Contents of this week’s box: potatoes, dill, sweet onions, cucumbers (Kirby & salad), beets with greens, tomato, kale, garlic, kale, summer squash (yellow & zucchini), mustard greens.
Sorry not to get this note out yesterday! What a great box. Love those huge onions – and a red onion especially. Overheard at box pickup, “Oh, thank goodness. Not another cabbage this week!” I had to laugh. Cabbage keeps so well, but it is pretty big whether green cabbage or Napa so if you are storing it for a week or two (or three) it does take up a lot of room. So I’m always glad to see it.
And thrilled to have a bunch of dill seed heads. First, I love the fragrance, and second, I love making pickles. So all those little Kirby cucumbers are going (I hope later today) into a brine with that dill. Last year I kept the brine going for a few weeks, eating the brined cucumbers, adding more until the brine lost its potency. You can find great recipes for pickles on the cucumber page at grassfedcow.com. I’ll be making the recipe for No Cook Refrigerator Pickles but using the dill in place of celery seed. We like sweet, dill pickles!
Are you in need of recipes for those onions? I can remember in past years hearing that some people didn’t know what to do with all their onions. That’s never a problem here where I go through many onions each week, but if that’s you, see the recipes on our onion page.
I have two new ideas for you this week. The first is for that bunch of mustard greens with this recipe for Salade Lyonnaise from Mark Bittman via the New York Times. It’s a simple salad that uses bitter greens – usually frisee or escarole – but I’m substituting those mustard greens. The warm dressing tenderizes the greens and the poached eggs are a perfect complement.
And then a recipe for beet burgers. And it also includes a recipe for quick pickled red onions. This one came from Nichole Dandrea-Russert of Purelyplanted.com. I’ve included a photo from her recipe. Read to the end for substitutes for ingredients you may not have on hand.
Enjoy!
Salade Lyonnaise
4 cups torn frisée or other strong-tasting greens, washed and dried
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
About 1/2 pound good slab bacon or pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 shallot, chopped, or 1 tablespoon chopped red onion
2 to 4 tablespoons top-quality sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt
4 eggs
Black pepper
Put frisée or other greens in large salad bowl. Put olive oil in skillet over medium heat. When hot, add bacon and cook slowly until crisp all over, about 10 minutes. Add shallot or onion and cook until softened, a minute or two. Add vinegar and mustard to the skillet and bring just to a boil, stirring, then turn off heat.
Meanwhile, bring about an inch of salted water to a boil in a small, deep skillet, then lower heat to barely bubbling. One at a time, break eggs into a shallow bowl and slip them into the bubbling water. Cook eggs for 3 to 5 minutes, just until the white is set and the yolk has filmed over. Remove each egg with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on paper towel.
If necessary, gently reheat dressing, then pour over greens (they should wilt just a bit), toss and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top each portion with an egg and serve immediately. (Each person gets to break the egg.)
Beet Burgers with Smashed Avocado and Pickled Red Onion
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax meal
3 medium garlic cloves
1 1/2 tablespoons mellow white or chickpea organic miso
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup scrubbed and grated beets (skin on or off, your choice)
1 cup organic rolled oats<
1 1/2 cups homemade or BPA-free canned white beans
Beet Burger Toppings
1 avocado, pitted, flesh removed and smashed with a fork
Few forkfuls of pickled red onions (recipe below)
sprouts (broccoli, clover, or other sprouts of your choice), optional
leafy greens
organic whole grain bread, buns or lettuce wraps
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Add the sunflower seeds, flax meal, garlic cloves, miso, chili powder, cumin, turmeric, onion powder, and salt and pepper, if using, to a food processor. Blend until a moist coarse dough forms.
Add the beets, oats, and beans. Blend until combined, using a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the food processor, making sure that everything is blended.
With clean hands, scoop out the burger mix to form 4-inch patties about ½-inch thick. You should get about 6 thick patties.
Bake for 40 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Top with smashed avocado, pickled red onions, sprouts, and leafy greens in between whole-grain bread or in a lettuce wrap.
Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for 5–7 days or can be frozen, separated by parchment paper in a freezer-safe container, for up to 30 days.
Substitutions
- In place of sunflower seeds, use walnuts or cashews.
- For the white beans, use Great Northern, cannellini, or navy beans.
- Top with kimchi or kraut in place of pickled red onion.
How to make pickled red onions
Slice one small red onion into thin slices and add to a bowl. Add 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 1/2 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Massage the onion and vinegar mixture with clean hands for about 30-60 seconds. Store in a mason jar or airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use. These will keep for two weeks.