 Vegetable Profile: Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare var. dulse)
Description: Fennel, a member of the carrot or Apiacae family, has many edible parts: the bulb, stalk, lacey leaves, and seeds are all used. It's native to the Mediterranean, and serves as a beautiful, flavorful staple on our farm in the cooler months. It has a sweet and spicy flavor with some bitter undertones. Some compare it's flavor to licorice, but I don't feel that does it justice - each part of the plant has a slightly different flavor. You'll have to try it yourself to see what it's truly all about. Nutrition: Fennel is a warming plant that tonifies essential organs like the kidneys, bladder, liver, spleen, and stomach. The whole plant carries these actions but the most potent use for medicine comes from the seeds. The seeds can also help with indigestion, gas, hypertension, and mucus build up. It has been noted as a supportive food for breastfeeding. It also contains the antioxident quercetin, which has anticarcinogenic properties. Storage: Fennel leaves are delicate and wilt when left out. Keep those in a watertight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Fennel bulbs and stalks are a bit more sturdy - they will last in the crisper drawer for 4-5 days. Seeds can be dried and stored in your spice rack! Use: Popular uses for fennel include pickles, sausage, vinegar, and even apple pie! You can also use it in place of celery, it can be served in salads, braised, sauteed, baked, broiled, or grilled! Sources: The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia by Rebecca Wood Asparagus to Zucchini by Fairshare Coalition Produce: A fruit and vegetable lover's guide by Bruce Beck Our own experience!
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Celtuce is a new variety on our farm - sometimes called "Celery lettuce", "Asparagus lettuce", or less enticingly "stem lettuce". Even though it may look unusual, it is one of the easiest and most rewarding of the unusual vegetables. The leaves can be used as a tender bitter green to be chopped up and cooked, but the main attraction is the stem - peeled of the outer skin like a kholrabi, the inner stem is crisp, sweet, and delicious. Nutrition: Celtuce is packed with vitamins and minerals, including iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin C, and B vitamins. It has a cooling nature, and its flavors are sweet and lightly bitter. Storage: Celtuce can be stored in a water-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or so. Use before stem becomes soft or hollow. Use: Peel the outerskin with a vegetable peeler first. Cooked: Sautee in stirfry, use like a water chestnut, radish, or celery Raw: Thinly chop the inner stem into strips and use in place of cucumber in a salad or sandwich. Sources: The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia by Rebecca Wood Asparagus to Zucchini by Fairshare Coalition Produce: A fruit and vegetable lover's guide by Bruce Beck Our own experience!  Herb Profile: Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)
Description: Nasturtium is a newer addition to our farm fare, and a unique one! Relative of watercress and radish, it has a similar taste in a beautiful package - edible, tender, showy flowers and lily-pad like leaves. It's a fun addition to any dish, on salads, sandwiches, eggs, or stuffed - and it will definitely be show stopper at any potluck. I like to add nasturtium leaves to the mix when I make deviled eggs - that extra horseradishy bite melds so well with the richeness of the egg yolk and olive oil mayo. The flowers make great edible garnishes, and are definitely an eye catcher! Nutrition: Pungent in flavor, they are warming to the body systems. They can help aid digestion and help people with slow metabolism or cold extremities to the touch. Storage: The flowers are delicate and won't last longer than a couple of days, the leaves are a bit sturdier. I recommend refrigerating them in a water tight container and using in 2-3 days. Use: Fresh: Pesto, salad, deviled eggs, dressing, infused vinegar Sources: The Gift of Healing Herbs by Robin Rose Bennett The Rodale Encyclopida of Herbs The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia by Rebecca Wood Moonwise Herbs Our own experience!  Herb Profile: Lemon Verbena (Aloysia triphylla)
Description: Lemon verbena is a tender 1-2' tall annual in our climate, but in Argentina and Chile where it originated, it grows up to 15 feet tall! The aroma is intoxicatingly sweet and citrus-y, definitely a show stopper. It's used to make a tasty tea, in lotions and oils, and as a spice. Nutrition: Lemon verbena is most often used as a tea to aid digestion, tonify the stomach and intestines, is a calming and soothing nervine, and is helpful in cases of fever. Storage: Lemon Verbena is so cold tolerant that it doesn't keep well in the fridge. Best to either keep in a glass of water on the counter and use within 2-3 days, or simply hang to dry for tea or cooking right away. Use: Use fresh or dried for baking, teas, sweets, stirfried vegetables, or anywhere you would like an extra hint of lemon! Sources: The Gift of Healing Herbs by Robin Rose Bennett The Rodale Encyclopida of Herbs Our own experience! Enjoy the best icecream ever with this recipe from our CSA member, Joe Sutyak!
Ingredients:
Tools sauce pot, medium size with heavy bottom mixing bowls Rubber spatula Wire whisk mesh strainer Serving vessels  Vegetable Profile: Melons (Cucumis melo) Description: There are two types of melons: the muskmelon, and the watermelon. Watermelon has seeds embedded in the flesh, whereas muskmelons contain their seeds in an inner pulp. They readily cross pollinate, and there are too many different varieties to name here. However, the melons we grow are adapted to our tempurate climate (most melons are heat-loving, long-season crops), and they are selected for best flavor instead of long shelf life. Nutrition: Melons are a cooling food for the dog days of summer, when it's too hot to turn on the stove and cook a meal. They are 94% water. They are soothing to the lungs, and may help relieve headaches and depression when associated with inflammation. Orange-fleshed melons contain a viable source of beta-carotene and potassium. Storage: We harvest our melons ripe, so it's best to use within the week and to refrigerate if possible. It's easiest to do so by cutting it up and removing the rind right away and storing in a waterproof container. Use: Fresh, raw, and juicy, all on its own or in fruit salad. Sources: The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia by Rebecca Wood Asparagus to Zucchini by Fairshare Coalition Produce: A fruit and vegetable lover's guide by Bruce Beck Our own experience!   Herb Profile: Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
Description: Parsley is one of the most quintessential plants that come to mind when someone says the word "herb", yet few people appreciate parsley for its true potential. Must more than a decorative garnish, parsley is a gentle nourisher and with an invigorating, fresh and versatile flavor. We grow Italian flat parsley, having found a preference for the texture and flavor over curly. Nutrition: Parsley is full of essential vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C, B complex, calcium, and iron. Claims of toxicity only apply to parsley essential oil (which we do not recommend). It acts as a digestive aid and supports the bladder, kidney, and stomach. It is rich in antioxidants, and even freshens the breath! Storage: Parsley keeps well in the fridge in a watertight container for up to 5 days. If drying parsley, use a dehydrator (not an oven!), as it bruises and yellows easily. Use: Fresh: Finely chop the parsley, leaves and tender stems and all, and work it into stir fry, rice and beans, scrambled eggs, sauteed mushrooms, or toss it into salads. Dried: After drying, parsley can be used as a base for soups and broths. Sources: The Gift of Healing Herbs by Robin Rose Bennett The Rodale Encyclopida of Herbs The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia by Rebecca Wood Moonwise Herbs Our own experience!  Herb Profile: Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis) Description: Rosemary, while it will never grow to its natural shrub-like proportions in our temperate cold climate, is an herb that we hold in high esteem. Each year, we make a point of growing it and selling the seedlings even though it may not be nearly as productive as other annuals. This is because of the unique and intoxicating aroma it offers, and its deep cultural significance for many people. Traditionally, it has symbolized both love and death. It as been used as "poor people's frankincense" when burned at funerals to remember loved ones. There was a long standing tradition in Greece of wearing sprigs of rosemary braided into the hair for remembrance as well. It was used by scholars and students, as well as marrying couples. Nutrition: Beyond its cultural significance, rosemary is a highly renowned culinary herb. It's warming and drying in nature, and its piney, pungent, minty sweet flavor harmonizes with poultry, dish, beef, lamb, pork, and game. It complements tomatoes, mushrooms, squash, cheese, eggs, lemils, and other herbs like chives, thyme, parsley, and bay. It can be used internally as an astringent tonic, and externally as a pain reliever. It's rich in antioxidants and supports the lung, heart, kidney, liver, and spleen. Rosemary also tonifies the nervous system, invigorating mental functions and alertness (and indeed, memory!). Storage: Keep in the fridge in a watertight bag and use fresh within 3-5 days, otherwise hang to dry. Use: Dried: I love cooking and making tea with dried rosemary, because you can easily remove the leaves from the stem when crisp by simple running your fingers down the stem or rolling it between your palms. Fresh: Rosemary used fresh is best to infuse cream, broth, butter, oil, vinegar, or other liquid and used in dishes as a sauce, dressing, gravy, or soup base. The texture of the fresh leaf itself can be tough to chew, but the fresh flavor translates beautifully. Sources: The Gift of Healing Herbs by Robin Rose Bennett The Rodale Encyclopida of Herbs The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia by Rebecca Wood Moonwise Herbs Our own experience!   Vegetable Profile: Beets (Beta vulgaris)
Description: Beets are curious creatures. Their secret sweet flavorful goodness comes out best when roasted in coconut or other stable saturated fat, and in fact they boast some of the highest sugar content of all the vegetables. Wild beets still grow in the Mediterranean where they originated, but today we enjoy many varieties of cultivated beets, from the beautifully stripped chioggia, to the golden beet, to the classic Detroit dark red. There may be no other vegetable as misunderstood, nor as beautifying to the plate, as the beet. Nutrition: You might notice that after a healthy helping of beets, that you have some pink-tinted urine OR stools. Not to gross you out, but check it out: according to Dr Jeffery Bland, PhD, pink urine may indicate an iron deficiency, while magenta stool indicates adequate iron levels. Who knew! But what traditional healers who used beets knew, that science is now able to validate, is that beets support the blood and nourish the heart, liver, and large intestine, and kidneys. They also promote healthy menstruation, and the ancient Romans belived them to be an aphrodisiac. Today, we know they are high in boron, which is a mineral critical for the production of human sex hormones. Beet greens are also high in calcium, vitamin K, folic acid, and iron. Storage: Unbruised peppers can store well in the fridge without getting soft for up to a week. Once you bruise or cut into one, it should be used within 2 days. Use: Cooked: Cook with the skin on. Toss in a generous amount of fat and roast in the oven at 400 degrees until tender. Fermented: Beets rich sugar content makes them excellent food for beneficial microbes. I like to make a salt brine, cube them, and mix them with onions and ferment for a week for a fermented beet relish. Stores in the fridge and stays crisp for YEARS. Pickled: Beets complement vinegar brine very well. In soup: Borscht is a classic dish to make with beets. Beet greens may be substituted for chard in recipes. Sources: The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia by Rebecca Wood Asparagus to Zucchini by Fairshare Coalition Produce: A fruit and vegetable lover's guide by Bruce Beck Our own experience!  Vegetable Profile: Sweet Peppers (Capsicum annuum)
Description: Sweet, or "Bell" peppers are the mark of late summer. They come in a variety of colors and shapes. Nutrition: Peppers provide a quality source of vitamin C when eaten raw, but we generally love them cooked or fermented! They are a gently heating food and help to support healthy blood circulation and kidney function. They also contain zeaxanthin, which can help prevent cataracts. Storage: Unbruised peppers can store well in the fridge without getting soft for up to a week. Once you bruise or cut into one, it should be used within 2 days. Use: Cooked: Peppers go great on the grill, in stir-fries, omelettes, and more! Fermented: They can also be lacto-fermented, or pickled. Frozen: Peppers freeze quite well. Simply slice and blanch them and place them in the freezer in a freezer bag. Sources: The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia by Rebecca Wood Asparagus to Zucchini by Fairshare Coalition Produce: A fruit and vegetable lover's guide by Bruce Beck Our own experience! |
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