In Your Share (Week of Feb 18th, 2019)

Time for tasty winter carrots! They were ready to go for the last CSA pickup but it was impossible to dig them out of the frozen ground during the snowpocalypse. All that cold weather may have been challenging for us, but it makes the winter veggies – like carrots – even sweeter.

Amazing recipes for everything in your share are available to members at our website and at  Cook With What You Have. If you joined our Winter CSA you will find your password in the member email. Enjoy 24/7 access to recipe inspiration!

This week your share may include…

  • Brussel Sprouts: Perhaps you’re getting tired of my favorite One Pot Wonder with brussel sprouts, pesto and gnocchi? If so, then check out CWWYH’s new website!! There you’ll find at least 2 dozen tasty recipes for sprouts.
  • Carrots: Yum!!!
  • Celery Root: These are great with potatoes and can be roasted, mashed, or fried into chips. Try some of the ideas here and check out more than two dozen recipes for celery root/celeriac at Cook With What You Have
  • Collard Greens: Try these in salad, soups or braised. This recipe for Collard & Pickled Apple Salad is one of my favorites.
  • Onions: I used to take the yellow onions for granted. A basic, ubiquitous, staple crop that is relatively easy to grow and nothing to get excited about. Well, maybe not! Though many varieties look similar on the outside, agronomic qualities like disease resistance, productivity, flavor, and long storageability can vary widely. Since my favorite yellow onion, Copra, disappeared from the market a few years ago it has been very challenging to find a replacement that has all those good qualities. In 2018 we grew two different onions, hoping that one of them would successfully replace Copra. The variety recommended by most seed companies is Patterson. And a locally developed open pollinated variety is called Newberg. We’re growing both again for the 2019 season then we’ll hopefully have a winner. Continually testing new crops and varieties is an important part of bringing you the best veggies possible : )
  • Popcorn: The Amish Butter is back! If you love real popcorn with real flavor then you are in for a treat. We were first introduced to this variety by Anthony & Carol Boutard at Ayers Creek Farm. The seed is now available from Uprising and it is a surprisingly versatile variety – it can also be ground into polenta, cornbread or made into masa. Pop it on the cob in the microwave (in a brown paper bag, max 3 min) or take the kernels off the cop and pop it any way you choose. Here is my favorite stovetop recipe for popcorn.
  • Potatoes: Tasty purple skinned Harvest Moon has golden yellow flesh and is great roasted or mashed with celeriac.
  • Red Dutch Shallots: These small bulbs have a rosy-brown skin and pale pink interior. The skins are easy to peel and they are generally milder than most onions. They can be sautéed and used just like an onion, or try something special like this Braised Shallots or Pok Pok’s Crispy Fried Shallot topping.
  • Winter Squash: Assorted varieties to choose from this week… “Angel Hair” spaghetti, “Doran Round” butternut, and “Winter Sweet.” These are all tasty little squash! The spaghetti is self explanatory and goes well with pasta sauce. The Doran Round is a Dutch butternut that has a sweet smooth texture and stores longer than a traditional butternut. And Winter Sweet is a lovely round grey-green squash that has a sweet flakey texture with nice depth of flavor.

Coming soon… Purple Sprouting Broccoli!!