This week your basket contains: potatoes, onions, beet greens, RUTABAGAS, radicchio salad greens, and celeriac

We hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!  Now that December is here, we are looking forward to our delivery schedule through the New Year.  Your next two deliveries  Dec. 13^th & 20^th will be double baskets.  We will skip delivery on Dec. 27^th and Jan. 3^rd then be back to normal deliveries on Jan. 10^th.  This information is also on our web site’s home page.  Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you to everyone who responded to our question about the acceptability of vole-nibbled beets.  We did our best to accommodate your preferences. We harvested your beets with an eye to the greens but included the roots as well and felt that any nibbling on the roots would be easily trimmed.  While the recipe below calls for a lot of greens, it is easy to scale to the greens you have on hand.

GARLICKY BRAISED GREENS

3 Tbs. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

5 minced garlic cloves

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup water

Salt and pepper

2 Lbs. greens, stemmed

2 tsp. lemon juice

Heat 2 Tbs. oil in Dutch oven until shimmering. Add onion and cook until lightly browned.  Stir in garlic and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant (30 sec).  Stir in broth, water, and ½ tsp. salt.  Bring to a simmer.  Stir in chopped greens a handful at a time and cook until they start to wilt.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer until greens are tender (25-35 minutes).  Uncover and increase heat to medium high.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until bottom of pot is almost dry, and the greens start to sizzle.  Take off heat.  Stir in lemon juice and 1 Tbs. oil.   Season with salt, pepper, and extra lemon juice to taste.  Adapted from Vegetables Illustrated by America’s Test Kitchen

While rutabagas grow well for us in the garden, they tend to be somewhat problematic in the kitchen.  The recipe below is perhaps the best way we’ve found to serve them.  We got this recipe from Riverford organics, the largest (franchised) CSA company in the United Kingdom where they certainly know their rutabagas (which they call swedes).

PUREED RUTABAGA WITH A CHEESY CRUST

1 rutabaga
2 Tbs. butter
pinch of salt
fresh herbs (e.g. thyme, parsley), chopped
4 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
1Tbs. sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds

Preheat the oven to 350⁰. Peel the rutabaga and chop into 2cm chunks. Boil in a large pan of water for 15-20 min. until soft.  Drain the rutabaga and mash with the butter. Add the herbs and season with salt. Transfer the rutabaga to an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with cheese. Sprinkle the seeds on top of the cheese. Bake for 20 min, until the cheese is bubbling.  From Veg Box Recipes website; Riverford Organic Vegetables – http://www.riverford.co.uk

Many people know to make a rice substitute from cauliflower, but few know that the same can be done with celeriac.  The recipe below is our favorite way of using it.

CELERIAC SPANISH RICE

1 celeriac, cubed

¼ cup tomato sauce

2 Tbs olive oil

1 leek

1 cup sweet peppers

¼ cup white wine

Salt & pepper

Microgreens for garnish (optional)

Pulse celeriac in a food processor until you achieve a breadcrumb-like texture.  Chop the leek, separating the whiter portion from the greener portion.  In a heavy skillet heat the olive oil until it starts to shimmer then add the whiter leeks and sauté until they start to soften.  Add the celeriac and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until the celeriac starts to brown.  Use the white wine to deglaze the pan, add the tomato sauce, green portion of leek, and sweet peppers (we use peppers we froze in the summer).  Cook until peppers and leeks are just tender. Add salt & pepper to taste, and adjust the moisture content with more white wine, water, or  stock to your preference.  Serve & top with microgreens garnish.