This past Wednesday was the first CSA box for the farm I'm working for, it's been an extremely wet and unpredictable spring/early summer so the crops have been lagging this year. Still, there were plenty of spring onions, endive, red leaf lettuce, herbs, dry black beans from last season, kale, and eggs from the laying hens. I also made some strawberry rhubarb bars for the members to add a little extra for an early season CSA box, the strawberries were from the farm and rhubarb was from my garden, most of the remaining ingredients were Minnesotan. Each week I'm providing the recipes for our members, I'll post these at the end of this entry. Here's CSA week #1:
Add now the recipe for those delicious strawberry rhubarb bars, it was really quite easy. I adapted and tweaked it from an award winning recipe from Land O' Lakes.
Makes 36 bars
Filling: Crust:
-1 ½ cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces -1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
-1 ½ cups fresh strawberries -1 ½ cups rolled oats
-1 Tbsp lemon juice -1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
-½ cup sugar -¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
-2 Tbsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) -½ tsp baking soda
-¼ tsp salt
1) Combine rhubarb, strawberries and lemon juice in 2-quart saucepan. Cover; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fruit is tender (8 to 12 minutes).
2) Combine 1/2 cup sugar and arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) in small bowl. Stir into fruit mixture. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil (about 1 minute). Continue boiling until thickened (1 minute). Remove from heat. Set aside.
3) Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all crust ingredients in large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture. Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of greased 13x9-inch baking pan. Spread filling over crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.
4) Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely. Cut into bars.
Makes 36 bars
Filling: Crust:
-1 ½ cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces -1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
-1 ½ cups fresh strawberries -1 ½ cups rolled oats
-1 Tbsp lemon juice -1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
-½ cup sugar -¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
-2 Tbsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) -½ tsp baking soda
-¼ tsp salt
1) Combine rhubarb, strawberries and lemon juice in 2-quart saucepan. Cover; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fruit is tender (8 to 12 minutes).
2) Combine 1/2 cup sugar and arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) in small bowl. Stir into fruit mixture. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil (about 1 minute). Continue boiling until thickened (1 minute). Remove from heat. Set aside.
3) Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all crust ingredients in large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture. Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of greased 13x9-inch baking pan. Spread filling over crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.
4) Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely. Cut into bars.
These past few days I've got some good work in at the SEEDS Farm, worked a lot, met with friends, attended a Just Food Co-op Board meeting, and made it to the farmers markets in town. And great news! Our friends, Brooke & Rich, announced their engagement last night over beers at the Tavern, and they asked Dan to officiate the wedding, so cool! He will need to apply for his license and pay $30 to do this, waaaay too easy, right?!
After work today I visited Spring Wind Farm, owned and run by Betsy and Andrew, my good friend Stephanie also lives there. It was great checking in with them, they all have such a beautiful life and beautiful fields:) Last fall I planted a lot of garlic on their property so I was also checking on the progress (they're doing great!) and harvested some garlic scapes. The garlic plants shoot up these curly-cues with their seeds at the end, in the early summer it is advised to remove these scapes so the plant diverts the energy it's putting into them back into the bulb underground. Aaaand, the scapes are delicious to eat. I'll make sure to post some garlic and scape pictures plus recipes soon. Betsy and Andrew also sent me home with a huge head of red leaf lettuce and some turnips that I'm super excited to prepare. After visiting them I checked in with Becca and Greg at the SEEDS Farm and they sent me home with a half dozen freshly laid eggs. Oh yea, and they got 6 pigs yesterday so it was exciting to check out the new additions (I can't wait for bacon in the fall!).
This afternoon and evening Dan prepared a fresh batch of beer, I'll have to have him guest blog soon to explain all of the wonderful brew creations that have been happening here recently. He recently made a contraption out of a cooler and tubes that allows him to make the wort from scratch, so today was the first experiment with this. It seemed successful! (& messy!).
After work today I visited Spring Wind Farm, owned and run by Betsy and Andrew, my good friend Stephanie also lives there. It was great checking in with them, they all have such a beautiful life and beautiful fields:) Last fall I planted a lot of garlic on their property so I was also checking on the progress (they're doing great!) and harvested some garlic scapes. The garlic plants shoot up these curly-cues with their seeds at the end, in the early summer it is advised to remove these scapes so the plant diverts the energy it's putting into them back into the bulb underground. Aaaand, the scapes are delicious to eat. I'll make sure to post some garlic and scape pictures plus recipes soon. Betsy and Andrew also sent me home with a huge head of red leaf lettuce and some turnips that I'm super excited to prepare. After visiting them I checked in with Becca and Greg at the SEEDS Farm and they sent me home with a half dozen freshly laid eggs. Oh yea, and they got 6 pigs yesterday so it was exciting to check out the new additions (I can't wait for bacon in the fall!).
This afternoon and evening Dan prepared a fresh batch of beer, I'll have to have him guest blog soon to explain all of the wonderful brew creations that have been happening here recently. He recently made a contraption out of a cooler and tubes that allows him to make the wort from scratch, so today was the first experiment with this. It seemed successful! (& messy!).
Here are the first week's recipes from SEEDS CSA:
SIMPLE SALAD
Just mix up:
-Herbed Vinaigrette (see recipe below)
-Chopped up salad greens
-Sliced green onions
-Chopped Hard Boiled Egg
Place eggs in a pot and fill with water about 1 inch above eggs. Place on stove top, set to high heat and bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Immediately place eggs in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. Peel and enjoy in your simple salad!
SALAD DRESSING
The basic formula for making salad dressing is to use 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, and then add extra flavors such as fresh or dried herbs, mustard, honey, lemon juice, minced garlic, etc. The simplest way to make this is to combine ingredients in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid, then shake the jar vigorously to emulsify the oil and vinegar.
Here are a couple of basic combinations for a quick delicious salad dressing to dress your seasonal salad greens, but please experiment with a variety of oils, vinegars, and herbs… yum!
Herbed Vinaigrette #1:
-¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
-¼ cup balsamic vinegar
-4 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
-Pinch of Salt and Pepper
Herbed Vinaigrette #2:
-¾ cup sunflower oil (can be produced locally)
-¼ cup apple cider vinegar (can be produced locally)
-4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
-Pinch of Salt and Pepper
HOW TO COOK DRIED BLACK BEANS
Soak the beans overnight in a big bowl of water. The next day, discard the soaking water and put the beans in a pot, add enough fresh water to cover by at least 2 inches. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer and cook them until they are tender but are still able to hold their shape, about 2 hours or so.
BLACK BEANS WITH GREEN ONIONS, CILANTRO, CUMIN, and LIME
-2 tsp sunflower oil (or other cooking oil)
-1 cup chopped green onion
-1 tsp ground cumin
-Pinch of salt and pepper
-2 cups cooked black beans
-1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
-1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Optional:
-1 cup chopped tomato (local hydroponic tomatoes are at Just Food Co-op)
-2 garlic cloves, minced
1) Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add green onions, cumin, salt, and pepper (and tomato and garlic if using). Cook ~5 minutes until tender, stir constantly.
2) Add beans, reduce heat to medium-low and cook ~10 minutes.
3) Add cilantro and lime juice and serve.
*You can eat plain as a dish or roll up in a tortilla for a flavorful black bean burrito. Feel free to top with other ingredients such as sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, etc.
SIMPLE SALAD
Just mix up:
-Herbed Vinaigrette (see recipe below)
-Chopped up salad greens
-Sliced green onions
-Chopped Hard Boiled Egg
Place eggs in a pot and fill with water about 1 inch above eggs. Place on stove top, set to high heat and bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Immediately place eggs in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. Peel and enjoy in your simple salad!
SALAD DRESSING
The basic formula for making salad dressing is to use 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, and then add extra flavors such as fresh or dried herbs, mustard, honey, lemon juice, minced garlic, etc. The simplest way to make this is to combine ingredients in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid, then shake the jar vigorously to emulsify the oil and vinegar.
Here are a couple of basic combinations for a quick delicious salad dressing to dress your seasonal salad greens, but please experiment with a variety of oils, vinegars, and herbs… yum!
Herbed Vinaigrette #1:
-¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
-¼ cup balsamic vinegar
-4 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
-Pinch of Salt and Pepper
Herbed Vinaigrette #2:
-¾ cup sunflower oil (can be produced locally)
-¼ cup apple cider vinegar (can be produced locally)
-4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
-Pinch of Salt and Pepper
HOW TO COOK DRIED BLACK BEANS
Soak the beans overnight in a big bowl of water. The next day, discard the soaking water and put the beans in a pot, add enough fresh water to cover by at least 2 inches. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer and cook them until they are tender but are still able to hold their shape, about 2 hours or so.
BLACK BEANS WITH GREEN ONIONS, CILANTRO, CUMIN, and LIME
-2 tsp sunflower oil (or other cooking oil)
-1 cup chopped green onion
-1 tsp ground cumin
-Pinch of salt and pepper
-2 cups cooked black beans
-1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
-1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Optional:
-1 cup chopped tomato (local hydroponic tomatoes are at Just Food Co-op)
-2 garlic cloves, minced
1) Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add green onions, cumin, salt, and pepper (and tomato and garlic if using). Cook ~5 minutes until tender, stir constantly.
2) Add beans, reduce heat to medium-low and cook ~10 minutes.
3) Add cilantro and lime juice and serve.
*You can eat plain as a dish or roll up in a tortilla for a flavorful black bean burrito. Feel free to top with other ingredients such as sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, etc.