This may be your second week in or maybe this is your first taste of the season. With the cool spring we have been having, our greenhouses have been even more essential to provide you with the variety you expect. This week offers many different leafy greens, from spinach, to kale, to bokchoy and turnip greens. We hope to inspire you in this blog that yes, you can handle all this leafy goodness, and your body will thank you for it, as these are the most-nutrient-dense veggies around!
Cucumbers are bearing their fruit! Can you spot them?
finger sized carrots are growing nicely
beautiful Chinese cabbage from the greenhouse
A shot of the cucumber greenhouse
A couple of crops we are eagerly anticipating are greenhouse cucumbers (little babies are on the plants now- can you spot them?) which will be ready in a week or 2, and carrots, which are the size of my pinkie fingers now and will be quite lovely in a couple weeks. Of course there is also lettuce, which is in the field and finally starting to grow! We are watching hopefully to see if we will have some next week, and in the mean time, our whole share holders get to sample them as baby lettuces.
Whole share contents: Chinese cabbage, mixed baby lettuces, potted basil, rutabaga, parsnips, radish, 2 bunches asparagus, green onions, cilantro, rhubarb, bok choy, green kale, turnip greens & spinachhalf share contents: green kale, turnip greens, spinach, radish, rhubarb, cilantro, bok choy, asparagus x 2 & potted basilsimply six share: red potatoes, radish, green kale, spinach asparagus & potted basilBeef & bok choy stir fryasparagus & kale fettucine with turnip green Caesar saladThai Kale, quinoa & turnip green salad
Thai Kale, Quinoa & Turnip Green Salad
Ingredients
3 cups green kale, finely chopped (I used scissors)
2 cups turnip greens, finely chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 bunch radish, thinly sliced
1 carrot, shredded
1 tsp fresh ginger
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1/2 lime
1/4 cup peanuts, almonds or cashews
1 tbsp. maple syrup or honey
1/4 cup peanut butter, smooth
3 tbsp. soy sauce
3/4 cup quinoa
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil, toasted
1 1/2 cups water
Directions
Wash and chop produce and cooked quinoa and add to large mixing bowl.
Mix liquid ingredients for dressing (heating lightly if needed to mix) and toss with salad.
Welcome to a new season of farm share everyone! In this unusually chilly start to June, we sure are thankful for our greenhouses and some lovely root crops to round out our veggie shares. This week I thought I’d give you a visual for what is in your box so you can identify each item easily. I also thought I’d share a recipe I just made up that got resounding “yums” from my family and uses tons of spring veggies! Finally, meal planning is an important part of enjoying your farm share baskets without seeing any of it go to waste. Do you have a plan day? It sounds like Tuesdays may be just the right time for us now, as I will be posting the blog each week on Tuesday nights.
In future blog posts we will be learning from other amazing farm members who have a lot to share, from naturopaths, to nutritionists, to minimalists and busy moms, all tied together in their passion for great food.
Check out your farm share box contents below in picture form, with labels!
Our first ever Simply 6 ShareThe first half shareYour First Whole Share of the season šOur first fruit share of the season: 3lbs gala apples (Canadian), 3 large mangos, 1/2 pint raspberries, 1/2 pint blueberries, 1 cantaloupe (Mexico)Allergy-Free, Veggie-packed Chicken Pot Pie
Allergy-Free & Veggie-Packed Chicken Pot Pie
Serves 6
As soon as I knew we’d be having parsnips this week, I knew I ought to give you a recipe for them. After all, you’re not going to want to gnaw on them raw like you would a carrot. You see, they are a tougher veg, but their delicious flavour means we need to find a way to coax some tenderness out of them! Enter the instant pot- if you don’t have one, this would also be great in a slow cooker. Now, for the recipe:
Ingredients
-600g chicken breast, chopped into chunks
-2 tbsp olive oil
-400g parsnips (about 3/4 of your bag)
-400g rutabaga
-3 large carrots
-600g red potatoes (with or without skin)
-3/4 bunch red radish
-1 can full-fat coconut milk (60% fat)
-3/4 cup chicken broth
-1 tsp. poultry seasoning
-1 tsp. dried thyme or 1 tbsp fresh
-salt and pepper to taste
-2 tbsp fresh chives
Directions
Put chopped chicken and olive oil in instant pot and set to sautee. Ligthly sautee as you wash, peel and chop parsnips, carrots, rutabaga, potatoes and radish (can be left whole or halved)
Add vegetables to instant pot when meat is partially cooked. Add in coconut milk, chicken broth, poultry seasoning, thyme, salt and pepper.
Set the instant pot to pressure cook for 10 minutes. Remember to put the little dial in the “sealing” position. Meanwhile, prepare biscuits or socca/farinita (chickpea flatbread) to serve with (pictured).
Alternatively, saute chicken in pan on stove and add all ingredients to slow cooker…and be patient…very patient š
Lovely Spinach & goat cheese stuffed chicken breast and penne with tomato veggie sauce my mom made for us!
Now for a sample meal plan my family for the week (farm share veggies used in parentheses)
Monday- Chicken Pot Pie (parsnip, rutabaga, red potato, radish, chives)
Tuesday- Spinach & Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken with Penne Pasta & Tomato veggie sauce (spinach, baby bokchoy in sauce)
Wednesday- Roasted Salmon, asparagus & Red potatoes (asparagus, red potatoes)
Thursday- Beef & bokchoy stir fry with rice (baby bok choy, bok choy)
Friday- Chicken & asparagus pizza with turnip green salad (turnip greens, asparagus)
No doubt the unrelenting heat is inspiring you to cook outdoors or embrace salads in place of hot foods. Here are 2 more recipes to inspire you, however you end up tweaking them!
So I tried the cauliflower grilled- it is definately a do! If you cauliflower is a little small, try adding your asparagus (whole shares) or zucchini. I was proud to get my husband to enjoy cauliflower without the cheese sauce.
Cauliflower Asparagus Barbecued Vegetables
Grilling Vegetables on the Barbecue is definately a good idea!
Ingredients
1head cauliflower
1/2 bunch (or more) asparagus or 1 medium zucchini, cut into thick strips (so it doesn’t cook too fast)
Juice of 1/2 lemon (or to taste)
Montreal Steak Spice or pepper, salt Ā and garlic to taste
olive oil cooking spray
Directions
1. Preheat barbecue to a medium-high heat. Meanwhile, cut/pull apart cauliflower into large pieces. Cut asparagus spears into 2-in pieces, or cut zucchini down the middle widthwise and cutĀ into strips about 1/2 inch thick.Ā Place vegetables on barbecue safe pan or tin pizza/pie plate (what I used) and spray a generous layer of cooking spray over them. Cover with tin foil. *Note, if using thin asparagus spears, add part way through cooking.
2. Place in barbecue with lid down and grill aboutĀ 15 mins or until tender but not mushy, flipping part way to ensure even cooking. In the last few minutes, drizzle the veggies in lemon juice and add the seasoning. Enjoy!
I did a little “guesstimating” in this recipe, so please keep an eye on the veggies as they grill. This serves about 3 adults, but if you add more veggies it’ll easily go farther.
Also, I suddenly had the urge to make macaroni salad and noticed every recipe I could find used late summer/fall veggies. I thought, why can’t we make a recipe that uses localĀ vegetablesĀ harvested Ā in June and July?
Early Summer Macaroni Salad
Early Summer Macaroni Salad- an easy take-a-long for summer barbecues!
Ingredients
2 cups dry elbow macaroni (makes 4-ish when cooked)
1 pint snow peas, stems removed and cut into 1/2 in. bits lengthwise
1/2 bunch radish, finely chopped
2 small kohlrabi, leaves removed and finely chopped (I didn’t peel it but cut a little off by the root)
1-2 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste (I used white pepper)
1-2 tbsp. fresh herbs or 1-2 tsp. dry herbsĀ (parsley, dill or cilantro would be good)
Directions
1. Cook pasta until tender but still slightly firm. Drain and rinse with cold water.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine macaroni, snow peas, radish, kohlrabi, green onions, cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, apple cider vinegar, spices and herbs. Mix well and place in serving dish with lid.Ā Chill in refridgerator to combine flavours.
Feel free to get creative with this one. Amost any crunchy vegetable is great in this cost-effective salad. Serves 6.
With a little imagination and a few tweaks, seasonal vegetables can replace the late summer stand-by’s (like tomatoes, carrots and celery)Ā in your basic recipes. Lucky for us, these staples are coming soon!
