Butternut Squash from 47th Avenue Farm

In this week’s Winter/Spring CSA

Everyone loves a good Butternut squash! These are fully ripe and very sweet –  you can tell when you cut them open and see the dark orange flesh. They even have an earthy sweet scent. I have several soup recipes that I really like – one with curry and another with apples. Would be a great way to use some of those delicious apples if you have the fruit share. You can also just cut these in half and roast them – they’ll be terrific no matter what you do with them. 

We’re still experiencing some repercussions from the ice storm last month. The onions dipped into colder than normal temps when the power went out and may have some damage. If you get one with a bad spot or translucent layer, just cut it out and use the rest. This also means they won’t store as long as usual so cook them up asap!

Extra onions and leeks can be caramelized in the oven – Just chop them up and start by sautéing with olive oil on the stovetop. As soon as they slightly soften, put in the oven at 375F. Stir every 10-15 min until they darken and fully caramelize. I put mine in small containers in the freezer. Makes a delicious addition to almost any sauce! 

Some of the chicory heads didn’t completely recover from the deep freeze so use those sooner rather than later too. If you see some damage to the stem, just cut that out – they should all of have lots of good leaves on nice big heads. I’ll be making my favorite Nostrana salad again this week!