It may be simply sweltering out there, but it is still early in the season.
The peas are flowering- a sure sign of things to come and the raspberries are forming little buds of their fruit. The asparagus is growing so fast, you could almost watch it move up towards the sun before your eyes. I was hoarding every last stalk to put in your Farm Share boxes, only to discover that the very next day, many more bunches had emerged from the ground.
The variety is still limited as we wait out new growth. I am eagerly spying out the progress of each row, hoping to tbe the first to discover it’s fruits. I was lucky enough this week to discover red currants, flashing their striking colour from humble little bushes. While I dreamt up ways to use them, my toddler gobbled them up as is- apparently he’s not afraid of a little tartness. Later, we added them to pancakes with cinnamon of course. And what about on salad? They’ve got the flavour burst and bright colour working for them there. Before I get too into the romance of growing vegetables, here is a list of what you can expect in your Farm Share box this week:
Half Share
-Asparagus
-Spinach
-Currants or Snow Peas
-Radish
-Red or Russian Kale
-Green Leaf lettuce
-Romaine lettuce
-Garlic Scapes
-Potted Basil (We ran out for Durham region- I will send you them as soon as we have more)
-Baby Bokchoy
Whole Share
-Asparagus
-Spinach
-Currants
-Radish
-Red or Russian Kale
-Green Leaf lettuce
-Romaine lettuce
-Garlic Scapes
-Potted Basil
-Baby Bokchoy
-Rutabaga or Snow Peas
-Sage
-Red Swiss Chard
-Bok Choy
-Rhubarb
You may wonder why I feel the need to cook everything. Well, I went raw for our side tonight and I did not mind one bit. I rediscovered baby bok choy as the main show in a salad. Easy, delicious, and suprising.
Again, I took an existing recipe and tweaked it a little to fit what we currently had available. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/yummy-bok-choy-salad/
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/8 cup rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp. white sugar
- 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1lb. baby bok choy, cleaned and sliced ot combination of baby bok choy and swiss chard
- 2 tbsp. chopped chives
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
- In a glass jar with a lid, mix together olive oil, white vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce. Close the lid, and shake until well mixed.
- Combine the bok choy, chives, almonds, and dried cranberries or currants in a salad bowl. Toss with dressing, and serve.
For those of you with little ones who can’t quite chew salad (my 14 month old was a gummy grinner for the longest time), try cooking leftover swiss chard or spinach in a little almond milk with the lid on, then stir in some goat cheese (or whatever cheese your little one fancies). He gobbled it up- but then again, he has a thing for cheese.
Just a side note on bok choy- it makes a stellar side for fish, even just simply sauteed with your favorite oil and seasonings until wilted.
Hopefully this week’s recipes have encouraged you to give baby bok choy a chance. Nutrition wise, it is in the veggie hall of fame beside kale. It puts spinach and even milk to shame for calcium absorption and is like a part of antioxidants, not to mention the iron it contains. http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/healthy-food-bok-choy-nutrient-dense-and-delicious.html . This is definately a vegetable worth growing an appreciation for. Happy munching!
