In the share this week:
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch sweet onions
1 head cabbage
1 head summer crisp lettuce
1 bag salad mix
1 bunch dill
1 bunch beets or 2 slicer cucumbers
Thoughts from Farmer Anna:
Yesterday was the first really humid day here on the farm. Luckily, the sun wasn't fully out for most of the day so it wasn't incredibly brutal. We did sweat quite a lot though! I've gotten used to working out in weather extremes and I have to say that really hot and humid is still slightly better than super cold. My fingers just lose all circulation and really start to hurt when we're working out in the cold. During super hot weather, we make sure to slow down, drink lots of water and have a good mix of easier tasks so that we don't get too worn down. These days our mix of work includes morning harvest, a bit of bed prep as we move tarps and get beds into their second round of crops for the season, some weeding and a little planting too. We've gotten some more good rain here on Sunday morning and overnight last night, so we'll definitely need to stay on top of the weeding for the next couple of weeks. Out in the field, we seeded more green beans and carrots yesterday and in the greenhouse we continue to seed lettuces every week and will now start seeding several crops for the fall season.
We were so excited to harvest the first carrots of the year yesterday. Carrots are definitely one of my favorite crops and are just so beautiful once they are washed up. This first planting didn't germinate super well, but the carrots we're pulling out of these beds look fantastic. Fresh, garden carrots are such a treat - you can really taste the difference between these and the grocery store variety. Cabbage and sweet onions are on again this week and some of you will be getting a new pointy head variety of cabbage. You can prepare and eat this pointy variety just like a regular head of cabbage, but the leaves are a bit bigger, so they could work better to use as a wrap if that is something you like to do with cabbage leaves. You'll be getting both salad mix and a head of our most popular summer lettuce this week. Hopefully you aren't getting tired of salads! Steve and I can almost finish a bag of salad mix in one sitting when we do big meal-sized salads. It's going to be hot this week, so salad seems pretty perfect! You can dress it up with some diced cucumber or roasted and diced beets. I love a salad with roasted beets, sweet onion, toasted pecans, feta cheese and vinaigrette dressing - yum! Dill is on for herb this week and it's probably the last we'll have the leafy version (we might keep the planting around for a bit to harvest flowers or seeds). If you want to preserve your dill, you could try drying it or freezing it. I prefer freezing most herbs because you retain more of the flavor. Dill can be frozen without cutting or processing at all. Just remove the rubber band from your bunch and spread the leaves out on a cookie sheet layered with wax paper and pop in the freezer. When the sprigs are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag. Next time you want fresh dill flavor, just break a bit off of your frozen stock!
Recipes from Maria:
Haluski (Fried Cabbage and Noodles)
Ingredients
2 ounces pancetta, diced small (or bacon if you prefer)
6 tablespoons butter, divided
2 cups onion, diced
1 ½ pounds green cabbage, cored and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces dry No Yolks egg noodles, any size noodle
Instructions
In a medium to large skillet, over medium high heat, cook pancetta in 2 tablespoons of butter until crisp. Add onions and sauté for 2 minutes. Add 2 more tablespoons butter, cabbage, salt and pepper, cover and once mixture is hot, reduce to medium and cook for ten minutes.
While cabbage mixture is cooking, cook No Yolks noodles according to package direction and drain.
Once cabbage is tender, remove cover and add drained noodles.
Add remaining butter and cook to bring to serving temperature.
Season with additional salt and pepper as desired. (Lots of black pepper is traditional!)
Fattoush Salad
Ingredients
For Crispy Pita Bites
1/4 cup olive oil
kosher salt to taste
For Dressing:
1 clove garlic minced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice about 1 lemon
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon sumac
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or more
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
For Salad:
1 head romaine lettuce torn into bite size pieces
1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
1 English cucumber halved and thinly sliced
1/2 medium red onion thinly sliced and separated in to 1/2 circles
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves torn into small pieces
1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cut pitas in half. Separate the top from the bottom and tear into bite size pieces. Transfer to a bowl and drizzle with olive oil; toss to coat. Spread on a baking sheet and season with kosher salt. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, tossing once, until crisp and golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to a bowl to keep from over browning. Set aside.
Meanwhile, make dressing. In a small bowl combine first 6 dressing ingredients (garlic through black pepper); whisk until combined and honey has dissolved. Add olive oil in a slow but steady stream, whisking constantly until emulsified. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss gently to combine.
Drizzle dressing over salad and gently toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle crispy pita bites over the top and serve.