Summery Delights in your CSA Share

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Date: July 12th 2010

In Your Share This Week--A Selection from the following:

Carrots

Beets

Cabbage (last of the season)

Kale

Malabar Spinach

Daikon

Summer Squash

Basil

Green Beans

Onions

Garlic

Reminder: CSA RULES. One of the many beauties of the CSA arrangement is that there is no waste. There are 220 members of Henry’s CSA, so every week Henry picks exactly 220 bunches of carrots, 220 heads of broccoli, 200 zucchini, and so on. And of course, a few extra of each item to stock the Exchange Table.

But for the past two weeks, this elegant system has not worked as it should at the Bloomington pick-up, because as the final 10 or so families came to pick up their shares, the carrots and broccoli had mysteriously disappeared. Not so mysteriously though, because the only way it could have happened is if someone had earlier taken more than their share.

So please take only the amount specified on the signs, and take every item, even ones you are not intending to take home. Then, when you get to the Exchange Table, do a 1-for-1 exchange. If you put in one item, take back one item. If you put back 2, take 2. Everything on the Exchange Table is not up for grabs. Do not put back beets and then take three heads of broccoli in exchange because then two families won’t get their allotment of broccoli at the end of the evening. But if everyone follows these simple rules, then everything will work out perfectly. Thanks!

NEW PICK-UP Location in Peoria: This will be the last week for Peoria members to pick up at the Nature Center. To make things easier for everyone, especially in inclement weather, the pick-up location will move to Marcella’s place at 240 NE Randolph, behind Methodist Hospital. Marcella will have flyers with this information available at the Nature Center pick-up this week.

Food Notes: As you can see from the long list of items this week, summer is here! Most of the items are old familiar favorites, but they may not all be in the old familiar format you’re used to. I’m talking primarily about the onions and garlic. Because of the heavy and almost constant rains in May and June, the outer layers of some of these root crops started to decay in the warm, moist soil. A conventional large-scale onion or garlic farmer would have had to destroy the whole crop because a wholesaler won’t buy anything that isn’t cosmetically perfect.

But in a CSA arrangement, we are able to explain the situation to you and salvage a good bit of the crop simply by peeling off the wet outer layers of the onions, or by taking out a clove or two of garlic. What you get may not look like the items in the grocery store, but while cosmetically imperfect, they are nutritionally perfect. Please enjoy them, knowing that you are helping us do what our Grandma Henrietta always implored: “Waste not; want not!”

Fennel. One of the less familiar crops you’ll see this week is the beautiful feathery fennel. I was skeptical of fennel at first, because of its anise aroma and the strange architecture of its white bulb and celery-like stems. But one taste of the sweet, crunchy, delicate vegetable made me a convert.

Fennel is a versatile vegetable that plays an important role in the food culture of many European nations, especially France and Italy. Its reputation dates back to the earliest times and is reflected in the Greek myths that associated it with Dionysus, the god of food and wine. It was revered by the Greeks and the Romans for its medicinal and culinary properties, and for good reason. One cup of sliced fennel has only 27 calories, but large amounts of Vitamin C, folate, and potassium.

In addition, fennel has unique phytonutrients including the flavonoids rutin, quercitin, and various kaempferol glycosides that give it strong antioxidant activity. The most interesting phytonutrient in fennel may be anethole--the primary component of its volatile oil. In animal studies, the anethole in fennel has reduced inflammation and helped prevent cancer. Researchers have also proposed a biological mechanism that may explain these anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects by showing how anethole is involved in the shutting down of a intercellular signaling system called tumor necrosis factor (or TNF)-mediated signaling.

Tips for Preparing Fennel: The three different parts of fennel--the base, stalks, and leaves-are all edible. The bulb is often used in salads or on sandwiches—or on its own. The stalks can be used for soups, stocks and stews, while the leaves can be used as an herb seasoning.

A Few Quick Serving Ideas:

·         Slice thinly and put in a bowl of water in the refrigerator for a quick snack any time.

·         Add to a green salad instead of radish or cucumber.

·         Sauté fennel and onions as a side dish.

·         Adorn your sandwiches by adding sliced fennel along with, or instead of, traditional toppings of lettuce and tomato.

·         Top thinly sliced fennel with plain yogurt and mint leaves.

·         Pair fennel with cheese, fruit, and a citrus-y vinaigrette.

The crunchy, slightly sweet taste adds a refreshing note to whatever you’re making.

Simplest Fennel Salad

1 or more fennel bulbs, with ferns
Olive oil
Fresh ground black pepper

Wash the bulb thoroughly and remove the stalks with the ferns, setting them aside for use later. Slice the bulb into thin rings and place on a serving plate. Drizzle oil and sprinkle black pepper to taste. Add fern tufts as a garnish.   For a slightly fancier fennel salad, add grapes or oranges and some aged gruyere.   Or go all the way by tossing in a handful of fresh walnuts, some prosciutto, or top with white anchovies.

Sauteed Fennel Salad

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and sliced vertically
salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 cups salad greens
1/2 onion, sliced very thinly
1/4 cup parmesan shavings

Heat the oil in frying pan over medium to high heat. Add the sliced fennel in a single layer and season with salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown. Turn and season browned side, cook a few minutes more until second side is golden. Remove to a serving plater, then scatter over the leaves, onion and cheese.

Add the vinegar to the frying pan and heat gently, scraping up any caramelized bits. Pour over the salad and serve.

And don’t forget the daikon, a large, mild radish that is high in nutrition (like all of the Brassica family), and low in calories. It is excellent either raw or cooked, and can be boiled, grilled, sautéed, or put into soups or combined with roaster root vegetables. When cooked, it is mild and sweet.

Carrot and Daikon Salad

Light vinegared salads can be made with most any vegetable. In Shizuo Tsuji’s Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art, the author pairs carrot and daikon radish in a refreshing dish with a sweet and sour dressing called amazu. Salt shreds of deep orange carrot and white daikon radish to release their liquid, then knead the vegetables to create icicle-like shards of daikon. The dressing is made from mild rice vinegar, sugar, and water heated and then cooled. Toss it with the crunchy vegetables and refrigerate the dish for at least 30 minutes (it’s even more flavorful if left overnight). Traditionally, the salad is served in small plates but add this mixture to a bowl of salad greens and you have an appealing variation.

1	large carrot, cut into 2-inch-by- 1/2-inch matchsticks
1	medium (1 pound) daikon radish, cut into 2-inch-by- 1/2-inch matchsticks
1	teaspoon salt
1/4	cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1 1/2	tablespoons sugar
1/4	cup water

1. In a large bowl combine the carrot and daikon radish matchsticks. Add the salt and toss lightly. After several minutes, mix and lightly knead the vegetables with your hands. Working over a colander set in a bowl, gather up the vegetables in your hands and squeeze out the liquid. Rinse and dry the bowl. Place the vegetables in it.

2. In a glass bowl, mix the vinegar, sugar, and water. Heat in a microwave for 1 minute or until the sugar dissolves. Alternatively, heat the mixture in a small saucepan. Cool to room temperature.

3. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the vinegar mixture onto the vegetables. Mix with your hand and then squeeze the liquid from the vegetables. Discard the liquid.

4. Add the remaining dressing to the vegetables. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to two days.

Enjoy!

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