Week 15
Hi everyone,
My, how the time flies! It's hard to believe we're already halfway through September, especially with the hot, sunny weather we've been having. It's been great to have this bonus summer extension. We've been harvesting potatoes, pulling onions, cutting broccoli and picking beans, and the sunshine and dryness is making it all a breeze.
We've got some nice vegetables for you this week. Some regular items, and a few new things, too.
In Your Bag:
Green Head Lettuce
Beet Greens
Edamame (aka Soy Beans)
Broccoli
Sweet Pepper
Ailsa Craig Sweet Onions (large, sweet, juicy onions- great for caramelizing!)
Yellow Potatoes
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
All sorts of goodness! The head lettuce isn't large, but it's very tender and buttery. It should make a nice salad or two. You can mix it with chopped beet greens if you want to expand it. But if you aren't going to eat it right away, I recommend adding a paper towel to the bag to soak up extra moisture. We can't spin the head lettuce, so we can't get it as dry as we'd like.
Edamame is the culinary term for soy beans. If you've ever eaten Japanese food, it's often served as an appetizer. It comes out whole-pod, steamed, crusted with salt. You pop the beans into your mouth, sort of sucking them out of the pod (you don't eat the pod). So that's one easy way to eat it. But it's also great using it in other dishes. You can steam or boil the pods, then shell the beans, and use them in place of lima beans or fava beans or any other type of shell bean, really. I'll include a recipe or two.
And my last note is that we've had somewhat of a bumper crop of onions this year. so we've been giving out a lot of them! Hopefully you are excited by that, and not overwhelmed by a giant pile of onions on your counter. But remember that onions are a storage crop, so they will keep in a bowl or a basket in a cool area (not right by a heater or sitting in bright sun) for quite a long time! So put some aside for another time when you need an onion or two. However, the ones we're giving you this week are not the best for long-term storage. They are particularly juicy and are best used up soon. One idea I had was to give you a recipe for French Onion Soup. The recipe I'm including calls for 2 pounds of onions, and that's exactly what you've received this week. But if soup's not your style, try slicing them up and caramelizing them. They will shrink down quite a bit, and you can use them on burgers, on pizza, on pasta, or on steak or chicken.
Happy cooking!
1) Tomatican
So this is a recipe that calls for Lima beans, but I much prefer it with shelled Edamame. I love this simple version of a Chilean stew-- I use a similar recipe from one of my Moosewood books, and it's a favorite at our house, especially right now when corn, tomatoes and edamame are all ripe at the same time! It is really delicious with fresh corn, fresh tomatoes and fresh edamame, though it works quite well with frozen or canned versions of those, too. If you need a speedy, tasty and healthy dinner, try this out!
Here's a link to a page with some basic info about preparing and eating edamame. If you boil and shell them, they are great as a salad topping.
Here's a nice looking recipe that calls for 2 pounds of yellow onions. We've got you covered!
This looks so refreshing! I love Cashews, and I think Broccoli pairs really well with nuts, in general.
5) Caramelizing Onions: How-To
Here's a tutorial from "Bon Appetit" on caramelizing onions. It's not rocket science, but it's handy to have all the tips!
Well, I hope this gives you some ideas for some tasty meals. Take care!
Sarah VanNorstrand
for Lucky Moon Farm
