Lentil, Vegetable, Quinoa Salad

by Carrie Vaughn

I make this dish a lot in the summer because it's quick, easy, healthy, it can accommodate whatever I have on hand, and I can happily eat leftovers for days without heating up my kitchen.  I don't bother measuring the ingredients--it's easier to just assemble it and then adjust to taste.  Just about every ingredient is optional, so don't get hung up if you're missing something.  

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 cup french lentils
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or bouillon
• juice of one lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• black pepper
• a few cucumbers, chopped
• 3/4 cup parsley, chopped (mint and basil also work well alone or in combination)
• 3/4 cup olives (I usually use green olives), plus 2 tablespoons of the brine
• green onion, chopped
• about a cup of your choice of other vegetables, such as chopped tomatoes, 1" pieces of steamed green beans, frozen or fresh peas, lightly sautéed chunks of squash and carrots, fresh or frozen corn kernels, or chopped sweet peppers

Preparation:

• Put the lentils in a small, covered saucepan with 2 cups water.  Bring to a boil and then simmer until the lentils are tender but still hold their shape (about 30 minutes).  While they're cooking, continue the recipe.  When they are finished cooking, pour them into another container or onto a plate to allow them to cool to room temperature (or at least cool enough that they don't cook your parsley and cucumbers).  You can make them a day ahead.
• Put the quinoa in a small, covered saucepan with 1.5 cups water and the salt or bouillon.  Bring to a boil and then simmer until the quinoa is tender but still al dente (about 10 minutes).  Just like the lentils, you'll want to cool it down before assembling the salad, if you can.  
• If any of the vegetables need a flash of cooking, do that now (such as the green beans, squash or carrots).  Let them cool.  If any of them need to be thawed, set them on the stove near your boiling pots so they warm up a bit.  
• In a small jar, add the lemon juice, a splash of liquid from a jar of olives (you'll be using the olives later in the recipe), paprika, garlic, olive oil and black pepper.  Close the jar and shake it until the dressing is well blended.
• Assemble all the ingredients once they are warm or room temperature, pouring half the dressing over the top.  Now taste the ensemble and adjust for your preferences.  Perhaps you want to use the rest of the dressing.  Needs to be a bit sweeter? Add more tomatoes or corn.  Needs more zing?  Add more lemon or vinegar.  Too heavy?  Add parsley.  Needs more salt?  Add more olives or olive brine.  Have fun!

Recipe: Black Pepper Tofu with Napa Cabbage

This recipe is based on this one from Feastingathome.com

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 8–12 ounces firm tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes (you can substitute beef, chicken or shrimp, but do not use soft or silken tofu)
• corn starch for dredging (optional)
• 2 tablespoons wok oil (high heat oil like peanut, coconut or vegetable)
• 1 teaspoon fresh cracked peppercorns
• 1 green onion, sliced (green and white parts)
• 4 garlic scapes, rough chopped
• ~10 ounces Napa cabbage, chopped roughly

Black Pepper Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce 
• 2 tablespoons Chinese Cooking Wine (Shaoxing Rice Wine or Mirin) or sub dry white wine, pale sherry, or rice wine.
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar (or sub palm sugar, coconut sugar or agave)
• ½ teaspoon fresh cracked peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon any kind of chili paste (optional)

Instructions

1. Cut tofu into cubes and blot dry with paper towels, pressing down gently.
2. Make the black pepper sauce in a small jar, and shake until most of the sugar dissolves. 
3. Prep the green onions, garlic scapes and cabbage.
4. Dredge the tofu in a light coating of cornstarch (cornstarch is optional, but provides a crispier texture).
5. Heat oil in a wok or heavy skillet until the entire pan is very hot and the oil shimmers.  Add the crushed peppercorns to the oil, swirling it around until fragrant, about one minute.
6. Add the tofu to the seasoned oil, and sear on all sides until golden and crispy, turning the heat down if need be. Be patient and take your time, it will take about 5-6 minutes.
7. Set the crispy tofu aside on a paper towel-lined plate, and wipe the pan out.
8. Heat another teaspoon or two of oil over medium heat, and add green onions, garlic scapes and cabbage. Stir continuously until cabbage begins to wilt, about 3-4 minutes. It will smell amazing.  Add the black pepper sauce to the pan, careful to get all the sugar that may have settled in the jar.
9. Simmer for a couple of minutes, or until cabbage is just tender.
10. Toss the tofu back into the pan with the cabbage and sauce.  Taste for salt and heat, adjusting to your preference.
11. Serve immediately, dividing between two bowls.

This Week's Share: Garlic Scallions, Mixed Greens and Asparagus

Here's a nice photo of Farmer Joe at his recent birthday party on the farm! Thanks to Lewis Tennenbaum for sending this our way. Want to see your photos featured in this weekly email? Just snap a pic -- from the farm, from your CSA share itself, or even a recipe you make with your Clagett produce -- and either email it to us or post it to Instagram with the hashtag #ClagettFarm!   

 

Welcome to the first week of the 2018 season!  Need any reminders of how the share pickups work? Here's everything you need to know.

 

THIS WEEK'S SHARE

• 1/4 pound lettuce + spinach
• 1/4 pound tat soi OR 1 bag stinging nettle
• 1/4 pound total combination spicy mix + arugula + asparagus
• 3 seedling plants
• 1/2 pound garlic scallions

 

NOTES

• Not sure what to do with those garlic scallions? Here are some good recipes
• So what about strawberries? We've gotten a handful of questions about the strawberry forecast at the farm. We are sad to say that we had a strong crop of strawberries, but they have been decimated by deer. We have already planted a new field which will produce for next season, and we're working on a fence to protect them. We are as disappointed as you in our lack of strawberries. Onward! 

 

ON U-PICK THIS WEEK:

In addition to the vegetables we harvest and deliver for the CSA shares, each week we'll let you know the items that are available for you to pick in unlimited quantities out at the farm. This week that includes: garlic chives, thyme, oregano, sage, sorrel, onion chives (edible flowers), stinging nettle (Be sure to wear gloves, sleeves, pants and closed-toed shoes!). 

That's it for the week! Enjoy the share! 

~ The Clagett Farm Team

This Week's Share: Turnips + Recipe Ideas + Honey For Sale

(This photo via TheBittenWord.com)  

Happy Tuesday!

It's looking to be rainy during today's pick-up, so we've prepacked some shares. Hopefully this will help everyone get in and out quickly. Before we get to the share, an announcement:

Honey For Sale!

For a limited time only, we're offering home-grown honey produced by local beekeeper artisans! One of our CSA members, Clark Reed, has some bee hives in his yard in Rockville, Maryland. He has made Autrian Gold honey, produced from Black Locust and Tulip Poplar trees. We'll be selling the honey at the CSA pick-ups. The jars are $10 per one-pound jar of honey -- $1 of each jar benefits Clagett Farm. Bring your cash or check to the pick up if you would like to buy some over the next month or so.We'll keep you updated on how many jars are left.

Fun fact: How many flower visits = one pound of honey? One million!

 

And now here's what you'll find in Week 19 of the CSA:

• 1 head garlic.
• 3/4 pound greens including choices of arugula, kale, spicy mix, tatsoi, purple mezuna, tender greens, and Southern Giant. 
• 2 1/2 pounds total combination winter squash (small quantity), tomatoes, peppers, summer squash and beans.
• 5 1/2 pound total combination turnips, radishes, potatoes and eggplant.

 

Recipe Ideas: Turnips!

The turnips came in in full force this week, so you'll see a lot of them at the share. If you remove the greens (which are edible) and store them in your refrigerator, they will last a long time. Here are some recipe ideas for using them:

• Braised Turnips with Poppy Seed Bread Crumbs
• Glazed Turnips
• Grilled Turnips with Garlic
• More Turnip Ideas from our Archive

 

On U-Pick this week:

If you want to come and u-pick, you can find a map of the fields and locations at the Wash Station when you arrive at the farm, denoting where to find the fields listed below. Here's what's on offer this week. 

• Greens! Almost all the greens except the kale are on the u-pick list. 
• Tomatoes -- still available, though there are not many of them. Lots of green tomatoes.
• Cherry tomatoes. 
• Ground cherries. They're sweet and still a good amount of them. 
• Tomatillos (these are dwindling)
• Chiles (lots)
• Celery. The celery is too tough to eat raw, but it's great for cooking. There is lots of it -- pick it and make stock!  
• Swiss Chard. It will improve as the weather cools. 
• Beans are in two fields as of this week. Lots in C1. The ones in B3 are more suitable for shell beans.
• Okra -- there's lots of okra right now. Come and pick it! Especially on a Monday or a Friday -- we want you to pick it and enjoy it. 
• Herbs: Basil (in the high tunnel). Plus Oregano, sorrel, parsley, onion chives, coriander, dill seed, stevia, lemongrass, anise, Mexican sour cucumbers, thyme, lemon balm, sage, garlic chives. 
• As always, any flowers are always fair game.  There are a lot of nice flowers on the farm right now. 

 

A preview of what's to come:

• Lots more greens on the way, including more kale. Bok choy will be ready next week. This week is likely the last of the summer squash. This is also the last week of the potatoes.

Enjoy this week's share, and let us know if you have any questions about your produce or how to use it! 

Have a great week,

-- Clay

Recipe Ideas: Swiss Chard and Zucchini

In advance of today's share, I wanted to post a few recipe ideas that will use ingredients you'll receive later today (at least I think you will as of this a.m.). These were all submitted by fellow CSA members -- if you have other recipe recommendations, email them to me or post them here on the blog, and I'll include them in a future recipe round-up!

And don't forget that our blog has a great archive of recipes recommended from previous years. Check out the categories on the left-hand side of the page to see the recipes broken down by vegetables. 

-- Clay 

 

 

 

 

9 Healthy Recipe Ideas for Zucchini (including vegan ideas)

Over on our Facebook page, CSA member Fred shared this great link for Healthy Zucchini Recipes That Taste Like Guilty Pleasures. There are 9 great ideas there -- check them out! 

 

Tomato Chard and Gruyere Casserole 

Also on Facebook, Amanda shared this recipe for Tomato, Chard and Gruyere Casserole, from Food & Wine magazine (pictured above, courtesy of Food & Wine). 

 

A Dish That Uses Chard and Potatoes

And Lea submitted this recipe for Blitva, a dish found all over former Yugoslavia. She says it's the most likely side dish you'll see in Bosnia or Croatia and is equally delicious next to fish, meat or on it's own. It happens to use Chard and Potatoes, both in this week's CSA. Here's the recipe!

BLITVA

Ingredients:

• Swiss Chard (or any other green leafy vegetable - I used the full amount from last week's share)
• Potatoes (I used 4-5 from the CSA share last week)
• Garlic 1-3 cloves but to taste
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 small white onion
• parsley

1. Begin by preparing the chard by removing the stalks, and any leaves that are damaged. Rinse well. Separate the stalks and chop into 1-2 inch pieces, keep in a different bowl.  Slice the leaves thinly.

2. Often you peel the potatoes, but I love the skins so I just cut them into pieces. Put the potatoes into water with about 1 Tablespoon of kosher salt - this is important, and boil/simmer for about 15 mins until the taters are soft but not falling apart.

3. When the potatoes are starting to become soft, add the chard stems for about 3 mins, then throw in the chard leaves and cook until both the potatoes and the chard are soft.

4. Meanwhile, mince the garlic, parsley and thinly sliced onion (this is optional - I used one of the small white onions from the CSA because it looked too yummy to not be thrown in - it's not usually found in this dish however.

5. When the chard is done, strain the water.

6. Heat some olive oil in a pan and add garlic to it. I find that garlic can brown very easily so I usually add the oil and garlic at the same time to a cold pan, then let them heat up together - sacrilegious but I never burn garlic now.  Fry for a minute or two, add half the parsley, then add the chard and the potatoes.

7. Continue frying the vegetables until the water has evaporated and the flavour of garlic and olive oil has permeated the chard and potatoes. Some of the taters will break apart and give the dish a creamy texture - this is fine - it's served both ways in Bosnia/Dalmatian Coast - as a distinct two vegetable dish or as a creamy mixture much like Colcannon.  

It's hard to mess this one up  - it actually tastes a bit better if the potatoes and chard are left in the simmering water a bit too long.  I keep the water from the boil pot and use it in soups to save all the nutrients.  

 

 

 

Recipe Ideas: Turnips

(This photo from CSA Member Krossbow on Flickr)

 

With a healthy dose of turnips in this week's share, I thought it might be useful to share with some you some ideas for how to use them in the summer months -- particularly, recipes that don't require long periods of roasting or stewing. With that, here are six ideas for using turnips in the summer!

 

Raw, in salads -- Slice them thinly and add them to salads uncooked, just as you would a radish. 

Pickled turnips -- Make some quick-pickled turnips and eat them on their own or on sandwiches. 

Turnip Kimchi -- This is another take on pickled turnips with slightly different flavors. 

Turnip and Kholrabi Slaw -- We made this a few years ago and loved it. 

Japanese Turnips with Miso -- Requires more cooking than the recipes above, but looks delicious. 

Grilled Turnips with Garlic -- Simple and tasty. 

 

Do you have a favorite use for turnips when it's warm? Share them here in the comments! 

-- Clay 

Ideas and Recipes for Using Garlic Scallions

(This photo from CSA member Krossbow on Flickr)

Of all the items currently in the CSA share, I suspect that Garlic Scallions -- a whole pound this week -- may be the most difficult for some of you to use. Hopefully these ideas will help you find ways to use them in your cooking. 

First, a tip on searching for recipes: Look for anything that includes "garlic scallions" or "green garlic." The two terms are interchangeable. 

Here are a few recipes to get you started: 

• Roasted Lemon and Garlic Scallion Herb Pesto -- This is a recipe from this blog, way back in 2006!

• Spinach and Green Garlic Souffle -- From Epicurious.com. 

• Asparagus With Green Garlic -- From NYTimes.com. 

• Quinoa Pilaf with Sweet Peas and Green Garlic -- From today's NYTimes.com. Asparagus could be substituted for the peas here. 

• Grilled, with a mustard sauce -- Last week, we used our garlic scallions by marinating them in some soy sauce, grilling them for a few minutes until they had a nice, light char, and then served them with a mustard sauce. You can see a very simliar recipe for Charred Spring Onions with Mustard Cream Sauce on our blog. 

Other ideas for using garlic scallions? Please leave them in a comment! 

-- Clay 

Cooking with Winter Squash

(Photo from CSA member Krossbow on Flickr)

This week's share includes the last of the winter squash -- pumpkins, acorn squash and butternuts. (Blame Irene!)  

With only a brief appearance in the share, you'll no doubt want to make the most of these squash. 

Here are a few ideas for how to use winter squash, be it from the share or another source this winter. 

 

Acorn Squash

When we cook acorn squash at home, we keep it very simple. As we once shared on our blog, The Bitten Word:

Split 'em across the middle, scoop out the seeds, shave off the top and bottom so the two halves can sit upright. Then slather each half with a little salt, add a pat of butter and a glug of maple syrup, and bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

It's easy and no-fuss. You can get fancier though. Here are a few more options:

• Stuffed Acorn Squashes -- This version incorporates meat, but you could easily make it vegetarian. 
• Acorn Squash Soup with Kale -- This uses two ingredients found in this week's share.
• Acorn Squash Puree -- This method could be used for butternut as well. 

 

Butternut Squash

And here are a few ideas for using butternut squash. 

• We've loved this Butternut Squash Risotto, which we've made a number of times. 
• Butternut and Apple Soup -- As temps drop, it's time for soup!
• Twiced-Baked Butternut Squash -- A nice substitution for potatoes. 
• Pasta with Butternut Squash and Pecans -- A nice-looking vegetarian pasta. 

 

Do you have a favorite winter squash recipe? Please share it here!

Wildlife Sightings + Recipes for This Week: More Zucchini and Greens Ideas

(Photo from CSA Member Deborah Starobin Armstrong)

Here are some new ideas for how to use the vegetables in this week's share. Plus, a great photo and story below from a CSA Member who had a wildlife encounter while at the farm.  

Have an idea to share? A recipe for a certain vegetable you're wanting? Leave it here in the comments or shoot me an email. 

 

Swiss Chard and Collard Greens

CSA member Bonnie suggests this Creamy Swiss Chard Pasta that she made and enjoyed. 

Fred made this Baked Cheese Polenta with Swiss Chard, which he says he really liked. (Chard is on u-pick this week.) 

If you still have collards, Bonnie also recommends this recipe for Kickin' Collard Greens. I'm planning to try this one myself tonight, as we have a big bag of them that need to be used up. 

 

Squash and Zucchini

Nichole shared this link from Saveur magazine, which has compiled a bunch of ideas for zucchini. 

I've personally been eyeing this Shaved Summer Squash Salad from Bon Appetit, which looks light and fresh. 

And of course there are more ideas in our archives for zucchini, squash, chard and greens. 

Recipes for This Week: Zucchini, Chinese Cabbage and Kale

(This photo from TheAbsentMindedProf on Flickr)

Got a recipe you'd like to recommend to other CSA Members? Shoot it in an email to me and I'll include it in the next recipe round-up!

Zucchini

With 6 pounds of zucchini in this week's share (or if you happened to be doubling up this week 12 pounds of zucchini!), many of you are no doubt looking for some new ideas for how to use it.

Last season, we featured quite a few Zucchini recipes here on the blog. You can see those here.

And here are few more new ideas -- we'll continue to share more as the summer rolls out.

The April issue of Food & Wine featured a Fried-Zucchini Spaghetti that looked great.  I'm eager to try it with our zucchini from this week's share.

In the comments of yesterday's post, Rebecca shared that she's eager to try these two recipes from her favorite blog: Baked Zucchini Fries and Zucchini Cheese Quiche. 

Chinese Cabbage

Lots of us either got Chinese cabbage this week or have some left over from previous weeks. Maria sent in thsi recipe for Sesame Noodles with Cabbage that she had tried and thought was great.