We are excited to be adding a Tuesday boxed share delivery route this year with six new drop off locations in the Syracuse area! We will be delivering to Green Planet Grocery, Real Food Co-op, and Balanced Life Chiropractic in Syracuse; Circa Restaurant in
Cazenovia, The Big Picture School in Lafayette, and Baltimore Woods Nature Center in Marcellus. We are thrilled to have such accommodating hosts at each of these new sites, and we can’t wait until June when deliveries start!
Fresh bunches of greens are one of the most delicious parts of a CSA share as long as you know how to cook them! This post covers the basics of how to begin enjoying all those beautiful yet sometimes confusing vegetables we call “greens”.
All the greens you get from Early Morning Farm are washed after harvest but we recommend you wash them again before eating.
Greens can be washed by rinsing each leaf under running water or by filling a clean sink or a large bowl with water and dunking them in. Stubborn bits of dirt or small insects tend to hide in the curls of the leaves or on the stem near the lower part of the leaf so be sure to rinse and inspect each leaf thoroughly.
You can store washed and/or chopped greens in a container in the refrigerator for quick use throughout the week.
Greens such as Swiss chard, kale, collards, and mustard greens all have thick stems and center ribs, they are edible but take a little longer to cook than the leaf. I like to tear the leaf from the stem, cut or tear the leaves into bit sized pieces then chop the thinner part of the stem into small rounds or thin diagonal slices.
Bok choy, kohlrabi, escarole, and cabbages have different shapes but similar flavor profile to the previous group of greens so will be cut differently but can be cooked similarly.
One of the easiest and most versatile ways to cook greens is to saute them. If you have a large stainless steel saute pan use that- if not, use whatever large pan you feel comfortable with. Greens cook down A LOT so start with a large pan and more raw greens than you think you will need.
Begin by heating a fat, such as olive oil, on medium heat in the pan, add fresh minced garlic and saute a couple minutes until it is golden but not brown. As soon as the garlic is cooked to your liking, add the greens. If you are using any stem pieces, add them first, followed by the leafy pieces. Stems take a little longer to cook than leaves. With a pair of tongs, turn and move the greens as they cook and begin to wilt. The greens should contain enough water to saute properly without the addition of liquid but you could add about a quarter cup of water, if necessary. Keep moving and turning the greens until they are bright in color and tender enough to chew- about 3-5 minutes. Season with salt and they are ready to serve.
There are endless variations to sauteed greens- here are some of my favorites:
Instead of olive oil, fry a piece or two of bacon in a pan, remove the bacon when fully cooked then saute garlic and greens in bacon grease. I also like using butter or sesame oil.
When you add the garlic, you could also add onion, chopped tomato, diced red bell peppers, mushrooms, or any seasoning you like such as cumin or curry powder.
After adding the greens you could add a bit of blue cheese, grate some Parmesan on top, add toasted walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or pine nuts then, drizzle with soy sauce, vinegar, or a squeeze of lemon or tahini.
Try:
Olive oil, garlic, red bell pepper, greens, and balsamic.
Olive oil, tomato, greens, blue cheese, and toasted walnuts.
Sesame oil, garlic, ginger, greens, soy or lemon.
Sesame oil, garlic, ginger, greens, sunflowerseeds, and tahini.
Bacon grease, garlic, greens, cooked white beans or sausage.
Other easy ways to use your greens once they are washed and chopped:
Steam them. If you have a steamer pot or basket great, if not, you can also use a metal strainer in a pot. Just get an inch or two of water boiling in the pot with the greens suspended just above the water. Cover the pot with a lid and steam on medium heat for several minutes until the greens are vibrant and tender. When cooking this way- often all you need is a squeeze of lemon at the end.
Cook with pasta. Throw the washed and chopped greens into the boiling water with the pasta a couple minutes before the pasta is done, simply drain the pasta and greens all togher and top with your favorite sauce- quick and easy!
Toss washed and chopped greens into any soup- home made or store bought. Just add the greens to the soup and heat up on stove top or microwave as usual.
Add greens into scrambled eggs or make a frittata. I tend to start with vegetables like onion, pepper, cooked potatoes, tomato, and fresh herbs, then add greens, pour in eggs, top with cheese.
I hope these suggestions help you to get the most out of your Early Morning Farm CSA Share. If you have any tips for preparing, storing, or cooking greens, please share them in the comments section. We’ll look forward to hearing your ideas!
Not much time to write, but here are a couple craving-worthy winter squash recipes to try.
What do you do with your squash? Send to: audreyzelda@gmail.com.
A simple way to make ravioli, I discovered last Fall, is to buy lasagna sheets and score the edges. The raviolis come out big and plump:
Pumpkin Goat Cheese Ravioli with Cream Sauce
Prepare the Pumpkin:
(or any other winter squash…)
- Cut in half, scoop out seeds and stringy goop, and roast halves for 60-90 minutes.
- Scoop out soft meat, and puree in food processor.
- Try some. It’s so yummy.
- Save half to make muffins or quick bread or pie, because they’re all delicious.
Easy Ravioli:
- Find lasagna sheets
- Boil some water with a little olive oil and a dash of salt
- Whisk an egg with 2 tsp water
- Cut them to double the desired size of ravioli
- Plop some squash puree in the center of one half, and add a little mound of goat cheese of equal diameter on top
- Use a paper towel to wipe whisked egg stuff around half the edge
- Score the edges by poking lightly all around with a fork
- Press closed over the plop, and pinch all around
- Add to boiling water for 3-4 minutes in batches
Cream Sauce:
- Sautee chopped onion in a pot
- Add heavy cream and water, and simmer
- Add salt & pepper to taste
- Add a little corn starch, to desired thickness.
- Cut up some cheese (chedder, parmesan) and melt in. Stir.
- Pour over plates of ravioli, and eat with fresh bread and wine. Toast to your health and happiness.
Roasted Butternut Squash Chowder with Bacon and Apples
On Tuesday, one CSA member told me he loves to cook Mark Bittman recipes and mentioned his squash soups. Here’s one I found that sounds incredible! I’m going to try it.
Chili
- Gary, CSA member
Saute chopped onion, bell pepper, and hot pepper.
Optional: add meat (ground beef). Cook fully.
Add diced tomatoes and tomato sauce/puree.
Add diced garlic.
Add bean (black, chili, whatever).
Optional: 1 cup brown rice.
Add water to thin out.
Turn up heat, to high. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer all day long!
Season with cayenne, cumin, chili powder, etc. to taste.
Stew
- Bob, CSA member
In a crock pot in the morning:
Veggies. Of course. And beef if you like.
Beer or wine (a hearty stout or red wine).
Lots of herbs and spices, like rosemary and thyme (Bob has potted herbs in his kitchen).
Salt and pepper (if possible, Bob says use Himalayan pink salt! or good Kosher salt. Also, use ground white pepper, found in much Asian cooking).
In the evening:
Remove liquid in to a separate pot, and thicken with a roux of butter and flour.
Combine and enjoy!
Bob makes a big batch of roux to keep in the fridge for future use.
Potato Leek Soup
- Mitsy, CSA member
Mitsy uses Julia Child’s recipe, which of course calls for lots of butter. However, she says rice milk is a good dairy-free substitute!
Mediterranean Spinach Salad
- Jennie, CSA member
Caramelize onions (cook with spinach, or separately to use as topping).
Wilt spinach with salt and garlic.
Add chopped tomatoes at last minute.
Top with Greek yogurt and toasted pine nuts.
Make sure to have all ingredients ready. This dish is best eaten immediately!
Delicata Squash with Coconut Milk
- Audrey, me
Delicata is a great, easy winter squash because the skin is thin enough to eat. As a result, you can slice it as-is and bake it, fry it or add it to soups or casseroles.
Slice delicate into thin rounds.
Saute in oil.
Add minced garlic.
Add coconut milk (enough to thicken on squash) and simmer.
Add cumin and cilantro at last minute.
Serve over rice.
I could imagine raisins and nuts would be good in this, too.
Mashed Butternut Soup
- Audrey, me
Last night, we didn’t have a blender or a food processor, but the squash was in the oven, and soup was on the brain. A good old potato masher did the trick.
Bake scooped squash until soft with some oil at 350° or so. This can take over an hour. Save the seeds to roast, if desired.
Scoop out meat from skin.
Mash up, adding milk, coconut milk, cream, a little water, or a combination.
Add finely minced ginger and garlic.
Add cinnamon and nutmeg.
Add a little maple syrup.
Serve in bowls with shredded Schuyler Gouda (from Fingerlakes Farmstead Cheese in Mecklenberg, often at Saturday’s Ithaca Farmers’ Market) and nasturtium flowers!
Some people look to their library of cookbooks, some to their Rolodex of grandma’s weathered index cards. Some chefs just make it up as they go along, or find a basic recipe to build upon. Others chat up their coworkers at lunch, or fellow CSA members at market.
In the modern age, of course, there’s Internet the Know-It-All. You can check this blog to see what other CSA members are cooking. Type a craving into Google and you’ll be rewarded with a search-optimized plethora of options. CSA member Susan found a delicious beetroot chocolate cake this week by typing it in Google and choosing a recipe from the top of the page.
If I need inspiration, I’ll look at a few recipes found via Google, or ask a friend for ideas. From there I’ll usually wing it. This week I made my first molé sauce (below), served over roasted poblano peppers and a friend’s marinated venison, with sides of sautéed spinach and roasted rosemary potatoes. We looked over a few molé recipes before feeling ready to get to it in the kitchen.
The internet is also good for adaptations, like the spinach flan recipe below, as your ingredient options shift with the seasons.
Send culinary ideas, photos, and recipe collection methods to audrey@earlymorningfarm.com.
Peppers at market in late September. Photo by Ian Ratowsky.
Spinach Flan with Red Peppers
- Alice & Justin, CSA members
At market on Tuesday, Alice mentioned a delicious chard flan with salsa made by her husband Justin. Since spinach and peppers are the new chard and tomatoes, I did some Googling (having never made flan myself) and found a recipe from someone in India. Here it is, after converting from grams and milliliters to suit our American persuasion:
Pastry:
2/3 stick of butter
1-1/2 cups flour
salt
Filling:
1 lb. spinach
1 sweet red pepper
5 scallions
3 eggs
1-1/5 cups milk
salt
black pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Directions:
Molé Sauce with Roasted Poblanos
- Audrey Baker, yours truly
4 poblano peppers, halved with seeds scooped out
1 or 2 onions, diced
2 or 3 hot peppers (I used Hungarian hot wax and cayenne), minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 quart stewed tomatoes
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Oil
cinnamon
cardamon
cloves
Set the oven to 400°. Place scooped poblano halves upside-down in a casserole dish or a sheet pan, and drizzle with some oil. Bake until skins get wrinkly and a bit golden-brown.
Molé Sauce:
Fry onions in a layer of oil at medium-low heat. When translucent, add garlic.
Stir in cocoa powder.
Add stewed tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Add hot peppers and turn down heat to simmer for 10 minutes. While simmering, add spices.
Drizzle over… everything!
I used garam masala, cinnamon and cloves. Different molé recipes recommended others spices and herbs, such as dried cilantro. Google it!
Potato and Beet Chips
- Margaux, CSA member
Slice potatoes and beets into thin rounds.
Bake with salt and local acorn squash oil from Stony Brook in Geneva, NY (available at Ludgate Farms on Hanshaw Road in Ithaca).
Mizuna over Meat
- Joel, CSA member
Joel likes to wilt mizuna over meat, especially when the meat comes right off the grill. Another CSA member pointed out this would also be great with portobello mushrooms!
Stir-Fried Pepper and Eggplant
- John, CSA member
John fries many peppers at once with onions and herbs. Then, he salts slice eggplant to make it more absorbent, and adds it to the pan. Add any other flavors you like, such as soy sauce, and voila! A simple veggie stir-fry.
Green Bean-Potato Niçoise Salad
- John, CSA member
Cook green beans and potatoes. Toss with tuna fish, chopped hard-boiled eggs, and lettuce. For a local alternative to tuna, marinate some chicken and cut it in strips.
Blended Green-Stems Soup
- Mer, CSA member
Mer created this soup in order to use all the stems from the greens she uses for smoothies.
In your biggest pot, add enough water to boil your veggies for 30 minutes or so.
Add peppers, a tomato if you’ve got it, a hot pepper, garlic, and all the stems (plus the leaves if you like) from greens like spinach, dandelion, mizuna and swiss chard.
After cooking, blend together with almonds or cashews and as much water as you need.
You can eat it right away, plus add other chopped veggies to the leftovers for a chunky version.
Mer’s Tip: If you make something too spicy, freeze it in an ice cube tray to add to other dishes!
Borscht
- Erica, CSA member
This summer borscht calls for tomatoes. If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, pull out the ones you canned this summer, make a cold-season borscht with cabbage or potatoes, or Google other autumn borscht ideas!
Sauté 1 chopped onion in butter, until translucent.
Add:
- 4 cups stock (prefer homemade chicken or beef)
- 4 large beets, roasted and chopped
- Salt & pepper
Bring to a temperature just below a boil (but do not boil!)
Add red wine or white vinegar taste.
Chop in a large handful of dill and serve with sour cream and rye bread!
