Standard

Red Beets   3 lb
Arugula  1 bu
Collards  1 bu
Garlic  2 bulbs
Spinach  1 bu
Cauliflower  1 hd
Potatoes   3 lbs
Cherry Tomatoes  1 pt
Zucchini  1

Small

Chioggia Beets  2 lb
Green Cabbage  1 hd
Arugula  1 bu
Green Kale  1 bu
Garlic  2 bulbs
Cauliflower  1 hd

Ways to use your garlic

Raw, or almost raw

• Puree raw garlic, a can of garbanzo beans, tahini, olive oil and lemon juice to make hummus. Serve with raw veggies for a delicious and healthy appetizer.
• Saute leafy greens in olive oil, while your minced garlic stands for 10 minutes. Toss it in for the last 2-3 minutes with some red pepper flakes and serve.
• Top your favorite pizza with thin slices of raw garlic 1 or 2 minutes before taking it out of the oven.
• Add minced raw garlic to pesto, marinade, salad dressing or salsa.
• Add to your favorite pickle recipes.
• Toast sliced French bread, spread with butter and sprinkle with minced raw garlic. The butter softens the garlic pungency.
• Add pureed raw garlic to guacamole.

Just going for the flavor?

• Roast garlic in a fragrant nut oil, then add to your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. It might sound horrid, but it gives the cookies a savor that is noticeable but not garlicky. Shhh. . .Let people guess the secret ingredient!
• Add garlic to sauces, soups, stews and casseroles.
• Add to ground beef for out-of-this world hamburgers, meat loaf and meatballs.
• Roast whole garlic bulbs, then squeeze the cloves and spread the resulting paste onto slices of thick-cut French or sourdough bread instead of butter.

Collard Greens

Collards are a member of the cabbage family, but with a lighter taste. Romans and Greeks attributed great therapeutic powers to collards to the point where Julius Caesar ate a plateful after a heavy banquet to ward off indigestion.

Low in calories, collard leaves contain lots of soluble and insoluble dietary fiber that help control LDL cholesterol levels and protect against hemorrhoids, constipation, and colon cancer. They are rich in phytonutrients with potent anti-cancer properties and are an excellent source of folates, vitamins C, A, K and the vital B-complex group, plus anti-oxidants that boost the body’s autoimmune system. The leaves and stems are also high in minerals like iron, calcium, copper, manganese, selenium and zinc.

Collards are hardy growers and can withstand hot summers and will grow well into the winter.

Green Timbale

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 large onion, finely shopped
1 lb. collard greens, stems and leaves shopped separately
¼ cup milk
½ cup heavy cream
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
½ cup grated Jarlsberg cheese
5 eggs, lightly beaten

Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook until transparent. Stir in the collards and cook, covered, until tender, about 3 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high and remove the cover. Cook tossing constantly, until all the liquid has evaporated. Cool in a large bowl.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Melt the remaining butter and add it, plus all the remaining ingredients to the greens mixture. Mix well and pour into a buttered soufflé dish. Place the dish in a roasting pan and pour boiling water in the pan to half the depth of the dish. Bake until a knife comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Remove the dish from the pan and let stand 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and carefully invert onto a shallow serving platter.

Standard
Purple Cauliflower   1 hd
Carrots  2 lb
Red Onion   1
Italian Parsley   1 bu
Rainbow Lacinato Kale   1 bu
Chioggia Beets   2 lb
Green Cabbage   1 hd
Cucumber   1
Nectarines   3 lb  from Sunnyslope Ranch

Small
Romanesco   1 hd
Alaska Bloom Potatoes   2 lb
Carrots   2 lb
Red Onion   1
Italian Parsley   1 bu
Rainbow Lacinato Kale   1 bu
Nectarines   3 lb
From Sunnyslope Ranch

Alaska Bloom Potatoes

Alaska bloom potatoes have a creamy flesh and sweet taste. They are similar to the Yukon Gold, but their pinkish eyes give them extra flair.

The potato is a tuber, designed to provide nutrients to the leafy part of the plant. If allowed to bloom, the potato plant would bear an inedible fruit that looks similar to its cousin, the tomato.

Standard potatoes get a bad rap for being non-nutritious because of their white color. However, organic potatoes grown in healthy soil are a very good source of vitamins C and B6, potassium, copper, manganese, phosphorus, niacin, dietary fiber, and pantothenic acid. These nutrients are vital to our bodies, supporting brain health, protecting our cardiovascular system, and helping maintain our cells.

Potatoes have long been considered a comfort food, and it can be oh, so comforting to know that potatoes are a nourishing whole food as well.

Herb Roasted Potato and Arugula Salad
1 lb. potatoes, quartered
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste
3 cups arugula
Juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss potatoes with the olive oil, salt and fresh herbs. Spread on a baking sheet in one even layer and bake for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle the potatoes with the garlic and toss making sure to keep them in one even layer. Put back in the oven for another 10 minutes until the potatoes are brown and crispy on the edges.

When potatoes are done place them in a bowl with the arugula and toss to combine. Squeeze the lemon juice over everything, toss again and serve.

Recipe from www.veggieinspired.com.

Purple Cauliflower

This vibrant violet cauliflower is colorful on the outside, but the stem and core are still while. It’s flavor is milder, sweeter, nuttier and free of the bitterness sometimes found in regular white cauliflower.

The bright color is due to the presence of the antioxidant anthocyanin, which can also be found in red cabbage and red wine. Purple, orange and green cauliflowers were developed in the 1970s using classical breeding methods (selection by farmers or plant breeders, taking advantage of natural mutations).

Cauliflower of any color is rich in vitamin C with a half cup of florets providing nearly half of one’s daily requirement. It also provides fiber, vitamin A, folate, calcium and potassium as well as selenium, which works with Vitamin C to boost the immune system. Cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower are known for their high levels of cancer-fighting phytochemicals, known as glucosinolates.

Ever grilled cauliflower steaks? Brush thick slices of your cauli with veggie oil and season with your favorite spice or herbs, such as paprika, turmeric, curry, cumin, lemon salt, or Italian seasoning. Grill 7-10 minutes per side. If you don’t feel like firing up the grill, sear the slices in oil in a skillet (2 minutes per side) and roast them in a 400°F oven for 15 minutes.

About Your Nectarines

Occasionally we have access to some amazing products from other organic farms that we know and trust. We are happy to pass some of these delicious deals on to our CSA members!

Located 140 miles southeast of Seattle in the fertile Yakima Valley of central Washington, Sunnyslope Ranch, an organic orchard and packing operation, has a frost-free location on the south slope of a small hill, an ideal area for growing premium, organic stone fruit.

In 2005, the orchard was purchased by Jimmie Wellman and Rebecca Hunt, a husband and wife team.  With the help of extended family, Jimmie and Rebecca grow some of the best quality, organic, tree-ripened stone fruit in Washington state. Enjoy!

Standard

Leeks   2
Broccoli   3 lb
Collards   1 bu
Apples   2 lb
Triticale Berries   1 pt
Potatoes   2 lb
Red Cabbage   1 hd
Heirloom Tomatoes   .5 lb
Slicer Tomatoes   1 lb

Small

Leeks   2
Broccoli   3 lb
Collards   1 bu
Cherry Tomatoes   .5 pt
Triticale Berries   1 pt
Zucchini   1
Cucumber   1

Easy Summer Grain Salad—Using lots of the veggies in your box!

All ingredients are optional, and quantities are suggestions, not rules. Feel free to add other ingredients, like cauliflower or spinach. For even more flavor, add herbs like parsley, basil or dill. The quantities can easily be increased for summertime parties.

Veggies
1/2 pound triticale berries or other wheat berries
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes or regular-sized heirloom tomatoes, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1/2 bunch of your favorite kale, coarsely chopped
1 head broccoli, chopped
1/2 Walla Walla sweet onion (or sweet red onion)
2 carrots, shredded
1 beet (any variety), shredded

Dressing
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
2 clovers garlic, chopped

Soak the triticale berries overnight. The next day, drain the triticale berries, then add enough fresh water to cover them with about 1″ of water. Boil about 1 hour until berries are plump and chewy. Drain and cool.

In the meantime, chop your veggies. Once the triticale berries cool, mix the dressing ingredients together and pour over the berries, then add your veggies and mix everything together. Let the flavors mingle for a few hours in the fridge before serving.

We thank our packing shed manager, Rachel Covault, for this great recipe idea.

Tomatoes

200 years ago, tomatoes were thought to be poisonous in the United States. This may be because tomatoes are part of the night shade family, some of which are truly poisonous. But a diet that includes this tasty fruit gives you benefits like lowering the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Tomatoes, with their rich red/purple color, like the beautiful Indigo Cherry Drops that Sidney is showing us in the photo below, are rich in lycopene, a phytochemical that plays a role in preventing chronic diseases. They are also rich sources of vitamin C and other antioxidants that help combat free radicals know to cause cancer, especially prostate, lung and stomach cancers.

Tomatoes are also high in fiber, potassium, and choline, for heart health. An increase in potassium intake along with a decrease in sodium intake can be one of the most important dietary changes that the average person can make to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.

Tomatoes are also delicious, especially if they are vine-ripened. We are so accustomed to having tomatoes whenever we want them, but that sweet, tangy, juicy bomb of flavor can only happen when tomatoes are eaten in season, not shipped green from Latin America or China in the winter, and chemically forced to change color to red. Those are some kind of pathetic cardboard imitation. Real vine-ripened tomatoes are worth waiting for, and heirlooms, the wild children of the tomato world, come in fantastic shapes and colors that have a true tomato flavor that rivals any hybrid.

How to use your tomatoes

• Put in a salad
• Put on a pizza
• Cut in half down the equator, top with seasoned breadcrumbs, then broil
• Add to soups and stews
• Braise or sauté with fish or chicken, Italian seasoning, olives and capers
• Slice thick and slow roast (225°F for 2 hours)
• Use cherry tomatoes for kebabs
• Stuff tomatoes with ground beef or pork, bacon, rice, spinach, or cracked wheat
• Combine fresh tomato puree, mint, sugar, champagne and fresh lemon juice for a refreshing sorbet
• Add zip to tuna salad by adding tomatoes, green onions and a touch of chopped fresh basil
• Green and yellow tomatoes make great toppers for eggs and enchiladas.

From Bounty from the Box, the CSA Farm Cookbook by Mi Ae Lipe.

Standard

Celery   1 hd
Walla Walla-variety Onions   2 lb
Lacinato Kale   1 bu
Broccoli   2.5 lb
Romaine Lettuce   1 hd
Garlic   2 bulbs
Green Beans   1 lb
Cilantro   1 bu
Curly Parsley   1 bu

Small

Celery   1 hd
Walla Walla-variety Onions   2 lb
Broccoli   2 lb
Red Butter Lettuce   1 hd
Golden Beets   2 lb
Cherry Tomatoes   .5 pt
Cilantro   1 bu

Golden Beets

Golden beets are a good place to start for beet skeptics, as they are sweeter with a less earthy flavor than red beets. They have one of the highest sugar contents of all vegetables, but are fairly low in calories, at 74 per cup. They are extremely high in folate and manganese and are a decent source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, calcium, and potassium.

Golden beets will not stain your hands. You can steam, boil, roast or sauté them, or grate raw on a salad.

Golden Beet Borscht

½ Tbsp. vegetable or olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 to 5 cloves garlic, minced or
pressed
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 or 2 carrots, sliced
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
6 cups water or vegetable stock
½ Tbsp. fresh dill or ½ tsp. dried dill
4 cups sliced beets
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
1 baked potato, skinned
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 to 2 Tbsp. granulated sweetener

Heat a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add the oil and onion. Stir, decrease the heat, cover, and “sweat” the onions until they are translucent. Add the garlic, celery, and carrots. Stir and cook for about 5 more minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Mix well and continue to cook for another minute or two. Add the water, dill, and beets. Bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the beets are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a medium bowl, use a hand blender or electric blender to puree the potato, lemon juice, zest, granulated sweetener, and approximately ½ cup of the soup liquid until it turns smooth and creamy.

Stir potato mixture into the rest of the soup and adjust the salt and pepper seasoning. Serve topped with a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream.

Cilantro

Cilantro, or coriander, is one of humanity’s earliest spices. The plant likely originated in North Africa or the Middle East, but it also grows wild in Mediterranean Europe. Coriander seeds have been found in Bronze Age ruins and Egyptian tombs, are mentioned in the Bible, and were brought to northern Europe by the Romans. Spanish conquistadors introduced it to Latin America, where, paired with chilies and tomatoes, it became a staple. Cilantro is the Spanish name, and it refers to the fresh leaves.

Cilantro is a good source of vitamins A and K, as well as dietary fiber, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and trace amounts of B vitamins. Coriander and cilantro have both been used as an aphrodisiac, diuretic, and appetite stimulant, and cilantro leaves actually contain an antibacterial agent in their essential oils.

Serving Suggestions

• Use cilantro generously in fresh salsa, pico de gallo, and chutneys.
• Add several tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro to green salads.
• Try tossing it into your potato salad or adding it to soups for a fresh zing.
• Use cilantro instead of basil to make pesto.
• Cilantro and fresh lime juice are nonnegotiable ingredients in guacamole.
• Use cilantro like dill—in dips, hummus, and butters.
• Mix cilantro with lime juice, honey, and shredded cabbage to make an unusual coleslaw.
• Cilantro makes an interesting addition to stir-fries. Toss in fresh leaves at the very end of cooking to preserve its distinctive flavor and oils.
• Add a handful to a smoothie or when making juice blends. Especially good in tomato juice!
• Curries and cilantro harmonize together better than most siblings. Coconut and cilantro are also an especially wonderful combination.

Standard

Carrots  2 lb
Green Beans  .75 lb
Red Onion  1
Spinach  1 bu
Red Chard  1 bu
Golden Beets  2 lb
Basil  .25 lb
Celery  1 hd
Lemon Cucumber  1
Baby Red Russian Kale  1 bu

Small

Carrots  2 lb
Red Onion  1
Garlic  2 bulbs
Red Chard  1 bu
Celery  1 hd
Lemon Cucumber  1
Baby Red Russian Kale  1 bu

Lemon Cucumber

The lemon cucumber is believed to have been introduced to the United States in the early 1900s. However, there are texts that support the idea that it originated in the Middle East as early as the 16th century. It retains a strong modern market presence in India where it is added to soup, daal, and chutney.

Use this delightful individual-sized cucumber in fresh green salads, or juice into cocktails, agua frescas and smoothies. Pair with tomatoes, summer squash, carrots, other cucumber varieties, fresh herbs and cheeses, citrus, olives, vinegar.

The great thing about lemon cukes is that you don’t have to peel them! The skin is very soft and fully edible. Rub with a dry kitchen towel to remove the tiny bristles. You get an nice cucumber flavor and snap, but the texture is a bit silkier and juicier than the familiar English variety.

Cucumbers with Sesame

Take a few tablespoons of sesame seeds and toast them in a pan until light golden brown, scented and slightly darker. Take care not to overdo them.

After the sesame seeds have cooled to room temperature, mix in a bit of salt and blend thoroughly. Next, slice your cucumber and simply press both sides into the sesame seeds. It’s a fabulous appetizer and super easy.

Or mix the following together. You’ll need more cucumbers than is in your box, but it works well with either type of cucumber or a mix of the two.

One cup sour cream
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. dill
Half a medium red onion, sliced
2 medium cucumbers, sliced, or 4 lemon cucumbers, sliced

Ways to use your celery

• Combine celery and green olives for a refreshing, unusual salad.
• A traditional Italian dish is braised celery with tomato sauce—a surprisingly good combination.
• Celery, along with carrots and onion, forms mirepoix, the basis of many stocks, broths, soups, and stews.
• Use the celery leaves, finely chopped, as a flavoring agent in salads and cooked dishes.
• There’s the time-honored kids’ classic of celery stalks heaped with peanut butter. Consider also soft cheeses,
  Boursin dip, flavored mayonnaise, sour cream, yogurt, hummus, even Nutella.
• Chopped celery is a great way to add crunch to pasta, tuna, stir-fries and egg salads.
• Celery makes a great pickle!

Green Beans

Green beans are a vegetable that even a lot of picky kids like, maybe because they are fun to play with. But don’t discount them because of that—studies have shown that they contain impressive amounts of carotenoids, important antioxidants usually associated with carrots and tomatoes. We don’t see these carotenoids because of the beans’ concentrated chlorophyll content. Green beans also provide the mineral silicon, very important for bone health and for healthy formation of connective tissue.

Fresh Green Bean Sauté

1 lb. green beans, rinsed, ends snapped off
1 cup chopped red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped organic red bell pepper
2 Tbsp. bacon grease (or 1 Tbsp. each butter and olive oil)
1 cup chicken or veggie broth
1/2 tsp. salt
Ground black pepper

Melt bacon grease/butter-oil in a skillet over medium low heat. Add garlic and onions and cook for a minute. Then add green beans and cook for a minute until beans turn bright green. Add the broth, chopped red pepper, salt, and black pepper. Turn heat to low and cover with a lid, leaving lid cracked to allow steam to escape.

Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until liquid evaporates and beans are fairly soft, yet still a bit crisp. You can add more broth during the cooking process, but don’t be afraid to let it all cook away so the onions and peppers can caramelize.

We thank thepioneerwoman.com/ for this recipe.

Standard

Red Kale 1 bu
Red or Green Cabbage 1 hd
Broccoli 1.5 lb
Bunched Carrots 1 bu
Dill 1 bu
Cucumber 1
Garlic 2 bulbs
Leeks 2
Rolled Oats 2 lb

Small

Green Beans  .5 lb
Broccoli  1.5 lb
Leek 2
Red or Green Cabbage  1 hd
Chioggia Beets with Greens 1 bu
Basil  .25 lb
Cherry Tomatoes .5 pt

Red Cabbage

Red cabbage’s primary characteristics — its red hue and bitter, peppery flavor — signify that you’re getting two types of cancer-preventing substances. The red pigment comes from plant-based chemicals called flavonoids, while the sharp flavor is the result of sulfur-based compounds. In addition to these important phytochemicals, cabbage contributes to your overall health with fiber and a range of vitamins (especially C, A, E and K) and minerals (including manganese, iron, calcium, zinc and phosphorus).

Raw cabbage, either red or green, is soothing for the digestive system and great for cleansing the body. It is a rich source of calcium and iodine. Outer leaves are better than inner leaves for calcium and vitamin E content since the inner leaves are not exposed to the sun.

Shred for use in salads or slaws. To cook, lightly steam, sauté, or stir-fry. Serve hot with one of the following: garlic and butter or olive oil; coriander; chopped fresh parsley, cilantro or dill; sour cream and caraway seeds or paprika. It is also delicious cooked slowly and gently with onions and a dash of red wine.

Raw Red Cabbage Salad

Thinly slice 1/2 head red cabbage and put in a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon salt and work through the cabbage with your hands. Squeeze and massage it for about 5 minutes, until juice starts to run from the cabbage. Rinse in cold water to remove the salt, and squeeze dry.

Juice one orange and peel and cut another into bite-sized pieces. Mix with the cabbage, add cut up apples and pears, diced walnuts, golden raisins, and any other dried fruit you may have. Mix well and enjoy!

Recipe from snapguide.com.

Chioggia Beets & Greens

Chioggia beets are distinguished by their concentric ring pattern of magenta pink and white.

This beautiful and flavorful beet is an Italian heirloom variety developed around 1840. It was named for the town in which it was first cultivated, the island fishing village of Chioggia, near Venice.

Also called Candy Stripe and Bull’s Eye beet, Chioggias can be roasted, steamed, braised, and pickled. Roasting the beet will bring out the most flavor. They can be served cold or hot, and are a great salad beet, whether served alongside greens or as the main ingredient. They pair well with bacon, apples, butter, cheeses, cucumbers, creme fraiche, hard-cooked eggs, fennel, mustard, oranges, parsley, smoked fish, shallots, vinegars, and red wine.

Chioggia Beets in Vinaigrette

1 lb Chioggias
3 Tbsp. thinly sliced scallions
2-to-2 1/2 Tbsp. raspberry vinegar
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice, or to taste
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
1 Tbsp. finely grated fresh orange zest
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
Fresh mint sprigs for garnish

Cover beets with water in a saucepan and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Let stand until cool enough to handle, then slip off and discard skins. Cut beets into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Stir together scallions, 2 tablespoons vinegar, lemon juice to taste, mint, zest, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until combined. Add warm beets and toss with vinaigrette and vinegar and salt to taste. Serve warm or slightly chilled. Don’t forget to steam and enjoy those nutritious greens!