Spring 2013 CSA: Week 3

Lamb’s Quarters – Chenopodium album

by Susun Weed, c. 2009

 

I told the new apprentice we were having lamb’s quarters for dinner.

“I won’t have any. I’m a vegetarian,” she replied.

With a smile, I corrected myself. “Some people call it fat hen.”

“I don’t eat chicken either,” she responded with a frown.

“It’s also called goosefoot,” I countered, suppressing a grin.

“Not goose, not even the feet, do I eat,” she said with force.

And I agreed, “Pigweed is a more common name for it.”

“No matter what kind of animal it is, I am NOT going to eat it,” she stated firmly, her eyes shining with fervor and unshed tears.

I confessed, now openly laughing. “It’s a weed. A plant. A cooked green!”

CSA Week 3: What is in the box?

• Kale: This is a spring favorite, but it will come to an end eventually as hot weather hits. Enjoy while you can. If you want a fresh adventure, try this chilled kale and apple soup. We haven’t tried it, but I bet this would be great with a dollop of sour cream and a sprig of fresh mint…
• Spinach: Say farewell to our little friend. This looks like the end of the spinach. Luckly, her wild cousin has made an appearance–see lamb’s quarters below!
• Lamb’s Quarters: Goosefoot, fat hen, whatever you call it–this is a delicious spinach cousin; use it where you would use any other green. Like spinach, be sure you rinse it well, since it tends to accumulate garden dust. If you dig around the Interwebs, you can find lots of ideas–but here is a starting point. In Mexico, Lamb’s Quarters is known as quelites (as are some other greens). Let us know what you think–we have a TON of this, but harvesting the small leaves is time consuming.
• Beets: Beet greens are delicious this time of year, when they’re large but still succulent. Wilt them with other greens in a stir fry or saute. Beets are one of our favorite vegetables. You can roast them and put them a salad–but sometimes I like to wash them and eat them raw.
• Arugula: Wham! That’s flavor. Arugula picks up spice as it gets closer to bolting, and ours definitely has a zing. It is a shame that tomatoes don’t really come in until summer, because arugula and tomato mix well. (Hint: try a BLT, but with lots of arugula instead of lettuce and with added avocado. Bacon, Arugula, Tomato, Mayo, Avocado, and a pinch of sea salt (NaCN). The BATMAN sandwich is born!)
• Green Onions: Do you notice a trend? Our baby onions are growing up. Yes, we still remember when these were just little sprouts. Before long, they will be all grown up.
• Spring Garlic: What else can we say about Garlic? This is one of our specialties, a favorite of the Farm. We put it in almost everything; use it like a green onion, or use it like garlic. One of our heroes, Alice Waters, has this recipe for green garlic spaghetti. Wow. Just… wow.
• Broccoli and Cauliflower Greens: We served these up last week, and they are back; the chard needs a break for a week, and the strange spring weather is not helping our broccoli to form heads. We had broccoli greens in a crustless quiche this morning, along with baby garlic and three cheeses, and it was amazing. This one is an original, not a link:

Crustless Quiche with ???

1/3 cup cooked quinoa
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup feta cheese
1/3 cup parmesan
1/3 cup cheddar
Salt and Pepper to taste

We added:
Chopped broccoli greens
3 chopped mushrooms
1 chopped baby garlic
Chopped spinach

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a glass pie pan. Mix all ingredients, pour into pan, bake for 45 minutes. We actually baked it for 30 minutes, then turned off the oven and came back to the house an hour later, and it was fine. This is a forgiving recipe–play with it!

• Lollo Rosa and Bibb Lettuce: “Looks like we’re having salad again…” WAIT! Not so fast! Sure, you can use these lettuces for a salad, but why not make something like these Vietnamese spicy shrimp wraps (you can do this with tofu, too)? Make the filling, put the lettuce on a plate, and let your family and/or guests fill each leaf on their own. Be sure not to forget the lime dipping sauce (see link above).

In other news…

So, a few months back we mentioned on the FaceBook that we might try to start selling coffee through the farm. Turns out, almost all of the coffee we can get is sold through one of the big coffee brokerages, and we really wanted to develop a relationship with a particular farmer, someone who had stories we could share about specific people and specific coffee. We don’t have a deal yet, but we may have a lead! We met someone who sells coffee from a farm in Honduras. As of now this is just a teaser, but we will let you know how things go!