Thoughts on approaching this week’s box from subscriber Conne Ward Cameron.
Lettuce was overflowing out of my box this afternoon. It must have been perfect lettuce weather recently. Not sure how long we’ll get lettuce, but then buried under all that frilly green were two tomatoes – so one classic lettuce and tomato salad was on the table for dinner. Nice when those two vegetables show up at the same time.
Go to https://grassfedcow.com/
I got home with my box and spent a little time trimming the stems off the kale (why in the world I thought that was a bunch of collards last week I cannot even imagine) so it will be ready to cook tomorrow night. The timing of our Riverview box is pretty perfect because we’ve been composting with CompostNow and they pick up from us Wednesday mornings. I was a very lassiez faire composter – “oh, the pile isn’t heating? oh, well.” – which managed to attract rats. My husband put his foot down. No more delicious vegetable scrap feeding station at our house. So now I pay CompostNow to take my scraps and I feel virtuous. And on Tuesday night the box arrives and I have extra incentive to deal with the contents right away. Truthfully, today’s box didn’t have much to discard, just the kale stems and yes, I did compost the radish leaves. One bunch of radish leaves turned into pesto is delicious. But I don’t find we can eat up a container of radish leaf pesto every week, so this week’s leaves are history (or they will be tomorrow when the compost bin is picked up).
I can’t remember the last time we had spinach, so that’s a real treat. It might be that we get it every year, but it just feels special since we never have weeks and weeks of spinach as we might have weeks and weeks of kale or other heartier greens.
As a matter of fact it’s “rare” enough that it looks like we’ve never even posted a spinach recipe at https://grassfedcow.com/
Still I can’t resist sharing two recipes this week.
Mark Bittman’s Vegetable Pancakes
Vegetable pancakes seem to be a thing these days, and I love this recipe from Mark Bittman that will use up any vegetable you have on hand. You can use some of that lettuce if you chop it and maybe saute a little before mixing into the batter. Spinach? Sure. Grated kohlrabi. Absolutely. Chopped cabbage, probably anything from this week’s box except maybe the tomatoes which might turn watery.
We eat these either with a little soy sauce or a little hot honey. That’s my new addiction and I’m not even a fan of hot sauces. But hot and sweet like the hot honeys people are producing these days? Love it.
About 1 1/2 pounds grated or finely chopped vegetables, peeled first if necessary (3 cups packed), and squeezed dry
1/2 small onion, grated; or 4 green onions, sliced
1 egg or 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/4 cup white or whole wheat flour, more or less
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive or vegetable oil or butter for greasing the pan
Heat the oven to 275 degrees. Grate the vegetables by hand or with the grating disk of a food processor. Mix together the vegetables, onion, egg, and 1/4 cup flour. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add a little more flour if the mixture isn’t holding together.
Put a little butter or oil in a large skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted or the oil is hot, drop in spoonfuls of the batter, using a fork to spread the vegetables into an even layer, press down a bit. Work in batches to prevent overcrowding. (Transfer finished pancakes to the oven until all are finished.) Cook, turning once, until nicely browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Grilled Napa Cabbage Slaw
And then there’s this recipe adapted from one by Laurie Moore of Moore Farm and Friends. You might know Laurie, she’s in the booth just a few tables away from Riverview at Freedom Farmers Market. As she says, “If you’re already firing up the grill, this is a great way to get some great flavor on the veggies, too.”
Wash, trim and slice the entire head of Napa cabbage in half lengthwise. Depending on the amount you want to make you can put 1/2 of the head away for another dish or grill it all up. If you got a very large head in your box you can cut it again into quarters.
Brush cut sides with vegetable, canola, peanut, coconut or other light oil. Grill on all sides for 2-3 minutes over medium heat. You want some grill color and smokiness but we’re not trying to really cook it. Allow to cool after removing from grill.
Wash, trim and slice your green onions very thinly. If you have a bell pepper around, add that, too. Chop grilled, cooled cabbage into thin strips, mix together with onions (and pepper, if using).
Prepare dressing:
2/3 cup peanut or light olive oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Grated ginger and garlic to taste
Salt and pepper
Whisk olive oil, vinegar, honey, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic and ginger together. Season to taste. Now pour it over the vegetables, adding just enough to coat them but not drown them. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and more sliced green onion.