A Cold Outside but Warm-Hearted Greeting to You,

Well, winter's first chill is currently laying some cold, rainy, and mountain snowy change for us! Temperatures will be reaching below 50 degrees tonight, which is a basil killing temp. We have been racing around early this week getting ready for the cold weather, and your CSA share this week will reflect it. We pulled out over 100 lbs of basil this week, and all of you are getting a big, fat, bye-bye-summer boquet. Try making some pesto or drying it so you can enjoy it's fragrant, savory tastiness during the winter. We also stripped most of the mature dry beans off of their plants so they wouldn't rot outside in the wet weather. We will be winnowing the beans over the next couple of weeks. We hope to have a big enough harvest to share them with you for one of your deliveries. We took a break this week from microgreens, we've been getting some comments that they have been a bit overwhelming, but we will have them again starting next week. We also were able to harvest the first leafy greens for the fall, and golly were they pretty in the field! It will be a mix of arugula, mizuna, red streaks, and red mustard. They are all very tender, tasty, and mild so enjoy their loveliness this week! The summer season crops like the tomatoes, eggplant, cucumber, peppers, beans, and summer squash are all winding down, but this week's temps will hopefully stay high enough to keep the current fruits ripening. We just don't want it to get below freezing, it would be nice to have those crops for a bit longer.

On another note, I just sent out evite invitations for the CSA Potluck on Saturday, October 15. Thanks to everyone who responded so far, I am excited to see/meet many of you there! Another update, I have been canning like crazy this past week (I have a really nice gas stove at my new place, hooray!) and am going to have a preserved food basket up for the fundraiser auction with all the goodies I've been preserving this season : ) Ok, now for this week's share detils!


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Week 19 (A) Share
 
1 bunch Beets
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 bag Mustard-Arugula Mix
Peppers (Serrano(Hot) and Pepperoncini(great for pickling), or Beaver Dam or Anaheim)
1 BIG bunch Basil (Genovese or Thai or Purple Ruffles)
Cucumbers or Summer Squash
Sweet Peppers and/or Eggplant
Tomatoes
Onions


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Recipes

Makes 12 muffins (and uses 2 cups zucchini -- bonus!)

Mix together:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
3 Tbsp minced fresh basil (must be fresh!!)
1 Tbsp minced fresh oregano (or less, dried)
1/4 tsp salt
In another bowl, beat:
2 eggs until foamy
Beat into eggs:
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup canola oil
Stir into egg, milk, oil mixture:
2 cups shredded zucchini
Mix dry and wet ingredients together just til moistened.
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on tops of muffins (about 1/4 cup total)
Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes. Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then eat or cool on rack.
These are especially delicious right out of the oven with butter on them!

 

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.

Yield: Makes 1 cup.

 

Swiss Chard and Chickpea Minestrone

This simple minestrone, packed with Swiss chard, does not require a lot of time on the stove.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/health/nutrition/31recipehealth.html?_r=1&ref=chard

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, cut in small dice

1 celery stalk, cut in small dice

1 leek, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, cleaned thoroughly and sliced thin

Salt

4 large garlic cloves, minced

7 cups water

2 tablespoons tomato paste

A bouquet garni consisting of 1 Parmesan rind, 1 bay leaf, 3 sprigs parsley and 3 sprigs thyme, tied together with kitchen string or tied into a piece of cheesecloth

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 pound Swiss chard, stemmed, leaves washed and cut crosswise in thin strips (chiffonade) (4 cups, tightly packed, chiffonade)

1/2 cup soup pasta, like elbow macaroni or broken spaghetti

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Freshly grated Parmesan

1. Heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven. Add the onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about three minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and the leek. Continue to cook, stirring often, until tender, about three minutes. Add the garlic, stir for about a minute, and then stir in the water, tomato paste and the bouquet garni. Bring to a simmer. Add salt to taste, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas. Taste and adjust salt. Remove the bouquet garni.

2. Add the Swiss chard and the pasta to the soup, bring back to a simmer, and simmer another 10 minutes or until the pasta is cooked al dente. Grind in some pepper, taste and adjust seasonings. It should be savory and rich-tasting. Serve in wide soup bowls, with a sprinkling of Parmesan over the top.

Yield: Serves six to eight.

*Also, check out this article from the NY Times all about Chard, get's me excited to be growing and eating it!

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Alright, that concludes another CSA Newsetter, I hope you are all doing well, and we look forward to bringing your veggies to you in tomorrow's wintery storm ; )


Sharon