CSA News, Week 9

In Your Share . . .
Share items may vary depending on your harvest day and share size. Each share may not contain every item listed below.

Blackberries – organic
Surprise! Like many things this season, this crop is ready the earliest ever – first week of July. Enjoy fresh and store refrigerated.

Cucumber

Fresh Green Garlic - organic
These small garlic heads can be used as you would any garlic. They have not been dried as our later offerings will be – so your choice is to store refrigerated, or to air dry yourself by hanging in the pantry or out on the counter.

Yellow Onions - organic
These all-purpose yellow onions are more from our over-wintered crop. We start our own onions from seeds in the the fall of the year and transplant out when appropriately sized. We then mulch and tend to them over the winter, remove the mulch, weed, water and tend to them in the spring. Once the seed heads start and the tops begin to die back, we can begin harvesting organic onions.

Onions are known as antioxidants, are said to remove heavy metals from the human body, lower cholesterol, and help kidney function. Store in your pantry.

Yellow Summer Squash and Green Zucchini
You can use your summer squashes along with onions, tomatoes, and garlic in an easy pasta dish. Or, make a cheesy dip and slice into pieces for dipping raw. Find new recipes below. Store refrigerated.

Tomatoes, Red
Yeh! They are ready!

Tomatoes, Heirloom - organic

Broccoli Florets – organic
Broccoli harvest is trailing off for the spring crop; after the center large head is cut, the plants often produce smaller side shoots that we can har-vest as florets. The smaller pieces will not keep as long, so try to use within several days. Broccoli salad is really nice this time of the year, or add to a quick stir-fry, or make a fresh garlic dip and enjoy as a snack or holiday party appetizer.

Cauliflower – organic
The first cauliflower heads are starting to size up. With such hot temperatures and sun-shine during its growth in June, your heads will be more creamy in color than the white we expect to see in the fall crop. Cauliflower will keep fresh for you longer than expected when refrigerated.

Sweet Corn
As we mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the corn we planted with the intent to harvest this week was ready early, so with this week’s shares we find ourselves in between corn plantings.

Folks may not realize that each corn plant produces only one, and at most, two ears of any size and predictability. We went through many rows looking for the second ears and did find some, but not enough for all size shares. The second ears are often shorter in length than the primary ear, some-times the entire ear will not be filled out with full kernels (a pollination issue), and sometimes there just might not be a second ear at all. So, hopefully you will appreciate a handful of smallish ears rather than no ears at all!

Kale Greens – organic
Find a small bunch of greens this week – perhaps enough to stirfry or steam. We also hear great reports from people making kale chips – review the Mollie Katzen recipe for Kale Crunch we included in the 7-12-07 post on our web blog.

Baby Melon
The baby canteloupe-type melon is truly personal sized.

Recipes to Enjoy . . .

Poached Salmon with Corn & White Wine Butter Sauce
Thanks to a CSA member for sharing this recipe from Food and Wine magazine and the website. She used some items from her CSA share and some from her own garden and tells us that the resulting dish is delicious!

medium zucchini (1 1/2 pounds), coarsely shredded
Salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium shallots—2 finely chopped, 1 halved
Freshly ground pepper
2 3/4 cups dry white wine
1 cup fresh corn kernels
2 lemon thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
Four 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil leaves

1. Set a colander over a bowl. Add the zucchini to the colander and toss with 1 teaspoon of salt. Let stand for 20 minutes. Squeeze the zucchini dry.
2. In a large, nonreactive skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the chopped shallots and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of the wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the corn and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook until the corn is tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in the zucchini and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, cover and keep warm.
3. In a large, nonreactive saucepan, combine 2 cups of the wine with the thyme, bay leaf, the halved shallot and 2 cups of water and bring to a simmer. Season the salmon with salt, add the fillets to the saucepan and cook at a bare simmer over low heat, turning once, about 6 minutes. Transfer the salmon to a plate and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the poaching liquid.
4. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of wine to the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until thoroughly incorporated. Season with salt. Stir the basil into the vegetables and transfer to plates. Nestle the salmon into the vegetables, top with the butter sauce and serve.


Disappearing Zucchini Orzo
Our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this tasty Barbara Kingsolver recipe. She reports that it is wonderful served warm, room temperature, or cold as a salad direct from the refrigerator.

¾ lb pkg orzo pasta
1 chopped onion and/or garlic to taste
3 large zucchini
olive oil
Herbs of your choice (thyme and oregano were recommended)
¼ cup grated Parmesan or any hard yellow cheese

Cook orzo according to package directions. For more flavor, replace water with your favorite stock. Shred zucchini and sauté briefly with chopped onion and garlic until lightly golden. Add spices to zucchini mixture, stir thoroughly, and then remove from heat. Combine with cheese and cooked orzo, salt to taste, serve hot, cool or at room temperature.

Squash Patties
Recipe from cookbook of Little Rock Farmers Market

2 yellow squash
2 T flour
1 onion
3 T cornmeal
½ tsp salt
1 egg
3 T sugar

Grate squash and onion. Add egg followed by dry ingredients. Mix well. Drop by heaping tablespoons into hot skillet with small amount of oil. Fry until golden brown.

Farmers Market Greek Salad
Recipe from Fresh From the Farmers’ Market by Janet Fletcher; serves 4 as salads or 2 as main course

1 pound mixed tomatoes in different colors and sizes
¼ onion, sliced paper thin
1 or 2 cucumbers, about ½ pound total weight, thinly sliced
2 ounces feta cheese, preferably Greek or Bulgarian
10 to 12 fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
16 kalamata olives
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T white wine vinegar
1 large clove garlic, minced to a paste with salt

Core and halve the large tomatoes through the stem, then lay cut side down and slice into half-rounds. Halve the cherry tomatoes if using. Arrange the large tomatoes on a platter, alternating the colors attractively. Top with onion, then with cucumber rounds. Sprinkle the halved cherry tomatoes on top of the cucumbers. Dot the surface with small clumps of cheese. Tear basil leaves into small pieces and scatter over all. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange the olives around the edge of the platter.
In a bowl, whisk together olive oil, wine vinegar and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and pour over salad just before serving.