May 22, 2016
Green, greens, and more greens!
By Linda Dansbury

The first few harvests are always predominantly greens - they take much less time to mature and tolerate and actually prefer cooler temperatures than vegetables such as eggplant, peppers and tomatoes. If you didn't read last week's newsletter and this is your first pick up week, go back and read it for tips on how to store and enjoy the pea shoots. Use this site as a resource for ideas and recipes. When you pull up this website, click on Member's Page. Across the top there will be several tabs. Click on Search. A pull down bar will be there - click on it and select Recipes. Type in the veggie you want and hit return and a list of recipes will appear. We hope this helps.

Greens that come from the farm this time of year are delicate and delicious. Below is a summary of what can be done with some of the greens we are receiving so far. When making salads, mix the greens together for wonderful taste combinations.

Arugula - will keep for about of week in the fridge. Delicious in salads, either on its own simply dressed with good quality olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Arugula is also considered an herb in the culinary world. Its peppery taste is great to pep up things such as pasta salad - just chop up the arugula and add to the pasta salad. If you want to use it in a hot dish, it is best just wilted such as when making pasta. Right after draining the pasta, add chopped arugula and let it wilt into the hot pasta. Finally, it makes amazing pesto - recipe on this site!

Kale - will keep for up to 2 weeks stored in a plastic bag in the fridge. A lot of people juice and smoothie their kale (and other greens), but if that's all you do with it you are missing out. Kale makes wonderful salads, especially Caesar. Remove the tough stems, stack the leaves, roll them up and slice thin. When you have the kale all sliced, place in a bowl and message the leaves - they will turn soft and almost satin-like in texture. Then dress with your favorite dressing - I used to make Caesar dressing, but found a bottled one that is delicious and healthy - it is OPA Caesar and is found with other brands of refrigerated dressings. Kale can be cooked in countless recipes - search this site for them. Baby kale can be simply wilted in stir fries, soups, stews or even added to salads and eaten raw.

Chard - will store for up to 2 weeks in a plastic bag in fridge. When the stems are removed the leaves can be used in virtually any cooked recipe that calls for spinach. On this site there are recipes that include chard and other greens for pasta with greens, soups, salads and more. Check them out to try them or inspire you.