It's easy being green

The farm crew spent Monday staking and trellising our rows and rows of rapid growing tomato plants: red tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, plus tomatillos and husk cherries. With good weather and good luck, we'll be enjoying this crop by the end of July!

Spinach rows bursting at the seams in front, newly staked tomatoes in the background.
photo: Sophie Shillue

More hoeing and planting projects are scheduled for the rest of the week, in and around our harvest and CSA days. For this week's share we're doubling down in spinach (again) and lettuce, as both these crops are looking great, but the hotter weather predicted for the end of the week might be a little too much for them. Sweet and spicy hakureis are here! These Japanese veggies are related to radishes and are best eaten raw with a pinch of salt. Seriously, they're delicious and make a great snack while you're cooking dinner. Also new in the share this week is bunched green garlic. These are baby garlic plants that look a lot like scallions. The white and light green parts are what you want to eat. Use them any way you normally use garlic, though you might want to use a heavy hand as

Spinach
photo: Sophie Shillue

green garlic is a bit milder than fully mature garlic. This week we have two varieties of kale coming in from the field--the sweet and tender Red Russian we had last week, plus a curly variety that's awesome for making kale chips. The curly one has more sturdy leaves that stand up to the baking better, plus lots of little nooks and crannies to hold salt..yum! Last but not least, the star of the week is a cucumber from our greenhouse cucumber jungle. We planted these cucumber seeds back in March and they've been growing happily in crates inside the greenhouse for months. They've got a nice flush of fruits on them now, weeks before we'll see cucumbers from the field grown plants.

Your share this week: 2 bunches spinach, 2 heads lettuce, 1 bunch hakureis, 1 bunch green garlic, 1 bunch kale, 1 greenhouse cucumber, 1 box microgreens. PYO 1 bunch (or a mixed bunch of) sage, thyme, or oregano.

Recipes of the Week

First, a kale recipe from my favorite cookbook author, Deborah Madison. Her classic Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone was my bible when I was first learning to cook and I still use many, many recipes from it. The recipe is written using pearled barley, but hulled barley has more fiber, is just as easy to work with, and tastes just as good. The kale turns the barley bright green!

Green Barley and Kale Gratin
serves 4-6

2/3 cup pearl (or hulled) barley, rinsed
salt and pepper, freshly milled
1 bunch kale, stems entirely removed
2 Tbs butter
3 Tbs flour
1 1/2 cups milk or vegetable stock
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 cup grated Gruyere or provolone

In a saucepan, add the pearled barley to 1 quart boiling water with 1/2 tsp salt and simmer, uncovered until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain. (If using hulled barley, add only about 1 1/2 cups water with 1/2 tsp salt and simmer, covered until tender about 1 hour or until the barley has absorbed all the water).
While the barley is cooking, cook the kale in a skillet of boiling salted water until tender, 6 to 10 minutes. Drain, then puree with 1/4 cup of the cooking water until smooth.
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, whisk in the flour, then add the milk. Cook, stirring constantly over medium heat, until thick. Season with allspice, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Combine all the ingredients, check the seasonings, then transfer to a lightly buttered baking dish or ramekins.
Bake until lightly browned on top, about 30 minutes. If you've used ramekins, run a knife around the edges, then unmold them by giving them a sharp rap on the counter. Present them browned side up.

Second, a very simple recipe with just two main ingredients, both of which happen to be in your share this week. No distractions here.

Sauteed Spinach and Garlic
from Anna Thomas' New Vegetarian Epicure
serves 2-3

2 bunches fresh spinach
2 Tbs fruity green olive oil
1-2 green garlics (depending on how much you like garlic), white and light green parts only, chopped and rested for 10 minutes on the counter
dash of rice vinegar or lemon juice

Wash the spinach well and trim off the heavier stems. Spin in a salad spinner or pat down with a kitchen towel.
Cook the spinach down in 2 batches: Heat half the olive oil in a large non-stick saute pan and add half the chopped garlic. Stir the garlic around in the hot oil for a minute, then add as much spinach as the pan will hold an start turning it gently as it wilts. Continue adding spinach and turning it over until you've used half of it. Salt it to your taste and keep cooking until there is no excess liquid in the pan.
Remove the sauteed spinach into a bowl and repeat the procedure with the remaining olive oil, garlic, and spinach. Eventually that mountain of fresh spinach will become about 2 cups. When the second batch has cooked down, add back the first batch and saute all of it together for a few moments until everything is hot. Just before serving, toss the spinach with a little dash of rice vinegar, or some lemon juice if you prefer.

Enjoy your veggies this week!

More spinach!
photo: Sophie Shillue