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52 Lowell Street, Lexington, MA
Wed – Fri: 2 pm – 7 pm; Sat: 9 am – 5 pm; Sun: 10 am – 4 pm
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Week of July 2, 2014 (Week #4)
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What's In Your Share This Week
In the Farm Stand
- Napa Cabbage: great in a stir-fry or chopped for a raw salad
- Beets: the edible tops got a little beaten up by a pesky early spring pest, but the roots are looking good.
- Summer squash/zucchini: first appearance of this summer staple in the share!
- Kale or collards: these greens are calcium, iron and folate powerhouses
- Chard: keeping you well-nourished with vitamin A, C, K and iron!
- Fennel: this bulb is delicious on the grill or caramelized in the oven
Pick Your Own Crops This Week
- Basil
- Parsley
- Dill
- Cilantro
- Maybe the last of the peas
We do our best to predict what will be available but the CSA newsletter hits the press before the week's harvest begins. That means that sometimes you'll see vegetables at the stand that aren't on the list, and sometimes vegetables on the list are not actually ready for harvest.
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Notes from the Field
Short and sweet: Erinn and I are headed out of town this weekend and we are grateful. Very grateful. We are attending the wedding of a close friend and we wouldn’t be able to even think about it without the help of many folks. So thank you to our wonderful field crew, Caroline, Emma and Frankie, who worked their tails off this week picking and planting and weeding so that we could feel confident enough to spend a few nights away. Thank you to our farm stand staff Anna and Caroline who are holding down the fort while we are away, and thank you to several board members and TWO executive directors of two amazing organizations for pulling farm stand shifts in our absence. Nancy, Sue, Janet and Claire, we can’t tell you how much we appreciate the help from each of you. And, as always, we owe a huge thanks to Dennis Busa for keeping things alive and thriving while we’re away. See you all next week…please don’t call.
Dan
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Featured Vegetable: Napa Cabbage
Napa Cabbage Salad with Crunchy Baked Ramen Noodles
 With the added chicken, this can be served as a main dish. Omit the chicken for a vegan main dish or just serve it as a side.
Makes 6 Servings
2-3 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts (depending on the amount of chicken you like) (optional)
1 large head Napa cabbage, thinly sliced across to shred
2-3 bunches thinly sliced scallions (to taste)
4 carrots, shredded
1 cup sliced almonds
2-3 packages Ramen noodles (just the noodles, discard any accompanying seasoning packets)
3 tablespoons oil
Dressing
3/4 cup vegetable oil or 3/4 cup canola oil
4½ tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
4½ tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Directions:
Prepare dressing and set aside.
Break up the ramen noodles and spread in an ungreased sheet pan. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes until golden to toast them. Cool.
Toast the sliced almonds in an oversized sauté pan in 1½ tablespoons of the oil until lightly golden brown, adding more oil if needed. Watch them carefully because once they start to brown they can color very quickly. Stir frequently! Drain on paper towels and cool.
Combine cabbage, carrots, green onions and the optional chicken in a large bowl. Add the toasted ramen noodles and almonds and stir well. Add dressing and stir to coat. Season to taste.
Serve immediately after dressing. You can hold everything for serving later in the day as long as it hasn’t been dressed.
Nancy Gold is a Board Member of LexFarm, working to bring Farm Based Education Programs to the public. She is sad to see so many area farms lost to development pressures and is gratified that the community valued the Busa Farm enough to rally around it and ultimately save it!
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More Ideas for Napa Cabbage
When the weather is hot, like it is this week, using napa cabbage in a salad or slaw is a natural. There are so many possibilities!
You can add napa cabbage to a stir-fry, as a main-course with pork or as a side.
Try making your own kimchi.
Braise it.
Saute to use as the base for some chicken sausage.
Stuff it.
Make dumplings.
Too hot in the kitchen? Grill it!
Finally, here are a few more ideas that aren't salad.
Compiled by Jackie Starr & Betsy Pollack
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Weekly Menu Planning Ideas
Each month, CSA shareholder Jackie Starr will share her weekly menu ideas based on the week's share.
I wilt in the heat and have no air conditioning, so in the summer I plan my weekly menus meteorologically. If a heat wave is predicted, such as the one building towards midweek, I cook large amounts of grains and beans in the cooler mornings and dress them for salads (typically freezing some in pint containers as well). They form the basis for many different variations. I also consider the relative perishability of the week's produce. This week's menu reflects my personal taste as well as the fact I hope not to use my stove much until Friday, thus the emphasis on the grill.
Depending on how much of each vegetable you get in the week's share and how many people you're feeding, you may use up much of your produce before the week is up. I've included zucchini twice, for example, but we might be likely to eat it all the first night. For later in the week, I've included the same vegetables or others being harvested locally so that you can purchase more at the farm stand, at the farmer's market, or at other local farms – or harvest at home!
| Day |
Both menus |
Vegetarian |
With animal protein |
| Sunday |
Grilled zucchini
Napa cabbage salad (cilantro) |
Beet burgers
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Burgers, turkey burgers, or sausages. Use beets in the salad instead |
| Monday |
Wild rice salad (dill)
Kale salad with fennel |
Add feta or another cheese or hard boiled eggs to the rice salad if you like |
Fish |
| Tuesday |
Leftover wild rice salad
Kale and napa salad |
Leftover beet burgers |
Your choice |
| Wednesday |
Sweet potato noodles with swiss chard, mushrooms, onions, garlic
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Can include tofu or tempeh or scrambled eggs, but I haven't |
Chicken, shrimp, pork, or beef. |
| Thursday |
Salad with grated beets and carrots
Leftover sweet potato noodles
Grilled vegetables (zucchini, peas in a grill pan, scallions, onions, mushrooms) |
Most people get plenty of protein, but you could add tofu if you'd like |
Grilled sausage or shrimp |
| Friday |
Prepare beans and millet or barley for next day |
Pasta with béchamel and peas, or with "cashew cheese sauce." This is delicious on steamed or blanched broccoli too. |
Looks to be cooler weather for cooking indoors.
Clam pasta (use parsley) or pasta with béchamel, peas, and bacon. Alternatively could grill clams. |
| Saturday |
Black beans (serve with cilantro)
Millet or barley or rice or grain
Leftover grilled vegetables
Accompany with shredded greens, salsa, avocado, and corn tortillas (make or buy). |
Notes:
Beet Burgers: Use peanut butter or almond flour instead of almond butter; double or triple the lentils and rice and freeze them to make a quick veggie burger batch another day. I believe canned lentils are also sold.
Zucchini: Brush with olive oil and salt and grill. May also use some of the dressing from the cabbage salad.
Roasting and marinating beets for salad: Roast rinsed beets (get the dirt off but don’t scrub; leave a couple inches of stalk on and any roots or you will lose more of the color and taste to the cooking water) in a covered baking dish with a half-inch water, at 400F for 30-45 minutes or until fork tender. Peel and marinate in dressing while warm. Keeps for a week refrigerated.
Fish: For thick fillets or steaks, brush with olive oil, salt and pepper, and grill. When I'm in a hurry we simply dredge thin fillets in flour, salt, and pepper and pan fry. One of my favorites is grilled whole fish – with a few tips it's quite easy, and it produces the juiciest tastiest fish. Whole trout farmed in US is rated well from Monterey bay aquarium, and I'm sure there are good local options.
Kale and fennel salad: You can substitute peaches or roasted beets for the apple
Wild rice salad: The recipe's ingredient list should include dill. You can use grapes instead of grape tomatoes.
Sweet potato noodles:
My method: in a pan with large surface area over high heat, sauté ½-1 onion, thinly sliced; 1 carrot cut into matchsticks, and thinly sliced chard stems in 1-2 Tb peanut oil. Add minced garlic once vegetables starting to wilt. Prepare noodles according to recipe, and mix up ¼ c soy sauce, 3 Tb sugar, and 1-2 tsp sesame oil. When vegetables are cooked to your taste, add swiss chard cut in 1-2" ribbons or pieces. When wilted, toss with noodles and sauce. Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds (toasted or not). Here are some links for other preparations from Epicurious and Maangchi.
Tofu to grill or pan fry: Can freeze the marinade for later use, or use it twice.
Salad with grated beets and carrots: Choose a version that appeals to you:
Grated Carrots and Beets
Grated Beet Salad (uses basil and parsley)
Raw Beet Carrot Apple Salad wwith Ginger-lime Dressing/
Carrot and Beet Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette
Cashew cheese sauce: I omit truffle oil and use a small amount fresh onion and garlic instead of powder. I typically use almond milk, approximately half the amount called for, but any broth, cows milk, or water could probably be used for the liquid. If you don't have miso or nutritional yeast, don't worry. These add flavor but are not absolutely necessary.
Cooking beans: Beans freeze well for later use in salads, soups, or on their own.
Cooking grains: Ever since reading about arsenic in rice, we have greatly cut our consumption. I also like to vary our diet, including the types of grains. Millet is a great alternative for eating with beans, or whole barley. Here are more tips on cooking whole grains:
Jackie Starr is a LexFarm founding member who has been a flexitarian home cook for 25 years. Her recipe selections and adaptations are informed by experiences living abroad, by having spent many years in the Bay Area and Seattle, and by a delight in local, seasonal bounty.
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Lexington Community Farm is a project of LexFarm in cooperation with Community Farms Outreach
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or to add another member of your household to the mailing list for this weekly CSA newsletter, send an email to csa@lexfarm.org.
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Farm Managers
Community Farms Outreach
Dan Roberts, Farm Manager
Erinn Roberts, Farm Manager
Staff
LexFarm
Janet Kern,
Acting Executive Director
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LexFarm Board of Directors
Ken Karnofsky, President
Derek Moody, Treasurer
Susan Amsel
Nancy Gold
Carolyn Goldstein
Linda Levin
Betsy Pollack
Charlie Radoslovich
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