Cooking With This Week’s Box
Tetsukabuto Squash:
Kabocha Squash Pie with Black Pepper & Ginger
Kabocha Squash Curry with Chickpeas
Red & Yellow Onions:
Balsamic Caramelized Onion Pasta
Porcelain and/or Italian Garlic:
Japanese & Orleans Sweet Potatoes:
Roasted Japanese Sweet Potatoes with Miso Maple Tahini
Perfect Baked Japanese Sweet Potatoes
Russet or Peter Wilcox Potatoes:
Caramelized Onion & Potato Soup
Rainbow Carrots:
Shredded Carrot Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
5-Minute Ginger Soy Carrot Salad
Celeriac:
Celeriac and Wild Rice Chowder
Green Savoy Cabbage:
Vegetable Lo Mein with Cabbage and Mushrooms
Kohlrabi or Black Futsu Pumpkins:
Kohlrabi Apple Slaw with Hazelnuts
Baby Beets:
Roasted Baby Beets with Hummus
Beauty Heart Radishes:
Beauty Heart Radish Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Beauty Heart Radish and Sesame Seed Salad
COOKING WITH THIS WEEK’S BOX NOTES
Well Friends, we’ve made it to the end of the season. Thirty boxes of delicious, certified organic vegetables harvested, packed, and delivered. What a privilege and a pleasure this season has been! As we close out the season, I hope you enjoy this final selection of recipe inspiration as you cook your way into the winter and a season of rest. This week’s featured vegetable is a late season selection, Tetsukabuto Squash. Like so many selections throughout the year, we’ve chosen this vegetable specifically for this part of the season because it is known for its storage potential. It’s also a very versatile squash and may be used in sweet and savory dishes. So this week’s featured recipe is a Kabocha Squash Pie with Black Pepper & Ginger (See Below). Enjoy this with holiday meals or just spice up a cold winter evening with this tasty creation! If you’re not feeling the pie concept, check out this recipe for Kabocha Squash Curry with Chickpeas.
What are you going to do with all these root vegetables? Well, just because its winter doesn’t mean we’ve retired the “salad” concept. Turn your carrots into a simple Shredded Carrot Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing or this 5-Minute Ginger Soy Carrot Salad. Use the celeriac to make Celeriac and Apple Remoulade. And those gorgeous beauty heart radishes? How about this Beauty Heart Radish Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette or a Beauty Heart Radish and Sesame Seed Salad.
Turn this week’s head of cabbage into a filling for these Crispy Oven Baked Egg Rolls or if you want something super simple, try this recipe for Vegetable Lo Mein with Cabbage and Mushrooms. And for something fun to try on the weekend, check out this recipe (and video) for Egg Yolk Stuffed Latkes.
Ok friends, it’s time for me to sign off for the winter. Think of us as you eat through the rest of your HVF vegetables and know that we will be ready to meet up with you again next spring! Before we know it, it will be time to resume box packing with beautiful bunches of ramps, sweet, overwintered spinach and the first asparagus of the season. We look forward to growing vegetables for your table again next year. And in the meantime….be well, eat well and have a restful winter.
Chef Andrea
Vegetable Feature: Tetsukabuto Squash
by Andrea Yoder
Tetsukabuto Squash, what a mouthful! We have saved this squash for this specific week—the final delivery of the season. As with so many of the vegetables we grow for you, there’s a strategy and a reason for why we choose them and where they fit into our seasonal vegetable lineup. Tetsukabuto squash is a variety that originated in Japan. The name actually means “Iron Helmet.” It does resemble a helmet, and the “iron” part comes from the fact that it has a durable skin that serves to protect it during storage. This variety is a hybrid developed in Japan. It’s a combination of Kabocha squash and Butternut. It has a deep, orange flesh that is rich, sweet, flavorful, and decadent. One interesting fact about this squash is that its flavor actually improves with time in storage, another reason we saved it for the end of the season!
Tetsukabuto squash may be used in any recipe calling for kabocha squash but may also be adapted to recipes calling for Butternut squash, or the like. Its rich flesh makes it a great candidate for using to make baked goods, such as this week’s pie recipe, along with quick breads, muffins, cookies, and other desserts. It also shines nicely when featured in curries, soup, and stew. Of course, you can also keep it super simple and just bake it, turn the flesh into puree and eat it with a pat of butter!
Store your Tetsukabuto squash at room temperature until you are ready to use it. You should be able to store it for several months but keep your eye on it and if you notice a bad spot starting to form, that’s your cue that it’s time to eat the squash!
Missed Last Week’s News? Find it HERE.
