2022 Produce CSA Week 6

I think it’s a Riverview record … celery three weeks in a row. Wonder what made this a banner year for celery? I admit, it’s a lot of celery for us since there’s no one here who enjoys Ants on a Log the way I did as a kid – celery sticks filled with peanut butter and dotted with raisins. Wonder when I outgrew that?

So most of this bunch of celery will be chopped and frozen for dishing out when needed in recipes. I did that with the first bunch … and will just keep stocking up.

But I’m saving the inner stalks to make the celery toast (recipe down below) that was published in the New York Times.. Guess I’m on a toast kick …. like the cucumber-ricotta toasts from last week. That comes of having good sourdough bread in the house. (Yes, I’m using sourdough instead of white Pullman bread.) And if you’re not a blue cheese fan (although this is a classic combination like those celery sticks with blue cheese dressing people eat while chowing down on chicken wings), a good cream cheese will do, or I hear the ricotta sold by Gatherings at the Decatur Farmers Market is really delicious. Hope you have a green onion or two left over from last week.

I’m also cooking for a friend who is unable to cook for himself right now. I want to make something a bit more stick-to-your-ribs and so I’m going to make the Grits and Greens (again, recipe below) adapted from the New York Times. Their original recipe called for quick-cooking grits but I have Riverview grits in the freezer, and for collards and Swiss chard. I’ll be using the kale and Swiss chard from this week’s box.

I am especially excited about the Kirby cucumbers in this week’s box. I am such a cucumber fan, and grew up with slicers, like most everyone, but I love the Kirby cucumbers because they’re so firm and have such small seeds. Bred for pickles, I do make pickles with them through the summer, but I also just love to eat them out of hand in a way that I wouldn’t with a slicer.

We got a big cabbage in our box and it went right to the refrigerator. I’ve been known to hold onto a cabbage for months …. and eventually this one will make its way out of the refrigerator and into a cold salad sometime this summer.

And finally – maybe the most exciting vegetable of all this week for us are the two sweet onions. Oh, and the first garlic of the year. So excited for fresh onions and garlic again. We have dozens of onion recipes on Riverview’s website because when it’s a good year for onions … it’s a good year for onions. And I remember in years past some folks wondered what in the world they would do with all those onions. That’s never a problem here – I could use onions in every meal – but we have lots of ideas for you such as the caramelized sweet onions made in a slow cooker for when you have lots of onions accumulating … and  the onion-potato frittata that never fails to please. I’m betting there are freshly dug potatoes coming in the not-to-distant future.

Celery Toasts

2 slices country white Pullman bread, 1/2-inch thick
Sweet butter
4 ounces Cambozola triple-cream blue cheese, sliced, divided evenly between two toasts
1 cup shaved celery, from the inner head, toughest outer stalks removed, thinly sliced on the bias
2 scallions, thinly sliced on bias all the way up from the white through the green
1 large clove garlic
Extra-virgin olive oil
Lemon juice
Kosher salt
Several grinds black pepper

Toast the bread to golden. Butter generously, “wall to wall.” Lay cheese slices on top of buttered toast, neatly, evenly.

In a small bowl, stir together the celery and the scallions. Microplane the garlic into the celery mixture.

Dress with olive oil, lemon juice and salt, and stir very well, until completely dressed, almost wet with dressing.

Mound the shaved celery salad evenly on top of the blue-cheese toasts, and grind black pepper over them very generously. Cut each in half or quarters.

 

Grits and Greens

For the Grits:

2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup grits
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar (3 ounces)
Salt

For the Greens:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 green onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
Pinch of red-pepper flakes
1 bunch kale, stems removed, leaves cut into 1-inch pieces
1 bunch Swiss chard, leaves and stems cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt and black pepper
1 cup vegetable stock
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Hot sauce, to serve

Make the grits: In a medium saucepan, heat the vegetable stock and 2 cups water over medium-high until boiling. Once boiling, slowly pour in the grits while whisking to reduce lumps. Once the grits come to a boil, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook, whisking frequently, until grits are tender, maybe 20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the stove. Season the grits with the pepper, then stir in the milk and cheese until the cheese melts. Season to taste with salt. Set aside and cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, make the greens: Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high. Add the shallot and garlic, and cook, stirring often, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the red-pepper flakes, kale and chard. Toss to combine until wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt, add the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer.

Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens are very tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, and season again to taste with salt and pepper. Divide the grits among plates and top with the greens and a dash of hot sauce.