No Salad Mix Here...

What’s Growing This Week:  Leeks Red Kale Potatoes Broccoli  Cauliflower Spinach Fennel Carrots Tangelos Navel Oranges

 Pablito....

WINTER PRODUCE, NUTRITION & COOKING
For several years when we first started our CSA, cooking greens were the dominant feature of our boxes.  They are grow well in the cold, don’t take up much space (the same plants are harvested all winter), and produce for many months.  However, for many people, greens are a challenge to cook and eat.  So, over the course of several years, we gradually moved away from our reliance on them.  We got good at growing broccoli and cauliflower, which many people think are more versatile and palatable.  We found varieties of spinach that grew well in the cold, since many people would rather eat spinach than kale.  And we diversified the boxes with the addition of storage crops like potatoes and sweet potatoes, as well as citrus fruit.

 We are now at the point where we usually don’t need to put greens in the boxes at all, even though we still grow them (not surprisingly, since we don’t pick them as much as we used to, when we do, the leaves are much larger).  But cooking greens like chard and kale are wonderful vegetables that add to your winter cooking vocabulary as well as to your body’s nutrition.  Kale and beet greens are loaded with calcium and iron, as well as many Vitamins.  Chard, while not in the same league nutritionally, is way up there on the Vitamin and mineral chart.

Cooking greens have a reputation as being “bitter”.  While there are several types of greens that are always bitter — mustard, turnips, and dandelions, especially — many greens are only bitter if they are old or grown during the wrong time of year.  Kale and chard, like many of the vegetables we grow, are actually quite sweet during the winter — sweeter, really, than lettuce.  The frost and rain soften the texture of the leaves, and bring out the natural sugars in the plant.
Greens like kale are not as versatile in the kitchen as spinach — which can be eaten raw, in a salad, or cooked.  They must be cooked for long enough to soften their naturally chewy texture.  And they don’t naturally coexist well in dishes with other vegetables — especially chunky ones like potatoes and carrots — except in soups.  So, when you are cooking greens, you need to think more in terms of an ensemble. What will they go well next to, rather than combined with.  One of my favorite ways to eat greens is with grilled fish and either rice or potatoes (mashed, roasted, etc.).  All three items are cooked separately, but served side by side and eaten together.  Even truly bitter greens (which you won’t ever be getting in your boxes) can become palatable this way, when muted by bland mashed potatoes and fish grilled with a sweetish sauce.

All that said, the simplest way to cook greens, whatever you are going to serve them with, is to saute them in a little olive oil cooked first with garlic, onions, or leeks to flavor it.

Other tasty additions at this stage could include mushrooms, hot pepper flakes, bacon or veggie sausage, anchovies, olives, orange zest, or other strongly flavored additions.  Greens are like sponges, and these flavors will get soaked up and diffued throughout them.  Chard stems, which have the texture of celery but are sweeter, can be chopped and added as well — they take longer to cook then the greens.  Kale stems are tougher, and should be discarded.

When the oil is fragrant with the flavors of the garlic or other additions, add 1/4 to 1/2 C. water or broth plus the chopped greens.  Stir them into the pan, then cover.  Kale needs to cook for 4-8 minutes, depending on the texture you like.  We grow two varieties — dark green, bumpy Dino Kale is tougher and needs to cook longer.  Greenish-purple and frilly, Red Russian kale is more tender.

 Chard cooks much quicker, and will be done in 2-4 minutes — whether Red or Green variety.  Add salt to taste, and serve immediately.  If they are part of a combo meal, greens should always be the last thing you cook, since they get cold quickly and lose much of their charm.

The other option for greens, of course, is to use them in soups.  See the recipe below for an example.

 While you don’t have to fear getting an overload of cooking greens from us, you can expect a bunch a week through March, as some of our other winter crops fade away.  If you use the approach I have outlined, I think you will find that greens not only are not difficult to cook, but they can be one of the easiest and fastest ways to incorporate healthy vegetables into your diet.  Indeed, I am sure that many long-term subscribers may be surprised to find that they have been missing a dose of kale every few weeks.

Thanks,            Pablito
 

Attention juicers!  Do you regularly buy a 16 oz. bottle of (non-organic) Odwalla or other fresh squeezed juice?  Do you take Vitamin C supplements?  Well, we have a better (and cheaper) way to get your Vitamin C.  Get a 10 lb. bag of sweet-as-honey navel oranges, or of tangy, super-juicy Minneola Tangelos along with your weekly box from Terra Firma.  4 little Tangelos make 16 oz. of juice, which means you’ll get 2 glasses a day for a week out of that 10 lbs., all for the low price of $9.  Navels are not quite as high-yielding in the juicer, but at just $7.50 for 10 lbs., it comes out to be the same price per glass.  Squeeze it yourself and save! Just send us a check with a note for what you want, or call and send a check later.  Navels will be available at least until March 1, and Tangelos until the end of March.  Tuesday subscribers should get their orders in by noon the previous Friday; Thursday subscribers by the end of the day Monday. Load up on your Vitamin C!                To order, click on the oranges image.

. .Click

 
 

# POTATOES — As usual, find an extra pound of potatoes in your boxes to make up for any internal defects you might come across. SALAD MIX AWOL ?? You may notice there’s no salad mix in your boxes today.  That’s cause we have none to harvest.  The last of the fall plantings has succumbed to weeds and moisture, and the next planting —m made in January — is still a month away from maturity. In the meantime, you can expect too see spinach regularly, other cooking greens, and more citrus.  We know some of you will miss the mix, but we’ll offer ways to make salads with some of the other vegetables in the boxes.  Stay tuned, and sorry for the gap...

 

Recipes                        ............................

Cut 2 heads broccoli, separating florets and stems.  Peel the stems, first removing tough ends, then thinly slice.  Chop the florets.
Melt 1/2 stick butter in a soup kettle, then add 2 cleaned and thinly sliced leeks, 1 diced onion (or another leek), 1 diced carrot, and 6 minced cloves of garlic.  Cook over low heat for 10 minutes.  Add 8 C. vegetable stock, the broccoli, 2 chopped plum tomatoes, and 1/4 C. fresh parsley, and simmer for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, wash spinach to make 2 C. compressed leaves.  Add to the soup with 1/4 t. ground cardamom and nutmeg, plus salt and pepper to taste.  Cook 1 minute, then remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.  Puree in batches in a blender or food processor.  Reheat and add 1/4 C. lemon juice just before serving.
 
 

 Kale Bean Minestra — from Sundays at Moosewood.   This is a repeat recipe, on a request.
Soak 2 C. cannellini or cranberry beans overnight, then drain and cook until tender.  (Or use canned beans)
Remove the stems from 1 bunch kale and roughly chop the leaves.

In a soup pot, saute 4 minced garlic cloves in 1 T. olive oil briefly, then add 3 C. cooked beans, 1 diced carrot, and 2 C. bean water or vegetable stock.  Puree the rest of the beans with the remaining stock along with 2 T. tomato paste and 1/2 t. dried sage.  Stir the pureed beans into the soup and simmer.
Add the kale into the soup and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender.  Meanwhile, mix 1/2 C. finely ground cornmeal with 2 T. fresh lemon juice plus enough water to make 1 C.  Pour this paste slowly into the soup, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming.  Simmer the soup for 10-15 minutes more, stirring occasionally.  Season to taste with salt and pepper, and top with grated Parmesan.
 

Produce 101: preparation & storage  Don’t forget to soak your SPINACH before using!   FENNEL is valued mostly for the crisp, sweet bulb with a hint of licorice.  Try finely slicing it and tossing with grated carrots, orange zest, sesame oil, and vinegar for an exotic salad.  Or saute it along with leeks when making a soup, caramelizing it to bring out its full flavor.  The feathery tops can be used in place of dill when cooking fish, or added to stocks.  Lastly, you can simply chop the bulb thinly and add to a plate of raw veggies for dipping.   Surprisingly, fennel is loaded with Vitamin C.

Terra Firma Basics
San Francisco/Sacramento/Davis Prices
Every Week: Every Other Week:
$70 Monthly $37 monthly
$200 Quarterly $106 quarterly
$780 Yearly $412 Yearly
$16 weekly vacation adjustment
Subscriptions automatically renew - and arenot cancelled for late payment / So tell us if you choose to cancel.

Vacations & Billing Inquiries
We need seven days notice before a vacation hold or other change of service.
Contact Valerie through voicemail at (530) 756-2800, or e-mail Goldenbell@aol.com

MAILING ADDRESS:
Terra Firma Farm
P.O. Box 836
Winters, CA 95694
(530) 756-2800
www.terrafirmafarm.com
Goldenbell@aol.com em
 

                                                                                                   New?  Sign up!