Here we are, at the start of the season! The harvest was great. Everything has grown so fast with the warm weather and all the rain. In your share this week you will find lettuce, green onions, radishes, Chinese (Napa) cabbage, cauliflower, and spinach. Most of you got sugar snap peas and the rest broccoli. There will be more of both, I keep track of who gets what so no one misses out. There just wasn’t enough of those two things for everyone this week.
The Chinese cabbage can be eaten raw or cooked. Try it in a stir-fry or in a coleslaw. Below is a recipe for Asian Cabbage Salad. To prepare the cabbage, cut in half and then in quarters and trim out the core. If you are going to cook it, cut the leafy part away from the rib. Slice the ribs and then the leaves. Add the ribs first as they take longer to cook.
Or it can be sliced thin or shredded if used raw. These heads of cabbage are large enough that you could cook half and use the other half for coleslaw or mixed with the other greens for a salad!
The sugar snap peas can also be eaten raw or lightly cooked. Snap off the top and pull down to remove the string. They are meant to be eaten pod and all, not shelled, and are very sweet. To cook them, put the pods in boiling, lightly salted water for about 1 ½ - 2 minutes, and then, to stop the cooking process, blanch them immediately by immersing them briefly in ice water. You can then chill the peas for serving in a salad, or you can cook the boiled peas further by sautéing them in butter or oil.
Asian Cabbage Salad
2 ½ cups chopped cabbage
1 medium carrot, or 2 small carrots, grated
Dressing:
2 Tblsp each olive oil and rice vinegar
1-2 Tblsp soy sauce
1 tsp honey (optional)
½-1 tsp grated fresh ginger root
Whisk together the dressing and add to the
cabbage and carrots. Marinate at room
temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
Season with salt and pepper to taste if needed.
Optionally garnish with chopped peanuts.
One of my favorite recipe sources is from the New York Times. It is a weekly series by Martha Rose Shulman called Recipes For Health. Below is a link.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/series/recipes_for_health/index.html?ref=nutrition I will be linking to her recipes a lot this season.
Please try to remember to return your boxes next week. Each of you have two boxes: return the empty and pick up a full one.
I hope you enjoy the bounty of the garden. It sure is looking great this year and I am pleased to be able to provide fresh, organic produce for all of you this year.
Debbie Fox
White House Gardens CSA
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