This week your basket contains: Delicata squash, Rainbow Lacinato kale, leeks, celeriac, beets, collards, and potatoes

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  We are very happy to be back to deliveries after our time off and pleased with the way the gardens look right now (wet but still producing).  I love soup, so this time of year I am very happy.  I am also very fond of celeriac, so it is in most of my soups.  This is one of my favorite recipes.

CREAMY CELERY ROOT AND BARLEY SOUP

1/4 cup pearl Barley

1 large celeriac

4 cups water

3 cups vegetable broth

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup half-and-half

2 Tbs butter

1/2 cup milk

1 leek or onion

Cook barley with 3 cups of water and salt until tender.  Drain and set aside.  Peel celeriac and dice into 1-inch cubes.  Mince leek including tender portion of greens.  Melt butter in heavy saucepan, add leek and celeriac.  Sauté until color changes slightly (3-4 min.).  Add broth and remaining cup of water, bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered until celeriac is tender (15-20 min.).  Remove from heat.   Roughly puree half of the celeriac/leek mixture, return it to the pot.  Add the barley, milk and half-and-half, stir well and heat to serving temperature. Do not allow the soup to boil.

With the wealth of greens in this week’s basket, this is the first recipe that came to mind.  It can be made with the beet greens, kale, and collards.

SOUTHERN MIXED GREENS

3 lbs greens coarsely chopped

2 ham hocks

1 qt. water

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 med. onion chopped fine

2 Tbs red wine vinegar

black pepper

Trim fat from ham hocks and set aside.  Put ham hocks in heavy saucepan and cover with water.  Add red pepper flakes and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 45 minutes.  Render some of the pork fat in a skillet, add onions and cook slowly until they begin to brown.  Drain and add to ham hock broth.  Simmer until meat begins to fall from bones.  Stir in the greens, cover and cook about 30 minutes stirring and lifting the greens occasionally.  Add vinegar and pepper to taste.  Put meat and greens on a serving plate and serve pot liquor in separate small bowls.  We use the nitrite-free ham hocks from New Seasons. We have also substituted smoked extra firm tofu for the ham hock with good results (you need to use olive oil to replace the ham fat) when we wanted a vegetarian alternative. From Winter Harvest Cookbook by Lane Morgan.

Rainbow Lacinato kale is a variety developed in the Willamette valley by Frank Morton.  In addition to being particularly well suited to our growing conditions. While it has a lot of variability from plant to plant, its mixed parentage gives it some of the best qualities of Russian kales and the Italian Lacinato type kales. It is great in soups or made into kale chips (we have a couple of recipes for that on our web site).  As far as soups go, it is hard to beat this one.  We like to use a smoky flavored sausage when we make this like Verboort or kielbasa.  You can also add smoked paprika or bacon to get that flavor.

PORTUGUESE KALE SOUP

6-8 kale leaves                    

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 lb. potatoes

2 Tbs. butter

1 lb. chicken sausage         

2 qts. vegetable or chicken broth

1 c. chopped onions

2 c. tomato sauce

1/2 c. chopped carrots

1 1/2 c. cooked kidney beans

2 tsp. chopped garlic

salt and pepper

In a large pan, sauté onions, carrots, and garlic in oil and butter, cooking until softened, about 5 minutes. Add broth and peeled and chopped potatoes. Simmer, partially covered for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked. Mash potatoes against the side of the pot (or puree with some of the broth and return to pot). Stir in tomato sauce and beans and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add sautéed sausage and kale leaves cut into strips. Cook 5-10 minutes longer and season to taste. Adapted from The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash.