freeze in ice cube trays or zip-lock bags. This makes a little more than a cup.

    This pea shoot pesto was very different than any pesto I have made, or had before. Usually I think of pesto as a sort of a ‘punch in the face’ from strong flavored herbs like basil, arugula and sorrel and the garlic in most pesto is usually very hot.

    This pea shoot pesto is pleasantly mild and grassy in a good way and the green garlic is very mild, both were really nice with the olive oil I used. I could taste all the ingredients, I really liked that.

    I made a grilled cheese and pesto sandwich and also some pesto deviled eggs. I like to use pesto as a condiment like mayonnaise or ketchup.

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    Have a great week. I hope you are enjoying your CSA. Leave a comment or question if you have any.

    It’s so great to see you all at pick-up, even if I can’t see your smile I can see your eyes and they speak volumes. We feel your support and gratitude and that means the world to us.

    Be well.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

  • Snow Pea, Kohlrabi and Turnip Rice Bowl

    This is my go-to-dinner-on-the-table-in-20-minutes dish. I posted this blog several years ago. It’s pretty much the same dish, only different vegetables and a little different preparation. It’s a good basic recipe that you can adapt to what you have on hand.

    This time, I made the basic broth/sauce in the first recipe but added a couple tablespoons of peanut butter. You can use another butter, or leave it out all together. In the original blog I added the vegetables to the broth to cook them. This time I sauteed the vegetables in a separate pan and poured the broth into the bowl because I wanted the vegetables, especially the snow peas, to be crunchy.

    This will serve 4 people

    For the broth you will need;

    • 1 14-ounce can full-fat coconut milk
    • 1/2 can water (use the coconut can to measure)
    • 4 Tablespoons ginger, peeled and grated
    • 2 tablespoons of nut butter, I used peanut butter
    • 1/2 cup of onions or shallots
    • Juice of one or two limes, taste it after one lime and add more if you need to
    • 1 or 2 chilies, like Serrano or jalapeno (optional)
    • 1 tablespoon brown sugar

     

    Combine all these ingredients in a pan and bring to a gentle boil. While that is cooking prepare your vegetables.

    Use lots of seasonal vegetables, at least 1 1/2 cup per person. These are the vegetables I used.

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    Fava beans, turnips, snow peas and kohrabi. Peel and cut the vegetables into bite size pieces. I had some mushrooms I forgot to put in the picture, oops.

    Cook the vegetables until they are tender.

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    That’s it. Serve it in a bowl with rice or noodles and pour the broth in the bowl.

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    It takes longer to make the rice or noodles than the rest of the dish. Leftovers are great the next day with a hard boiled egg!

    Have a great week,

    Mo

     

  • Sugar Snap Pea and Fava Carbonara

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    Yum. Carbonara is one of my favorite dishes. Carbonara with fresh peas and favas is off the charts. I like it with spinach or chard too, or broccoli and basil.

    Before you start get everything ready, this comes together really, really fast. I use only a 1/2  pound of past here because I am using so many vegetables. If you want more pasta and adjust the amounts accordingly. This made way more than enough for two of use for dinner.

    You’ll need;

    • 1/2 pound dried pasta, I used spaghetti
    • 1 to 2 cups of fresh vegetables
    • 1 tablespoon butter
    • garlic scapes, cloves or green garlic
    • 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano cheese
    • 2 large eggs, beaten
    • pepper and  salt as needed

    I used snap peas and shelled favas and garlic scapes. You can use garlic cloves or green garlic. As always, use what is in season and what you have. I just shelled the favas and didn’t bother with peeling the skin off because they are still small and young.

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    Boil your pasta and while that is cooking saute the vegetables with some butter in a pan big enough to hold all the vegetables and the pasta. you will be tossing all of it together and you need the heat of the pan to gently set the egg mixture.

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    When the pasta is cooked drain it, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. You need to add a little of the cooking water at the end to make the sauce creamy and pull the whole thing together, so reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water!. Turn the burner off, you don’t want to scramble the eggs. The residual heat will set the egg mixture. Add the pasta to the skillet and toss with the vegetables, and garlic and butter. Add half the cheese and, with metal tongs, toss until well coated, about 1 minute. Add the eggs and toss for 1 minute more.

    Add the remaining cheese, salt and pepper to taste, and enough of the reserved cooking water to form a creamy sauce that clings to the noodles. Start with about 1/4 cup of the cooking water, don’t dump all of it in, you might not need it all.

    That’s it. I like to add some bread crumbs and extra Parmesan cheese but I forgot to take a picture of it. This was a hard dish to make and take pictures of at the same time :)

    If you look at the first picture you can see how the creamy sauce coats everything, that is what you are going for. This is one of those dishes that is more than a sum of it’s parts and so, so delicious. Even better with fresh vegetables!

    Enjoy.

    Mo

     

  • Sugar Snap Peas with Mint

    The Red Wagon Farm Crew picking your CSA snap peas this morning.

    picking peas

    Snap peas and mint are one of my favorite flavor combinations. The snap pea season is very short. I try to make this super simple dish at least two or three times while the snap peas are on. This dish is a great example of the flavors being more than a sum of their parts. The mint melts onto the garlic scapes and lightens their flavor and brings out the sweetness of the snap peas.

    snap peas and mint

    2 teaspoons olive oil
    3/4 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed
    2 tablespoons of garlic scapes or green onion
    pinch of salt and pepper
    2 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
    Directions:
    1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sugar snap peas, garlic scapes or green onion. Season with salt and pepper. Stir-fry for 4 minutes try to get a little bit of a sear on the peas, then remove from heat and stir in the mint leaves.

    Trimmed snap peas.

    trimmed snap peas