CSA Members 2004: Newsletter Archive

Dear CSA Members,

More summery produce appears this week including our first sweet corn of the season and our first cucumbers. The sweet corn is Sugar Buns by name and has been picked just a little premature. These super sweet varieties are great picked at this stage of the game, they are crisp and true to their name. Eat your corn now, as a matter of fact put this letter down and heat the water because corn is definitely better fresher.

Also included this week is a bunch of Italian red ribbed dandelion, and a few pounds of certified organic Gala apples. The dandelion will be something new to many of you. These and other greens like it including endive and radicchio are referred to as bitter greens. They are a great addition to salads and offer huge health benefits. A cup of raw dandelion greens has the same calcium as half a glass of milk. It also has 14,000 IU of Vitamin A, plus 19 milligrams of thiamin, 26 mg. of riboflavin and 35 mg. of ascorbic acid, your body changes it into Vitamin C. That's more than most multi-vitamins. We include them sparingly every year, and every year I encourage people to eat them because they are really good for you, and also if you open your heart a bit they are delicious, just not in that melted butter on the year's first sweet corn sort of way. Most of the recipes you find will call for adding these sharp greens to a salad or wilting them. A simple method for wilting is to bring a pan of water to nearly boiling, then steep the greens quickly and rinse in ice water. Wilting will greatly reduce the bitterness of these greens. My family served these with warm bacon dressing and though I always hesitate to include recipes which have no easy and adequate vegetarian alternative, I have tasted some reasonable bacon facsimiles in the recent past and really do miss this salad when I haven't had it for a while.

Though I hesitate to get too personal in these weekly notes I want to tell everybody something. I hear wedding bells, do you hear wedding bells? Heidi and I will be tying the knot this Labor Day weekend. As the date approaches I can think of little else. Family and friends from all over the country will begin to arrive this coming week and we will be married here on the farm under our apple trees on Saturday afternoon.

Words cannot express. I am in love. I cannot wait. Your kind thoughts are appreciated.

SPICY SAUTEED DANDELION GREENS

In Rome, this is a typical way of preparing bitter greens.

Active time: 30 min

Start to finish: 30 min

• 1 large bunch dandelion greens, tough stems removed and leaves cut crosswise into 4-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large garlic cloves, smashed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cook greens in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until ribs are tender, 4 to 5 minutes, then drain in a colander. Rinse under cold water to stop cooking and drain well, gently pressing out excess water.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook garlic, stirring, until pale golden, about 30 seconds. Increase heat to moderately high, then add greens, red pepper flakes, and salt and sauté, stirring, until liquid greens give off is evaporated, about 4 minutes.

Makes 4 side-dish servings.

Boistfort Valley Farm
426 Boistfort Road
Curtis, WA 98538
(360) 245-3796

website: BoistfortValleyFarm.com
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