THIS WEEK YOUR BASKET CONTAINS: snow peas, snap peas, broccoli, spring onions, kale, turnips, beets, lettuce, and summer squash

Thank you to everyone who came to the farm on Sunday for our subscriber day!  We had a great time catching up with long time subscribers and meeting newer families.

I am always happy when we harvest beets and broccoli in the same week.  Below is one of my all-time favorite salads.

A great salad can be made with beets and broccoli.  We steam the broccoli and beets together with the sliced beets on bottom.  Generally, when the broccoli is done (i.e. just turned dark green and starting to get tender) the beets are also done.  We then toss them in a simple vinaigrette and can serve either warm or cold.  This vinaigrette is the one we use:

VINAIGRETTE

1 clove garlic

1 tsp salt

3 Tbs red wine vinegar

1 tsp wet mustard

5 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

black pepper

Press garlic into the bottom of  your salad bowl.  With a fork, mix well with salt until it forms a paste.  Mix in vinegar and mustard until salt is dissolved.  Whisk in olive oil to make an emulsion.  Add black pepper to taste.  These proportions are in no way set in stone.  You should experiment to find the proportions you prefer.  Also, other spices, herbs and vinegars can be used to vary the dressing.

The recipe below is great with snow peas, but can also be made with snap peas (we also have a version for beans).

GARLIC PEAS WITH FILBERTS

1/2 lb. bean, cut to 1-2 inch pieces

1 small onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup chopped filberts

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 Tbs. butter

salt to taste

Heat olive oil and butter in a heavy frying pan.  Sauté onions and garlic until the onions are translucent.  Add chopped nuts (almonds or walnuts can be substituted for filberts) and salt.  I tend not to use much salt when I cook, but this is one recipe where I use more than usual.  The effect you are shooting for is for the nuts to take on a salted, roasted taste.  Cook for 3-5 minutes.  Add the pess and cook stirring until they take on a dark green color.

We came across this recipe a few years ago, and were pleased to find a quicker, easier way to make kale chips which we like as a

TV-time snack.

MICROWAVE KALE CHIPS

5-10 kale leaves

4 tsp. olive oil

Kosher salt

Remove stems from the kale leaves and tear into 2-inch strips.  Wash and thoroughly dry the leaves and toss them with oil in a large bowl.  Spread approximately 1/3 of the leaves on a large plate and sprinkle with salt.  Microwave for three minutes.  If leaves are crispy, transfer them to a serving bowl; if not, continue to microwave leaves in 30 second increments until crispy.  Repeat with remaining leaves in two batches.  The kale chips can be stored for up to a week in an airtight container.