Chioggia Beet Slaw on a Bed of Grilled Leeks

Chioggia beets are happy, candy-striped beets that add a smile to your slaw.

Chiogga Slaw
1/4 cup plain Greek-style yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
5 candy-stripe (Chioggia) beets, julienned or grated
1 medium carrot, julienned or grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Whisk yogurt, lemon juice, and orange zest and juice in a medium bowl. Add beets and carrot and toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Grilled Leeks
12 medium leeks, trimmed to about 7 inches, split length-
wise to within 1 1/2 inches of the root end
Olive oil for grilling

Tie the leeks in 4 bundles with kitchen string and put them in a kettle of boiling salted water. Boil them for 6 minutes or until they are just tender and drain them in a colander. Refresh the leeks under cold water and discard the strings. Brush the leeks with the oil and grill them on an oiled rack set 5 minutes on each side or until they are golden. Transfer the leeks as they are grilled to a platter and keep warm.

Vinaigrette
4 teaspoons dijon-style mustard
3 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup minced assorted fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all vinaigrette ingredients. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the leeks and top with chioggia slaw.

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Posted on March 14, 2014

Traditional Beef Brisket and Vegetables

Looking for an Irish entree for Saint Paddy’s Day? Try a traditional beef brisket.

3 1/2 pounds beef brisket
20 peppercorns
10 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon Nash’s mustard seeds
3 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon salt
3 turnips, peeled and quartered
6 red potatoes, peeled and quartered
6 medium carrots, cut into thirds
1 small head green cabbage, cut into 6 wedges
Prepared horseradish to taste

Place brisket in a large Dutch oven and cover brisket with an inch of water. Add peppercorns, cloves, bay leaf, mustard seeds, cinnamon sticks, and salt to the pot.

Turn burner on high and bring liquid to a low boil. Reduce heat until liquid is at a low simmer. Cover tightly and cook for 4 hours or until you can easily insert a fork into the beef.

Carefully transfer meat to a large plate and cover with foil to keep the meat warm.

Add the turnips, potatoes, carrots and cabbage to the pot. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the liquid to a high simmer. Cook, adjusting heat down if water starts to boil, until vegetables are tender.

Slice brisket against the grain into thin slices and plate with vegetables and some of the broth. Serve with horseradish sauce.

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Posted on March 6, 2014

Sweet Potato and Sausage Bisque

Nash’s ground pork comes in several varieties, including Italian, breakfast, and unseasoned.

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 pounds Nash’s Italian sausage
2 carrots, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 celery stalks, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 onion, quartered and separated
4 cloves garlic, quartered
3-4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ginger, freshly grated
Juice of lime
Yogurt (optional)

In Dutch oven or soup pot, saute vegetables and spices in 2 tablespoons olive oil until soft. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until soft.

While potatoes cook, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large skillet on medium and cook sausage until nicely caramelized on both sides. Set aside.
When potatoes are done, transfer soup to blender or food processor and puree until smooth. You may need to add water to thin. Return soup to Dutch oven, add sausage and lime juice, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Pour into individual bowls and top with a dollop of yogurt (optional).

We thank chef Annie McHale of Port Angeles for this recipe.

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Posted on March 6, 2014

Fava Bean Borscht

Fava beans are great fresh, but you can also dry them and eat them in hearty soups, like this flavorful borscht. The crews have taste tested this particular recipe, and we give it a big thumbs up!

Make 2 quarts

1/2 cup Nash’s Windsor fava beans, dried
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/3 cup oil
1 medium leek or onion, sliced fine
2 sticks celery, sliced
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/4 teaspoon Nash’s mustard seeds
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 medium turnip, sliced fine
4 medium potatoes, cut into eighths
4 medium beets, sliced
2 cups cabbage, sliced
2-3 cups water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup dill, parsley or beet greens
Black pepper

Wash the favas and soak overnight, covered with water. Place beans in a pot with 3 cups fresh water, then add bay leaves and basil. Bring to a boil and simmer on medium heat until tender. Do not drain.

Heat the oil in a stock pot. Add leeks/onions, celery, caraway seeds, mustard seeds and garlic, and cook until tender. Add carrots, turnip, potatoes and beets, and simmer 3-5 minutes until veggies are tender. Combine with cooked fava beans. Add water, vinegar, dill, pepper and salt to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in sliced cabbage. Serve with hot sauce and sour cream.

We thank Mary Wong of our Nash’s Farm Store crew for this recipe.

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Posted on March 6, 2014

Breakfast Menu: Parsnip Pancakes and Energy Boost Juice

Parsnips for breakfast? Definitely, especially if they’re in pancakes drizzled with honey yogurt sauce!

Energy Boost Juice

5 large carrots
3 small apples
1 small cylinder beets
1 leaf kale
1 cup parsley
1 cup wheat grass

Blend all ingredients and enjoy!

Breakfast Parsnip Pancakes

1/2 cups Nash’s flour
1 1/2 cups grated parsnips
1-3 teaspoons sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons butter and more for the skillet
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix in all wet ingredients until well incorporated. Heat a large greased skillet over medium heat and place 1/4-cup-size dollops of mixture evenly in skillet. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot off the skillet with maple syrup and butter. Also wonderful after they are cool dipped into honey yogurt sauce.

Honey Yogurt Sauce

1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons honey

Mix well for a wonderful dip for fruit or just about anything.

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Posted on February 28, 2014

Golabki (Cabbage Pork Rolls)

This recipe comes from Karolina Tracz. Karolina was born in Poland where similar recipes that use many of the veggies on the farm today abound. In Polish, these cabbage rolls are called golabki, literally “little pigeons.”

1 whole head of savoy cabbage
1 1/2 pounds cippolini onions, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound Nash’s ground pork
1 1/2 cups cooked rice (red rice adds texture )
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 pounds sunchokes, scrubbed and roasted
2 pounds parsnips, roasted
1 1/2 pounds carrots, roasted
2 pounds golden turnips, roasted
1 cup beef or vegetable stock
Sour cream for garnish (optional)

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Roast sunckokes, parsnip, carrots and golden turnips about 30 minutes.

Cook rice, let cool and set aside.

Peel the cabbage, separating the outer leaves to be stuffed.

Chop the remaining cabbage and place it in the bottom of a casserole dish or Dutch oven.

Saute the chopped onion in butter in a large frying pan until tender and let cool.

Mix cooled onions with pork, rice, garlic, salt, black pepper and the roasted roots until well combined. Don’t over-mix or the meat will become tough.

Place about 1/4 cup of meat on each cabbage leaf. Roll away from you to encase the meat. Flip the right side of the leaf to the middle, then flip the left side. You will have something that looks like an envelope. Once again, roll away from you to create a neat little roll.

Place the cabbage rolls on top of the chopped cabbage in the casserole dish or Dutch oven, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Pour beef or vegetable broth over rolls, cover and place in oven. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until cabbage is tender and meat is cooked.

Serve with pan juices and a drizzle of sour cream, or mix the pan juices with sour cream and ladle it over the cabbage rolls.

Cabbage rolls freeze well before or after cooking and can be made in a slow cooker.

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Posted on February 28, 2014

Six Nettle Recipes

Young nettles are easily blanched and frozen to enjoy year round. They are easy to dry as well for healthy herbal teas.

Farmer’s Nettle Frittata
Saute red onions, mushrooms in season, grated carrot, finely sliced broccoli spears and minced chickweed together in olive oil until wilted. Add a handful of minced young nettle stalk and leaves on top, cover and let steam until nettles wilt. Meanwhile, prepare a mixture of eggs, minced parsley and dried basil. Stir well and pour it over the steaming veggies. Place a cover on the pan, wait until eggs set, then flip until done. Delicious as is or with salsa or chickweed pesto.

Leek, Chickweed and Nettle Soup
Saute chopped leeks, celery and crushed garlic cloves in olive oil until soft; add diced potatoes (I use russets or Yukon golds). Add minced chickweed, nettles, parsley, dried basil, turmeric, salt and perhaps a bit more oil or butter. Saute a few minutes more, mixing all the ingredients well to blend the flavors. Cover with stock or water and simmer until everything is tender. Other veggies can be added, such as tomatoes, grated carrots, or perhaps a tin of salmon added at the end for even more variety. Unlike most leek and potato soup recipes, I do not use milk or cream as an ingredient, nor do I find a need to puree if the ingredients are diced small enough, as everything seems to meld together just fine.

Nettle Lasagna
Any spinach lasagna recipe will do for nettle lasagna with the obvious substitution of sauteed or steamed young nettles. If you make your own noodles, toss a spoonful of dried nettle powder into your flour mixture for added nutrition or into your homemade tomato sauce.

Nettle Quiche
Again, there are countless recipes for making quiches. My favorite is from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen. Since I make my own crusts, sometimes I’ll throw in a tablespoon of dried nettle powder with my flours. For the filling, I use a large handful of chopped and steamed nettles, along with sauteed onions, mushrooms in season, chopped broccoli, and an assortment of fresh and dried herbs laid on a bed of feta and shredded raw cheddar cheeses. Over that goes an egg-and-milk mixture to which I might mix in an additional tablespoon of flour depending on how moist my ingredients are.

Nettle Greens Medley
Saute slivers of red onion and garlic in olive oil or coconut oil until translucent. Add equal amounts of chopped Swiss chard and nettle tops. Pour in a small quantity of water, cover with lid and steam until wilted and tender. Mix gently to blend the veggies and oil, sprinkle on some sea salt and serve.

Sesanelp
A seasoning mixture of sesame seeds, nettle seed and nettle herb plus kelp and Celtic salt. Tasty! Roast 1/2 cup sesame seed in a frying pan to your liking. Cool. To a blender add cooled sesame seeds, 2/3 cup of nettle seed, 2 tablespoons dried nettle herb, 2 tablespoons kelp granules and 1/2 teaspoon Celtic salt. Blend till fine. Store in a glass jar. Goes great with a wide variety of foods. My morning toast is sprouted grain bread with a dribble of olive oil topped with this mixture and nutritional yeast. Yum!

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Posted on February 20, 2014

Raab & White Bean Soup

Eliza, produce manager of our farm store, shows off a bunch of tender cabbage raab, perfect for this soup.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
3/4 cup diced carrot
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cup veggie or chicken broth
2 cup water
1 cup white wine
3 potatoes, diced
1 turnip or parsnip, peeled and diced
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh sage, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 16-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 cup finely chopped raab
1 small red chili pepper, seeded and chopped
Ground black pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat; cook and stir in the onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the carrot and garlic and cook 5 minutes more.

Pour in the broth, water & wine; stir in the potatoes and parsnip, rosemary, sage and thyme. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add the beans, raab, chili pepper and black pepper and simmer, covered for 30 minutes more.

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Posted on February 19, 2014

Winter Salad

Triticale berries add a nutty flavor and chewy texture to this salad.

1 cup cooked triticale berries
1 cup cranberries
1 cup kale, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts
Handful of Italian parsley
Balsamic vinegar
Butter or oil

Soak the triticale overnight, then cook it as you would rice. Sauté the onion and carrots in oil. Add kale and cook until dark. Toss sautéed veggies in remaining ingredients. Season with salt, pepper and vinegar.

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Posted on February 18, 2014

Carrot Soufflé

Sweet Nash’s carrots — now in soufflé form!

1 pound carrots, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
3 tablespoons Nash’s soft white flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup organic turbinado sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 F and lightly grease a 2-quart casserole dish. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the carrots. Cook until tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain and mash. Stir in butter, vanilla, and eggs. Mix well. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar and stir it into the carrot mixture. Blend until smooth. Transfer into the casserole and bake for 45 minutes. Serve immediately.

We thank allrecipes.com for this recipe.

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Posted on January 2, 2014