Recipes
Some vegetables are beloved by most everyone, while other vegetables often provoke the question: “How do you eat this?” We think you’ll find that vegetables fresh from the farm don’t need much to taste delicious: cooking them just briefly so that they retain full color and nutrition is often the way to go. We only grow vegetables that we ourselves love and enjoy, and we want you to discover their charms, so here are a few ideas for using some of the more unusual vegetables we offer:
Arugula
If you like arugula’s peppery bite, you probably already know that you can just drizzle it with your favorite salad dressing, maybe some flakes of grated hard cheese and a handful of nuts and enjoy. If you find arugula is too strong to eat straight, blending it into pesto can be nice. In this form it’s perfect for spreading on crusty bread or spooning as a garnish on top of your soup. Don’t save arugula for later, get to it as soon as you can as it doesn’t like to sit around.
Beets
One very lovely way to serve smaller beets is to halve them from root tail to stem so they make beautiful heart shapes. Then I steam them til they are just tender. Afterwards I tip them into a hot cast iron pan sizzling with a bit of butter, arrange them so the cut side is down, and wait for them to get crispy golden on their cut edges. These are beautiful to plate up a few at a time, with or without their steamed greens and goat cheese as an accompaniment. If you like pies, try steamed and grated beets and carrots packed in rainbow layers into a pie crust and then topped with a nice cheddar cheese and some sesame seeds. Bake until the cheddar is golden. Of course beets are also very nice in mixed roasted roots~ my preference is to cube and steam them briefly to shorten the baking time. And there’s always borscht which is quite lovely with a bit of creme fraiche or sour cream and a handful of dill.
Broccolini
We have come to prefer this bunching broccoli to heads of broccoli. This plant is much more resilient to our increasingly unpredictable weather than traditional broccoli. The long stems and leaves are all delicious, and can be enjoyed steamed just briefly until tender, but removed from the heat while the color is still bright green. If you want, you can tumble them in a pan with a little garlic and butter as a finishing step. We often serve them in elegant spears, much the way you would serve asparagus. I also love broccolini on our pizzas, in stir fries, or as a topping for a bowl of soup. The trick here is to not overcook, and to use it as soon as you can: it doesn’t like to sit around too long. You may find that if you don’t get to eat it right away, some of the florets open into their bloom stage. They are still perfectly fine to eat at this point.
Brussels sprouts
Some folks fear the bitter flavors Brussels sprouts can develop as a reaction to heat stress or growing stress. We aim to pick ours and share them with you after frosty fall nights have mellowed and sweetened them, and at this time of year they are sublime. I often cut them lengthwise, steam until just tender and then crisp in a bit of hot oil until golden edges form. This is a very simple and lovely way to make a side dish. Caleb loves to bake them into his Macaroni and Cheese along with cubes of winter squash. When I’m feeling fancy (and patient) at Thanksgiving time, sometimes I peel them into individual leaves and give them a quick dip in salted boiling water and then plunge them in an icy bath to set their crunch. Then they are lovely bright green cups that catch the toasted hazelnut bits and lemon and maple that I toss them with.
Cabbage, Napa
One of our favorite ways to eat Napa cabbage is in kimchi, but if fermenting vegetables isn’t your thing, try including some in chicken soup. I usually add it at the very end as it needs only a few minutes to cook. Napa cabbage leaves are great lightly steamed with carrots and sweet peppers and a little bit of ginger in sesame noodles. It typically stores a month or two in the root cellar for us when we harvest it in the late fall, and it will store fine in a perforated bag in the crisper drawer if it takes you a bit of time to get through it. It’s easy to peel off a leaf or two at a time and sliver into beautiful garnishes.
Eggplant
Some people are worried about eggplant being bitter. Because we pick ours young and tender and you get them right away, I usually find that bitterness is not an issue. I like to cube eggplant and sautee it in plenty of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. When it is tender through and through, practically melting, and getting a bit crispy on the edges, I mix through some basil, either Italian or Thai, depending on the other accompaniments. This is great served on top of curry with jasmine rice or with some crusty garlic bread, depending on your mood. Caleb prefers to roast them until they are falling apart and then puree them with roasted garlic and a bit of lemon, to make a spread or dip.
Fennel
I love to make thin slices of fennel, cut from root end towards the stalks. I crave the unique flavor these pale green crescents bring to salads and sandwiches. Fennel is also lovey roasted, where the edges start to carmelize. Fronds and stalks are edible, but the bulb is the main event. I include fennel in my white bean soup with kale (and sausage if you like). Fennel is elegant grilled in wedges or in fine slivers with cheese and crackers.
Herbs
In some middle eastern countries, people pass a plate of fresh herbs instead of a salt shaker at the table! And really, they do bring so much flavor and life to a dish, they can be transformative. Whether you are adding just a few sprigs, or making a potent pesto to transform the whole flavor profile of a dish, don’t forget the herbs! Remember that most herbs freeze very well in pesto form, so if you are overwhelmed by a whole bunch of herbs, you can easily blend them up with a bit of oil and salt and save them for later. I’m especially glad to have herbs on hand when I’m making a fresh salsa. I also like to mix good amounts of herbs into a salad to give it more interest, parsley being a favorite in this case.
Cabbage
Cabbage seems so ordinary, it’s easy to overlook how special it can be. But it is very versatile, and it can be elegant as well: cabbage can be stuffed with savory filling, the rolls tied up in tender packages and baked in cream. I love slivers of fresh cabbage on tacos, and in sesame noodles. Cutting fine slivers and tossing with a bit of salt really brings out the natural juiciness of cabbage, it has a lovely crispness to it served in this way. Using fresh raw cabbage in salads is a real treat: Tendersweet is the queen. You’ll know the Tendersweet by its flattened shape and the tender feeling of its leaves. I like mine with small bits of dried fruit and plenty of carrots and parsley, and a light dressing with lemon in it.
The trick is not to get overwhelmed ~ remember that Cabbage stores fairly well even once you have sliced into it, especially if you leave the core intact on the part you are saving.
Another nice way to serve cabbage is lightly steamed ~ I often do this in a shallow skillet with a glass lid so I can see just when the cabbage surrenders its rigidity~ then I take off the lid and let the excess water evaporate. Cabbage prepared in this way is tender and mild, nice as a side either alone or combined with a few other veggies~ say carrots and broccoli, for example. If you ever find cabbage to be peppery, which can happen especially if it’s grown in hot weather, have no fear! Just cook it, even a light steaming will do and the bite will subside.
Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi is odd looking and it has an odd name, but don’t let that stop you from discovering it’s charms! We offer you kohlrabi when it is young and tender. It is crisp and juicy and I like it best sliced thin when I’m eating it raw. Usually the stem end is a bit rugged and benefits from peeling, but the leafy end has tender skin which you can eat if you like. Also the leaves are edible, and you can use them anywhere you would use steamed Swiss chard or kale. One of my favorite things to do in the early spring is to slice kohlrabi quarters thin and mix them with red radish slices, lime, salt and parsley and eat this as a little salad or as a taco topping when it’s too early to have cucumbers in season. It may sound unusual, but it’s actually quite a nice substitute, as they are both crunchy and juicy. Kohlrabi is also quite at home in a stir fry with rice, or cut into batons and served as a steamed vegetable with carrots and broccoli. You can also cube it and include it in a vegetable soup.
Okra
Fried okra is the favorite preparation at our house. You can slice it lengthwise or crosswise into stars, and fry until crispy either all alone or tossed with turmeric or whatever spices you fancy. Caleb loves to fry the stars and then mix in sweet corn kernels and chunks of tomato. If you want, you can use okra’s ability to thicken a stew by boiling it, but if you’re turned off by that texture, please do try frying it for the chance to experience its lovely unique flavor. Just a few stars make a beautiful crispy garnish.
Salad Turnips
These tender white orbs are great raw, especially sliced thin with apples in a fall salad. My other favorite thing to do is halve them from root tail to stem so they make beautiful heart shapes. Then I steam them til they are just tender. This doesn’t take very long, maybe five minutes or so. Afterwards I tip them into a hot cast iron pan sizzling with a bit of butter, arrange them so the cut side is down, and wait for them to get crispy golden on their cut edges. These are beautiful to plate up a few at a time, with or without their steamed greens as an accompaniment.
Kale
The nutritional powerhouse! It’s hard to think of someplace I can’t use kale. I layer it into lasagna instead of spinach, I love it with eggs, I put steamed forkfuls on top of soup, I add it to pesto to make sure it’s a nice emerald green. It’s a key ingredient in our baked mashed potatoes, green ribbons bright against the golden mash and topped with parmesan and cheddar, baked until bubbly and golden brown. It’s best suited to a quick steam, which I often do separately so I can stop cooking it as soon as it’s tender and before it looses its bright emerald color. Then I can stir it through my dish to add loveliness. Another favorite place to use it is mixed with or in place of spinach in Spanikopita ~ the delightful flaky pastry with feta and ricotta and lemon. A dear friend always makes a gorgeous kale salad with pomegranate seeds at the holidays, which counts on an acidic dressing and a bit of a massage to tenderize the raw leaves.
Parsley Root
There is a loving grandmother who buys most of our parsley root crop to make a nourishing, traditional bone broth for all of her grandchildren. I use it often in winter stews in a small dice (or in very thin slices) as I would use other root vegetables, or add it into baked potato casseroles. It adds a lovely lilting flavor which brightens a winter day, reminiscent of fresh green summer flavors. It looks very much like a white carrot, and the leaves are edible and virtually indistinguishable from its cousin parsley.
Radicchio +Sugarloaf Endive
These cousins make up most of our late fall and early winter salads. Hardy and sturdy, they store in the root cellar for a few months after harvest. You can use one leaf at a time peeled from the outside, and continue to store the rest of the head. The first time I encountered Sugarloaf Endive was at a potluck where someone had brought a large salad ~ I am embarrassed to say I ate most of the bowl! I couldn’t get enough of the flavor combination, fresh and sweet and with a hint of bitter at the same time, the bitter and sweet following each other in a beautiful harmony. Add to this its storage capability which allows those of us who crave winter salads to stick with local greens and preserve the planet, and I was totally hooked. If you don’t fall quite as hard for the flavor combo as I did, you can always mix slivers into ordinary lettuce for a bit of adventure and color in your salad. I like to mix the wine colored radicchio and the pale misty green of the endive with apple slices and lemon and maybe some dried cranberries. Caleb, on the other hand, likes to cut the whole head lengthwise and roast it in the oven with a bit of hard cheese melted on at the finish.
Radish
I’ve already mentioned one of my favorite ways to have radish with kohlrabi. Another nice way is on French bread with butter, which mellows out the sharpness of radishes. I enjoy the color and brightness they offer. Just make sure to cut them soon before serving so they stay fresh. The winter radishes have an array of fun colors and store for months in our root cellar. They can be sliced thinly to add interest to fall salads, or baked with roasted roots if you’d like to mellow out the spicy flavor.
Winter Squash
Winter Squash makes the best “pumpkin” pies! It’s also very lovely just cut in half and roasted until tender, and served as a side. I often steam it and blend it up with coconut milk and ginger and curry paste to make a very quick and easy and also deeply satisfying bowl of soup. I like to top this with a handful of steamed greens and toasted cashews or crispy tofu, but it can just as easily be more traditional with cream and nutmeg instead of curry.
Pac Choi
When the pac choi is good, I have eaten the whole head in the field one leaf after another! I love that pac choi has two different delights, the crisp and juicy stem, and the lovely green leaf. These leaves are tender enough to eat raw, or can be lightly steamed and used in many places where you might consider spinach to be at home ~ in a wrap or with your omelet for example. When I want to pack in a lot of greens, because I know that they are so good for me, I get out my sharpest knife and cut them into narrow ribbons so that I can fit more into my wrap. This is also very beautiful! Pac choi is very delicate and does best if you use it as soon as you can.
