This week’s box included: green onions, butternut squash, apples, sweet peppers, collards, daikon radish, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, heirloom tomato, and either cauliflower or cherry tomatoes, or broccoli. You can see a photo that can help with identification on our Facebook page or check out our weekly video on Instagram.
————————————–
Farewell 2024.
It’s a sad day. Last Riverview Farms CSA box for the year
Time to thank the Swancys for feeding us so well since May … and know that come mid-January, we will have eaten all the greens, the apples, the potatoes (so amazingly plentiful this year), the butternut squash … and we will be waiting with great anticipation for the start of the 2025 season.
Our box today had a cauliflower. Very exciting. I’m making fish tacos tonight with some grouper and wahoo we brought back from South Carolina. I’ll cut some of those outer cabbage leaves into slivers to garnish the tacos and add chopped cauliflower, chopped tomato and chopped pepper. One last tomato, one last pepper. As I said, a sad day.
The red potatoes are in a bowl on the counter (along with their friends from last week), the apples are in another bowl on the counter and I’m trying to decide between a half dozen apple desserts including Apple Pecan Brownies and Custardy Apple Squares. We’ve received so many apples that I should be considering making applesauce, but these have been such good keepers that I’m going to bake with them instead. A Dutch apple pie? Apple kuchen?
And during a period when all your social feeds and your inbox are filled with ideas for your Thanksgiving meal, I come to you with a few more. There’s a roasted cabbage recipe below that one you make ahead and then serve cold or at room temperature. A side dish you can finish ahead of time? That’s for me.
And a way to serve pieces of butternut squash that’s not yet another version of roasted squash? Yes to that one, too. This one’s simmered in ginger beer. Genius. Both are recipes from The New York Times.
Here’s to a Thanksgiving is filled with delicious food.
Roasted Cabbage Wedges With Lemon Vinaigrette
For the Roasted Cabbage:
1 medium head green cabbage
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest plus 2 tablespoons juice
2 tablespoons coarse mustard
1 tablespoon honey
2 large garlic cloves, finely grated (2 teaspoons)
Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
For the Dressing:
1/2 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 lemon, zested plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Kosher salt and black pepper
Torn fresh dill and parsley, for garnish
Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Prepare the cabbage: Peel any wilted outer leaves, then halve the cabbage lengthwise through the core, setting both halves flat on your cutting board. Slice them through the core into 12 even wedges (each about 1¼ inches thick at the widest point). Gently transfer them to a large sheet pan, carefully keeping each wedge intact.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon zest and juice, mustard, honey, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Brush half the vinaigrette over the cabbage wedges, making sure it drips between the leaves, then carefully flip the wedges over and brush with the remaining vinaigrette.
Roast the cabbage until tender, golden at the edges and caramelized, 25 to 30 minutes.
While the cabbage roasts, prepare the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the crème fraîche, mayonnaise, lemon zest and juice; season to taste with salt and pepper. (If using sour cream, thin the dressing with just enough water so that it can be drizzled, about 1 tablespoon.) Refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Let the cabbage cool, then refrigerate it for up to 2 days. Arrange the cabbage wedges on a serving platter. Season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature, drizzled with the dressing (brought to room temperature) and garnished with the dill and parsley.
Ginger Beer-Glazed Butternut Squash With Gremolata
2 cups ginger beer
3/4 cup vegetable stock, plus more if needed
1 medium (3-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch jewel-shaped chunks
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh garlic
1/4 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
Add the ginger beer and stock to a large, deep skillet. Bring to a boil over high. Add the squash in an even layer. Top with the butter, honey and cloves (if using), and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender and the sauce thickens to a glaze, about 25 minutes.
While squash simmers, prepare the gremolata: Chop the parsley, ginger, garlic and orange zest together until thoroughly combined.
Once the squash is tender and the sauce has reduced to a glaze, give it a taste and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the squash to a wide, shallow bowl. Sprinkle with the gremolata and serve.