Fresh Pico de Gallo Green Salsa With Green Zebra Tomatoes

Green Zebra Tomatoes

Another great thing about some CSA’s is that they are unfraid to try different heirloom variety tomatoes and this week was no exception, though the variety I am talking about is actually not a heirloom but easily misconstrued as one!  We got a ton of a rare variety called Green Zebra Tomatoes.

I was never a huge fan of tomatoes but I do like salsa.  So instead of the traditional red salsa I made a greener variety.

Ingredients:

• 4 Green Zebras seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 jalapeños seeded and finely chopped
• 1 tomatillo chopped
• 2 tbsp of green banana pepper chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp lime juice
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a non-metal bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.  Drain excess juice as desired.  Makes about 2 cups.

Final result:

Pass the totilla chips!

 

 

CSA Week 3 – Crustless Broccoli Quiche, Hot Radish Salad and A Quick Way To Decorate

Even with only 4 heads of lettuce from last week, we did not finish it.  And we have more!  The high 90’s heat nearly wiped out what was left of the strawberries but we still got some.  Technically you can only pick up your PYO share on your pick-up day; the CSA was so desperate to get the strawberries harvested that there was a call on the website to come on down and get your 6 quarts even though it was not your pick up day. The call was truly answered as we only got three quarts today. 

Distribution:

• 8 heads lettuce (Bibb, Oak Leaf, Leaf) ($15.92)
• 1.5 lbs spinach ($10.48 )
• 1 bunch collards ($1.60)
• 2 bok choy ($8.25)
• 1 bunch radishes ($1.29)
• 2 heads broccoli ($7.98  )
• 3 qt strawberries ($17.97)
• 1 pt snow peas ($4.99)
• 30 sweet william flowers (share called for 100)

 

Previous Week’s Overall Total: $90.05

Total Estimate For This Week: $68.48

Grand Total Value: $158.53

What I Did/Am Doing With This Produce:

I made a Crustless Broccoli Quiche from a recipe that my mother mailed me sometime back.  Even with an added 1/4 tsp of white pepper and a tsp of chopped garlic scapes it was on the bland side.  But hubby said he liked it and thought it a good idea to create other variations of it.  Also the 45 minutes the directions called for did not thoroughly cook the quiche and required more than an hour.  Next time I ante up to 375 degrees instead of the called for 350.

I also made a Hot Radish Salad.  By doing this I washed both the radishes and their leaves thoroughly. Then I separated the leaves and put aside.  The radishes were cut into quarters and steamed for about 15 minutes.  While this was happening, I sauteed the leaves in olive oil and a little sea salt.  When the steaming was finished I combined the two and seasoned with Slap Ya Mama cajun seasoning.

Final Result:

Dessert was a shameless pre-made cookie dough, but with super fast decorations. Here’s what I did:

I set the oven as directed.  And cut into 1/2 inch slices and then into quarter sized pieces.  In a small Pyrex bowl (any small bowl will do) I had mini chocolate chips and sprinkles.

 

I simply lightly pressed the cookie quarter into one of them and placed on my cookie sheet.  

Baked in oven as directed.  Voila!  No fuss, no muss! Pretty cookies as if store bought (so to speak).

 

CSA Week 2 – Chickpea & Kale Soup

I checked out the website and all it called for was only 4 head lettuce, small batch of arugula and 3 quarts of strawberries.  Boy was I in for a surprise and ever thankful to my hubby for getting me those wellies (OK, they are Gemplers) for my birthday. The mud in the PYO fields was near shin deep in some areas

Distribution:

• 4 heads lettuce ($7.96)
• 1 bunch Kale ($2.49)
• 1 bunch Collards ($1.60)
• 1/2 lb Arugula ($7.95)
• 1.5 lbs Spinach ($8.95)
• 1 quart Snap Peas ($4.50)
• 5 quarts Chandler Strawberries ($29.95)
• 1 bunch Anise Hyssop (PYO)
• 1 bunch Catnip (PYO)
• 1 bunch Oregano (PYO) ($1.99)
• 1 sm. bunch sage (got the flowers as I grow my own) (PYO)
• 10 Sweet William Flowers (share called for 40, I don’t have a vase big enough)

 

Previous Week’s Overall Total: $24.66

Total Estimate For This Week: $65.39

Grand Total Value: $90.05

Wondering what it all looks like?

 

Average Size of Lettuce Head:

That’s a quart container BTW.

Yeah, the Chandler Strawberries Are Organic!

 

What I did/am doing with this produce:

We barely finished the strawberries from the previous week and the heavy downpour from the night before and bumpy ride back home dinged a number of berries.  2 quarts were cleaned quartered and stored in the freezer (maybe I’ll make berry xmas pudding this year).  I will be making my strawberry/feta salad again on Friday for the kids’ last day of school picnic, and will probably toss in some spinach. The collards were steam blanched and frozen. Made Chickpea and Kale soup for supper (recipe below). The leftover stems, which are normally discarded I made into a small side dish in cajun style (sans bacon or ham). Enjoyed a handful of snap peas.  Spinach will be frozen tomorrow.

Chickpea & Kale Soup

The original recipe can be found here if you prefer using real chorizo (there is a turkey variety out there, but I have not found it yet) and a food processor.  My version is altered slightly.

Ingredients: 

 

• 1 cup chopped onion (medium)
• 3 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 large or 2 small bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 potatoes cut into medium cubes with skins on
• 1/2 – 3/4lb kale, cut into this ribbons *
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth of vegetarian equivalent
• 2 cups water
• 1 14oz can garbanzo/chick peas drained and rinsed
• 1/2 lb hot italian turkey sausage, casings removed

 

In a large soup pot (4 – 6qt.) over medium high heat, combine oil, pepper, bay leaf, onions and garlic and saute for about 6 minutes. Add broth, water, potatoes, and kale and bring to slow boil and cook until potatoes are cooked through, about 15 – 20 minutes partially covered.  While this is cooking, remove the turkey meat from the casings and make into small 1/2 – 1 inch meatballs.  When potatoes are done, reduce heat to low and gradually add the meatballs, then add the garbanzo beans. Simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes.  Remove bay leaf and serve hot with optional hot sauce, salt and pepper for individual preferences.

Serves 6

* Curly kale (which I used here) can be a bit of a hassle to make ribbons.  I found that if I take each leaf removed from the stem and tightly roll into a ball.  Then I very thinly cut into ribbons.  Not always consistent as when one would roll kale in to a ‘cigar’, but has a nice rugged homemade texture about it.  Be careful when cutting into ribbons as your fingers are very close to the blade.  Make sure you know the proper technique when cutting ‘at close range’ before attempting this!  Otherwise use a food processor or chop coarsely.

Final Result:  

Also with my goal of letting nothing go to waste and finding it’s way to my compost, I steamed  the Kale and Collard stems for about 8 minutes.  I then diced, added about 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar, a little dab of butter and a dash of cajun seasoning, Slap Ya Mama!  Very politically incorrect name for a product, but the seasoning beats Old Bay any day!  

 

CSA Week 1 – Strawberry Feta Salad

I do not know how long I might be able to keep up such a feat, but I would like to emphasize the benefits of utilizing a CSA share (also known as Community Supported Agriculture).  I do not have the exact number but I think we paid about $600 (might be more like $700) for a family farm-pick-up share.  I will try my best to get the grocery store equivalent of each item and tally overall grand total value of produce.  Items that are missing an estimated price denote information n/a.

Officially the CSA started two weeks ago, but the strawberries in the PYO fields were not ready yet and only 6 heads of lettuce were being distributed.  Not really worth the near 90 minute r/t in gas.  So we started this week:

Distribution:

• 4 heads of Red Summer Crisp Lettuce ($6.38)
• 4 heads of Green Summer Crisp Lettuce ($6.38)
• 3 Quarts of Strawberries ($11.97)
• 1 sm bunch catnip (PYO)
• 1 sm bunch lemon balm (PYO)
• 1 sm bunch horehound (PYO)
• 1 sm bunch thyme (PYO)
• 1 sm bunch of winter savory (PYO)
• 12 stems Sweet William flowers (PYO)

Total Estimate For This Week: $24.66

What I did/am doing with this produce:

Being that we still have small children that turn their noses up at veggies, a good portion of the produce that cannot be frozen will go to nearby relatives. At least one quart strawberries is heading for the freezer.

I have been making the following salad over the last couple of days:

Strawberry Feta Salad

• 1 Head Lettuce cleaned & hand torn to bite sized pieces
• 1 pint of strawberries, sliced into 6 – 8 wedges each
• 2 – 3 oz garlic/herb feta cheese (plain feta will do) and well crumbled.

Simply combine all ingredients into very large bowl and toss well.  Dressing options are: 1 – 3 tablespoons plain basalmic vinegar, 1 – 2 tablespoons of vinegar/oil dressing, or (personalfavorite) forego dressing altogether and enjoy each ingredient individually.

Rising Cost of Food & How To Go Local

My day job has been on major slow-down for the past few weeks and we are paying dearly for the big birthday bash that my hubby was so gracious in letting me put on for myself (he is off the hook for the next 35 years). After gas prices hit $3.35 for regular and one of us has to commute two hours a day we are really starting to feel the pinch. My nerves really started to go on edge when I read this blog post and this article to know that I am not alone.

What does this have to do with food? A lot, really. Food that is imported from other states and countries need fuel for transportation. At the time of this writing, oil is at $117 per barrel!

We are now more determined than ever to make sure the NOTHING will go to waste regarding our CSA produce, and gradually start converting as much as possible to a regional/seasonal diet. I found a very good web page that gives tips this very subject. Mind you, the web page is mainly directed at Northeasterners, such as myself. I also know that going to a more vegan-based vegetarian diet (and we are what is commonly called a semi-vegetarian, meaning we eat fish & fowl) might help with food bill, albeit a very small portion. Good thing we are not allergic to soy and nuts.

Over the next few months I will do my best in posting tips and sites that I find to help stretch your hard-earned dollar bill and ways that will avoid as much food as possible to going to the compost. Here’s a couple of tips off the top of my head that I do or should do.

Tip #1: Start A Veggie Garden
Your veggie garden does not require acres of land. In fact you might be surprised to know that my garden is only 4×4 feet using a method called Square Foot Gardening. I am not as active with the gardening as much as I’m used to since I have been using the CSA, but this can be geared to most people, even those who have no experience in gardening! Before joining the CSA I would have veggies (with the help of a 73 green house over the garden) from April going into November. If you live in an apartment with a balcony, use large pots, plant a tomato plant and add stagger over a week or two a couple of lettuce seeds around the tomato plant and it will love the shade! Instant salad. If you have absolutely no space, find a community garden. You meet some great people and exchange gardening tips and if you must, share your bounty with others.

Tip #2: Buy In Bulk
I do not do this often enough, but right off the top of my head, I would buy my poultry when it goes on sale in minimum batches of 3lb trays and divide them up into 1lb sections and freeze. It is also suggested to also buy flour, sugar, nuts, dried fruits, chocolate chips, and coffee in bulk as well and keep in air tight containers (not zip lock bags as they do not keep fresh and possibly subject to critters).

Tip #3: Save the skin & bones
Want to make some amazing broth and stock? Get out your slow cooker, add your left over skin/bones/meat from your chicken or turkey (never tried beef but can’t hurt, I’m sure) and fill with water. Using a cheese cloth, wrap some fresh thyme, rosemary, 1/4 of an onion, and parsley. Tie together and add to pot. Cook overnight on low. Next morning remove carcass, bones, and spice wrap and strain through a sieve. If you want to remove a goodly portion of fat, no kidding use a non-bleached #4 coffee filter in the sieve. When liquid cannot go through, it is too full of fat and replace with a new one until all the liquid is strained. Freeze in batches of 1 cup, pop out of container and freeze in zip lock bags. Pull out what you need in single cups.

Let’s hear from you regarding your best tips and sites!

CSA, Exactly What Is It?

Received a message on one of my professional forums that I subscribe to in which someone asked what is a CSA or Community Supported Agriculture. In general, I think I do relatively OK in explaining, but I found this lovely YouTube video from Food Network that explains it best.If you are interested in possibly joining a local CSA this year, you can check out Local Harvest to find one near you. 

A CSA In Harlem!

Wow!  My mother sent me this listing from Local Harvest of a CSA in Harlem, New York!  Park Slope CSA in Brooklyn  is also another CSA (this one I knew of its existence). 

In NYC it is quite common for CSAs to make deliveries (community gardens are not enough). But here is the kicker.  These CSAs accept food stamps!  I have never heard of such a thing and frankly, this option should be more widely available and publicized. If our all-wise-and-ever-know-it-all government would get on the bandwagon and encourage more CSAs to do the same we just might start a wonderful chain reaction of getting more support for local farmers,  farms that want to go organic, educate the public (in all socio-economic classes) about healthier food choices, a decline in the obesity rate, decline in hypertension and diabetes…I think you get the idea…

Missing Da Beets & Our 2008 CSA Decision

Just thought I would post the below picture to remind myself of how much I am going to miss the beets in my CSA for the rest of the winter. These are three differnt kind of beets, Choigga (sp), Detroit Red, and one light orange I cannot identify yet. What a colorful mixture they make.

We sent in our registration for the 2008 CSA season, a whopping $604, $25 more than last year. But that is still pretty good for our area as the average cost is about $750+. We decided that we will drive the extra 15 minutes each way to go to the farm. We will get a larger share of produce (which we share with family). And pick up will be during mid-week as for the last two years we have not been able to go away for weekend trips as the original boxed share pick up landed on a Sunday.

It’s Gonna Be A Long Night!

I just returned from my final trip to the CSA for the year. At the end of the season they have what is called the annual ‘pig out’ in which members essentially take whatever was leftover at the farm. We were allocated 50 lbs of whatever produce we wanted. Only minor catch was that we need to come up with 15% of the total weight in either broccoli, cauliflower, collards or kale. The 15% will go to the local food bank just in time for Thanksgiving! A wonderful way to give back to the community.

I was only to make our way to broccoli on the food bank list so we had a whole bucket full of large heads for charity. I was more than happy to take the side shoots, less work on my part for steaming. I found out that they had purple cauliflower when I dropped off our donation. I was heart broken, my mother makes the meanest purple cream of cauliflower soup. I ran out of time as the twins were on the verge of having a meltdown from lack of nap.

Nevertheless, we were blessed to come up with the following veggies for our freezer this winter:

• Beets (3 kinds)
• Turnips
• Kholrabi
• Radishes (2 kinds)
• Broccoli (lots of it!)
• Celeriac and Cooking Celery
• Daikon (including a near 2-footer!)

Much of the celery stalks were damaged from the frost, but was able to salvage a fair amount for cooking purposes only. Celeriac has been sliced and steam blanched. I froze them in small batches to use as needed. I already saved a hassle for Thanksgiving vegetable side dish with the broccoli and the rest is going in the deep freeze.

Tomorrow I will tackle the beets as it is going to be a very messy affair. Old grubby clothes will be my fashion statement. The turnips and radishes I will do last.

Regarding my previous dillema as to what to do about next season it is still up in the air. We timed the driving at best to be bit over 45 minutes, fifteen minutes longer than our usual boxed share pick up.

Decisions decisions…

Scalloped Potatoes With Celeriac

The last two weeks of our CSA boxed delivery and we get for the first time celeriac or better known as celery root. I have always seen them in the grocery store but never knew what to do with it so I never bothered to try them until now. It was suggested to try to make scalloped potatoes with added celeriac, so I gave it a shot. I initially used this recipe, as a base since I never made scalloped potatoes from scratch, but made some adjustments which is marked with an asterisk (*). Still needs work as you will see in my notes below, but it is a great start and will try again.

Ingredients:

3 tbs butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp dried minced garlic*
1/8 tsp dried thyme*
2 cups chicken broth or vegetarian equivalent
1 1/2 cups grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 lb boiling potatoes*
1 lb celeriac root peeled*
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs*
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a heavy saucepan, melt butter over moderately low heat and whisk in flour to make a roux for about 2 – 3 minutes. Whisk in broth and bring to a boil. Whisk in garlic and thyme and simmer for about 2 more minutes, then whisk again until thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in cheese and any salt and pepper you wish to add, until cheese is fully melted.

Peel potatoes (optional) and celeriac (a must) and slice to about 1/8 inch thick. In a 2-quart shallow baking dish, butter or spray cooking oil and make a layer of potatoes and sauce, celeriac and sauce, and repeat until you have between 4 – 5 layers. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top and bake uncovered in the oven for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender.

Overall Impressions

Not sure if it was my oven, but 1 hour does not cut it, more like an hour and thirty minutes. The celeriac took longer to soften. Will try raising the temp to 375 and see if that helps. Also even with the extra sharp cheddar and added spices I found it somewhat bland. Will go for fresh minced garlic next time and add more thyme and a stronger cheese like parmesean or a vecchio asiago d’Allevo.

One thing I found with peeling celeriac is that like apples, it browns quickly. So I would recommend preparing at the last possible moment. But the flavor should not diminish.