The farm is really looking great during these long, hot, muggy days. It’s hard weather to work in, but it’s great growing weather for the crops: our popcorn was more or less “knee high by the Fourth of July”, as they say; we’ll likely have zucchini and summer squash next week, as well as shell peas (hopefully for all shares); and the tomatoes are … well, they’re coming.

All shares contain:

• garlic scapes
• napa cabbage
• swiss chard
• cilantro

“Full” shares also contain:

• head lettuce
• another kohlrabi
• Italian broccoli
• snap peas – the pods are edible w/ the peas
• one share also got a small cauliflower to make up for a rather puny kohlrabi

Veggie Notes

garlic scapes – These are the succulent flower stalks of garlic plants. They can be used just like regular garlic (just chop ’em up) but they really shine on their own when pickled (we chop them into 1″ pieces and follow a dilly bean recipe, omitting the requisite garlic and substituting the scapes for the beans) or brushed with olive oil and grilled.

napa cabbage – The napas in this weeks share might seem a little bit daunting, large as they are. When I think of napa cabbage, I tend to think of only one thing: kimchi. Essentially Korean sourkraut, kimchi is a delicious, spicy mix of naturally fermented napa, radish, onion, ginger and — especially — chilis. Using the book Wild Fermentation, we made some last week and are eagerly awaiting the results (it takes a week to ferment). If the process of making kimchi is a little too much right now, napas are excellent grated into cole slaw (see recipe below), chopped and stir fried, or used as wrappers for asian inspired stuffed cabbage. Based on the size of this weeks cabbage, you should be able to try a few different things. We probably won’t see napas again until the fall.

swiss chard – These leafy greens with rainbow colored stems (actually, they’re petioles) are an excellent green for summer, when kale and spinach just ain’t good eatin’. The leaves are tender and can be used just like spinach. The petioles can be chopped up and sauted with the leaves, or can be tossed into tuna or chicken salad for a colorful crunch. Chard from the supermarket tends to have a very tart flavor and leave a somewhat gritty feeling in the mouth, but I haven’t tasted anything like that in the chard we’ve eaten this year.

Italian broccoli – Italian, calabrese or “sprouting” broccoli tends to produce many small heads, which have looser “beads” (actually, flower buds) than regular broccoli. The loose, “buddy-ness” of this week’s broccoli is somewhat accentuated by the drought we had in May, but it’s still pretty darn tasty. We sauted some for tacos last week with garlic, cumin and chili peppers.

Recipe Ideas

“Asian” Cole Slaw
This is based on a fairly common recipe which we got from Clayton’s mom and the original can be found on RecipeSource here: http://www.recipesource.com/fgv/salads/18/rec1889.html We liked the idea, so we sort of combined it with another recipe by changing a few things and tweaking couple of ingredients to make it seem a little more authentic and whole foody. It’s an excellent potluck, party or picnic dish and it also makes a great, healthy snack. Clayton’s mom swears, though, that’s it’s not the same without the crunchiness of the Ramen…

1 lb   napa cabbage, shredded
1/2 C  carrot, shredded
1/4 C  scallion, finely chopped (or shallot)
1/2 C  sliced or slivered almonds
2 T    rice vinegar (cider or wine vinegar will work, too)
4 T    maple syrup (or sugar)
1/2 C  seasame oil (or peanut or olive oil)
2 ts   sesame seeds, toasted
2 ts   soy sauce
      crushed red pepper to taste

Combine vegetables and almonds and set aside.  Combine remaining
ingredients and set aside.  When ready to serve, pour dressing
over slaw and toss to mix.

Sauted Greens
I mentioned last week that it’s easy, tasty and versatile to saute greens. Now I’m finally getting around to giving you an honest recipe for them.

1 big bunch of greens (chard, spinach, kale, collard, kohlrabi or brocolli leaves)
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2-3 T olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or more to taste

Chop the greens into pieces no bigger than the size of your palm. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30-60 seconds. Add the greens, stirring and turning them frequently and cook until they’ve wilted. Depending on your taste, this could be anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes. We prefer them still crunchy so we don’t cook them for very long. Splash with some vinegar when serving.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems.

We hope you enjoy the share!