CSA Share Week 15

Tuesday's drizzly day brought (still) much-needed rain and, hooray, mud puddles!

A change of clothes were in order, twice, as we packed this week’s share. Hauling boxes in the rain from the packing shed to the farm’s truck for city-bound shares (plus getting soaked from all the water those lettuce leaves tend to trap), we were uncomfortably, wonderfully wet.

It drizzled and rained almost all of Tuesday.

Here, a sodden day was still very much needed.

The leaves have begun to change, and there’s a peaceful stillness to the air that we associate here with fall. To not let this time go unnoticed, we pulled the kids outside Tuesday before dinner to walk around one of the fields while it was just drizzling. They were so excited to discover the first of a series of mud puddles. You’d think they hadn’t seen a mud puddle in months. Oh, right… they haven’t.

In this week’s share:

1 bunch braising greens

1 bunch radish

1 head Romaine lettuce

1 bunch green onions

1 bunch fresh dill

1 head red leaf lettuce

2 red bell peppers

1 jalapeño

Plum or “sauce” tomatoes

What are “braising greens”? This week's bunched “braising greens” are a mix of kale, tatsoi, green and red mustard, and hon tsai tsai. This is something we grow in the fall only, since these are cool-weather loving greens. Some of our regular farmers' market customers have caught onto this schedule and have been stopping by our stand to ask if these greens have arrived yet. Our CSA members get to be the first to enjoy them.

These greens would make a nutritious, spicy stir-fry with this week's onions and some garlic and red bell pepper or pencil-thin strips of carrots, if you have any left over in your fridge from last week’s share. At the farm, we often wilt them briefly in hot olive oil, stir in minced garlic and eat as a side along something like crusty bread. We may just do that tonight with some scrambled eggs seeing as we're pressed for time here. White or garbanzo beans and chopped roasted red bell pepper would also temper the spicy kick of these greens.

We have dill! This week’s fresh dill would go great in a creamy, homemade salad dressing served with either of this week's lettuces and the radish. Or if you're looking for a new idea with radish try sautéing it and adding dill for flavor.

Dill is also a natural with salmon or in a chicken soup.

Fruit share:
About 3 pounds mixed apples (Gala, Fuji and Ginger Golds) or Macoun apples

Reminder to those with a chicken share: this is a chicken week.

Other recipes to consider with your share:

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Crostini 

Tomato tip: Leave tomatoes on the countertop to ripen to a rich red color before using. This week's plum tomatoes are traditionally used for making Italian tomato sauce.