2016 CSA Week 10

Hi everybody!
I hope you all are doing well. It was great to see some of you out at the farm on Saturday for Open Farm Day. We had pretty decent weather, with only a light sprinkle or two, and we had about 330 people out to see the farm. Thanks for coming! But now the crowds have left, and we're back to our usual combination of planting, harvesting, and weeding. We'll be digging the garlic this week, and we got just enough rain that the bulbs sized up pretty well! Tomatoes are coming in steadily from both the greenhouse and our outdoor planting. The peppers are loaded and the eggplant are sizing up in the greenhouse. Also, Claude dug the first potatoes today, and they look great! It bodes well for the rest of the potato harvest.

Here's what's in your bags:
Salad Mix
Green & Yellow (Wax) Beans
Summer Squash (assorted kinds)
Red Bunching Onions
New Potatoes
Tomatoes & Cherry Tomatoes
Basil
Green/Purple Bell Peppers (both taste like green peppers)
Large shares only:
Spinach
Eggplant

People are often surprised by the purple peppers that we grow. Our two main varieties are Islander and Purple Beauty. Both produce bell peppers that are purple in the "green" stage. Peppers form after the flowers are pollinated, and start growing to their mature size. At any point before they are full size, they are green (or in this case, purple). Once they are full size, they slowly turn from their "green" stage to their ripe color. Generally, that is red, orange or yellow, depending on the variety. The same is true for the hot peppers. Luckily, we don't have to wait until they are fully ripe before we can enjoy them. Sometimes it can be a long wait, in our climate! But all green peppers, if left on the plant and the weather was warm enough, would eventually turn a different color. Even jalapenos and poblanos turn red, eventually. 

I'm trying to post useful recipes every week to help you plan some meals with the veggies you receive. But I'd love it if any of you have a recipe or a cooking method that you'd like to share with the rest of the CSA! I really enjoy learning how you all use your vegetables, so feel free to send an email with suggestions if you have a chance. 

Here are some to try this week:
This one came from a CSA member. They said "Here's a really good simple recipe! Had it tonight with burgers and a side of sliced cold beets"

Marinated Green Beans with Cilantro and Garlic

Serves:4-8 servings

Prep time:4 hours 15 mins

Cook time:5 mins

Total time:4 hours 20 mins

For the best flavor, this recipe requires at least 4 hours of marinating time so be sure to leave yourself enough time to prepare this easy dish before serving!

Ingredients

• Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• ⅔ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 pounds tender young fresh green beans, trimmed and washed
• Salted water to boil
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Place minced garlic and chopped cilantro in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Bring water to a boil and plunge in green beans. Cook just until tender, about 5-10 minutes, do not overcook. Drain well and place beans back in hot pan, turn on stove burner and shake for 30 seconds to dry the beans out. Pour hot beans in the bowl with the garlic and cilantro mixture and stir briefly, then let sit untouched for ten full minutes. Add olive oil, toss and place in refrigerator overnight or for at least 4 hours.
3. Before you are ready to serve, remove beans from refrigeration and let sit for 45 minutes at room temperature. Add lemon juice, vinegar and pepper. Toss, taste for seasoning and serve.

And this is what I made for dinner the other night- it was incredible...

Baked Eggs with Chorizo and Potatoes

And this looks like a great way to eat up a bunch of squash!

Smitten Kitchen Summer Squash Pizza

Enjoy!

Sarah VanNorstrand

for Lucky Moon Farm

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2016 CSA Week 9

Hi everyone,
I hope you're all having a great week so far. We got some more rain yesterday, which came just at the right time. So far, we've been pretty lucky with the amount of rain we've gotten. It certainly hasn't been a deluge all summer, but we've gotten rain just in time for the crops to survive the dry spells. I know other farms haven't been so lucky; many of the rainstorms have been very localized and the rain was really hit or miss. 

Things are going well at the farm. We're getting everything spruced up as much as we can for Farm Day! It's coming up this Saturday, July 30th and will be from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. We'll be at the farm all day, so feel free to stop by and see the place! We'd be happy to show you around, answer any questions you might have, and we'll have some extra produce for sale as well. It should be a fun day! For more information, see the website: http://madisoncountycce.org/events/2016/07/30/open-farm-day

In your bags this week, you have...
Salad Mix
Summer Squash (a mix of yellow squash and assorted zucchinis)
Green & Wax Beans (aka green and yellow beans)
Tomatoes: 1 or two slicers and a few cherry tomatoes. More coming soon!
White Onions
Swiss Chard
Peas- either Sugar Snap or Snow Peas
Cilantro
Hot Peppers- if they're dark green, they're Jalafuego Jalapenos, and if they are yellow, they are Hungarian Hotwax. Both are reasonably hot, so be careful when you're cutting them. If you are sensitive (*like me*) you may want to use gloves when preparing them. 

Jalafuego Jalapeno

Ok, and now for some recipes:

1. Green Beans with Garlic Chips and Olive Oil (serves 4-6)

-from the cookbook "The Farm" by Ian Knauer

3 Tablespoons olive oil

5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced lengthwise

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1 red onion, sliced

salt and black pepper

1 lb green beans, trimmed

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1. Heat the oil with the garlic in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is golden, 5-6 minutes. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon, transferring to a paper towel.
2. Add the butter to the oil in the skillet and increase heat to medium-high. Add the onion, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper and saute, stirring, until the onion is golden, about 6 minutes.
3. Add the beans and continue to saute, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Transfer the beans to a serving dish and sprinkle with the garlic chips.

Wow, that sounds good!

2. Zucchini Parmesan

Several good-sized summer squash (zucchini, yellow, patty pan, etc)

2 beaten eggs

2-2 1/2 cups Italian style bread crumbs

Olive oil cooking spray

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1. Preheat oven to 425 and spray cookie sheets with cooking spray.
2. Slice squash into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Dip slices in the beaten eggs, then coat with the bread crumbs and place on the cookie sheets. Spray tops with oil
3. Bake for 10 minutes, flip the slices over and bake another 10 minutes
4. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray and spoon a small amount of sauce into the pan.
5. Alternate layers of squash, mozzarella, Parmesan and sauce. For the last layer, just use sauce and top with Parmesan.
6. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake fore 10 more minutes.

3. Summer Squash Saute- serves 8

2 Tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
3 Lbs assorted summer squash, thinly sliced into disks
1/2 tsp salt

1. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, combine oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the squash and salt and toss to coat.
2. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash begins to break apart.
3. Uncover the pan and increase the heat to medium. Cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the liquid is almost gone. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds.
   NOTE: I think this is a really long time to cook summer squash, especially our super tender, picked-young squash. I would recommend just sauteing the squash uncovered until tender. 

4. Chocolate Zucchini Snack Cake- 12 serving

1 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour (or just use regular flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. vanilla yogurt
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. shredded zucchini
3 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350, grease a 11 x 8 inch baking pan.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
3. whisk the eggs, sugar, yogurt, oil and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add the zucchini and 1 1/2 cups of the chips. Add to the flour mixture and stir until blended. Spread in the pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
4. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips over the cake. Spread with a spatula as the chocolate melts, placing back in the warm oven if necessary.

2016 CSA Week 8

Hi Everyone.

Here's to another week at the farm! I feel like we're right at the cusp of High Summer, and I really love this time of year. Everything is growing at full tilt right now, and the harvest is really starting to get going. Normally we think of harvest time as being in the fall, but it really starts mid-July, and ramps up through August and September, and begins to wane and slow down into October before it's all finished in November. Of course, we do all we can to cheat the season by starting things in the greenhouses early, or mulching outdoor crops to protect them from the cold in late Fall, but in general, that's how it works around here. It's so great to collect the first summer squash, pick the first tomato or two in the greenhouse, or work through the first row of beans. And it's all starting right now! We don't have tomatoes quite yet, but they're starting to ripen, so it won't be long.

In your bags this week:
Salad Mix (we recommend a second wash before you consume- all the rain we had caused a lot of dirt to splash up onto the lettuce. We washed it once at the farm, but it may need a second rinse and spin)
Bulls Blood Beet Greens
Garlic
Early Shallots or Scallions
Snow Peas
Sugar Snap Peas
Summer Squash (!)
Herb Bundle: Thyme, Oregano, and Chives

(pictured in order: thyme, oregano, chives)

Also, remember to mark your calendars for Open Farm Day 2016, which will be on Saturday, July 30th. For more information, see the post from last week or go to their website: http://www.openfarmdaymadisoncounty.com/

Here are some recipes to try with some the veggies you received this week.

Basic Cooked Beet Greens, from Wegmans.com

1 gallon water
3 1/2 Tbsp  Wegmans Fine Crystals Sea Salt
1 tsp  Wegmans Minced Garlic in Olive Oil
6 cups (about 10 oz trimmed)  beet greens
1/2  lemon

1) Bring water and salt to boil in large stockpot. 

2) Add garlic and beet greens; return water to boil. Simmer 4-6 min, or until tender.

3) Quickly strain greens onto plate, retaining a small amount of cooking water.

4) Serve greens with drizzle of retained cooking water and squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Chef Tip(s):
Sprinkle greens with Italian Classics Grated Parmigano-Reggiano Cheese.

Coconut Chicken (Or Tofu) Curry

4-6 Servings

2 lbs chicken thighs or breasts
Salt & pepper to taste
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 large carrot, sliced (or multiple smaller ones)
Snow peas, sliced in thirds
1 hot pepper, seeded (if you wish) and chopped
1 Tbsp finely chopped peeled ginger
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 Tbsp curry powder (or more, to taste)
1 tsp salt
cooked rice (Basmati is especially nice)

1) heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat, add the chicken and brown on both sides. Remove from the pan.

2) Add to the same pan the onions, carrots, peas, hot pepper, ginger and garlic and cook until the veggies are soft, about 5 mins.

3) Add and bring to a boil the coconut milk, raisins, curry powder, and salt.

4) Add the chicken back, reduce the heat and simmer 20 minutes for breasts, 25 minutes for thighs, or until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is cooked.

5) Serve over rice 

Have a great week full of great food!
Best,
Sarah VanNorstrand 
for Lucky Moon Farm

2016 CSA Week 7

Hi everyone!
I hope you're enjoying your summer so far- we got some wonderful rain over the weekend! It was a perfect rain and it made a huge difference at the farm. It gave everything a burst of new growth and now the place is looking positively lush. 

In your bags this week, we have:
Salad Mix
Spinach
Mini Onions
Beets with Greens
Snow Peas
Sugar Snap Peas

The peas are in full swing right now, and hopefully with the rain they will keep it up for a while. The beans are blooming and the summer squash is sizing up, too. 

I wanted to let you all know about the upcoming Madison County Open Farm Day on July 30th. Open Farm Day is a day-long event where 38 farms all over the county open their gates and barn doors to the public. If you're curious to see how a dairy farm operates, or want to see how organic vegetables are grown, it's a great opportunity to visit as many farms as you like! We will be participating in the Farm Day and we'd love for you to visit Lucky Moon for a tour. It's a great chance to see how your vegetables are grown and if you haven't ever seen the farm, I encourage you to come out. It's a really beautiful place, and I love going to work there! 

Tonight I'm cooking up a little stir fry with some of the things I have from my garden, but it would work well with many of the veggies from this week. I'm using my garlic, garlic scapes, snow peas, sugar snap peas, young onions, and some beets sliced thin all stir fried in a skillet, and I'm having it with some crispy tofu and coconut-garlic rice. You can use the mini onions in a stir fry, or they're nice on the grill, too. You can skewer them or have them on some foil with a little oil, but either way, they become quite mild and a little sweet when they cook over a fire. The beets as well, as long as you slice them thin, will cook up pretty quickly in a skillet or on the grill. 

If you like tofu (I love it when it's crispy!) you should try this recipe from my friend Lyndsey. It's easy and delicious and goes great with stir fry vegetables. Restaurant-Style Crispy Tofu Rice Bowls

Other recipe ideas:
How about a spinach salad with roasted beets, feta and walnuts? 
Or Roasted Beets with Lemon?
Or Stir-Fry Pork with Snow Peas in a Citrus Soy Sauce?

Those last two recipes are from Wegmans.com which I find to be a useful place to find some inspiration. Of course, the recipe ingredients are a little specific to Wegmans-brand items, but you can use the ideas without necessarily having to buy their products. Unless you want to, of course, and then go for it!


Be well, stay cool, and make good food with your family 
and friends.

Best,
Sarah VanNorstrand
for Lucky Moon Farm

2016 CSA Week 6

Hi everyone! 
I hope you had a really great 4th of July Weekend. I got to attend multiple picnics and see fireworks, so I feel very satisfied with my holiday. 
Of course, farm work never really takes a holiday, and Sue and Claude were busy making more hay  over the weekend. The fields are getting pretty crispy at this point (hot and DRY) but it's been good for making hay. Actually, it's been so dry that for only the second time in 20 years or so, Sue and Claude had to put irrigation on the peas! It's not really possible to irrigate all the crops, but hopefully we'll be getting some rain later this week. 

But things are still hanging in there, and we have some new veggies this week. Here's what's in your bags:
Salad Mix
Arugula
Garlic
Garlic Scapes
Pearl Onions
Yellow Snow Peas
Swiss Chard

The arugula is getting pretty spicy, so be aware. When the weather gets really hot, so does the arugula ... 
This year we're trying out these yellow "Golden Sweet" snow peas. Because of the dry conditions, they aren't quite a large as they might have been, but they are an interesting color and have a nice flavor. I always enjoy trying out new varieties of our staple vegetable crops. You never know if you might be growing a new favorite! Some of the seed companies we use at the farm are Johnny's Seeds, Fedco Seeds and the Seed Savers Exchange. It's always interesting to see what colorful new creations or rediscovered heirlooms they present in their catalogues each year. 

Here are some recipes to consider for this week:

Swiss Chard with Chick Peas (aka Garbanzo beans) and Fresh Tomatoes 

from Allrecipes.com 

Serves 4

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 shallot or small onion, chopped

2 scallions, chopped

1/2 cup chickpeas, drained

salt and pepper to taste

1 bunch Swiss chard, rinsed and chopped

1 tomato, sliced

1/2 lemon, juiced

1) Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Stir in shallot/onion and scallions. Cook and stir for 3-5 minutes until soft and fragrant. Stir in garbanzo beans, season with salt and pepper, and heat through.

2) Place chopped chard in the skillet, and cook until wilted. Add tomato slices, squeeze lemon juice over greens and heat through. Serve immediately. 

Baked Swiss Chard and Spinach w/ Chickpeas and Feta Cheese

4-6 servings

4 Tbsp olive oil

10 oz Swiss Chard, heavy stems removed

1 Lb Spinach, heavy stems removed

One 15-oz can of chickpeas, drained

4 scallions (white and green) chopped

4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped dill

salt and pepper to taste

3 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spread 1 Tbsp oil around a 12x9x2- inch casserole dish

2) In a steamer pot, steam Swiss chard until it wilts, about 4 mins. Add the spinach to the steamed chard and steam another 4 minutes until the spinach wilts, too. Remove both greens and drain, squeezing out excess water once they are cool enough to handle.

3) Chop greens and toss with remaining 3 Tbsp of oil, chickpeas, scallions, garlic, dill and season w/ salt and pepper.

4) Transfer to the casserole dish Push the feta cheese down into the mixture and bake until it's sizzling, about 35 mins. Serve hot. 

Here's a recipe from one of my favorite authors, from one of my favorite books. And that would be Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It's a great summer read if you're looking for something... if you think it's not your kind of book, I thought so too, at first. Give it a try- I'm really glad I did! On the book's website, she lists some other recipes, separated by season. Check it out here.

Eggs in a Nest - From 

(This recipe makes dinner for a family of four, but can easily be cut in half.)  

2 cups uncooked brown rice 

Cook rice with 4 cups water in a covered pot while other ingredients are being prepared.  

Olive oil – a few tbsp

1 medium onion, chopped, and garlic to taste

Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil in a wide skillet until lightly golden.  

Carrots, chopped

½ cup dried tomatoes

Add and sauté for a few more minutes, adding just enough water to rehydrate the tomatoes.  

1 really large bunch of chard, coarsely chopped 

Mix with other vegetables and cover pan for a few minutes. Uncover, stir well, then use the back of a spoon to make depressions in the cooked leaves, circling the pan like numbers on a clock. 

8 eggs 

Break an egg into each depression, being careful to keep yolks whole. Cover pan again and allow eggs to poach for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve over rice.

               

2016 CSA Week 5

Hi everyone,
I hope you're all doing well and have some fun plans for the 4th of July.
Things are doing pretty well at the farm, though we're really starting to get desperate for rain at this point. We had a little today, which helped, but things are getting awfully dry. But the tomatoes are sizing up in the greenhouse, and the peas are finally blooming. With some rain, we should be having peas and squash very soon. So, we'll see... the weather is a fickle thing, and it seems to be getting more so.

Here's what's in your bags this week:
Salad Mix
Garlic Scapes
Spinach
Braising Greens
Arugula


By now you are probably pretty familiar with the salad, spinach and arugula, but maybe you haven't encountered Garlic Scapes or Braising Greens. Garlic Scapes are the curly Q tops of garlic plants. It's actually a flower stalk, but it's quite tasty when picked before the flower blooms and used as a sort of garlicky chive or scallion. I like to cook them up a little by sautéing them in a pan, but you don't want to cook them quite as long as real onions. Here's a website with some tasty ideas for how to cook them up: http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/garlic-scapes

Braising Greens are a mix of greens that do well being cooked in a pan. It includes kale, tatsoi, mustards, and collard greens. It's great chopped up a little and added to a stir fry, or just wilt them down in a pan until they are tender.  Maybe add a little splash of soy sauce and some toasted sesame seeds, and lay them over rice... sounds tasty to me!

And here are some Arugula recipes to try:

1) Potato, Red Onion, Arugula and Brie Pizza
-"From the Earth to the Table" cook book
Makes enough topping for one 14 inch pizza or two 8-10 inch pizzas

Pizza dough, either homemade or dough from the store (check in the section with the cheese)
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 c. sliced red onions
salt and pepper
12 oz red potatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
6 oz Brie, thinly sliced
1 c. loosely packed arugula leaves
1 medium red bell pepper, charred, peeled and finely chopped

1) Prepare pizza dough. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. In a deep, heavy-bottomed pan, heat the olice oil and saute the onions until crisp-tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
2) In a medium sauce pan, blanch the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water until crisp-tender, ~ 3 mins. Cool in ice water to stop cooking, drain and pat dry.
3) Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the dough. Layer the potatoes evenly on top, followed by the onions and slices of Brie. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4) Bake the pizza for 12 to 15 minutes on the top rack. Scatter the arugula and red pepper on top and serve immediately.

2) Quinoa Risotto w/ Arugula & Parmesan, from the New Mayo Clinic cookbook
Serves 6 as a side, double to serve as the main dish

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup quinoa, well rinsed
2 1/4 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock or broth
2 cups chopped arugula (~ 3 oz)
1 small carrot, shredded
1/2 cup thinly sliced shitake mushrooms
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1) In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and saute until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and quinoa and cook about 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Do not let the garlic brown.
2) Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the quinoa is almost tender to the bite, but slightly heard in the center, about 12 minutes. The mixture will be brothy. Stir in the arugula, carrot and mushrooms and simmer until the quinoa grains have turned from white to translucent, about 2 minutes longer.

3) Stir in the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

All the best!
Sarah VanNorstrand


for Lucky Moon Farm