Orum - July 20, 2008

Amaranth greens



Flank steak roll stuffed with chevre, amaranth greens and cipollini onions, with green beans

Pepperpot Soup - Aug 18, 2009

Pepperpot Soup

The last time we got amaranth greens from our CSA, we did a bunch of research and found a handful of recipes we wanted to try. One of them was pepperpot soup. I found quite a range of recipes for this soup online, some completely omitted amaranth or any other greens, some contained tripe, some various cuts of beef. I finally settled on one that I thought would work for us (and then tweaked it to account for what we had on hand). Three really strong elements came through with this soup: the earthy, almost dirty (in a good way), flavor of the amaranth, the creamy sweetness of the coconut milk, and the spicy heat of the pepper (jalapeno in our case). The rest of the ingredients, in my opinion, could be interchanged depending on one's taste, the season, and availability. We added potatoes, carrots, and onion. I think this soup works well as a vegetarian dish, but also would be tasty with meat, although maybe not tripe.

Jess & Nick's CSA Delivery #7 - July 28, 2011

Our new veggies are here! This week's delivery includes carrots; our first potatoes of the year; beet roots and greens; onions; sweet corn (Nick and I cheated and bought some at the Farmers' Market last weekend so we've already had our first sweet corn of the summer); summer squash...I have almost enough to make chocolate zucchini cake; more callaloo (I really can't bring myself to call these beautiful magenta leaves amaranth greens anymore, so I'm adopting their Jamaican name); fennel; and broccoli.

Not pictured are saute greens; cucumbers, which thanks to Jaime's cucumber mint cooler post I've been using in smoothies; Italian basil from the choice box; and garlic.

In addition to the chocolate zucchini cake, I'm thinking about making a grilled corn and bacon salad, as well as some kind of potato salad over the next couple weeks. So far, that's all that's come to mind, but I'm sure that all these beautiful vegetables will inspire all kinds of delicious meals in the days to come.

As always, our heartiest thanks go out to all the hard working people at Harmony Valley Farm.

Callaloo - July 5, 2009

Jamaican Baked Callaloo over Brown Basmati Rice


Amaranth Greens

I think these are some of the prettiest 'greens' we get with our CSA all year. Amaranth is a very interesting plant and both it's leaves and it's grains can be used for foodstuffs. It's highly nutritious and easily grown in several parts of the world, even when the climate is not particularly hospitable. We researched a bit and in the Caribbean it is called Callaloo and used to make pepperpot soup and baked dishes. We found recipes here, here and here. We ended up making a modified version of the first one, which won our vote based on the bacon it included. We added some fresh garlic, dried thyme, and unsweetened shredded coconut to the recipe and baked it at 305 deg F (converted from 150 deg C). It was awesome!

New CSA Delivery - July 1, 2010

Summer-Time Veggies

I just picked up a big box of veggies and am so excited. Our first summer squash and cucumbers have arrived, along with a host of additional summer goodies. A favorite from last year...amaranth greens! I can't wait to make up a batch of baked callaloo. More beets are always welcome, and carrots, peas, cauliflower and broccoli will be great for munching. Cippolini onions and fresh garlic will boost the flavor of any dish. Plus, the Harmony Valley Farm newsletter had a great idea for carrot top tea. They suggest steeping a handful of chopped carrot greens in hot water, straining and adding honey. I think that sounds like a delicious iced tea and might have to be my afternoon project.

A big Thank You to Harmony Valley for the veggies and the inspiration!

CSA Veggie Delivery - July 15, 2010

Vibrant Veggies

Our latest delivery has arrived despite truck malfunctions! Wow, it's a beautiful assortment. We have the always dapper savoy cabbage with it's lovely ruffled leaves. Cabbage is so versatile and shows up in many different cuisines...European, Asian and Mexican to name a few. Next up are the beautiful amaranth greens, used a lot in Caribbean dishes, including one of Nick's favorites...pepperpot soup; Norland potatoes with the red skin, which, along with some other varieties, are the featured vegetable this week complete with some great looking recipes in the Harmony Valley Farm newsletter; yellow and green beans, which I'm super excited to eat simply blanched with some olive oil and kosher salt; a huge variety of cucumbers including this ghostly white beauty, which have an incredible number of uses such as keeping slugs away from your garden (although I prefer mine in a Pimm's cup); summer squash, including a cute yellow pattypan and a large stripey zucchini; sweet Spanish onions; green top carrots (I am in love with steeping the greens in hot water to make green top iced tea); and some snow peas playing peek-a-boo with the sunlight.

An extra special thank you goes out to the HVF crew today! They managed to deliver these amazing veggies despite a truck breakdown this morning. I know everyone worked harder and was under more stress today and I just want you all to know how much we appreciate it. You guys ROCK!

New CSA Delivery - Aug 13, 2009

Colorful Veggies and Fruit

Such a pretty assortment of healthy treats! I am so excited about the melons - I have been craving them all summer. Also our first eggplants and another bunch of amaranth greens have me inspired to get cooking. Thanks to all the hard workers over at Harmony Valley Farm.

Pasta Plus New Delivery - Aug 26/27, 2009

Papparadelle with Summer Veggies and Sweet Italian Sausage

In preparation for our new CSA delivery, last night's dinner was an attempt to use up as much of our remaining produce as possible to clear out the fridge. To the pasta, I added three varieties of sauteed summer squash, sauteed green bell pepper, a fresh tomato, chopped fresh basil and oregano, sweet Italian sausage and some grated pecorino-romano cheese. Heavy on veggies, light on pasta and sausage. Good, simple, summer flavors and we made lots of room in the fridge for these beauties...


Close-up of Today's Veggies


Here's the Whole Pile of Goodness

I am super excited about all the melons, and I have already tossed a good handful of the raspberries into my smoothie. Also, lots of peppers and tomatoes and another lovely bunch of amaranth greens. So many fun possibilities! I plan on revisiting some of our favorite recipes of late, trying to cram in as much of the summer flavors as possible. I'll throw in some new stuff too, to keep it interesting. Thanks to everyone at Harmony Valley Farm!

Jess & Nick's CSA Delivery #6 - July 14, 2011

Our latest CSA vegetable delivery arrived this rainy afternoon. I narrowly escaped getting poured on while picking up these beauties! The box this week contains more summer squash, which we love. In the corner you can also see a little white cipollini onion peaking out. Something new this week is the Holy Basil seen in the second photo in the top row. I often see Thai recipes calling for Holy Basil, but have never actually seen it before. It is quite fragrant, but in a different way than the Italian basil with which I am more familiar. Another completely new veggie to me is the bunch of radish seed pods shown in the third picture on top.  Harmony Valley recommends using them in a stir fry, but I may need to find a different use for them as, some of you are aware, my stove top is out of commission. I'm not sure it's possible to stir fry on a grill. Online research suggests adding them to salads, or using them for pickling, which could be interesting.  In contrast, the carrots are a very familiar sight. This bunch has it's leafy green tops still attached and it wasn't until last year that I realized that these could be used in the kitchen too. Last year I made carrot top iced tea, based on a suggestion in the HVF newsletter. I'm not sure what their fate will be this time around.

The bottom row starts out with the beautiful, and dreadfully mis-named, amaranth greens. These were the cause of one of the first true food adventures that Nick and I had during our first year as CSA members. See what we've used them for in the past here, here, and here. The rest of the line up should be quite familiar to everybody. We've received more broccoli, some fresh, meaning not dried, garlic and a lovely head of sweetheart cabbage.

In addition to the veggies pictured above, we also received baby bok choi, cucumbers, green and yellow beans (hurray!), and a bag of saute mix to play with over the next two weeks.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to the Farm! We so appreciate all your hard work to bring us such amazing food.

CSA Delivery plus Salad, July 2, 2009

Romaine and Cabbage Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing, Poached Egg and Garlic Toast


New Veggies!

Oooh, our CSA haul this week is a large one! We did our traditional first salad which we topped with crispy bacon and used the warm bacon grease as part of the dressing. We also threw in some fresh basil and fennel fronds for some taste variety. The toast was my favorite part of the meal. I thought of it as a giant crouton. I minced a clove of fresh garlic in with softened butter and spread that over whole wheat sourdough before toasting. The fresh garlic has a nice sweet garlic-y flavor to it that didn't overpower the toasty goodness of the bread.

I am looking forward to using up the amaranth greens (the pretty red stuff in the upper left corner) early this week, as well as the fennel and beets!

Jess & Nick's CSA Delivery #5 - June 28, 2012

I picked up our box of vegetables yesterday after work.  Aren't they lovely?  Especially that incredibly vibrant amaranth foliage up in the top left.  We also received our first zucchini of the season, which really makes it feel like summer.  Next are the beet greens; fennel; a gratuitous amaranth and fennel shot for color and texture contrast; onions; beet roots; and sweetheart cabbage.  We also got more snap peas and some arugula which are not pictured.

I am thinking of all the fun slaws I can make with the cabbage and fennel, and how delicious the first grilled zucchini of the season will taste.  Another idea I'm toying with involves cold, thin slices of roasted beets stacked alternatingly with goat cheese and drizzled with olive oil and fresh basil for a slightly different take on caprese salad.  And perhaps some baked callaloo just how we like it with coconut flakes and bacon.

As always, thank you Harmony Valley Farm!

Jess & Nick's CSA Delivery #4 - June 14, 2012

Well, Hello there.  It's been awhile since I've been around here.  Nearly two weeks to be exact.  I guess that's what happens to a food blog during a kitchen remodelling project. It's still not completely done, and taking longer than I would have liked.  The good thing, however, is that we now have a functioning kitchen sink, dishwasher, and the stove is back in it's rightful place, so we are able to prepare meals at home again. Also, the stuff that is done looks amazing!  I promise that before and after photos are coming soon. 

Above is our latest vegetable delivery.  Since the weather was stormy and dark in Minneapolis yesterday, I didn't have the natural light that I usually photograph in.  Hopefully the photos, taken on our new counter tops for the tiniest of sneak peeks, convey the beauty of the produce.  Starting in the top left and travelling clockwise we have radish seed pods (just below the flowers are spears of spicy radish seeds); kohlrabi; greens; amaranth, or callaloo as it's known; sugar snap peas; fresh garlic; and strawberries.  Not pictured are the bag of salad greens; the romaine lettuce; and the pretty purple onions.

The delivery truck had some mechanical issues yesterday which delayed the delivery by about 3 hours.  I just wanted to give an extra heartfelt thank you to everyone for all the extra work put into yesterday's delivery.  The email updates were so helpful, the site coordinators were available for questions and concerns, and the drivers and mechanics really came through by getting the truck up and running again.  Thank you all so much for getting us these beautiful vegetables under less than ideal conditions!