Archive for August, 2009

• Silver queen corn in So. Phx already 1.5 ft tall!! http://yfrog.com/3otcej #
• RT @chefgwen: Congrats Pamela Hamilton, publisher of Edible Phoenix for Best Locavore Cheerleader from Phoenix Mag. Frisee pom poms and all. #

These recipes all came from the Ajo CSA Newsletter.  If you didn’t know what to do with your green beans…well, now you know.

Nina’s Green Beans with Caramelized Onions

Slice about 3-4 small Glendale Gold Onions (or 1-2
regular yellow onions) into thin slices and cook very
slowly in little olive oil and about ¼ cup of balsamic
vinegar until very soft, about an hour. The onions should
almost “melt”. Stir occasionally, and add oil and
balsamic vinegar once or twice if they look dry. Season
with salt and pepper. Cook beans in boiling salted water
until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and serve
topped with the onions.

Zydeco Green Beans
(adapted from From Asparagus to Zucchini, by the
Madison Area CSA Coalition)

6-12 sliced garlic cloves
6 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
3 pounds green beans, trimmed
6-12 small hot peppers
6 dill heads or 6 teaspoons dill weed
3 ½ cups white wine vinegar (no substitutes!)
2 Tbsp pickling salt
3 ½ cups water

If you’ve never canned food before, read about it in a
reputable cookbook before proceeding. Sterilize 6 pint
jars. Divide garlic, mustard seeds, beans, peppers, and
dill into jars. Bring vinegar, salt, and water to a boil;
pour over beans, leaving ½ inch head space. Place lids
on jars, and process 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.
Age the pickles at least one month before snacking on
them.

Nina’s Pest-toed Roasted Green Bean Salad

1 lb green beans
5 cloves of garlic
1-2 Tbsp good olive oil
Salt, to taste
2 Tbsp pecans (or walnuts or pine nuts), gently toasted
1Tbsp white wine vinegar (or as a variation, lemon juice
or balsamic vinegar)
2 Tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated, or more to
taste
Pepper, to taste
Basil, optional

Wash and trim the green beans. If your beans are bigger,
steam them for about 2-3 minutes before proceeding.
Separate and peel garlic cloves, and slice them. Combine
the garlic and beans with the olive oil and salt in a large
bowl and mix gently. If you wish, add some crumbled
dried chile or Italian peperoncini. Transfer to a large
baking sheet, and roast them at 400ºF for about 30
minutes. They are done when they have a somewhat
blistered look and are beginning to brown in spots.
Remove from the oven (they are delicious as is, served
as finger food, warm or at room temperature). For the
salad, transfer to a serving bowl, sprinkle with vinegar,
add pepper, nuts and some cheese and mix gently. If you
happen to have any fresh basil, tear the leaves into
smallish pieces and mix in as well. Serve with more
cheese grated on top, warm or at room temperature.

Nina’s August Wheat Berry Salad

Soak and cook 1 CSA portion of wheat berries until
tender but chewy, and chill. Wash and trim 1 CSA
portion of green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces, steam for
about 5 min. and let cool. Remove kernels from 2 CSA
ears of corn. Roast your Anaheim chiles until they start
to blister, then chill in a plastic bag. Remove skin and
seeds and chop into small pieces. Slice and chop 1 CSA
cucumber, chop 1 or 2 fresh tomatoes (if you have no
fresh tomatoes, substitute sun-dried tomatoes). Combine
all the ingredients in a serving bowl. Serve with
vinaigrette: 3 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
or lemon juice, salt, pepper, herbs, garlic and onion.

Thanks Nina for sharing this cool interactive site with your CSA members.  I thought I would post on our blog too!

The Impact of Common Foods Before They Reach Your Plate Check out this interactive web tool that shows
you how some of the most popular foodstuffs in the U.S. are made, with an emphasis on how fossil fuels enter
into the production chain. The amount of fossil-fuel energy used to make a steak, potato, soda and an organic
salad may just surprise you!
http://news21.jomc.unc.edu/index.php/stories/diet/from-pasture-to-plate.html

• update on our duncan field: we’ll prob have bell peppers next week, harvesting chiles this week, have marketmore 76 cukes now. #
• the corn we planted a 2 weeks ago is already a couple inches tall, having fun watching it grow. already a couple inches tall now. #
• http://www.victoryfarmsinc.com/ - For those of you who knew Charlie Collins…he’s still around and farming. In Virgina now. Check it out. #