It is April 1st, and this day has been no joke—sunny and stunning! We have a few crew members joining us this week, and they’ve had a very full day of harvesting flowering overwintered greens, shuffling trays of seedlings in the greenhouses and starting to get their bearings. Mark is gearing up for some serious tractor time tonight. Every Spring, our work grows in complexity, seemingly overnight. Though we’re still working with plenty of overwintered crops, it sure feels nice to have some greens to work with in our kitchens again. And from the looks of things in the propagation house, there’s a whole lot more where that came from. So, with that in mind, I figured I’d reprise and revise some of my most helpful unsolicited advice on the topic of leafy greens.
Yes, you can comb through your cookbooks and search the web far and wide to dig up specific recipes for preparing specific green vegetables in very specific ways. As a food enthusiast, I support this wholeheartedly if that is the type of approach that works for you. But, while I am that person a great deal of the time, I am by no means that person every day or even every week. So, here's what happens with greens most frequently in our house:
1) They get treated like they're Spinach, even when they're not. Most easy weeknight recipes seem to be written for Spinach, but nine times out of ten, you can use Kale, Mustard, Rapini, Chard or whatever dark leafy green you have lolling around your crisper drawer in its place. I've included one of my favorite recipes for “Rapinikorizo” at the bottom of the newsletter, which is tasty and illustrates my approach succinctly.
2) They get chopped up and incorporated into our favorite quick comfort foods. We just add them in with whatever noodle is there during the last couple of minutes of boiling. Vegetables managed. Deb Perelman's recipe for Pizza Beans also falls into this easy crowd pleasing category. Sure, it calls for Kale, but use what you've got. Purple Sprouting Broccoli would be fantastic!
3) They're an afterthought. Here's the familiar scenario--one of us thought the other one was in charge of dinner, and now we're growling. So, we quickly sauté some greens, pour over some eggs and get to scrambling.
4) They get slow cooked. We don’t call them braising greens for nothing, and Mark has had a smoky ham hock in the freezer just waiting for a week like this one. He even remembered to get some beans soaking this morning before the crew showed up, and I’ll take it from there. With the long work days creeping in, this is exactly the kind of hands-off cooking and nourishment we need around here.
Many Thanks,
Katie
IN THIS WEEK’S FARMSHARES:
Flowering Raab Mix
Celery Root
Purple Sprouting Broccoli
Onions
Potatoes (Large Shares)
Cosmic Crisp Apples
The greenhouse tables are filling up!
RECIPES & SEASONAL TIPS
RAPINIKORIZO (aka,Farmer Katie's take on Greek Spinach Rice (Spanakorizo) using the tastiest greens things of moment)
1 red onion finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic (or 1 bunch green garlic or 2 garlic scapes), chopped
1/2 cup long grain rice
1 pound fresh leafy greens (rapini, spinach, kale, mustard or whatever you meant to use up last week!)
1 cup Water
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lemon
In a large pot or skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft (about 2-3 min). Add the scapes and rice, stirring to toast over medium-low heat for another 3 minutes or so. Add the greens, cover and cook until they lose most of their volume. Add the water, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until all of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked (about 25-30 minutes). Add more water as needed. After the rice is nice and tender, stir in the juice of one lemon and serve. You can serve this as is or with feta, beans or even cooked browned sausage stirred in at the end.
FRENCH ONION GALETTE
How Sweet Eats — Thank you, Melissa! She says,“[this recipe] is now on repeat for me! I steamed some greens and added them to the top - just under the caramelized onions. Oh...and I topped with a fried egg...delicious!!!”
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large sweet/yellow onions, thinly sliced
kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
4 ounces freshly grated gruyere cheese
parmesan, for serving
CRUST
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 large egg lightly beaten
½ teaspoon white vinegar
¼ cup ice cold water
¾ cups cold unsalted butter cut into pieces
4 ounces freshly grated gruyere cheese
1 large egg + 1 teaspoon water, beaten for egg wash
CELERY ROOT & APPLE SALAD
Gourmande in the Kitchen
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoon apple cider or white wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and 2 Tablespoons walnut oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
For the Shaved Celery Root Salad:
1 medium celery root
1 medium tart apple (like granny smith or fuji)
4 medium celery stalks
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about ½ a large lemon)
2 Tablespoons, fresh celery leaves, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
¼ cup/ 28g walnuts, toasted
CELERY ROOT SOUP
David Lebovitz
2 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks, cleaned and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
sea salt
1 large, or several smaller, celery roots , (about 3 pounds/1.5kg) peeled and cubed
6 cups (1.5l) water
1 bay leaf, (optional)
10 sprigs fresh thyme, (optional)
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly-ground white pepper, (or black pepper)
scant 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
ROASTED BROCCOLINI & LEMON WITH PARMESAN
Alison Roman
1 lemon, halved crosswise, seeds removed
4 garlic cloves, smashed
2 bunches broccolini, ends trimmed (or 1 pound broccoli, thinly sliced lengthwise, stem and all)
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
½ cup finely grated Parmesan
CELERY ROOT “STEAK” AU POIVRE
Amanda Catrini
¼ cup|60 ml olive oil
1 large celery root, peeled and cut into ¾-inch-thick pieces
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 sprigs fresh thyme, plus leaves to garnish
1 large shallot, minced
⅓ cup|80 ml cognac
¾ cup|180 ml heavy cream
flaky sea salt, to serve
APPLE PIE OVERNIGHT OATS
Minimalist Baker
3/4 cup crisp, sweet apple, cut into small bite-size pieces (peeling is optional for less texture // we prefer Honeycrisp)
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 pinch sea salt
OVERNIGHT OATS
3/4 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (or sub other dairy-free milk of choice)
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1/2 – 1 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp creamy unsalted cashew or almond butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup rolled oats (certified gluten-free as needed)
PASTA WITH LONGER COOKED BROCCOLI
Smitten Kitchen
1 pound broccoli
5 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to finish
5 thinly sliced cloves of garlic
2 anchovies, roughly chopped (optional, see note)
Zest and juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Glug of white wine (optional)
3 cups room temperature water
8 ounces dried pasta such as fusilli corti or gemelli