Let the dinners of fresh, local, organic vegetables begin! The Forest Hills Tuv Ha’aretz CSA kicked off a couple of weeks ago, and we have been really enjoying all the early summer vegetables. When the vegetables start rolling in, it really puts the “you-don’t-have-to-do-much-to-fresh-ingredients” principle into use, ’cause it’s true! With veggies this fresh, it just takes a brief steam, a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of salt, or a drizzle of good quality olive oil to transform an ingredient to a meal. Last Tuesday night, we enjoyed red quinoa, mung bean sprouts, sauteed garlicy spinach and quick ‘pickled’ japanese salad turnips. A sprinkle of garlic scapes (immature flower stalks), balsamic vinegar and olive oil is all the dressing it needs.
Building a Farm Fresh Bowl: A Story in Pictures
(with some words for clarity)
Wash greens well. My favorite way to wash greens: Rinse in a colander, then spin wet dirty greens. The dirt separates from the greens due to centripetal force; I call this kitchen physics. Keep greens wet–the water will help the greens cook.
Heat some olive oil, and add chopped garlic or garlic scapes. Add wet greens and cover, with the heat on low, for 5 minutes. Uncover, and drizzle balsamic, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
These are garlic scapes. They are a delicious spring delicacy.
Since I tried them for the first time last year, I have been waiting to eat Japanese salad turnips again. They are a sweet, delicately pungent vegetable that takes very well to light pickling. To add some crunch and acidity to the vegetable bowl I made this lemony turnip ‘pickle’. Slice turnips, add zest of lemon, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss and let sit for a few minutes before serving. (When zesting use organic citrus whenever possible since the pesticides reside in the peel.)
Round out the meal with bean and whole grain of choice (we’ve been on a millet kick lately, but ran out hence the red quinoa), and dress with oil and vinegar… Bon appetite!
© 2008-2010 Sustainable Pantry
June Can Jam – Berry Berry Good
We live in Forest Hill, Queens. It’s pretty urban here — while not as industrial as Western Queens (like Long Island City), or as suburban as Eastern Queens (like Douglaston), we straddle the line between the city and the suburbs, and there’s nothing that resembles a farmer’s market nearby. So it has been pretty unbelievable to join up with the Forest Hills Tuv Ha’aretz CSA, and get delicious, fresh, organic vegetables 6-months out of the year straight from Golden Earthworm Organic Farm. This is our second year with the CSA, but last year, due to a couple of rain-outs, we never made it out to the farm. This year, we were determined and we made the trek out to Jamesport on an early June weekend to go Strawberry picking. How fortuitous when I found out that this month’s Can Jam ingredient was ____berries! It didn’t take long for me to fill in that blank. I mean, when does anyone in central queens have the opportunity to PICK then PRESERVE anything? Umm….never.
The farm is incredible. Located on a windy road just past Riverhead, on the North Fork of Long Island, it is picturesque. Hence the below pictures. In addition to the fields, and green houses, Golden Earthworm also keeps heritage breed sheep, pigs and goats. We actually ran into one of the farmers, Matthew, as we walked around the farm. What a privilege to have the opportunity to thank the farmer that grows one’s food!
With strawberries this good looking (and good tasting), I really didn’t want to do that much to them, so I decided to just can them in a simple syrup. The recipe was adapted (for batch size) from Ball’s Complete Book of Home Preserving.
Strawberries in Syrup
Recipe makes one 12 oz jelly jar with a few generous tablespoons left over to eat directly from the pot
My jar boiled over during processing (I guess I didn’t have the full 1/2 inch headspace), and didn’t have time to re-process. I ended up just wiping the lid, re-closing, cooling, and putting it in the fridge. Canning experts — is it still OK? Do I need to boil again before I eat, safety-wise?