In this week’s share:
- spinach – green-stemmed greens in a plastic bag
- frisee – lettuce-like heads of bitter frilly greens
- kale – bunch of dark green leaves
- rainbow chard – bunch of multicolored greens
- collard greens – bunch of large flat greens
- pac choi – bag of green leaves with white stems
- kohlrabi – purple bulbs with green leaves and purple stems
- salad turnips – white round roots with greens
- radish – bunch of roots of various colors and shapes
- baby beets – bunch of red roots (greens are tasty too)
- cauliflower
- oregano
Farm News & Recipes
Keeping greens fresh and crisp in the refrigerator can be tricky. We’ve found that the best method for the larger greens (kale, chard, collards, frisee, etc) is to lay them on top of a cloth towel or paper towel, roll up the towel with the greens inside, and store in the fridge. Turnips and radish do best in the crisper drawer. The baby greens (anything in a bag – like spinach, choi, or other baby greens) are the most delicate so try to eat these as soon as possible. To extend their life a little, put a paper towel inside the bag and tie it closed, leaving some air inside the bag. If you see a couple of leaves starting to turn, remove those before they contaminate the rest of the mix. Herbs can be stored in a cup with a little water inside the fridge.
NOFA-NY has a great blog post with information and recipes for lots of spring greens.
Don’t be intimidated by the bitterness of frisee – it mellows out in the classic French dish Frisee aux Lardons.
We were left with a box of turnips and radishes that weren’t pretty enough to put in your shares last week, so I pickled them this weekend. The recipe says you need to let them sit in the brine for a couple days, but for roots this fresh they really only need an hour or two. I also encourage you to try the salad turnips raw – I bite into them like apples while I’m out in the field. They are also great sliced thin in a salad or dipped in hummus.
Check out our recipe page for more ideas. Enjoy your veggies!