This is the last of five deliveries for the first half of this season before our intermission of 5 weeks. I will send an email reminder 2 weeks before we begin the second half of the season. The vegetables you will find in your share our fifth delivery Tuesday June 3rd or Saturday June 7th. Thank You!

• assorted Lettuce Heads
• White Beets with Greens
• Golden Frills Mustard Greens
• assorted Swiss Chard
• Citrus
• Red Long of Tropea Onions
• assorted Summer Squash

Swiss Chard
"Several years ago I had some swiss chard that had been freshly picked from a friend's garden. It was so sweet and yummy and buttery I couldn't believe it was actually Swiss chard. It was then I learned that freshness was the key determinant to whether chard was delectable or detestable. Last night we had Swiss chard that we had picked up from Whole Foods. It was good, quite good. But not nearly as fantastic as the chard we had a week ago that we had bought from the farmer's market. So here's a hint. If the thought of Swiss chard leaves you uninspired, get some from a farmer's market that has been freshly picked. It is sort of like the difference between white corn picked that day, or the same corn two days later. The tastes don't even compare."

• 1 large bunch of fresh Swiss chard
• 1 small clove garlic, sliced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp water
• Pinch of dried crushed red pepper
• 1 teaspoon butter
• salt
  
  Rinse out the Swiss chard leaves thoroughly. Remove the toughest third of the stalk, discard or save for another recipe (such as this Swiss chard ribs with cream and pasta). Roughly chop the leaves into inch-wide strips. Heat a saucepan on a medium heat setting, add olive oil, a few small slices of garlic and the crushed red pepper. Sauté for about a minute. Add the chopped Swiss chard leaves. Cover. Check after about 5 minutes. If it looks dry, add a couple tablespoons of water. Flip the leaves over in the pan, so that what was on the bottom, is now on the top. Cover again. Check for doneness after another 5 minutes (remove a piece and taste it). Add salt to taste, and a small amount of butter. Remove the swiss chard to a serving dish.
  Links:Swiss chard ribs with cream and pasta . Great collection of chard recipes at Mariquita Farm

Beet, Walnut and Prune Salad "This beet salad works great as a side dish. It's garlicky, creamy, sweet, a little crunchy, and a little salty. Enjoy this authentic Russian recipe that everyone in my family always makes."

• 5 medium beets, scrubbed
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 20 pitted prunes, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• salt to taste
  
  Place the beets into a saucepan and fill with just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat until tender enough to pierce with a fork, about 20 minutes. Drain and rub off peels. Run under cold water until cool enough to handle, then grate using the largest setting. Place in a serving bowl. Stir the walnuts, prunes and garlic into the beets, then mix in the mayonnaise and season to taste with salt.

Mustard Green Gratin from Field of Greens

• stemmed mustard greens
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus extra for baking dish
• 3 whole eggs, beaten
• 10 ounces ricotta cheese
• 2 ounces grated Parmesan (approximately 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for garlic and mushrooms
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 ounces mushrooms, sliced 1
• cup crushed round butter crackers
  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove any large stems from the greens and wash them thoroughly; do so in a sink with at least 5 inches of water. Moving the leaves around in the water and allowing them to sit for a few minutes to allow the sand or dirt to fall to the bottom of the sink. Once clean, roughly chop the greens. You should have 1 pound finished greens once they are stemmed. (Weigh the greens after stemming, but before washing.) After washing the greens, place them in a salad spinner to thoroughly dry them. Butter a 9 by 11-inch or 2 1/2-quart baking dish and set aside. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
  In a large, 13 by 11-inch roasting pan set over 2 burners on medium heat, melt the butter in 1 corner of the pan. Add the garlic, mushrooms, and a pinch of salt and cook until the mushrooms give up their liquid, approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Add the greens and cook until they are wilted, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. The greens will reduce to less than 1/4 of their original volume and begin to look like thawed, frozen spinach. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the greens to the egg and cheese mixture and stir to thoroughly combine. Pour into the prepared baking dish, top with the crackers, place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and serve.

Extra recipe for leftover vegetables!
Cranberry Coleslaw "Sweet-tart and crunchy, this unusual slaw is enlivened by a combination of cabbage, sugared cranberries and thin orange slices." Link to Full Recipe

YOUR SHARE OF THE HARVEST WEEK FOUR

The vegetables you will find in your share Tuesday, May27th or Saturday, May 31st. This is the fourth week of five deliveries fro the first half of this season. Our Intermission will begin after the fifth delivery Tuesday June 3rd or Saturday June 7th. Thanks!

• Red Shallots
• Brussel Sprouts
• Outredgeous baby Lettuce Heads
• Loose Leaf Cabbage Greens
• Navel Oranges and White Graprefruit
• Assorted Squash (different varieties)

Pasta with Zucchini, Lemon, Pine Nuts, and Herb adapted from The Greens Cook Book

• 1 pound corkscrew pasta (gemelli, rotelli, etc.)
• 8 ounces small, firm green or golden zucchini
• 1/2 c. mixed fresh herbs: Italian parsley, marjoram, basil, chervil, hyssop, oregano, lemon thyme and others (I used basil and thyme, but oregano and marjoram are also good. Avoid tarragon in this dish.)
• 1 lemon
• 6 T. virgin olive oil
• 5 T. pine nuts
• 1 onion or 3 shallots, thinly sliced then roughly chopped
• 4 t. tiny capers, rinsed in water
• 2 sun-dried tomatoes, cut into narrow strips (I used 8 halves)
• Salt & Pepper
• Parmesan (grated, fresh)
  Slice the zucchini diagonally into pieces about the same thickness as the pasta (matchstick size, 1/8" or so). Line up the slices and cut them into narrow matchsticks. Each one will be tipped with green or gold. Make a selection of fresh herbs from those suggested in the ingredients list. Pull the leaves off the stems and chop them, but not too finely. Include any flowers, such as the purple flowers of the basil or pink thyme blossoms. With a vegetable peeler, remove a thin strip of peel from the lemon and cut it into fine slivers. (I grated the peel.) Heat 2 T. olive oil in a small pan and add the pine nuts. Cook them until they begin to color; then add the shallots. Cook the two together over medium low heat until the shallots are soft and the pine nuts are brown. Transfer them to a wide bowl and add the rest of the oil, the capers, lemon peel, sun-dried tomatoes and herbs. Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon or so lemon juice to taste. Add salt to the boiling water, drop in the zucchini and cook it about 1 minute. Scoop it out, shake off the water, and add it to the bowl with the other ingredients. Next, cook the pasta, scoop it out and add it to the bowl as well. Toss with a pair of tongs, so that the noodles are coated with the oil and herbs. Serve with the cheese passed separately.

Baked Summer Squash with Pesto Crumbs from More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden by Renee Shepherd
This can be served as a whole meal, over wild rice and garnished with toasted pecans.

• 3 lbs. Mixed summer squash
• 3 Tbs. butter
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. mace1 tsp. sugar2
• tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 2 shallots, minced4 scallions, finely chopped
• ½ cup Pesto Bread Crumbs Recipe(see below)
  Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly oil a 2 ½ to 3 quart casserole dish with cover. Trim squash and cut into large chunks (about 1 ½ inches). Arrange squash pieces in casserole and set aside. Melt butter and olive oil together in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients, blending thoroughly. Pour sauce mixture over squash, tossing until squash is coated. Cover casserole and bake 40 minutes. Toss squash gently and spoon juices and seasonings from the bottom of dish over squash. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake uncovered for 10 minutes longer, until squashes are tender when pierced with a knife.
  Pesto Bread Crumbs
  1 cup dry bread crumbs2 large cloves garlic, chopped1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese3 Tbs. roasted pine nuts1 ½ cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves1/4 tsp. salt1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper
  Combine all ingredients in a food processor until thoroughly blended. After using, refrigerate any leftovers. Makes 2 cups.

Squash Pancakes

• 2 eggs
• 1/2C milk
• 4 medium summer squashes, grated
• 1/2C bread crumbs
• 1/2C grated cheese
• 1/3C each chopped fresh parsley, basil and cilantro
• 2T minced shallot or green onion
• 4T butter
• 1/4C flour
  Mix together eggs and milk. Add squash, herbs and shallots. Then mix in the cheese. Add slowly the bread crumbs and flour and mix well. In a large, heavy, non-stick skillet, melt 1T butter until it starts to brown. Spoon about 1/4C of mixture into the pan and flatten a bit with the spoon. You might be able to fit 2 pancakes into the same pan at once. When the edges show a little browning turn with a spatula. Cook the other side until it is also golden brown. Keep pancakes warm in the oven until they are all cooked.

Little Doves By Cait Johnson, author of Witch in the Kitchen (Inner Traditions, 2001)
This traditional Russian recipe got its name because the people thought these tender little bundles filled with savory rice, raisins, and hard-cooked egg and simmered in tomato sauce look like doves. My Polish friend Ania makes a variation of these for special occasions. I always thought they must be really complicated, but as I was eating my third or fourth one and saying, “I’d love to make these at home, but they look really hard to do,” she just laughed and said, “Oh, no! It’s really easy. Try it and you’ll see!” She was so right: Little Doves just look fancy, but they’re really a cinch to make (and fun, too!) and they are great crowd-pleasers. Not only are they a beautiful use for leftover rice, they include four ingredients rich in flavonoids: onions, garlic, cabbage, and dill. My son doesn’t like cabbage but he loves these Little Doves. We all do.

• Cabbage Leaves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups cooked rice, white or brown
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
• 1 teaspoons dried dill weeds
• alt and freshly-ground pepper, to taste
• 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce1 8-ounce can diced tomatoes, not drained
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350F. In a heavy-bottomed skillet, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until softened and fragrant. Remove pan from heat and add rice, raisins, hard-cooked egga, dill, and salt and pepper to taste. In a large pot of boiling salted water, submerge the cabbage and allow to boil for 5 minutes, or until the outer leaves are softened and may be removed. Peel off 12 outer leaves and blot dry. Chop enough of the remaining cabbage to measure 3/4 cup. Add to rice mixture in pan. Remove tough stem of each cabbage leaf, if necessary. Then place 1/4 cup rice mixture in the center of each leaf, tuck ends in, and roll to form a neat little package. (You will find that cabbage leaves are very forgiving and easy to work with, but you can use a toothpick to hold them together, if needed.) In a baking dish, place the cabbage rolls in a single layer. Combine tomato sauce and tomatoes and pour over the cabbage rolls, cover the pan with foil, and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, until bubbly. Place Little Doves on a serving platter, and remove toothpicks. Add sour cream to the tomato sauce in the pan, stirring to combine, and pour this sauce over cabbage rolls before serving.

Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts
This is the only way to eat brussels sprouts: cut in half and cooked until deliciously tender inside and perfectly brown and crusted on the outside. Use brussels sprouts that are on the small size and tightly closed. You can finish these with many different types of cheese but I tend to go for Parmesan when the weather is good. I trade that in for heavier cheeses like gruyere or Gouda in colder weather. I finished them off with some toasted hazelnuts the other night - delicious!

• 24 small brussels sprouts
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
• fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice

Wash the brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top and gently rub each half with olive oil, keeping it intact (or if you are lazy just toss them in a bowl with a glug of olive oil). Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your largest skillet over medium heat. Don’t overheat the skillet, or the outsides of the brussels sprouts will cook too quickly. Place the brussels sprouts in the pan flat side down (single-layer), sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, cover, and cook for roughly 5 minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they’re tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for a few more minutes. Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized. Use a metal spatula to toss them once or twice to get some browning on the rounded side. Season with more salt, a few grinds of pepper, and a dusting of grated cheese. While you might be able to get away with keeping a platter of these warm in the oven for a few minutes, they are exponentially tastier if popped in your mouth immediately.

YOUR SHARE OF THE HARVEST WEEK THREE

The following vegetables are planned to be in your share Tuesday, May 20th and Saturday May 24th. Enjoy!

• Deep Purple Bunching Onions
• Chiogga Beets with Greens
• Swiss Chard
• dried Negreta Fava Beans
• Cutting Celery herb
• Tangerines

Sauteed Swiss Chard from Bon Appétit (scroll down to find for more chard recipes from Autumn)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• pinch of dried crushed red pepper
• bunch Swiss chard, stems trimmed, leaves cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips
  Melt butter with oil in heavy large pot over medium-low heat. Add garlic and crushed red pepper. Sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chard; stir to coat. Cover; cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Transfer to bowl and serve.
  

Creamed Scallions

• heavy cream
• minced garlic
• bunch scallions, trimmed and sliced 1/2 inch thick
• a little cold water
• chopped fresh parsley
  Bring cream and garlic to a boil in a medium skillet. Lower heat and simmer briskly until reduced by half, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat. While cream is reducing, cook scallions with water, covered, in a heavy medium saucepan over moderately high heat until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add cream mixture to scallions. Stir in parsley and salt and pepper to taste, then cook over moderate heat, stirring, until piping hot.
  

Beet and Orange Soup

• beets with tops
• 5 cups stock
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup fresh orange juice
• Garnish: orange slices and fresh coriander sprigs
  Scrub unpeeled beets well. Cut off the tops, chop them, and put them in a large saucepan. Shred the beets in a food processor or on a grater. Add them to the pan and cover with the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 25 minutes. Strain the broth and discard the pulp. Add to the broth the vinegar, seasonings, and orange juice. To serve hot, reheat just enough to warm the orange juice. To serve cold, chill well in the refrigerator. Either way, garnish each soup bowl with a slice of orange and a sprig of fresh coriander.

'Ncapriata Di Fave Or Fava Bean Puree

• whole dried fava beans with skins
• Coarse salt
• extra virgin olive oil

Soak the beans for several hours or overnight. Drain and pull the outer skin off and discard. Transfer the beans to a deep saucepan, and add water to cover. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, skimming off any foam that rises. Once the foam has stopped rising, add salt to taste. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer the beans, stirring frequently with a long-handled wooden spoon. The beans should gradually dissolve into the cooking liquid. Keep a separate pan or kettle of water simmering on the stove and, when necessary, add a little hot water to the simmering beans to keep them from drying out or scorching.Continue to cook for about an hour, stirring much more regularly in the last 15 minutes. When the beans are completely dissolved, without any lumps, they should have the consistency of clotted cream. If lumps remain after cooking for an hour, continue to cook, or, alternatively, run through a sieve to remove any lumps.Off the heat, beat in olive oil with the wooden spoon. Adjust salt to taste. Serve on thick slices of bread that are either toasted and brushed with olive oil or fried in olive oil. Serve with boiled bitter greens if desired.

YOUR SHARE OF THE SPRING HARVEST WEEK TWO

The Vegetables In Your Share This Week: Tuesday, May 13th or Saturday, May 17th: The following lists the vegetables we plan to harvest. The actual vegetables in your share may differ as we respond to conditions in the field the day of harvest. For the same reason, this list is also subject to changes. Thanks for understanding the nature of our work!

• Rocky Top Salad Mix
• Bolero Orange Carrots
• Arugula
• Purplette Onions
• Assorted Summer Squash
• Garlic Bulb
• Pink Grapefruit

RECIPES

Roasted Curried Carrot Soup

• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 pound carrots, diced
• 1 ounce butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 inch piece of fresh root ginger, chopped
• 1 stick lemongrass, finely chopped
• 1 red chili, finely sliced (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder (or garam masala)
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 14 fluid ounce can coconut milk
• 1 1/2 pints vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 tablespoon fresh coriander (cilantro) chopped
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper
  Pre-heat oven to 390F. Heat the oil in an ovenproof dish and roast the carrots for 25 minutes or so until lightly golden and tender. Set aside. Melt butter in a large pan, add the onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, chili, curry powder and coriander and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes to allow the spices to release their fragrances. Stir in the roasted carrots, coconut milk and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 8-10 minutes.
  Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the lime juice and coriander and stir well. Serve hot.

Beet and Pink Grapefruit Salad (for those leftover beets!)

• Beets with tops
• Pink Grapefruit, peeled and sectioned
• Purplette Onions, sliced thin
• Arugula leaves
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon walnut oil
• ¼ cup good fruit vinegar (like apple cider vinegar)
• salt and pepper to taste
  Scrub beets and cut off the tops. Boil them in water to cover or bake at 450 degrees in foil or in a tightly covered dish for 30 to 60 minutes, depending on beet size. Beets are done when the skin wrinkles easily and slips off. Blanch the tops for 2 to 3 minutes in the beet water or in water to cover. Drain well and arrange on a serving plate with Arugula leaves (uncooked, or slightly sauteed if you'd prefer less spicy flavor). Peel beets and slice them very thin. Alternate beet slices with grapefruit sections and onion slices on top of the greens. Sprinkle with the walnuts and pour over them a dressing of the oils, vinegar, and seasonings. Serves four to six.

Summer Squash Saute

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon or 2 teaspoons dried
• Assorted Summer Squash, trimmed, sliced into 1/3-inch-thick rounds
  Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and tarragon; sauté until onion is just tender, about 2 minutes. Add yellow squash and zucchini; sauté until crisp-tender, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  
  

Your Share of Spring Harvest Week One

The Vegetables In Your Share This Week: Tuesday, May 6th or Saturday, May 10th The following lists the vegetables we plan to harvest. The actual vegetables in your share may differ as we respond to conditions in the field the day of harvest. For the same reason, this list is also subject to changes. Thanks for understanding the nature of our work!

• Leeks
• Zafa Fino Fennel Bulbs
• Egyptian Red Beets
• Evergreen Bunching Onions (Scallions)
• Pink Beauty Radishes
• Red Rock Cabbage or Heirloom Sprouting Broccoli
• Lemons

Leek Frittata Adapted from Antipasti by Joyce Goldstein

From The Daily News, 1/13/99: "In ancient Egypt, leeks and onions were adored as gods, and the Israelites lamented the leeks they left behind when they fled Egypt. They are a national symbol in Wales.... you can store them in plastic in the fridge for 5 days or more. Leeks are rich in allicin, an organosulfur compound that has been shown to inhibit the growth of certain cancer cells, including breast, endometrial, and colon cancer cells. Leeks also contain calcium, iron, vitamin C, and fiber.

• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• 4-6 leeks, white and tender green part cut into 1-inch slices, sautéed in butter or olive oil until soft
• 8 eggs
• ¼ cup whole milk, half and half, or cream
• 1 Tablespoon flour
• 6-8 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• Pinch fresh nutmeg or cinnamon
• Fresh ground black pepper
• ¼ cup chopped green garlic, leeks, green onions, or yellow onion

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using about 1 tablespoon olive oil, liberally oil a 7x11x2 inch baking dish, or a 2 quart round baking dish if you prefer. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, cheese, nutmeg, 2 teaspoons salt, and several grinds of pepper. Saute the onions/garlic over low heat in a pan in some olive oil to soften. Remove from the heat and stir into the egg mixture along with the leeks. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake the frittata until the top is set and lightly colored, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool for at least 8 to 10 minutes, and cut into squares or wedges. Serve warm or at room temp.

Lemony Leek Soup adapted from Recipes from a Kitchen Garden by Shepherd et al

• 1 T butter
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 6 cups thinly sliced leeks
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 stalk celery or fennel, thinly sliced
• 6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 T grated lemon zest
• 2 T lemon juice
• 2 t fresh marjoram or 1 t dried
• 1 T chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup brown rice
• 1/2 cup milk
• Salt & white pepper to taste
• garnish: sour cream or yogurt
• 3 T minced chives

In a 4-5 quart saucepan, heat butter and oil, add leeks, carrot and celery and saute until softened. Add stock, lemon rind, lemon juice, marjoram, parsley and rice and simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes until vegetables are very tender. Puree in a blender (or with a stick blender) or food processor. Pour mixture back into pan; add milk, & S & P to taste. If soup is too thick add more milk or stock. Heat soup through, but do not boil. Serve hot or cold, sprinkled with chives and dollop of sour cream or yogurt. Serves 6-8

Fennel Gratin adapted from Mollie Katzen

• 3/4 cup dried bread crumbs
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, halved and cut in 1/4-inch slices
• fennel bulbs, trimmed of stalks, halved, cored and cut in 1/4-inch slices
• 1 (28-ounce) can of diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated Parmigiano
• Grated zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toast the breadcrumbs in an 8-inch skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.2. Heat the onion in a very large (16-inch) skillet over medium heat, and swirl to coat the pan. Cook the garlic and onion until soft, but not brown, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the fennel and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the fennel has softened and is beginning to brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. 3. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes longer. Transfer to a shallow 3-quart oven-to-table casserole or gratin dish.4. Combine the breadcrumbs, grated cheese and lemon zest in a bowl and sprinkle evenly over the fennel mixture. The gratin can be made up to this point 6 to 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate, then bring to room temperature before baking. 5. Bake the gratin until heated through and the topping is crisp, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Sauteed Beets with Mustard Seeds

• any color beets, scrubbed and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 2 small green serrano chile peppers, sliced into 1/4″ rounds
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 - 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Cover beets with water in medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes or until just tender. Drain, cool, peel and chop beets into 1/2″ cubes (quarter baby beets, if using).2. Heat oil in large skillet over high heat. When it begins to smoke, add mustard seeds and cover pan with lid or splatter screen. When they have stopped sputtering, stir in peppers. Add beets and salt. Toss, cover and cook another 6 to 8 minutes to allow flavors to blend.3. Toss with cilantro and lemon juice (to taste)

Roasted Fennel

• 2 fennel bulbs (thick base of stalk), stalks cut off, bulbs sliced
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400°F. Rub just enough olive oil over the fennel to coat. Sprinkle on some balsamic vinegar, also to coat. Line baking dish with silpat or aluminum foil. Lay out piece of fennel and roast for 15-20 minutes, until the fennel is cooked through and beginning to caramelize.

Beet, Lemon, and Ginger Marmalade Recipe
From Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe by Mollie Katzen (Hyperion). If you do not like beets, this will make a believer of you. If you do like beets, you will be in ecstasy. This delicious marmalade is sweetened with honey and flavored with ginger. It is very quick and simple to make and makes a great condiment for any savory dish.

• 1 pound cooked beets
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons light honey
• 2 to 3 Tablespoons chopped lemon zest
• 1/3 cup crystallized ginger
  
  Peel and coarsely grate or mince the beets, and transfer to a medium-sized bowl. Add salt, lemon juice, honey, lemon zest, and ginger. Mix thoroughly. Transfer to a tightly capped jar. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks. Serve cold. Use this marmalade with any savory dish.

Cucumber, Radish, and Tomato Salad with Citrus Dressing

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh coriander, or to taste, plus coriander sprigs for garnish
• 2 tomatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds), seeded and chopped fine
• 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and chopped fine (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 3/4 pound radishes, trimmed and chopped fine
• 6 scallions, sliced thin

In a large bowl whisk together the juices and garlic paste, add the oil in a stream, whisking, and whisk the dressing until it is emulsified. Whisk in the chopped coriander and salt and pepper to taste. Add the tomatoes, the cucumbers, the radishes, and the scallions, toss the salad to combine it well, and garnish it with the coriander sprigs.

Red Leaf, Radish, and Pine Nut Salad

• 5 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 cups shredded red-leaf lettuce plus 18 whole leaves for lining the plates (about 2 heads total), rinsed and spun dry
• 1 cup julienne strips of radish
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted lightly

In a large bowl whisk together the vinegar and salt and pepper to taste, add the oil, whisking, and whisk the dressing until it is emulsified. Add the shredded lettuce, the radish, and the pine nuts and toss the salad well. Line each of 6 plates with 3 whole lettuce leaves and divide the salad among the plates.

Thoughts From Our Members

When i saw this article last week i thought of you guys!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/fashion/16farmer.html
and this: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/03/14/style/20080315_FARMERS_FEATURE.html
Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to eat locally grown, delicious vegetables! i've tried so many things this season that i would normally never buy, and i've loved them! the vegetables from my share taste so much better than what i'd been buying at the grocery store, i feel i am eating much healthier, and i also feel good for supporting local farmers. Thank you!
Melinda

Thoughts From Our Members

Hi,
We really enjoyed be honorary farmers this weekend. Thank you for the opportunity to see our food growing. Since we had a lot of carrots, we made carrot soup. You are probably familiar with this recipe, it comes from the Moosewood Cookbook by Molly Katzen. (I am not sure if it is totally the original, as I got it off the internet) I used it to make a soup that went over really well the adults here and OK with the kids.
Alicia

• 2 pounds peeled or scrubbed, chopped carrots
• 4 cups stock or water
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium potato, chopped (optional, for heartier soup)
• 3-4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1-2 small cloves crushed garlic (I used more)
• 1/3 cup chopped cashews or almonds
• 1t minced ginger (I used more)
• Choose one: 1 cup milk, or 1 cup yogurt or buttermilk plus a little honey, 1/2 pint heavy cream, 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tsp each: cumin, ground fennel seed, allspice, dried mint

Place carrots, liquid and salt (and potato if you are using it) into a medium sized soup pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer it for 12-15 minutes. Let it cool to room temp. Saute the onion, garlic and nuts in the butter until the onions are clear. You can sprinkle in a little salt to help draw the moisture out of the onions. Towards the end of cooking, stir in the seasoning combo of your choice. Puree everything together in a blender until smooth (I deviate from her recipe at this stage. I dump the sauteed onions, garlic and nuts into the pot with the cooked carrots and use an immersion blender to puree. It saves dishes and energy). Whisk in one of the dairy products. As I mentioned in the beginning, I often leave this step out until I'm just about to eat a bowl of soup. I'll stir in a little milk, a spoonful of yogurt or some cottage cheese just before serving (and just after reheating, if I'm using the microwave).
Garnish with toasted nuts, some toasted bread crumbs or eat just as it is.

Thoughts From our Members...

I must share. Tonight we had a wonderful meal. I was absolutely sure I didn’t like beets and, I must confess, have bartered them to friends and even shared them with the porcupines at the wildlife rehab facility where I volunteer (they love them). Tonight I baked them (like a baked potato) and THEY WERE WONDERFUL! I love turnips, and the flavor was similar. I also made a wonderful quick stir fry with collard greens, fresh spinach, purple onions, garlic and some pac choi from last week… yum yum. I even went out on a limb and looked through all my vegetarian cookbooks and made a fennel recipe. It was great! Fennel, tomatoes, shallots, garlic and fresh basil sauted and topped with bread crumbs and baked. I actually enjoyed it as well. I’m currently fat and happy and feeling quite smug about the whole thing. Please know that I would never have tried these wonderful concoctions without my CSA. Thank you, thank you. I’ll share the beets and fennel with family for Easter dinner tomorrow. My grandchildren are always game to try Gram’s new experiments in food.
Kris Wheaton

From the RODALE INSTITUTE

Global Warming is an issue that impacts everyone, yet it is also is an issue where everyone can make an impact. Simple everyday tasks, such as what food you buy, can either contribute to—or reduce—global warming. Rodale Institute research shows that organically managed soils can store (sequester) more than 1,000 pounds of carbon per acre, while non-organic systems can cause carbon loss. For consumers, this means that the simple act of buying organic products can help to reduce global climate change. “In this age of carbon awareness, we think farmers should be well rewarded for innovative stewardship that builds soil for future generations,” says Tim LaSalle, the Institute’s CEO.
Food decisions matter
Your food decisions matter because how food was grown, processed and transported may have demanded lots of fuel, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers—all contributors to global warming—without pulling any new carbon into the soil in the process. Instead of being converted to carbon for later use by plants, as in organic farming systems, crop residues in the conventional system quickly burn up, releasing CO2—a major greenhouse gas—into the atmosphere. Further, synthetic fertilizers used in non-organic farming are the largest source of carbon dioxide generation in agriculture.
Our side-by-side field trials—where we have been comparing conventional and organic agriculture for nearly 30 years—show we can produce corn and soybeans with an average yield the same as the conventional system, while building soil health and cutting energy use. In dry years, the organic system tends to even do better, thanks to improved water-holding capacity of the extra soil organic matter.
Great carbon-holding potential
Right now, American farmlands under organic production represent just a sliver of the pie. Even so, the 2.4 million U.S. acres managed organically in 2005—just 0.5 percent of all U.S. cropland—captured an estimated 2.4 billion pounds of atmospheric carbon.
Imagine this: the carbon sequestration potential of 25 percent or even 50 percent of U.S. agricultural farmlands converted to organic production is 120 to 240 billion pounds per year, the equivalent of removing up to 42 million cars from the road!
In this age of carbon trading and ecological footprinting, we think organic farmers should be rewarded for innovation and stewardship that protects and builds the soil for future generations as they produce food for us now. That’s why we continue pioneering research to help farmers sequester carbon through how they raise their crops and their livestock, and to reduce or eliminate synthetic products that would add to carbon emissions.
Favor carbon-smart farming
Our national agricultural policy—embedded in five-year Farm Bill plans, like the one currently being negotiated—urgently needs transformation to encourage carbon-smart farming rather than commodity crops. International trade policy can do the same if nations are allowed to give preference to crops and products with a lower carbon footprint.
Good food policy will free up farmers to become the new champions in fighting climate change to create a better future for us all. http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/global_warming