Week 10: The wilderness outdoor adventure with veggies edition

In their shares this week, members will receive the following vegetables:

Sweet onion, sweet pepper, sage, summer squash/zucchini, cauliflower or broccoli, kale, beets, slicing and pickling cucumbers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and green beans for farm shares.  

This newsletter includes a roundup of news from the farm as well as information and recipes. Feel free to jump to the bottom of the newsletter to find the section titled, “This week’s veggies and recipes.”

Here is this week’s video check in:

News from the farm

When we went to the Boundary Waters recently, our packing list looked a lot like everybody else’s, with some exceptions. We had our tent, canoes, life jackets, bug nets, and all of those things, but we also brought with us carrots, sweet onions, garlic, kohlrabi, kale, and other fresh garden veggies.

I know that doesn’t surprise anyone, but what we hope it does is encourage you to think about how easy it is to make fresh vegetables a part of any meal and every meal, no matter where you are—even if you’re in the middle of the Boundary Waters.

We’ve had Kale Week this year and Flower Week, so I guess this week is Outdoor Camping Adventure Vegetable Week—unless that already exists. In our recipes this week and in the photos you’ll see, we’re sharing with you some of the things we ate while we were in the Boundary Waters. Did it add a little bit more weight to our bags? Yes. But did it make each meal refreshing and delicious? Absolutely.

We hope the message for you is that some fresh herbs and vegetables always add that next level of tastiness and health to whatever it is you’re eating—even if you’re on an island in the middle of Basswood Lake, watching the sunset.

We hope you will also share your favorite ways to eat veggies on the fly. We’re all so busy that we don’t think we have time to eat well—but we do. And the funny thing is, it doesn’t take that much more work.

This week’s veggies and recipes

Curried quick pickles

Quick pickles

John has become the master of the quick pickle.  David Chang’s recipe is what started it all.

https://shop.momofuku.com/blogs/recipes/quick-pickles

Pesto and veggies

Kale & Garlic Scape Pesto

We made this pesto ahead of time and froze it.  For one of our dinners on our trip we added the pesto to brown rice with quick pickled veggies (recipe to follow)

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1 cup garlic scapes, roughly chopped

• 1-2 cups kale, de-stemmed

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• ¼ teaspoon sea salt (plus more to taste)

Instructions:

• De-stem the kale and roughly chop the garlic scapes.
• In a food processor or blender, add the ¾ cup olive oil, 1 cup garlic scapes, 1-2 cups de-stemmed kale, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon sea salt.
• Process thoroughly until everything is mixed well and the pesto has a smooth consistency.
• Taste the pesto and add more salt if needed.
• Transfer the pesto into a jar to refrigerate if not using immediately

Veggie “loaf” with gravy

This was very much an improvisational meal, but we can offer some guidance. The one caveate is that this meal is possible because of the piece of camping gear given to John by his stepfather, Jack Dalton. It’s a fancy camp stove that you can use to make breads and biscuits and, apparently, a veggie loaf.

Ingredients for loaf

• Precooked back of rice (we used brown basmati)
• Garlic: the proper amount
• Bullion: They sell it in cubes
• Dried mushrooms
• Carrots
• Onions
• Other veggies: Whatever you have, just put it in there.
• Herbs: Whatever you have but thyme travels well
• Protein: We used some Trader Joe’s fake meat stuff, and it was fine. But if you’re a carnivore, you could add some summer sausage or you could also add some red lentils?

Ingredients for gravy

• Rice flour
• Vegetable bullion
• Water

Instructions

Heather-Marie can’t do gluten, so this gravy works for her. Take three tablespoons of rice flower and mix if with equal amounts of water. Stir until flour disolves. Heat water with bullion and then add slurry. Add salt, pepper and any spices you like.

Sage

Sage tips

• Sage goes well with pasta, soups and stews
• Can be used fresh, or hung to dry and used later
• Used in tomato sauces, roasted vegetables, risotto, breads
• Can be cooked in butter for a simple sauce
• Add fresh to salads, along with other herbs

Pasta with Butter, Sage and Parmesan                 

by Mark Bittman for NYT

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound cut pasta, like ziti
• 2 T butter
• 30 fresh sage leaves
• 1 cup or more freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add salt.  Cook pasta until it is tender but not quite done.

While the pasta cooks, add butter to a skillet or large saucepan.  Turn heat to medium and add the sage.  Cook until the butter turns nut-brown and sage shrivels, being careful not to burn the sage.  Then turn the heat down low.  

When the past is almost done, take out one cup of cooking water and save it.  Drain the pasta.  Immediately add the past to the butter and sage mixture in the pan.  Turn the heat up to medium.  Add half of the pasta water and stir.  The mixture will be soupy.  Cook for about a minute, or until the water is absorbed and pasta is done.

Stir in the cheese and the sauce will become creamy.  Thin it with more of the pasta water if necessary.  Season liberally with pepper and salt to taste, and serve immediately.