CSA

Recipes

Each week, we include a couple recipes in our email newsletter to help you think of fun and tasty ways to cook your fresh produce. We try to balance the more complex recipes with plenty of quick, simple recipes. We know what it's like to have to fix a hot meal after a busy day of work!

Below are some of the recipes archived from our weekly newsletters.

Click on the vegetables below to jump to recipes.
(More recipes coming soon.)

Spring & Fall
... Kale, Chard
... Arugula, Mustard, Tatsoi
... Fava Beans (& Greens)
... Garlic Scapes
... Cabbage
... Broccoli, Cauliflower
... Fennel
... Kohlrabi
... Celery

Summer
... Summer Squash
... Cucumber
... Tomatoes
... Peppers
... Eggplant
... Snap Beans

Storage Crops
... Winter Squash
... Roots, Potatoes
... Garlic
... Onions & Leeks
... Dry Beans

Kale Chips
The healthiest chips you've ever tried (and tasty to boot!)

Ingredients
1/2 bunch Red Russian Kale
light olive oil
salt 'n' pepper

This is a tasty, healthy snack-and it's incredibly quick and simple. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Chop the kale into broad strips. Lightly oil a baking sheet, and spread the kale strips out over the sheet and toss a bit to coat with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then place sheet in the oven. Bake until the strips are crispy-but be careful not to burn! Now you've got kale chips. Enjoy!

Raw Kale Salad
We love using Lacinato Kale (aka Dinosaur Kale) in raw salads. Although we don't have a well-calculated recipe of our own-we tend to chop it up, grate a raw beet into it, and toss everything with a homemade mustard vinaigrette-here's one we found on the "kale aficionado's" blog that's a little more specific and gourmet with its ingredients.

For the salad:
1 bunch lacinato/dino kale
1 medium sized golden beet, peeled and coarsely grated
3-4 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
1 cup crumbled feta (optional)
a generous sprinkling of sesame seeds (optional)

For the dressing:
5 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. white wine vinegar (apple cider vinegar or balsamic will work too)
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

De-rib the kale (i.e. remove the tough, central spine) and very finely slice the kale leaves cross-wise (so they end up in thin strips several inches long.) Toss the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Wisk together dressing ingredients, then toss with salad. Allow salad to marinate at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.

This salad can rest for days without getting slimy and limp. That sturdy kale is more than a match for any dressing, which means you can snack with pleasure and leisure on this salad for about three days.

Kale & Sausage over rice
Soy or meat sausage will work...we sometimes use the soysage but often use sausage from the farmers' market.

Ingredients:
1 bunch Red Russian (or Lacinato) Kale, sliced cross-wise into thin strips
1 Sausage or soysage per person, sliced into round chunks (or how ever much you like)
Garlic
Light olive oil
Salt 'n' pepper
1 cup cooked rice per person (cooked in vegetable or chicken broth for more flavor)

Saute the garlic in hot oil for a few minutes, then add your sausage chunks. Keep moving over the heat with a spatula for a few minutes, until it is cooked through and starts to brown. When the sausage it ready, add the kale and stir until it shrinks down. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy over a bed of rice.

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Fava Bean Crostini
Favas can be made into a tasty hummus-like spread. This recipe has been adapted from www.foodista.com. The foodistas say this about it: "Quick and easy fava bean crosini are the perfect dish to celebrate the coming of spring. The most time consuming part of this recipe is shelling the beans but once that has been accomplished, the dish takes only minutes to make. Fava beans are cooked in boiling salted water before being sauteed with garlic and a squeeze of lemon juice. You can smash the beans in the pan or for a smoother consistency, place them in a food processor. Spread the fava bean paste on slices of toasted bread and top with parmesan cheese- it's really that simple. Fava bean crostini makes for great party food, a delicious snack, or a simple lunch."

Ingredients
1 cup of double shelled (outer pod & inner shell removed) fresh fava or broad bean (see the preparation description in the "What's in Your Box" section of the newsletter.)
couple glugs of olive oil
garlic clove, skinned, whole
squeeze of lemon
water
shaved parmesan
salt & pepper
baguette or crusty bread, sliced & toasted

Throw the fava in a pan & cover with water & a little salt. Bring to a boil & lower to a simmer. Cook a couple of minutes until the fava are tender. Drain.

Return the pan to the heat. Pour in a couple glugs of olive oil and the garlic clove. Fry the garlic until browned. Then discard garlic.

Toss the fava into the pan & saute for a minute or two. Then begin mashing with the back of a wooden spoon until you form a paste. If you need to add a bit of water, do so.

Remove fava paste from heat & season with salt & pepper add a squeeze of lemon.

Toast slices of good bread & rub warm fava mixture & top with shaved parmesan. You can drizzle a little really good quality extra virgin olive oil as well if you like.

Whole Roasted Fava Beans
This recipe is adapted from the San Francisco Chronicle. Roasted favas can be shelled and used in any recipe calling for fava beans. The roasted beans can be enjoyed as a finger-food snack or side dish.

Rinse the whole pods. Toss clean whole fava pods with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Spread on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast at 450 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until tender. (Timing depends on the size of the pods.)

Put the roasted pods in a shallow bowl, and sprinkle with your finest sea salt. Serve to guests a la edamame (i.e. to be shelled and eaten), or if the pods are small and tender enough, eat them whole. The roasted exterior pods become tender and tasty, similar to roasted peppers in texture.

Fava Green Pesto
From Fairview Garden CSA: "This recipe completely changed my relationship with fava leaves. Sure, I added them to quiches and sautes, but the leaves never inspired me as a culinary ingredient. So after reading about fava leaf pesto in the New York Times, I decided to see if this sauce could be as creamy, spicy, and wonderful as traditional pesto. Try this recipe for yourself and you'll see why I'm a convert."

2-3 cups of fava leaves, washed
1/3 cup of pine nuts (you can also use California sunflower seeds for a local food alternative)
1 green garlic stem (washed and chopped), or 2 garlic cloves (chopped)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until creamy. Toss with pasta or spread on baked polenta. This is just another reason to love spring.

Fava Green and Poached Egg Salad
And two final recipes both adapted from Sunset Magazine...

2 cups lightly packed fava greens (leaves and tender sprigs)
1 tsp. fresh sage leaves
1 tsp. fresh oregano leaves
2 tbsp. sliced leek
1 1/2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tbsp. Meyer lemon juice
Sea salt, to taste
1 large egg

Put fava greens, herbs, and leeks in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, whisk oil, lemon juice, and salt to taste.

Crack egg into a small cup. Heat a saucepan of water until small bubbles form. Gently lower egg into water and cook just until whites set, about 3 minutes.

Toss salad with most of dressing and transfer to a plate. Gently scoop egg from water with a slotted spoon and set on salad. Drizzle remaining dressing over egg.

Garlic Scape side dish
We like to think of garlic scapes as sort of a garlicky green bean. This is perhaps the simplest and most delicious way to enjoy them.

Garlic Scapes (as many as you like to use)
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

Chop scapes into inch-long pieces (using everything but the flower head.) Keeping some curly-cues intact can be fun.

Heat oil in a pan, then toss the scapes in and add salt and pepper. Cook until the scapes have softened and are lightly browned.

Garlic Scape Pesto
If you're ready to graduate to a more complex garlic scape recipe, here's one to try. This recipe is adapted from The Fruit Guys Almanac.

3-5 garlic scapes, finely chopped (you can scape up if you'd like more quantity.)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup slivered almonds or chopped walnuts
Salt to taste
Olive oil as needed for consistency

Using a food processor, place chopped scapes, Parmesan, and slivered almonds (or walnuts) in the processor, turn on, and gently stream in olive oil until mixture is the right consistency to spread.

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Roasted Beets and other roots
This is a simple and delicious way to prepare beets. It is especially beautiful when using 2-3 different beet varieties together.

Ingredients
2-3 large beets
Light olive oil
Salt and pepper
(Note: you can also prepare baby carrots in the same way. Just wash them and chop the stem off. No chopping necessary if they're small enough. This can go nicely tossed together with the beets.)

Preheat the oven to 350. Peel the beets and dice (into roughly 1/2 inch cubes). Spread them over a baking pan, then drizzle oil lightly over the top. Toss the beets through the oil to coat all around, and then shake salt and pepper over them generously (to your liking). Stick the pan in the oven to roast. Check on the beets every 10-15 minutes, using a spatula to scrape under the beets and mix them around so that they brown and caramelize all around.

Beets & Feta Salad with a Balsalmic Reduction
We love tossing together roasted (or boiled) beets with some nuts, cheese, and a nice dressing--and a balsalmic reduction is delicious if you like your salad tart and tangy. A friend taught us how to throw together a salad like this; we usually make it up as we go, but we found a very similar recipe that we've copied for you below. It's taken from a blog called "Eggs on Sunday"-- thanks to the writer for making this available!

Ingredients (for 2 main-course salads)
For the salad:
2 medium-large (2 1/2 in. diameter) cooked beets, cubed or cut into wedges
1 bunch greens, torn into bite-sized pieces (I use a small bunch of kale, but you could use any kind of salad greens you like; just use enough for two servings)
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 of a 4-oz. log of goat cheese, crumbled (roughly 4 tbsp)
For the dressing:
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey
pinch each of salt and pepper
For the balsamic reduction:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

To cook the beets:
There are 2 ways I like to cook beets--baking or roasting. To bake the beets, cut off the greens (if they're attached) and leave about an inch of stem above the beet. Place the whole beets, skin still on, in an 8 x 8 baking pan. Fill with water just so it covers the whole bottom of the pan, then cover the pan tightly with foil. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the beets are tender when pierced with a fork (you kind of just have to check; it will take more or less time depending on the size of your beets.) Once the beets come out of the oven, let them sit with the foil still covering the pan for about 15 minutes. Then, remove the foil and peel the beets--the skins should be so loose that you can just slip them easily off. Be prepared for your hands to get really, really bright pink--it washes off afterwards! Cut up the peeled beets into 1/2 inch cubes. Or, to roast the beets, cut off the greens and peel the skins off the beets with a vegetable peeler. Cut the raw peeled beets into 1/2 inch chunks, toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and place them on a baking sheet. Roast for about 20-30 minutes, until the beet chunks are tender.

To assemble the salad:
First, get the balsamic reduction going. Place 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil until the vinegar has reduced to a syrupy consistency, about 5 minutes (should yield about 1 tbsp.) Turn off heat and set aside until your salads are ready. In the bottom of a large bowl, make the dressing by whisk together 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp honey, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Add washed (and spun dry) greens of your choice directly to the bowl (on top of the vinaigrette). Using a large spoon, toss the greens with the vinaigrette. Divide the dressed greens among two plates.

Now, top your greens with the beets, crumbled goat cheese, and walnuts. Finally, drizzle your balsamic reduction over the tops of the salads.

Potato, Onion, Arugula and Brie Pizza
Makes enough topping for one 14 inch or two 8-10 inch pizzas (Modified from the Earth to the Table, by John Ash)

Ingredients
1 recipe Basic Pizza Dough
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup sliced onions (the green onions will do nicely)
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground pepper
12 ounces red potatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
6 ounce Brie, thinly sliced
1 cup loosely packed arugula leaves

Prepare basic pizza dough. Preheat oven to 500 F preferably with a pizza stone or brick-oven insert in the oven. In a deep, heavy bottomed pan, heat the olive oil and saute the onions until crisp-tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, blanch the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Cool in ice water to stop the cooking, drain and pat dry.

Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the dough. Layer the potatoes evenly on top. followed by the onions and the slices of Brie. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bake the pizza for 12 to 15 minutes on the top rack. Scatter the arugula on top and slice and serve immediately.

Roasted Baby Beets with Braised Greens
A fresh and trouble-free way to enjoy these tender, tangy young beets.

Ingredients
Baby beets, 1 bunch with beet greens attached
Vinaigrette of choice (I typically use 3 parts olive oil, 1 part balsamic vinegar, with a dash of salt and pepper; sometimes adding honey and/or lemon juice can be nice.)
Salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Rinse the beets, leaving the greens intact, and remove any small yellow leaves. Prepare the vinaigrette (I usually do this by pouring the ingredients into a mason jar, sealing a lid, and then shaking vigorously.) Place your beets on a baking pan or broad pyrex baking dish, and the drizzle the vinaigrette over them, coating the greens and beets. Toss the beets and greens to make sure they are well coated. The dressing should be enough to moisten the beets and let the greens sit in a shallow pool. Now you cover the pan with aluminum foil and place it in the pre-heated oven. After 25-30 minutes check the progress; you'll want to make sure the largest beets have cooked through. (To go for a crispier finish, you can remove the foil for the last few minutes.) Serve as a side dish or eat over a bed of rice.

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