P I C K L I S T
Onions - Sweet Habanada Peppers - Plum Tomatoes - Basil - Spinach - Carmen Peppers -
Potatoes - Carrots - Jalapeno Peppers - Spaghetti Squash
Oh Summer CSA fam! This will be our last week together, and it is incredibly bittersweet. Together, we completely rocked this season in picking, washing, packing, prepping, chopping, roasting, preserving, eating, etc… My hope is that the weekly CSA share served as a marking of time as we nourished ourselves through this season. We went from little greens and strawberries in June, Blueberries and cucumbers in July, Tomatoes and corn and more tomatoes in August, peppers and potatoes in September, Winter Squash and greens in October, and herbs all the way through. With a whole summer of no-friends-covid, you CSAer and our field crew have served as my nearest and dearest and I love you all for it. Though we never formally partied in person, we communed weekly through food! Thankyou for inviting our farm into your kitchen all Summer long.
I also want to take a hot minute to sing the praise of our unsung field crew heroes. They range from the age of 1.5-60 something years old. Roy, Strong, Ramone, Jasper, Garnet, Petey, Jaarsma, Dave, Juliana, Gus, Mike, Mrs. T, Ray, Hobbes, Billie, Anne and Pooh. These are the people that seeded, grew, planted, weeded, picked, cleaned, packaged, planted some more, picked some more, etc… These are the people that made all of this food show up on Wednesdays and goodness gracious, I am so grateful to each and everyone of them. Mrs. T took on the super-early-before-sunrise herb pick, Roy packed out each and every box with me, Strong and Ramone bunched the most beautiful bouquets of mizuna, Jaarsma delivered boxes all around town, Jasper and Garnet gathered all the cherry tomatoes from the field, Dave assembled and stacked every wax box for us to fill, Billie ate all the pepper rejects, and damn near everyone picked strawberries. This crew is everything.
Lastly, with the end of Summer CSA comes the end of the Farmstand. We officially shut the sliding barn doors for the season on October 11th at 4:30pm. If you are deeply saddened by this (i am!) you can find our harvest at the following spots:
All the COOP food stores (Lebanon, Hanover, WRJ) - Crossroad Farmstand in Norwich for onions and potatoes - Brownsville Butcher and Pantry - Woodstock Farmers Mkt - Sweet Beet Market in Bradford NH - Rumbrook Mkt in Grantham
AND OF COURSE THERE IS THE FALL CSA: 10 SPOTS LEFT!!
HOT TIPS:
Jenny’s Note: The following recipe is a spinach staple in my house. It is warming and earthy and absolute comfort food. We have yet to start our Ginger harvest due to an extremely wimpy ginger crop (my fault im a terrible ginger grower). So please source yourself a can of coconut milk, ginger root, and a pinch of cumin and we will take care of (mostly) the rest.
3 tablespoons ghee/coconut oil/butter
20 ounces flat-leaf spinach, washed and drained
2 shallots (or onions), halved and sliced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons minced jalapeno chile
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch of sugar
1 cup coconut milk
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
Heat scant 1 tablespoon ghee in a large Dutch oven over medium. Add spinach and cook, stirring, until just wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain spinach in a sieve, pressing to remove excess liquid. Let cool slightly, then roughly chop.
Return pan to medium heat and melt remaining 2 tablespoons ghee. Add shallots, ginger, and jalapeno and cook until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in flour, cumin, and sugar and cook for 1 minute, then slowly whisk in coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes.
Stir chopped spinach into coconut mixture and season with salt and pepper.
Oh my Gosh, Spaghetti Squash by Sarah Britton (read on for nutrition and eating)
Winter squash rocks because it is a powerhouse veggie. Unlike summer squash (re: zucchini, crookneck, pattypan), winter squash has had a lot more time to develop and pump itself full of vitamins and minerals throughout its lengthy life on the stem. We’re talking oodles more vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), vitamin C, manganese, potassium, and even some extra dietary fiber thrown in just for kicks. This combination of nutrients spells good news for asthma sufferers, those with heart disease, elevated cholesterol, or inflammatory conditions such a rheumatoid and osteoarthritis.
The other bonus? Nature designed summer squash to be rather delicate, with a high water content for those hot summer days when we need a cool down. Naturally, their shelf life is rather short during our abundant harvest season when produce is plentiful. On the flip side, winter squash has a tough outer skin and lower water content, which allows it to be stored for a very long time – some varieties up to six months. This means that we can keep these vitamin bombs around for a long time after the first frost to provide our bodies with the nutrition we need to see us through the long months of winter when there is nothing fresh in sight. Put that in your oven and roast it.
Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1 bunch kale (leftover from last week? Or try it wth spinach?)
1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can)
3 cloves garlic
olive oil
sea salt
pinch crushed chilies
¾ cup toasted hazelnuts
Pecorino Romano (hard sheep’s milk cheese)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Prepare the spaghetti squash by cutting it in half lengthwise, removing the seeds, rubbing the inside of each half with a drizzle of olive oil, then seasoning with salt and pepper. Place face down on a lined baking tray and place in the oven – cook for about 45 minutes.
3. While the squash is baking, prepare the rest of the filling. Wash kale well and remove the tough center rib of each leaf. Roughly chop kale into small pieces.
4. Heat oil, ghee, or butter in a frying pan, then add minced garlic, crushed chilies to taste, and a pinch of sea salt. Cook 2 minutes until fragrant, then add chopped kale and cook until the leaves are bright green and just starting to lose structure. Throw in the chickpeas and cook just to warm. Remove from heat.
5. Remove squash form the oven when it is cooked through. Using a fork, scrape out the insides, which will pull away from the shell in strands, like spaghetti (whoa). Place all strands in a bowl, and toss with the kale and chickpea mixture. At this point you can either serve it from the bowl, or mix it everything together and place back in one half of the empty squash shells for a beautiful presentation. Sprinkle with chopped toasted hazelnuts and shaved Pecorino Romano. Enjoy.
I wish everyone out there a truly beautiful Thanksgiving; we sure have a lot to celebrate.
This year I am grateful for so many things: the incredible people in my life, a job that I love everyday, the warm food in my belly, sound sleep in the night. I also want to give thanks to you for reading this, for caring, and for getting back in the kitchen again to feed your body with the food it deserves. Even though we’ve probably never met, I can feel us standing side by side at our cutting boards, making so much more than dinner.
JENNYS NOTE: my goal in life is to always have a jar of pickled onions in my fridge- this is the recipe i use. Fin.
You can use any thinly shaved or sliced vegetable you like for this recipe. We love quick pickles on sandwiches because they add acidity and crunch. And you don't have to be someone who's "into canning" to make your own. Keep them in the fridge for days and put them on everything. Makes about 1 cup
½ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup thinly sliced vegetables (such as carrot, red onion, and/or cucumber)
Whisk vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small bowl until sugar and salt are dissolved. Add vegetables and let sit, squeezing gently with your hands occasionally to help them pickle more quickly, 10 minutes.
Do Ahead: Vegetables can be pickled 3 days (months) ahead. Cover and chill.