CSA Newsletter July 2: Baby bok choy, kale, rhubarb, herbs and garlic scapes

Today’s delivery marks the start of the ninth season that Rising Phoenix Community Farm has been delivering vegetables to members. Many of the vegetables you’ll take home with you began their lives on frigid spring days when there was still snow on the ground outside.

Ensuring that each week over the course of the growing season, CSA members have a diverse variety of vegetables to choose from is part planning, part luck and part the mercy of the growing season. If farming is a ballet, then the farmer is the choreographer, planning out the planting and harvesting of vegetables in a season-long performance that we hope members appreciate. All the planning in the world, though, doesn’t guarantee the plants and conditions will cooperate. A few plants, like lettuce mix, were scheduled for these first weeks but have simply not succeeded.

Of course, as those familiar with how CSAs work know, the start of the growing season in Minnesota is slow, beginning with mostly leafy greens before picking up steam in late July and August, when the variety of vegetables becomes more intense. 

This year, our growing season started cold, turned dry and, lately, has been quite wet. Overall, we are very pleased with the shares we can deliver on this first week and optimistic about what will be coming out of our field in the weeks to come. 

At the farm, we are nearing the end of planting phase of the season and now moving into the cultivation phase (meaning we are weeding a lot). We are so grateful to all the CSA members who have come out to help us get this season going.

We look forward to seeing all of you when you pick up your shares this week.

In your shares this week

This week’s vegetables are baby bok choy, kale (a mixture of three varieties), radishes, rhubarb, chives, oregano and garlic scapes. Garlic scapes, for those who don’t know, are the flower of the 

Not sure what some of these vegetables are or what to do with them? 

Here are a few recipes we hope will inspire you. 

Garlic scapes

Garlic scapes are the tender, green shoots that first emerge from the bulb in the ground, which eventually flower.  By snapping them off, stopping the flowering process, more energy is put into growing nice, big garlic bulbs!

• Use in replacement of garlic bulbs; can be eaten raw or cooked
• 1 stalk = 1 to 2 cloves
• Do not wash and store!  This will make the stalks slimy.  Store in a paper bag in the refrigerator.
• We put stalks, chopped or whole, in ziplock bags in the freezer.

Baby bok choy

Bok choy is an Asian green that is most commonly used in stir fry dishes. It is an early season favorite for us that must be harvested before it gets too hot or it will “bolt” and start to flower. 

For this vegetable, we asked CSA member Scott Laderman for some suggestions on how to prepare it. Scott is an accomplished cook who is especially adept at preparing dishes from Southeast Asia. The recipe he shared with us is simple and lets the vegetable speak for itself. 

(Note: Scott and his wife, Jill Torres, introduced John and Heather-Marie and are the reason we are together today!)

“Keep in mind that it’s really just a basic vegetable dish to accompany other Cantonese dishes,” Scott told us. 

Ingredients:

2 or more baby bok choy

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoons soy sauce (or coconut aminos if you have soy allergies)

¼ cup water or a splash of stock

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons neutral oil (grapeseed oil or peanut oil)

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon corn or potato starch

1 garlic scape, grilled or simply chopped into small pieces

Instructions:

1. Wash and chop the bok choy into bite sized pieces. (Another option it to halve the bok choy lengthwise and brush with olive oil if you are going to grill it.)
2. Mix together other ingredients including garlic scape (exclude the starch) and heat through. 
3. Cook the bok choy. Option 1 is to throw the chopped bok choy in a hot skillet with a few tablespoons of oil. Option 2 is to take the bok choy cut lengthwise and put on a hot, oiled grill and cook until slightly wilted with a little char.
4. Once the bok choy is cooked until just tender, reheat sauce and whisk in starch until it thickens. Add sauce to bok choy and stir to heat through. 
5. Serve on rice, as a side dish or all by itself. 

NOTE: Because Heather-Marie has some food allergies, we modified this dish slightly. We did not use oyster sauce and substituted coconut aminos for soy sauce. We also added a little rice wine vinegar and fish sauce (because, why not?).

Massaged kale

This is one of our favorite kale recipes. John first got this recipe from Catherine Winter, who is now a member of the Rising Phoenix CSA. 

from Eating Well

2 bunches kale

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup lemon juice

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 minced anchovy fillet or ½ teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Strip leaves from the stems (discard stems). Wash and dry the leaves. Tear the leaves into small pieces and place in a large bowl. Add Parmesan, oil, lemon juice, garlic, soy sauce, anchovy (if using), pepper and salt. With clean hands, firmly massage and crush the greens to work in the flavoring. Stop when the volume of greens is reduced by about half. The greens should look a little darker and somewhat shiny. Taste and adjust seasoning with more Parmesan, lemon juice, garlic, soy sauce and/or pepper, if desired.

Mary’s Rhubarb Cake

This cake won’t last long. It’s pretty darn good. The recipe comes from Heather-Marie’s longtime friend Mary Moody.

Cake ingredients:

1 ½ cups brown sugar

½ cup shortening (oil, applesauce, etc)

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

3 cups* rhubarb

2 cups flour

topping: 1 tsp vanilla

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix all cake ingredients together.  Pour into 9×13 inch pan. Mix topping ingredients; sprinkle on top of cake.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Devour.  

*You can always add more than 3 cups!!  I think the original recipe only calls for 1 cup. 

Jack’s Fabulous Grilled Romaine Lettuce & Buttermilk Chive Dressing

This recipe comes from former CSA member Jack Kelly.

4 heads of Romaine lettuce

1 small red onion

2 T olive oil

Cooking spray

Buttermilk Chive Dressing (see below)

½ c freshly grated parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Discard tough outer leaves of Romaine, and cut in half lengthwise, keeping leaves intact.  Peel onion and cut in half, then cut each half into 4 wedges. Brush lettuce and onion with olive oil (or you can just spray with cooking spray).

Grill onion wedges until desired doneness.  Place Romaine halves, cut sides down, on the grill.  Cook 2-3 minutes, or just until wilted.

Divide lettuce on serving plates and top with onion wedges.  Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with parmesan.

Buttermilk-Chive and Oregano Dressing 

¾ c buttermilk

½ c mayonnaise 

2 T chopped chives

2 T chopped oregano

1 T minced green onion

1 garlic clove, minced

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

Serves 8