Week 4 July 21 delivery to PR and DL; July 24 delivery to Dilworth and Fargo
No veggie processing at Fargo’s Messiah Lutheran Church this week.
In your CSA boxes this week:
Baby lettuce (mesclun) with radish, nasturtium, vetch, borage, calendula flowers
Heirloom head lettuce
The last of the Napa cabbage
Bunching salad onions
The triumphant culmination of Spinach 1
first yellow zucchini or young patty pan summer squashes OR hoophouse cucumbers
Baby broccoli
Kohlrabi
Basil herb
Cilantro herb
Cherry or Glacier early tomato
Peas—snow and sugar snap
Dinosaur kale and Swiss chard
Arugula that volunteered in the leek bed
Some eggs
The storm hit around seven this morning. Thunder rumbled loud and close. Rain pinged on our steel roof. Dewane turned on the weather radar. “Guess what?” he whispered loudly in my ear. “In the entire state of Minnesota, guess where it’s raining.”
“No,” I muttered, determined to claim fully the only slow morning I’d had in several weeks.
“The only rain in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin?” His voice mimicked the computer man’s. “Over us!”
I appreciated his glee. We’d missed the past few rains, and his oats needed rain to head out. More importantly, rain meant I’d not have to start another intense cycle of watering in the garden.
Then the hail started. I jumped out of bed and ran to the deck.
Dewane was already there. “Nickel size and bigger.” He reported the obvious. “It could miss the garden.”
“Nothing you can do about it,” Dewane said.
“It better rain a bunch,” I retorted. Wind or hail damage without the compensation of rain is unjust.
A mile to the east, the garden was looking fine. Green bean 1 plants were flowering profusely. After harvesting head lettuce and Chinese cabbage, we had planted mesclun 3 and 4, radish 3 and 4, spinach 2 and 3, green beans 3 and 4, bunching onions 2 and cilantro 2. Most had germinated, promising a taste of eternal spring.
I waited for the downpour to end, halfheartedly betting Dewane we’d get half an inch of rain.
We got exactly half an inch, but winning gave me no comfort. I drove to the garden, recalling the year hail flattened my sweet corn. It straightened after a few days. Shredded leaves generated enough energy for new ones to form. We got corn.
Here and there, tomato stalks were bent over, snapped. Cabbage leaves, especially the flat Dutch, have new holes. The biggest zucchini fruit was gouged along its exposed upper side. But the majority of the plants were fine.
Except for the eggplants. They are being attacked by Colorado potato beetles, who have abandoned their namesakes in favor of more exotic quarry. We examine the besieged plants daily. Today, the combined hit of insect and hail conjured an association with starving, wide-eyed Biafran children. I crawled down the rows, gently turning over each battered leaf, squishing adults, larvae and eggs, vowing to fight as long as the plants do.
Our other heat loving plants—squashes, melons and peppers—are still catching up from our late, cold spring, but show great promise.
Of course, the cool-season crops are supremely happy. What bounty! Fabulous salads!
If you are feeling force-fed, we’re doing our job. Your refrigerator shelves are stuffed with bags of mystery greens. Last Thursday, Brigitte von Budde’s helper, Nancy, offered a brilliant suggestion: take pictures. Ken immediately took textbook-quality photos of arugula, Toscano (dinosaur) kale, Red Russian kale and Swiss chard. They are attached to this newsletter.
The next hurdle is cooking greens. Mild, tender leaves “give a nice texture to a salad; no need for anything else other than a vinaigrette,” says Brigitte von Budde. Other greens are not typical Midwestern fare. We welcome our spinaches and lettuces, but often see kale only as a deli display garnish. Southern cuisine embraces collard and turnip greens. Up north, we raise more cold-tolerant kales, chards, and Asian greens. They are highly nutritious, prolific and—once you know how to cook them—delicious.
Our resident Greens Goddess has volunteered to write a Greens Primer, instructions to enable you to eat, freeze and post-thaw cook greens—and enjoy them. Here’s a teaser: blanch (par-boil) excess greens, cool in ice bath and freeze for later use, either in separate bags or serving sizes balled up in a gallon bag. Chop thawed greens and add to stir-fry, veggie dip, soups and casseroles, or saute with garlic.
We put a variety of herbs in your weekly CSA boxes. Once you’ve refilled your dried herb jars, what else can you do with them? Make herb jelly! I’ve enclosed two recipes for Basic Herb jelly as well as suggestions for variations. Herb jelly is delicious on scones or hot biscuits. You can spread it between layers of pound cake. Use as a filling for thumbprint cookies or as a glaze for ham. Melt and pour over baked or steamed vegetables.
Citrus Salad Dressing 4 Servings from Dr. Weir’s healthy eating newsletter
This tart, sweet salad dressing is wonderful on dark, leafy salad greens like romaine or leaf lettuce tossed with orange segments, black olives and red onion slivers.
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a small jar and shake well. Keeps in the refrigerator 2 days.
Chris Thornbury’s Sour Cucumber Soup (what she did with her winning cucumber)
Peel, slice and salt a cucumber, mix in a small amount of onion, and let sit
unrefrigerated for several hours until limp.
Pour a small bowl of milk.
Salt milk to taste by stirring in the salt - adding a little at a time until it's
tasty to you). Then add small amount of vinegar (just a tiny bit at a time - using a teaspoon until it's tasty to you). Everyone likes it a little bit different. Once you add
the vinegar, it's too late to go back and add more salt, so make sure you do the
salt the way you like it first. Put the bowl of milk in the fridge until you're ready to eat.
Add the cucumbers to the milk, and enjoy each spoonful until gone. The cucumber I won made the best bowl I ever ate.
Cucumber Salsa makes 1 quart (make when CSA cucumbers are plentiful)
2 cups diced cucumber
1 diced young yellow or patty pan zucchini
1 large red tomato
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
¼ teaspoon salt, to taste
juice of 1 lime
In bowl, toss together all ingredients. Serve chilled with salsa or as a topping for a summer soup. Keep refrigerated.
Radish salsa makes about 2 cups
1 white radish
1 red radish
1 purple radish
3 Tablespoons finely diced celery
4 diced cherry tomatoes
1 Tablespoon chopped mint leaves
pinch salt
1 ½ teaspoons lime juice
Wash radishes and remove tops. Dice radishes. Toss with all ingredients. Chill. Tastes even better next day.
Chunky Garden Salsa makes about 2 cups
1 cup fresh corn kernels
1 cup chopped tomato
1/3 cup chipped sweet onion
2 cloves, minced
juice from ½ fresh lime
2/3 cups chopped fresh cilantro
¼ teaspoon salt
sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice
Mix all ingredients and chill. Serve with chips or as a side salad.
Basic Herb Jelly using liquid pectin makes 5 half pints
2 cups water or 2 ½ cups fruit juice
1 cup fresh herbs, finely chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice, fresh or bottled, or cider vinegar
4 cups sugar
optional 1 to 2 drops food coloring
3 ounces liquid pectin
1. Stir together water (or juice) and herbs. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let steep until cooled. Strain, pressing all liquid and flavor out of the herbs.
2. Measure liquid and add enough water to make 2 cups. Combine herb infusion with lemon juice, sugar and optional food coloring.
3. Bring to a boil. Add sugar. As soon as sugar dissolves, stir in pectin. Return to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for exactly 1 minute. Remove from heat.
4. Skim off foam and pour into clean, sterilized jars. Add a small herb sprig to each jar.
5. Seal with new jar flats and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Cool on towels until sealed.
Basic Herb Jelly using powdered pectin makes 4 to 5 half pints
2 cups water
1 ¼ cups fresh herbs, finely chopped
¾ cup lemon juice, fresh or bottled
1 package powdered pectin
4 cups sugar
1. Stir together water and herbs. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cook. Strain.
2. Measure liquid and add enough water to make 2 cups. Combine herb infusion with lemon juice and pectin in a saucepan. Stir well to dissolve powder.
3. Bring to a boil over high heat stirring constantly. Add sugar. Bring back to a full, rolling boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Skim off foam and pour into clean, sterilized jars. Add a small herb sprig to each jar.
5. Seal with new jar flats and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.
***possible combinations***
¼ cup each chives, thyme, oregano, basil, tarragon
orange juice and 1 cup loosely packed thyme (serve with cream cheese and crackers)
lemon juice and 1 cup loosely packed rosemary
apple juice and rosemary
cherry juice and thyme
equal parts thyme, marjoram, sage and rosemary (spread on roast turkey sandwiches)
parsley (good with poultry dishes)
dandelion flowers (no green parts) makes a beautiful yellow jelly
horseradish (serve with roast beef)
basil (good with soft cheese and crackers)
lavender and white wine vinegar
cinnamon basil with white wine vinegar
raspberry juice and rosemary
fennel jelly (good on fish and pork)
Hot peppers and garlic (½ cup only for a batch of jelly)
Apple juice and ¾ cup loosely packed sage
Strawberry and tarragon
If you have only dried herbs, use half of what is called for fresh per batch.
Spicy rosemary grape jelly makes 3 half pints
2 cups grape juice
1 cup water
1package powdered pectin
3 ½ cups sugar
¼ teaspoon whole cloves
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves
1. Combine juice and water and heat.
2. Add sugar and bring to a full rolling boil.
3. Add pectin, return to a boil, and add rosemary and cloves. Boil for a full minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Remove from heat and skim off foam.
5. Pour into clean, hot jars. Put on lids and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.
Marjoram and lemon jelly
2 cups lemon juice
2 Tablespoons fresh marjoram leaves, tied in cheesecloth
4 cups sugar
½ cup liquid pectin
1. Bring lemon juice to a boil. Add marjoram leaves in cheesecloth. Simmer 20 minutes. Remove marjoram
2. Measure juice and add more juice or water to make 2 cups.
3. Add sugar and bring to a full boil.
4. Add pectin and bring back to a full boil. Boil for 30 seconds.
5. Remove from heat. Skim. Pour into jars to ½ inch from rim. Cover and process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.
Sally's Summer Zucchini Pasta
From The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show (Clarkson Potter, 2008). Copyright 2008 by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift.
10 minutes prep time; 10 minutes stove time. Serves 4 as a main dish.
The pasta can be served hot, or at room temperature. While penne works nicely, there is nothing sacred about using that particular shape.
5 quarts salted water in a 6-quart pot
1 pound small zucchini, about 4 or 5
1 pound imported penne pasta
4 tablespoons good tasting extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes, and more to taste
4 large garlic cloves, coarse chopped
2 cups grape tomatoes halved, or 2 cups fresh tomatoes, rough chopped
1 to 1-1/2 cups feta cheese, crumbled
1/3 tight-packed cup fresh basil leaves, rough chopped
Pan Fried Zucchini Flowers (optional; see recipe below)
1. Have the salted water boiling.
2. Trim off the ends of the zucchini. Cut the squash into matchsticks about the size of the penne.
3. Drop the pasta into the boiling water. In the last 3 minutes of boiling (check pasta package for timing), drop the zucchini into the pot. Boil, stirring often, until the penne are tender but still have a little bite. Scoop out 1 cup of the pasta water and reserve. Immediately drain the pasta and zucchini in a colander.
4. Return the pasta pot to the heat, turning it down to low. Film the bottom of the pot with the olive oil. Add the hot pepper flakes and garlic, and gently saute just until the garlic is fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
5. Remove the pot from the heat, add the drained pasta and zucchini, the tomatoes, feta, basil, and as much of the reserved pasta water as necessary to lightly coat the pasta. Gently toss, taste for seasoning, and serve.
