Wednesday, June 27, 2012


What’s Growing?
Ready to harvest and enjoy now are radishes (see the post below!), bok choy (almost done) kale, collard greens, peas (while supplies last!) garlic scapes & mixed salad greens.  Email your order today!
This is Tina's recipe for pickled radishes.  She gave me one to try and it was AMAZING!  Thank you for posting this Tina!  Radishes will be harvested tomorrow and  it will be awhile before we have more.  Be creative with them and enjoy while they're in season.

 Radishes are what are known as cruciferous vegetables.  They contain phytochemicals (natural chemicals found in plants) that have the ability to prevent cancer as well as enhance survival after cancer has been diagnosed.  Other cruciferous vegetables that can be found in our garden are bok choy,  broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale and turnips.



QUICK RADISH PICKLES

MAKES ABOUT1 CUP
  • ACTIVE TIME:10 MIN
  •  
  • START TO FINISH:2 3/4 HR (INCLUDES MARINATING)


  • 6 oz radishes (about 7), quartered
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar (not seasoned)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 (1-inch) piece peeled ginger, cut into thin matchsticks (1 tablespoon)
  • Toss radishes with 1 tsp salt in a bowl and let stand 30 minutes. Drain in a sieve but do not rinse.
  • Heat vinegar with sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and add radishes, then stir in ginger. Transfer to a small bowl and marinate, chilled, at least 2 hours.
COOKS’ NOTE: Radishes can be marinated up to 1 day.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012


KALE

Cooking with Kale
There's a reason why sweet, earthy kale is the most popular of the greens these days: it's delicious, versatile, and incredibly nutritious. Kale contains beta-carotene and the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin—which are associated with eye health—as well as potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, iron, and calcium. Plus, you get 2 grams of protein in a serving. Consider using kale as a stand-in for spinach in dishes.  Great steamed and added to pasta sauce and stir fry.
Kale Chips
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Ready In: 20 Minutes
Servings: 6
"These are a low calorie nutritious snack. Like potato chips, you cannot stop at just eating one. They are great for parties and a good conversation topic."
INGREDIENTS:
1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2.
With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3.
Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Available now, mixed salad greens, garlic scapes, cilantro, bok choy and limited kale and collard greens.  Email to place an order.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

recipe image

Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch



"Slices of strawberry and rhubarb are topped with a buttery, brown sugar and oat crumble then baked until golden brown and crunchy."
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
3 cups diced rhubarb
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup rolled oats
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.
In a large bowl, mix white sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, strawberries, and rhubarb. Place the mixture in a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3.
Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, butter, and oats until crumbly. You may want to use a pastry blender for this. Crumble on top of the rhubarb and strawberry mixture.
4.

Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp and lightly browned.



Cucumber Avocado Salad 
1 medium cucumber, seeded and diced
2 medium firm-ripe avocados diced
1/2 red onion diced
Juice of 2 limes (1/4 cup approx.)
salt to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 jalapeƱo peppers, seeded and finely chopped (optional!)
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and toss gently to combine.  Serve within an hour of preparing
Add cilantro and lime juice to cooked rice and serve on a salad with black beans and guacamole as a dressing.  Great in salsas or cowboy caviar!



Peas are great steamed, raw, in a stir fry, cut up on a salad or in a wrap.  The pea season is short, enjoy them often right now!




Radishes come in a wide variety of shapes and colors.  Use them to dress up a salad with both their flavor and their color.



"This flavorful edamame salad has a light rice wine vinegar and sesame oil dressing that is tossed with bok choy, carrots, and Napa cabbage. It is topped with black sesame seeds and daikon radish for an extra kick."
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups shelled edamame (green
soybeans) or lima beans
1 cup chopped Napa cabbage
1/2 cup chopped bok choy
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/4 cup shredded radish
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook edamame in the boiling water until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and chill in the refrigerator.
2.
Combine Napa cabbage, bok choy, vinegar, sesame oil, and salt in a small bowl. Let sit in at room temperature until cabbage is slightly wilted, about 20 minutes.
3.
Stir edamame and carrots into cabbage mixture. Refrigerate until fully chilled, 1 hour.
4.
Top edamame salad with sesame seeds and daikon radish before serving.































Bok choy, or brassica chinensis to use its scientific name, is classified as a cabbage. Nonetheless, bok choy bears little resemblance to the round European cabbages found in western supermarkets, or to Napa Cabbage for that matter. Its white stalks resemble celery without the stringiness, while the dark green, crinkly leaves of the most common variety is similar to Romaine lettuce. The Chinese commonly refer to bok choy as pak choi or "white vegetable." Another common name is white cabbage.
This bok choy recipe is terrific to serve as a side vegetable dish - or add tofu or your choice of chicken, pork, or seafood for a delicious mixed stir fry dish. With a rich garlic taste, the stir fry sauce is easy to make and goes well with other vegetables (if you don't have bok choy on hand), such as broccoli or Chinese vegetables such as baby bok choy, yu choy, gailan (Chinese broccoli), or any Chinese cabbage. Easy and quick to make, this bok choy recipe will fast become one of your vegetable favorites!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: SERVES 4 as a Side Dish
Ingredients:
  • 4-5 "heads" of baby bok choy (OR 2 heads of large bok choy)
  • 1 Tbsp. coconut oil or other vegetable oil
  • STIR-FRY SAUCE:
  • 2 Tbsp. oyster-flavored sauce (Vegetarians/Vegans: substitute vegetarian oyster-flavored sauce OR vegetarian stir-fry sauce)
  • 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. fish sauce (Vegetarians/vegans: substitute 2 Tbsp. Thai Golden Mountain Sauce OR 1.5 Tbsp. soy sauce)
  • 2 Tbsp. sweet Thai chili sauce (available in most supermarkets)
  • 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 2 tsp. fresh lime juice
  • 7-8 cloves garlic, minced
Preparation:
  1. Rinse the bok choy and cut off the bottom stem part at the base of each head. Separate into individual leaves. If the white sections of these leaves are very wide or large, you can slice them in half lengthwise, or into thirds. Tip: If stir-frying larger bok choy, slice off the green leaf tips. Add the thicker white sections to the wok first, then throw in the leaves at the end (these will cook very fast).
  2. Mix all the stir-fry sauce ingredients together in a bowl or cup. Stir well to dissolve the sugar.
  3. Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high to high heat for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add oil and swirl around.
  4. Now add the bok choy plus 2-3 Tbsp. stir-fry sauce. Stir-fry 1-2 minutes, or until pan/wok starts to become dry.
  5. Now add another 2-3 Tbsp. sauce and continue stir-frying another 2-3 minutes, or until the bok choy is bright green and the white stems are softened but still crunchy.
  6. Taste-test the bok choy with the sauce. Add more sugar if too sour for your taste, or more lime juice if too salty. Also, fresh minced chili or dried chili can be added if you prefer it spicier. If you prefer more sauce, add a little more, as desired.
  7. To serve, lift out the bok choy and place on a serving platter or in a serving bowl, then pour the sauce (from the bottom of the wok or pan) over. Serve immediately with plenty of Thai jasmine-scented rice
Enjoy the following tips and recipes!

Collard Greens
Health benefits of Collard greens
  • Wonderfully nutritious collard leaves are very low in calories (provide only 30 cal per 100 g) and contain no cholesterol. However, these greeny leaves contain very good amount of soluble and insoluble dietary fibre that helps control LDL cholesterol levels and also; offers protection against hemorrhoids, constipation as well as colon cancer diseases.
Widely considered to be healthful foods, collards are rich in invaluable sources of phyto-nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties, such as di-indolyl-methane (DIM) and sulforaphane that have proven benefits against prostate, breast, cervical, colon, ovarian cancers by virtue of their cancer cell growth inhibition and cytotoxic effects on cancer cells.

I enjoy collard greens are either in my morning fruit smoothie.  I use one banana, one slice of fresh pineapple, a cup of frozen blueberries or strawberries, water to thin, about 1 1/2 cup and 3 or 4 collard leaves.  This satisfies me all the way to lunch!

Collards are also great steamed.  Put about a half inch of water in a pot with a cover and get it boiling.  Chop the collards and add them to the water with a little salt.  Steam them until tender and you can eat them with lemon juice or vinegar.  Or, take the collards and add them to a stir fry or to pasta sauce.  Eating greens is the best thing you can do for your health!



Garlic Scapes




Harvesting:Before it is time to harvest the garlic, the plant sends up a single thick round shoot from the center and the end is a bulging area that will eventually burst open with a flower. In order to encourage the garlic bulbs to grow larger, the garlic scape should be cut off so that the energy can be spent on the bulb, not the flower.  Scapes can be used in place of garlic in any recipe.  They keep up to 3 months in the fridge, but don't let them sit that long!  They are fresh and delicious!  Enjoy!


Asparagus is one of my favorites.  I love it grilled, steamed or raw!  It's a great addition to a raw vegetable tray if you blanch (put into boiling water for 30 seconds and immerse in ice cold water immediately to stop the cooking process).  I use lemon juice, salt and pepper when it's steamed.  On the grill, put it in foil with a little olive oil and garlic and cook until tender.  For the last minute of cooking, put it directly on the grill to brown a bit.