What’s In The Box with Recipe Suggestions
Green Garlic: This is immature garlic that smells like garlic but resembles a green onion. You can tell the difference between the two by looking at their green leaves. Green garlic has flat leaves whereas the green tops on the onions this week are rounded. You can eat both the lower white portion as well as the green tops.
Skillet Chicken with Rhubarb and Green Garlic
Sesame-Soy and Hon Tsai Tai Chicken Salad
Sorrel: Sorrel is the bunched green with arrow shaped leaves. It has a tangy, citrus flavor and may be eaten raw or cooked. When cooked, the leaves turn olive green and soften to the point where they melt into a sauce like texture that is lovely in soups and sauces. This is the last week for Sorrel so enjoy it!
Poached Fish in Sorrel Coconut Sauce
Strawberry-Orange Sorrel Smoothie
Spinach: Start the day off right with spinach for breakfast. Add it to your morning smoothie or green drink, mix it into your scrambled eggs, or make a breakfast casserole with spinach in it!
Sweet and Sour Catalan Spinach
Hot Bacon Dressing on Spinach or Arugula
GT Red Radish: For those who prefer a mild radish flavor, spring is the best time of year to eat radishes as they become really hot and spicy in the heat of the summer. Dip them in a little salt and eat them with butter for a tasty and healthy snack.
Radish Top Pasta with Chickpeas & Parsley
Potato Onions: We are nearing the end of our overwintered onions, planted in the fall for harvest this spring. We hope to get one more week in our CSA boxes! Use them as you would use any green onion.
Spicy Lentil Tacos with Radish & Scallion Salsa
Baby Arugula: Arugula is a spicy green that may be eaten raw in salads or lightly wilted alongside pasta dishes, on top of pizza, etc. Remember that arugula, on its own, can be pretty pungent. However, the flavor mellows out and is more balanced when eaten with other rich and/or acidic ingredients such as cheese or fruit.
Grilled Chicken with Arugula & Warm Chickpeas
Greens & Grains Breakfast Scramble
Salad Mix: This is a mix of baby lettuce varieties and spicy Asian greens. For the greatest storage potential, store salad mix in the refrigerator.
Salad Mix tossed with Red Wine Vinaigrette
Mini Head Lettuce: Separate the leaves from the base and wash them to remove any dirt. Pat the leaves to remove any excess water before using them to make a salad or even a lettuce wrap.
Spring Salad with Asparagus and Soft Boiled Eggs
Hon Tsai Tai: This is one of our unique early spring-planted greens that is part of a family of vegetables called the “flowering brassicas.” It’s in the same family along with baby bok choi and mustard greens, so you may choose to use it interchangeably in recipes calling for these vegetables. The leaves as well as the stems and flowers are edible and may be lightly cooked or used in raw salads. The flowers have a slightly sweet flavor.
Sesame-Soy and Hon Tsai Tai Chicken Salad
Hon Tsai Tai & Shiitake Potstickers with Sesame Honey Dipping Sauce
Baby White Turnips: This is our first week of baby white turnips. We will have more in the upcoming weeks. Then we will take a break from them until the fall. You can, and should, eat both the turnip roots as well as the tender green tops.
White Turnip Salad with Miso Ginger Vinaigrette
Cilantro: The bunches are short because of the cool weather. Use both the stems and the leaves. While many recipes call for using the leaves only, the stems have a lot of flavor as well. Chop them finely and add them along with the leaves.
Spring Shiitake & Cilantro Soup
Coconut Rice with Lemongrass & Cilantro
Asparagus: Asparagus harvest is slowing down. Enjoy what may be the last of it this season! Remember to store it in a moist towel around the base of the spears or put it in a glass with some water in the bottom and store it in the refrigerator to keep it fresh and crisp.
Vegetable Feature: Hon Tsai Tai
Hon tsai tai (pronounced hon-sigh-tie) holds an important place in our spring vegetable line-up. It matures more quickly than other spring-planted greens and is very tasty when grown in cool spring weather. It is in a group of plants referred to as “flowering brassicas.” While it is related to such vegetables as mustard greens and bok choi, what sets it apart is that it has beautiful purple stems that produce a sweet, delicate, edible yellow flower. While other vegetables in the brassica family also produce flowers, they do so towards the end of their life cycle and at that point there are often undesirable flavor changes in the edible portion of the plant. Hon tsai tai is unique in that it produces the flower early in its life when all the parts of the plant still taste good.
Hon tsai tai has a mild mustard flavor that is very well-balanced this time of the year. The entire plant is edible and may be eaten raw or cooked. The thin purple stems are more tender when the plant is young. While still flavorful, they may become more coarse as the plant matures, so should be cut very finely at this stage. Hon tsai tai is delicious in stir-fries or lightly steamed but also makes a stunning and flavorful addition to raw salads. A common preparation in Chinese cuisine is to quickly stir-fry hon tsai tai with garlic, onions, and ginger, then add oyster sauce. This would also be a tasty green to use in spring rolls, pot stickers or fried rice. This vegetable is also a good addition to broth-based soups such as miso soup or could be a nice addition to a ramen bowl.
If you do a search for recipes using hon tsai tai, you likely won’t find much. Your best bet is to check out our recipe archive on our website for past recipes we’ve featured in previous newsletters. You can also use hon tsai tai interchangeably in recipes calling for bok choi or mustard greens. Store hon tsai tai loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator until ready for use.
Short & Sweet Weekly Farm Update
With the promise of warmer weather ahead, the crew was ready to get planting! We started planting hot weather plants this week. The tomatoes went out Saturday and we covered them with tunnel covers for a little extra heat. The peppers are all planted, well they will be finishing them today! All of our Eggplant and Winter Squash (yes you read that correctly – Winter Squash) was planted on Monday. Our Sweet Potatoes are due to arrive this week too! We will be taking them directly to the field to plant. Richard keeps saying “please let there not be a late frost this year”!
Checking in on some of our earlier plantings, and the zucchini, cucumbers and basil are all snug and cozy growing happily under their hoop and covered tunnels!
