Welcome back to the CSA Chronicles! This week we received:
Our farmer says: “For those of you unfamiliar with chard, it’s a great cooking green that is related to both beets and spinach. It is ideal for ‘the magic recipe’: chop coarsely and cook it in a pan with some garlic and a little olive oil. The colorful stems are great; cut them in half inch pieces and add them to the pan a little before you add the leaves as they need a couple more minutes to cook. If straight up greens aren’t your thing, try it with chicken, rice, your seasonings of choice and cheese if you are so inclined.”
Our farmer says: “While the cucumbers in the field have just barely germinated, the cucumbers in the greenhouse are already producing great ‘burpless,’ low seed cucumbers.”
Our farmer says: “No one is allowed to frown at the word “turnip” – these are mild, tender, sweet little roots. They are best eaten raw but can be cooked too, just don’t cook them too much as they are more delicate than the traditional turnip.”
What we cooked:
Dave made a stir fry using the chard and some of the scallions, plus tofu.
We ate it with rice and it was very yummy!
Dave and I both are not huge fans of cucumbers. This recipe has been my go to cucumber use recipe since we started the CSA. It is very easy – the hardest part being that you are supposed to marinate the salad overnight. This time I made it Friday morning and we ate it with dinner on Friday night, which worked out fine. I got this recipe from a cookbook published by the school that my nieces and nephews went to in New Jersey.
Ingredients:
2 Cucumbers (Kirby or Persian), sliced
1 white onion, sliced
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste
dry dill to tastte
Directions:
Combine cucumbers and onion. Mix together mayonnaise, sugar, salt, pepper, and dill. Pour over vegetables and let marinate overnight.
Finally, I used the lettuce, turnips, and remaining scallions to make a salad. I had never eaten raw turnips before, but found that they taste similar to radishes. I made Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing for the salad using 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil, a tsp of Dijon mustard, and a tsp of garlic powder.
Have you ever eaten a raw turnip? Do you enjoy cucumbers?