peacefrog's lilypad

Last year, what with the buying and the selling and the moving, I didn't track the farm share past week one, it seems, and I missed doing it. I know they aren't the most interesting posts, but posting at all makes me more likely to post more. Farm share started last week and we are definitely still ramping up. I didn't weigh either weeks, but week one filled two reusable shopping bags fully and week two filled three, so that much. :)

( Week 1 )

We've been eating lots of salad. Much of the peas were munched raw -- Tadpole was very excited to see them. One evening, a friend came over to cook dinner (ftr, I totally welcome more friends like that :) and I was supposed to have planned a veggie but completely forgot. As luck would have it, she was sautéing marinated shitake, so when those came out, I tossed the sugar snap peas in and cooked them every so briefly in the super-hot cast iron pan. Oh wowowow. I am psyched that we have extra marinade because I know what I want to do with the new batch now.

( Week 2 )

In addition to all of that, neighbors gave us spares from their farm shares, which included a head of purple lettuce, a bunch of rainbow chard, a bunch of kale, some fresh mint, two kohlrabi with greens, 2 bunches garlic scapes, and a few stalks of rhubarb. Getting everything into the fridge was a challenge -- we really have to cook tomorrow!

Among other things, I am planning for zucchini (cousa being close enough) basil soup, since my basil is doing well, too. And salad. I need to make up a batch of the awesome Caesars dressing and just keep it in a jar in the fridge. And my salad/slaw.

Meanwhile, we still have some leftovers lentils from Sunday, when we cooked the community dinner. The menu was Caesar Salad (except just romaine, no kale), Snobby Joes, and six varieties of homemade popsicles (three boozy, three not). In addition, we did a bonus veggie using all the cooking green from Week 1 as well as additional greens neighbors gave us to add in. It was a yummy, well-received meal.

• 2 bunches Red Russian Kale
• 1 lb Sugar Snap Peas
• 2 bunches Red Chard
• 2 bunches Red Bok Choy
• 2 bunches Raab
• 2 bunches Chioggia Beets
• 2 bunches Carrots
• 2 bunched Fennel
  =18.5#

Phew, this is a big share! Given how well the grilling worked last week plus how hot it is, I'm planning to once again do a miso glaze for the boy choy, fennel, and carrots tonight. Some of the chard went on a pizza last night (had to get that made before the heat wave) and I need to decide if I will make the kale chips of awesomeness. (RRK is not the best type for them, but they're never bad. :) We've all been munching on the snap peas raw, of course, and I'm thinking shredded beet salad for the chioggias. ETA: The grilling happened as planned (more or less -- the tank ran dry in the middle and I had to swap it out which resulted in some uneven, but still yummy, results) but I also ended up making a massaged kale salad with avocado, carrots, beets, and sunflower seeds. Nomnomnom.

SO MANY VEGGIES! Last week's kimchi turned out great, and very spicy. I love eating it, but it sets my mouth on fire. Luckily, it's not a lingering heat, so if I pause between bites, I'm okay. This week there must be more kimchi because the farms delivered up all the ingredients as if giving an order.

• 2 heads Escarole
• 2 heads Romaine Lettuce
• 2 heads Red Leaf Lettuce
• 2 bunches Scallions
• 2 bunches Beets (with greens)
• 2 bunches Radishes (with greens?)
• 2 bunches Red Chard
• 2 bunches Kale
• 2 bunches Baby (aww) Carrots (also with greens but having tried, I've given up on eating 'em)
• 2 heads Cabbage
  ==
• 1 bunch Scallions
• 1/3 lb Spinach
• 2 heads Lettuce (green)
• 1 bunch Beets (with greens)
• 1 bunch Oregano
• 1/4 lb Garlic Scapes
• 1 bunch Kale (dinosaur)
• 2 Kohlrabi (purple, with greens (purples?))
• 2 Carrots

My current favorite thing to do with kale (and I'm sure it would work with other greens as well), is to eat it raw and marinated. I wouldn't have believed raw kale could be that good until I had a similar dish at a friend's house, so if you're doubting, I suggest trying it. Here's my basic technique:

Raw Marinated Kale

1. Shred or chop the kale into a bowl.
2. Add 1/2-1 tsp sea salt (depending on how much kale there is and how much salt you like).
3. I massage the salt into the kale to speed things up, but you can skip this.
4. Whisk acid (3T) with olive oil (1T) along with a clove or two of fresh minced garlic and pour over kale. The acid can be any nice vinegar (I've been mostly using balsamic, but white balsamic worked, red wine, etc) or lemon juice, etc.
5. Toss it all together and let it sit a few hours or overnight, or however long you can stand to wait. I pack it into a quart-sized take-out container for ease of fridging.
6. Eat! Nomnom so good! Works well with lots of other stuff, too, so have fun.