This is week 23, out of 25 weeks! That means only 2 more weeks of farm shares after this Thursday. We are on the home stretch here, folks. That said, we still have some nice veggies to give out before the year is over. Hope you are all still enjoying cooking up your veggies.
Everything in your share this week should look a bit familiar....after some unusual veggies mixed in over the last few weeks, this week's share is not so esoteric. But we will have some more strange winter vegetables coming your way in the last few shares, so get ready! That said, I was actually trying to decide whether to put some dry dent corn in the share this week, which would be truly unusual....I ended up deciding that most folks probably wouldn't care for it too much. We grew a lot of dry corn for Vincent to make polenta at the Orchard Kitchen. It is similar to Indian corn and makes a pretty Fall decoration, or you can remove it from the cobs and grind it (maybe in a coffee grinder or food processor) into cornmeal. If you are interested, let me know and I'll try to get a few ears to you! Here's the share this week:
Kale- Although you can harvest kale 12 months out of the year here in the Pacific Northwest, this time of year is when I really get the hankering to eat it. Warm greens are so satisfying on a chilly night. Or this recipe with ramen noodles and kale! You can use the leek in place of scallion:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/ramen-noodles-with-kale-56389409
Carrots- We have so many carrots still in the field it's crazy! We will be giving you carrots for the next 3 weeks for sure. If you get overwhelmed with too many carrots (and don't want to make a pot of carrot soup), just put them in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer and they should last for many weeks....you could potentially have our carrots til Christmas!
Beets- Rather than a fancy beet recipe, I thought I'd just tell you my easy basic way of cooking beets....it is very similar to making oven cooked potatoes, but with beets. Just chop off the tops and the bottoms, then cut up the beet into half inch cubes. Put the beets on an oiled cookie sheet, sprinkle salt and pepper over the top, and roast them in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes. Always tasty!
Acorn Squash- As promised, the winter squash is back this week....and there will be a different kind in your share for each of the next three weeks. If you want to store your squash for later, don't put it in the fridge...just leave it out in a warm, dry spot in the kitchen and it should last for many weeks. Wow, I might have to make this recipe, it looks really good and would use up your kale, too:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/acorn-squash-with-kale-and-sausage-51203850
Brussels sprouts- There are a lot of Brussels sprout haters out there, I think mostly because the ones at the grocery store are usually so gross. Truly, home grown ones are a totally different beast than the sprouts you may have had in the past. Give them a chance and I bet you will love them!
I KNEW Martha would have some banging recipes for this occasion:
http://www.marthastewart.com/275510/brussels-sprout-recipes#642659
Peppers- Our last peppers of the years, not bad at the end of October. This warm October weather has definitely helped the peppers keep producing...and they are still going strong, but with the days getting shorter and cooler they are just ripening so slowly now that I can't imagine we will have any more after this pick.
Leeks- More leeks in your share this week, I hope you are enjoying them and getting the hang of cooking with them. As suggested above, use them in place of scallions (or onions), or check out Martha's recipes and tips on how to use them:
http://www.marthastewart.com/274312/leek-recipes
Lettuce- It is time to enjoy your last lettuce salad of the year...at least with Ebb Tide lettuce....they should still have it at the grocery store! This will be from our final lettuce planting of 2015, and while the heads didn't get super big, they are very pretty and should be very tasty.
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