Pea Shoots by Cheryl Rogowski

So what exactly is that gorgeous looking bouquet of flowers and leafy tendrils in your share this week? Pea shoots, who would ever think to eat these was really on to something.  They taste just like peas and are perfect for a delicate summer salad.  In Chinese cuisine they have been popular for years, they are loaded with Vitamins A and C.

How to store:
Pea shoots are fragile and best used within one to two days of harvesting. Keep them wrapped in paper towels in an open plastic bag in the vegetable bin of the refrigerator
Some quick serving ideas:
Add raw pea shoots to a tossed salad.
Serve a fresh mound of pea shoots with a squeeze of lemon juice.
Add pea shoots to any stir-fry or soup near the end of cooking time.
Toss wilted pea shoots with sprinkles of ginger and sugar to taste.

                        Flash-Cooked Greens with Garlic

1-1/4 lb. pea shoots or other greens, rinsed
1 teaspoon canola or olive oil
a couple of garlic scapes
2-1/2 tablespoons rice wine, sake or water
¼ teaspoon salt, if desired

Preparation

Heat oil in a wok or skillet. Add pea shoots and garlic; toss lightly about 20 seconds, then add rice wine and salt. Toss over high heat 1 minute or less, just until wilted. Lift out of pan, leaving the liquid. Serve. (Adapted from A Spoonful of Ginger: Irresistible, Health-Giving Recipes from Asian Kitchens by Nina Simonds, Knopf, 1999.)
The original recipe called for garlic cloves I changed it so you can use the scapes you have in your share this week.
I'm in the process of adding some more recipes and links on the website for the shoots and other veggies.

Some Nutrition Information:
Pea shoots may also contain valuable phytochemicals. Certain pea plants have these natural disease fighters, but it is not known whether garden peas contain them. The phytochemicals found in other types of pea plants include lignins, a flavonoid called quercetin, and caffeic acid. Researchers believe these substances help prevent cancer in different ways and have other beneficial health effects.
      Source: Washington State University Cooperative Extension
http://agsyst.wsu.edu/peashootbroc.pdf

More on pea shoots:

www.peashoots.com

http://www.tastespotting.com/search/pea+shoot/1

http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2009/02/12/i-heart-pea-shoots/

Pea Shoot Pesto

• 3 cups pea shoots
• 3/4 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1/4 cup Parmesan
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3/4 teaspoon salt1/3 cup olive oil

Preparation

This couldn’t be simpler — add all of the ingredients except for the olive oil into a cuisinart or blender and pulse until finely ground, then stream in the olive oil while blending.

To store the pesto, put it in a tupperware and pour a thin film of olive oil over the top before putting it in the fridge or freezer.

-Kerry Tilden

Participating in the Blog

If you are wondering about participating in the Maplewood CSA blog, here's how it works. You are immediately invited to add comments to any post. Feel free to veer off in any direction, and especially in the direction of what we received in our weekly share.

If you would like to post an article or recipe, just email it to me at:

clyde@amalgamated-clyde.com

While I am acting as  moderator, I am operating with a light touch, and will only serve to spruce things up and fit them into the format of the blog. I will not edit your content, unless, perhaps, you request my help. Thanks! I look forward to your participation.

Pickled Beet Shoot-out

My neighbor and I were discussing how we would use the beets from our Week 3 bundle, and both of us decided we would pickle them. We had slightly differing recipes and thought it might be wise to prepare them both and have a side-by-side tasting. The results showed that pickled beet recipes seem to taste pretty much the same, but that the emphasis on certain adjunct flavors varies somewhat. I present below both recipes, followed by a final analysis. By the way, the recipes work well with any of the varieties of beets we received.

Beet Salad

source:  Southern Light Cooking by Charles Pierce

Ingredients:
1 lb of beets (I used my whole share of beets which was 1 large Candy Cane beet and 1 small red beat)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons canola oil (can also use safflower oil)
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 small Vidalia onion, diced into 1/4" cubes
1/2 cup toasted, salted pecans for garnish

 

Preparation:

1.  Trim beet tops leaving 3" of the green on beet.  Cook beats for 30 - 40 minutes in large pan of boiling water or until tender to the center when pierced with a knife.  Drain into colander and rinse under cool water until cool enough to handle.  Trim tops and roots off of beets and peel off skins.  Cut beets into 1/4" or 1/2" cubes.

2.  In medium bowl, whisk together the mustard, salt, pepper, and vinegar.  Gradually whisk in the oil and orange juice until well blended.  Add the beets and cubed onions and stir gently until well coated with the dressing.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or until chilled.

3.  Serve alone or over salad greens.  Garnish with pecans.

-Crystal Comeaux

 

Pickled Beets #2

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of beets, any variety
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• salt and pepper

Preparation:

Cut off the greens and reserve. Scrub the beets to remove any dirt, then individually wrap them tightly in aluminum foil. Place the wrapped beets in an uncovered baking dish that is small enough to crowd them together. Roast them in the oven at 350° for an hour to an hour and a half. They are done when you can stick a fork all the way into the beet. Remove and let cool. You can also put them in the fridge at this stage and resume the following day. When cool, the beet jackets will slide off easily.

Cut them into 1/4 inch slices and place in a serving bowl. In a mixing bowl, combine the other ingredients and whisk together. Pour the mixture over the sliced beets and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight, turning the beets once (in the wee hours of the morning) so they all have equal time to bathe in the marinade. Serve.

-Clyde Tressler

 

Final Analysis

Though both recipes taste similar, Crystal's preparation had a bit more punchy mustard flavor, which I liked. Next time I believe I will jack-up my mustard amount a bit. The pecans were a delightfully crunchy surprise ingredient that I found quite agreeable. Overall, I think I still prefer the sliced beet approach to the diced beet approach, but consider this a method of controlling the impact of the beet flavor. Sliced beets retain more intensity. I still like the cider vinegar/brown sugar combo that I used, but I did appreciate the Vidalia onion.

So try them both and see for yourself!

What to do with Carrot Tops?

Well, my standard answer to this frequently asked question is 'compost them.' I usually find that carrot tops are too tough and bitter to be of much use to me. However, I have obviously given short shrift to this useful portion of the plant and so, to set the record straight, I submit the three top replies from my google search for carrot top recipes. If anyone tries one, please let me know. At any rate, do chop them off the carrots as soon as possible, as the frond-like foliage will dissipate water from the carrot root.

clyde
email: clyde@amalgamated-clyde.com

clipped from www.google.com carrot top and rice soup (tuscan) Review/Rate this Recipe Save to MyRecipes Rating: Title: Carrot Top And Rice Soup (Tuscan) Yield: 4 Servings Ingredients 3 tb extra-virgin olive oil ... recipes.chef2chef.net/recipe-archive/13/078137.SHTML - Cached - Similar - Carrot Top & Quinoa Soup Recipe : Recipezaar 4 posts - 3 authors - Last post: Jan 4, 2008 Try the Carrot Top & Quinoa Soup recipe from Recipezaar.com. www.recipezaar.com/Carrot-Top-Quinoa-Soup-273145 - Cached - Similar - Consider Adding Carrot Greens to Your Family Recipe Collection In thinking about using carrot tops like parsley, I guess you could use parsley in the above recipe. In fact, almost anything cooked with onion, garlic, ... hubpages.com/.../Consider-Adding-Carrot-Greens-to-Your-Family-Recipe-Collection - Cached - Similar -

Beet Greens Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound beet greens
• 1 strip of thick cut bacon, chopped (or a tablespoon of bacon fat)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 cup of water
• 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/6 cup of cider vinegar

Method

1 Wash the greens in a sink filled with cold water. Drain greens and wash a second time. Drain greens and cut away any heavy stems. Cut leaves into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

2 In a large skillet or 3-qt saucepan, cook bacon until lightly browned on medium heat (or heat 1 Tbsp of bacon fat). Add onions, cook over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions soften and start to brown. Stir in garlic. Add water to the hot pan, stirring to loosen any particles from bottom of pan. Stir in sugar and red pepper. Bring mixture to a boil.

3 Add the beet greens, gently toss in the onion mixture so the greens are well coated. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5-15 minutes until the greens are tender. Stir in vinegar. (For kale or collard greens continue cooking additional 20 to 25 minutes or until desired tenderness.)

Serves 4

-Barbara Savino

Kale and Lentil Soup

In The spirit of 'what i did with my share,' I'd like to kick-off the posts with this soup that I made. It's a kale and lentil soup that uses three of the items we received in our share, and it only takes about twenty minutes to prepare.

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb green lentils
• 1 bunch kale
• a few carrots
• handful of parsley
• garlic scapes
• chicken stock or water

Preparation

Wash the kale and steam it in a 6-quart pot. After it softens, remove it and place on a cutting board to cool. There should be about a cup and a half of colorful kale broth remaining in the pot. To this, add the lentils and the carrots, diced. Add enough additional water and/or chicken stock to cover the lentils and carrots, and simmer until they are soft. Meanwhile, coarsely chop the kale and and parsley. Chop the scapes into 1/4" lengths- I put in about half a handful. Remember, soup is very forgiving when it comes to the amounts of ingredients.

Toss in the kale, parsley and scapes, and cook for a few additional minutes, adding more liquid if necessary. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

-Clyde Tressler, Maplewood

Welcome to the Maplewood CSA Blog

The Maplewood CSA blog is a place to exchange ideas related to our community of produce shareholders. How about that!

Let the cooks and non-cooks, foodies and non-foodies, gourmets and gourmands come together and participate in an open dialog that benefits everyone. Feel free to to guide the discussion in any direction you please, but remember, the central theme of this blog is 'what are you doing with your share and why?' That said, recipes, nutritional topics, comments and suggestions are all welcome.

As  your humble line-server from Week-2, it was my great pleasure to have the experience of observing the wide range of familiarity with the items that constituted our share. Some who were cooks gladly offered their ideas about what they might do with their garlic scapes, while others wondered 'what is a garlic scape?'

Quite a few of us, it seems, are looking for ways to introduce more fresh vegetables into our diets, and are using the reliability and the upfront investment in the CSA as source of motivation. Bravo! Some of us even aspire to cook more at home, relying less on prepared food items, while others expressed their appreciation at having a source of naturally-grown produce so conveniently available.

With such a diverse group of circumstances, isn't it only natural that we come together to share? This is your blog. Use it wisely.

-Clyde Tressler, Maplewood