Fall CSA Week 5!

4:29 PM Adrian 0 Comments

Wow, we're already at week 5 of our Fall CSA!  My how time flies.  This means there's only one week left!

Speaking of which, we have some important news in regards to Fall CSA: the fact that it WON'T be happening this week!  Some of you may be like "huh?!" but let me do a bit of explaining.  Since we originally planned on distributing CSA's at the Grant Wood Market, which was to occur every other week until it was abruptly cancelled, we did not originally plan to deliver this week because Grant Wood wouldn't have occurred and we're sticking with that plan.  We would have planned on skipping this week anyway, being that there would be no Grant Wood to drop them off at.  "But why?" you might ask.  Why couldn't we just deliver this week and have Fall CSA end a bit early?

The answer: because next week we will be featuring a Special Thanksgiving Share!  Yep, we'll be giving you some extra goodies that could be of big help or a lovely addition to your holiday dinner!  And if we gave them to you a week early, they wouldn't be as fresh or delightful as when we would give them to you the week of Thanksgiving!  So be prepared....and stay tuned!  Next week we'll give you a list of what to expect and some Thanksgiving-oriented recipes!  Once again CSA pickups may be a bit shifty next week, but we will inform you if there are any big, important changes.

We'll be sad to see Fall CSA come and go so quickly, it seems.  It's been fun tending, handling, and packing all these new fall veggies for you all.  But don't worry- Fall CSA doesn't mean the end of CSA possibilities this year.  We will start our "Weekly Boxes" CSA, which basically means: call us when you want a box at any point, and we will pack one for you!  20$ for a Couple Share, 30$ for Families!  This will be our arrangement until our next official CSA season, which will be our 2013 Spring CSA.

This past weekend was an interesting experiment with the new Saturday farmer's markets we tried out, in absence of our Iowa City Market and the Grant Wood Market we were depending on.  New Bo market was quite a success!  Apparently 10,000 patrons showed up that day?  Wow, that's like a small town right there.  It was also 12 hours long!  Our market worker had to be relieved for at least an hour to make it through.  We brought almost 4 times the usual amount of produce and all in all we thought it was worth it!  Derek was at his house selling veggies that day too, and it seemed to do well.  

Next week we'll be trying out a new market stand place in Iowa City: The Trumpet Blossom Cafe!  That is, we might be there, we'll have to double check and make sure it's ok we're slinging organic food by their place.  We'll find out soon and let you all know!

In other news...yikes, it's been getting dark EARLY now!  Sun down by 5:30?  It gets dark, we stop working, and it'll take a while to get used to the fact that there are still hours yet to do things.  On the other hand, getting up in the morning feels great because you feel like you're getting up super early, when you're really just getting up at the same time you used to!

Besides packing our stuff for CSA, resaurants, Co-ops and markets, we've been prepping, cracking, planting, and obsessing over our garlic!  We're glad to be done with watering, it seems like good ol' Mother Sky has been doing it for us.  This morning was a pleasantly long rain and fortunately we even left some of the plants' covers open.  Oh yeah....that has been another job to take up our time, covering our plants with reemay and plastic on the coldest of nights.  We haven't got plastic up on our cold-frames quite yet, the temps haven't dropped low enough for that to be our biggest priority.  But we're basically set up and ready.

Well...with no CSA this week, we don't have much of a list to offer, of course.  But just for kicks, we'll send a couple recipes your way!

See you at market...wherever that ends up being!


Recipes

Yukina Savoy Quiche with Spicy Pepper, Cherry and Pine Nut Relish (www.fatandhappyblog.com)

Yukina Savoy Quiche:

• 3 eggs
• 3 heaping Tbls of Greek yogurt (plus some for topping)
• 1 large garlic clove, finely diced
• 2 cups of yukina savoy
• 1 Tbls shredded Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil   

Heat a saute pan over medium heat, add a drizzle of olive oil. Chop the stems of the yukina savoy into small pieces, add the stems and the garlic to the saute pan; cook for few minutes. Add the rest of the yukina savoy, toss and cook for a about 4 minutes until the leaves begin to wilt. Remove from heat.

Whisk together the eggs and the Greek yogurt with a pinch of salt and fresh black pepper.  Pour the egg mixture into a small casserole dish.  Add the sauteed yukina savoy and cheese to the eggs, pushing the  savoy into the egg.

Place in a pan in a preheated 400 degree oven until the middle is set. The eggs will become quite puffed up, and if you shake the pan, the eggs will not appear runny.  It's easy to overcook the eggs so check them often or they will become dry.  The eggs will deflate quickly after removing from the oven, serve immediately with the pine nut relish (recipe below) and a scoop of Greek yogurt (optional).


Spicy Pepper, Cherry and Pine Nut Relish:

• 1 heaping tbls dried cherries (or craisins), finely diced
• 1/2 cup finely diced red pepper
• 1 large garlic clove, finely diced
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3 tbls olive oil
• 1 green onion, diced
• 3 tbls toasted pine nuts, lightly chopped

Place the dried cherries and green onions into a small bowl, set aside.
Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil in saute pan, heat over medium-high heat.  Add the diced red peppers, cook for 1 minute.  Add in the diced garlic and cook for about 3 minutes until the garlic begins to soften and releases its' flavor (toss often).  Pour over the cherries.

In the same pan (do not wipe out) add the red pepper flakes and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Simmer the flakes over medium heat for about 3 minutes to season the oil.  Pour the oil in the peppers and cherry bowl.  Top with the toasted pine nuts, set aside until ready to use. 


Clean Eating Garlic Baby Kale with Crushed Red Peppers (www.thegraciouspantry.com)
(Makes 2 servings)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth, no sugar added
• 4 generous cups, tightly packed baby kale
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. garlic powder OR 6 cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. low sodium soy sauce

Directions
Step 1 – Sauté the garlic in the olive oil in a large pan.
Step 2 – Pour the chicken broth into the pan and add the kale, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and soy sauce. Cook until kale is wilted and cooked to your liking.

Eat and Enjoy!



Ingredients:

• 2 cups julienne cut daikon radish (I used my food processor to cut it)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp sweet rice wine (mirin)
  OPTIONAL: crushed peanuts

Place the daikon in a colander/mesh strainer over a bowl or the sink and sprinkle with salt. Mix well. Let sit for 30 minutes. Squeeze out excess water and then rinse well with cold water. Drain.
In a small saucepan, combine the seasoned rice vinegar, sugar and rice wine. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves (this will only take a few minutes).
Transfer the daikon to an airtight container and pour the rice vinegar mixture over. Shake or stir well to combine. Chill for 20 minutes before serving.
This can store for up to a few days in the fridge, if it lasts that long. If desired, serve topped with crushed peanuts.