Farm share, week 4

[magid]

• two medium heads of green cabbage
  
• six summer squashes of various sizes and types (I chose a mix, including two-tone summer squash, golden zucchini, cousa, and more; I still have some from last week)
  
• four pickling cucumbers (I chose small ones)
  
• eight heads of uncured garlic (smaller than last week's ones)
  
• eight scallions
  
• two bunches of herbs* (tarragon/oregano/thyme/sage; I swapped for two bunches of only-in-the-swap-box broccolini)
  
• two pounds of beets
  
• a bunch of dandelion greens
  
• one and a half pounds of salad mix (I still have some from last week, so swapped it all for more beets)
  
• two big bunches of greens (green curly kale/collards/Swiss chard; I chose one collards, and swapped the other for yet more beets, since I still have collards and kale from previous weeks

* I love the idea of fresh herbs, but most of the time don't manage to use/dry the big bunches that come in the farm share (all those little fiddly leaves to get off the stems), so I often swap them (also, I have some herbs growing on my porch). If it had been parsley, which is what the weekly email forecasted, that I'm all over.

First thoughts: roasted beets. beet pickles. beet-cabbage relish with garlic and horseradish. some kind of cole slaw (possibly dressed with mayo/mustard, possibly with soy sauce/sesame oil + scallions and nuts). sauteed dandelion greens with garlic, maybe with mushrooms, or over mashed potatoes. cucumber salad. roasted squash. squash-fennel relish with garlic and lemon. sauted broccolini with garlic and lemon.

Comments

[gingicat]

Sounds delicious!

[magid]

I hope it will be! Right now, I'm just tired & footsore.

[minoanmiss]

Ooo coleslaw with sesame oil, ssoy sauce, and nuts sounds deeply intriguing.

[magid]

I think the 'right' nuts for this would be peanut or cashew or possibly slivered almonds. Also needs some kind of acidic note, whether that's rice vinegar, ume vinegar, or lime juice (lemon seems not quite right for this combination).

[minoanmiss]

I vote ume vinegar. I think the fruity note would enhance things.

[cellio]

I love the idea of fresh herbs, but most of the time don't manage to use/dry the big bunches that come in the farm share (all those little fiddly leaves to get off the stems)

When drying them, do you remove the leaves first and then dry, or leave them on the stems? I do the latter; I find it's much easier to separate the dried herbs from the stems (without getting stray stem in my herbs).

I have no idea how one is supposed to extract the leaves from fresh thyme. Fiddly!

[magid]

I don't manage to dry them: I put them in the fridge with good intentions, forget about them, and then they're past their best-by date by the time I remember to use them :-(.

Someone at the distribution site today mentioned having a kitchen tool of some sort to put the little leaves off the stems; not sure what it's called, though.