July 24th Dundas

Veggie Box contents:

- Eggs

- Spinach - going to seed, but will replant some for fall, arugula also

- Potatoes - Yukon gold and Russian blue.  roasting intensifies the blue while boiling will fade it.

- Chard - I have planted some yellow and pink chards for the fall.

- Snap peas - smooth shell.  sweet and you can eat the whole thing.

- Shelling peas - rough shell.  fibrous, so only eat the peas.

- Broad beans - do not eat the shells, very spongy.

- Collard greens

- Herb mix.  mild Greek oregano, chives, and basil.

- Beets.  golden beets are very juicy and sweet, great for shredding into salads.
              save the beet greens!  check out last entry for Vij's recipe for them.

Beets, beets, beets, beets, beets, beets... everybody

Beet Greens Sauteed in Ginger, Lemon and Cumin:

The beets are coming!  5 types, all with greens: Chioggia, Bull's Blood, Golden, Cylindrical, and Detroit Red.

Taken from Vij's At Home, Relax Honey by Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala (page 62-63 if you've got the book).

Instead of the radish, I have used Swiss Chard stalks successfully.  

1 1/2 lbs beet greens (about 2 bunches) chopped in 1/4 inch pieces

1 lb daikon, red radishes, or turnips, peeled and thickly cut into "shoestrings" 2-3 inches long

2 T. finely chopped ginger

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

4 T. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt (Note: the original recipe calls for 1T. salt, but I find 1 1/2 tsp to be plenty. Add more to your own taste).

2 T. ground cumin

1 tsp ground cayenne pepper (optional)

1/3 cup cooking oil

Place greens and daikon (or radish or turnips) in a large bowl. Add ginger, lemon juice, sugar, salt, cumin and cayenne and mix well. Just before serving, heat oil in a wok or large frying pan on high for 30 to 45 seconds. Add vegetable mixture, including all the lemon juice at the bottom of the bowl. Heat greens, stirring regularly for 4-5 minutes. Serve immediately. (Serves 8).

Potato Salads

There are 4 different types of potatoes in the garden this year.  First up are the Yukon Golds, followed with the Russian Blues.  The Fingerlings are the smallest, but take the longest?  Here's an article on how to store potatoes - turns out I shouldn't have rinsed them shortly before bagging!  If they are still wet, let them dry off.

Kale & Potato Salad:

Collard Potato Salad:

Sesame Roasted Snap Peas:

Greens leftover? Make Soup!

In France this recipe for simple, nutritious soup is made with wild greens that you might forage on an afternoon’s walk, such as nettles, watercress and dandelion greens. If you must use one green, I recommend Swiss chard.  Can't argue with the NYTimes. 

What to do with garlic scapes?

Scapes are the shoots that grow out of the ground from hard-neck varieties of garlic. When they're young and tender, they look like curly green stalks with tightly closed buds on top.  But scapes offer more than a slightly rowdy alternative to garlic. Because of their substantial heft as opposed to garlic cloves, they are vegetable, aromatic, and even herb all in one. seriouseats blog has 7 ideas for what to do with them.