Week 4 is upon us....
And it is the last Spring share, with Summer officially beginning this weekend....even though it has felt like Summer for weeks now. Appropriate, though that we will have lots of Spring veggies in the share this week...and some of them may not be back for a little while as the Summer stuff is coming on fast. Our fresh onions, zucchini, cauliflower, and potatoes are all right around the corner and should be appearing in the share over the next few weeks. Other crops like cucumbers, celery, green beans, and cherry tomatoes look like they will be earlier than usual and should be arriving throughout July. Here's what's in this week's share:
Fava beans- Called broad beans in England, favas are a wonderful Spring vegetable that loves the climate here in the Pacific Northwest. They might take a little work to enjoy, but they're well worth it. There are several ways to prepare them, listed here from the easiest to most laborious:
1. When the favas are young and tender (as they are right now) you can actually eat the whole pod. Just cut off the ends, toss them in salt and olive oil, and cook them on the grill for a few minutes on each side until they are tender and a little bit crispy on the outside. It's like a giant green bean.
2. A more typical way to do it is to shell the beans and discard the pods. It is actually pretty easy to do as the pods are soft and easy to open, and the beans inside are a pretty good size. You can steam or sauté the beans for a few minutes and they are ready to eat.....unless....
3. If you are a true gourmet, you can do the "double peel". After shelling the beans and steaming them for a minute or two, the outer skin around the bean slides off very easily. This outer shell has a slightly bitter, vegetable-y taste (that I actually enjoy, but some people don't). If you do the double peel, you end up with a pretty small amount of a truly sweet and delicious lime green inner bean.
Good luck and have fun!
Here is some how-to from Martha, who apparently isn't familiar with method #1:
http://www.marthastewart.com/975835/fava-bean-recipes/@center/1009726/spring-produce
Carrots- The carrots are really great right now. I hope you enjoyed the bunch last week and are ready for some more...
Napa cabbage- This beautiful vegetable is very popular in Asian cooking but not known very well here in the U.S. It has a nice crisp texture and mild flavor, not too unlike Bok choi. It is used to make Kimchi in Korea, a delicious sauerkraut-like dish. Here is a recipe that seems pretty simple and only requires a few days of waiting before you can enjoy:
http://www.chow.com/recipes/29505-basic-napa-cabbage-kimchi-kimchee
You can use the radish in your share in place of daikon radish. If you're looking for something simpler and/or quicker, here is a recipe for a stir fry:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/stir-fried-pork-with-napa-cabbage-232797
Radishes- These may be the nicest radishes we've grown yet. They are nice and big but still tasty. As mentioned above, you can use them with the Napa cabbage in a pickle, or in a stir fry. Or just throw them in a salad.
Pea vines- I have been wanting to put these in the share for several weeks, and I finally have a chance to do it! These tender tendrils can be eaten raw in a salad or appetizer, or lightly steamed or stir fried. I'd think about tossing them into the napa cabbage stir fry above. Here's a different stiry fry recipe, sorry about the obnoxious advertisement:
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/stir-fried-pea-shoots
Kale- We have a lot of kale right now.... it is growing like gang busters. Jack made some delicious kale last night by basically cooking it like Southern style collard greens with barbeque. Here's a recipe (just substitute kale for collards, and use fresh garlic):
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/southern-style-collard-greens
Lettuce- Probably a mix of lettuce types going into the shares this week...we are getting some deer in our field and they have managed to destroy some beautiful heads of lettuce! It is a real bummer. Our fields are mostly fenced, but not well enough to keep deer out. Usually we don't have a problem, but it seems like every year around this time an adventurous creature discovers the lettuce patch. We may be working on some haphazard fencing later today to try to keep them out. In the meantime, enjoy the beautiful lettuce that the deer haven't managed to destroy.
Fresh garlic- People have caught on to the garlic in the farm stand...I've been surprised how well it's selling. This week you'll get a large white softneck variety instead of the red hardneck from several weeks ago. Softnecks are said to have a sweeter, milder and less spicy flavor.
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