Week Six; July 9, 2008

In this week’s share:

Bunch of Broccoli
1 head of green cabbage
4 zucchini
bunch of medium-sized beets
Swiss chard
½ pound salad mix
1 head of Romaine
1 bulb of fresh garlic


Cooking notes:
I highly recommend making use of the beet greens. They’re flavorful and also really good for you. For weeknight purposes, I usually sauté them over medium-high heat in extra-virgin olive oil until well wilted. Either way they go great with garlic and balsamic vinegar and goat or blue cheese.

Storage notes:
Fresh garlic can either be stored in the refrigerator or on the countertop. On the countertop, the exterior layer on the bulb will begin to dry some. So you may need to peel that away. The garlic has not been cured, so it’s still more sweet and delicate in flavor than after it’s been hung to dry for a few weeks. Use as much of the garlic as is tender, not just the formed cloves. The outer and inner skin layers of the bulb and up the green stalk, provided it is yields to a knife. You'll likely know when it's getting too tough. It’s pretty amazing stuff.

If you have a salad spinner, wash and spin your salad mix and then store in there. It holds for up to a week that way. The spinner also protects the delicate lettuce leaves from getting squashed in the fridge.

Beet greens hold well if cut from the beets and stored in a ziplock bag with a damp paper towel. You can also store the beets right in there. That’s also a good way to hold lettuce. Wash and spin the leaves first. Swiss chard holds well this way too.