7/3/24
Produce Notes & Recipes!
This Week’s Box
Cegolaine Romaine x2
Tokyo Bekana (Classic) OR Baby Bok Choi (Family)
Kale: Red Russian (SR) OR Rainbow (WC)
Bulb Fennel
Cabbage
Summer Squash
Mixed/Santa Rosa Plums
Families: Scallions + Cucumber
We’re hoping if you need a chilling salad for Independence Day, or just to make it through these hot days, today’s Cabbage is just what you need. Two weeks ago we also had Bulb Fennel and Cabbage, there is a recipe for a slaw including them both in that newsletter.
Today we have either Baby Bok Choi or Tokyo Bekana for you. Both are a little holey from flea beetles but it’s simply cosmetic. Tokyo Bekana is an Asian green in the cabbage family, we consider it to be between Napa Cabbage and Panisse lettuce. You can absolutely sauté it up or cook like Bok Choi, but it works well as a salad too. I like it with a sesame oil dressing like this…
Tokyo Bekana Dressing
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 ½ Tbs honey (or maple syrup)
3 Tbs sesame oil
1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce
1 -2 cloves garlic
It’s BBQ season, and this week we have some specifically large Summer Squash for you! Generally we aim to keep the squash at under 8 inches with a few of the very big ones for trade boxes but with this heat and now two successions in production, it cranked output into another dimension. Although small squash are great for salads, raw crudité and sautés, larger ones have their own uses. We enjoy larger squash spiralized, stuffed, turned into breads, oven roasted but BBQ is our favorite.
Grilling Summer Squash Ideas
Slice them lengthwise or into ovals (going diagonally), but keep in mind if you have them too small they will easily fall between the grate. They should be at least 1/4-1/2 inch in thickness.
Marinade them with olive oil and salt and maybe an acid, we like lemon juice. You can also add herbs, fresh parsley, garlic salt, oregano, Italian seasoning per your taste at least 15 min, but up to several hours.
Oil the grill and keep brushing olive oil on them. This keeps them moist.
Grill with direct medium temperature. If you’ve sliced 1/4 thick it should only take about 3 minutes per side. If you’ve sliced thicker it will take double that. Keep checking but turn only once and keep brushing with oil. We like the quite soft.
Often we love adding a little Balsamic vinegar or other fresh herbs drizzled over the roasted squash.
If we’re grilling proteins and cannot do together with squash at the same time due to space, we do the squash first, it holds well either at room temp or in a warm oven.
Note 6/26/24 newsletter has recipe for Grilled Summer Squash with Capers and Basil.
Zucchini + Kale Lemon Pepper Pasta (Grey Arrow Farm)
1 zucchini, thinly sliced into ribbons using a mandolin or vegetable peeler
2 cups kale, chopped, stems removed
1/2 cup olive oil
1 shallot, diced small
2 tbsp capers, plus extra liquid
Zest and juice from one lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp chili flakes
Lots of fresh cracked pepper
Salt to taste
Cook pasta according to directions. Reserve cooking water to bind the sauce.
In a large pan, over medium heat, add oil and sauté shallots for 1-2 min until soft. Add capers, lemon juice, lemon zest and garlic. Sauté for another 1 min. Cook down kale and zucchini until tender (~5 min) with a lid on. If your cooking liquid has reduced significantly, add ½ cup of pasta water as you cook the vegetables.
Add the cooked pasta to the pan, season with salt, pepper and chili flakes, combine until the pasta is evenly coated. Add addition pasta water, if needed. You should have enough sauce to coat the pasta, not drown it.
We have a few Plums in your box today. The majority of these are Santa Rosa Plums, one of Luther Burbank’s local favorite hybrids. There are a few mixed plums from some of our other trees. The majority are a little under ripe but we wanted to get off the tree yesterday early before the heat. Santa Rosa Plums are dark, almost black when ripe, but don’t use that as your judgement, use feel. If they are slightly soft they’ll be ready. Most of these could use a day or three on your counter.