Author: kristenestone

  • Sweet Potatoes!

    Our organic farm in Alachua County, Florida, we grow a variety of sweet potatoes that are incredibly popular among our customers! Purple Okinawa, Yam Fingerlings, and Murasaki. They all make a colorful array when cooked together. Although they have slightly different qualities from each other in terms of which caramelizes more, their starch level, character of their sweetness, they’re all great roasted and baked.

    Purple Okinawa

    It has a floral, honey like flavor with a creamy texture when cooked well. Goes great in stews as well.

    Yam Fingerling

    Best when mashed because of the moisture it can hold, yam fingerlings have a bright, nutty, earthy flavor.

    Murasaki

    When cooked, they offer a rich, nutty, and mildly sweet flavor reminiscent of chestnuts and brown sugar. Caramelizes when baked with patience.

    Recipes

    Southern living has this great round up of sweet potato recipes–sweet potato fettuccine, sweet potato grits, scalloped sweet potato stacks, and of course multiple variations on the classic pecans-and-marshmallow casserole.

    Jasmine’s going to try the orange and sweet potato pie with rosemary-cornmeal crust (using cornmeal from jesse green’s greenway farm in Alachua)

    Amy and I are both making sweet potato gratin (I’ll be substituting kale for white potatoes though).

    What are you making for thanksgiving? Sweet potatoes? Hope so!

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  • Napa Cabbage Slaw

    Napa

    Amy brought me a box of cabbage and asked me to make, “you know, like some slaw.”

    I hate mayonnaise, but I love tahini. so I made a variation on this recipe.

    Slaw Instructions

    Dressing (to make a large salad, for ~10 people)

    Mix 1/2 cup tahini, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup honey, the juice of 2 lemons, a splash of tamari (or sprinkle of salt), some ground pepper, a teaspoon of garlic salt, and some fresh grated ginger root. A pint jar is the perfect thing to make this slaw in– use the lines on the side to measure the ingredients, put the lid on and shake to mix.

    Salad

    Finely chop a large napa cabbage. Layer with chopped or grated root vegetables (turnips, radishes, beets, carrots, etc.), chopped green onions, and other vegetables.

    Notes:

    Make up a whole bunch when you get your share and eat it for lunches throughout the week. Try to pack it in jars to be cute and portable, and remember to put the dressing on the bottom, or keep it separate until you’re ready to eat.

    Add cold quinoa or leftover rice; eat with boiled eggs.

    Find more recipes here!

  • FARM LUNCH! Delicious (and endlessly modifiable!) chickpea/sweet potato soup

    MAKE IT:
    0. (optional) roast a chicken, give thanks for its life, and eat. make stock.
    1. cut up and boil sweet potatoes, and blend with stock until creamy using a blender, food processor, or immersion blender. (this is also an excellent use for leftover baked or roasted sweet potatoes). set aside.
    2. dice several onions and turnips and cook over low heat with a little oil (i used coconut, but any oil would do) until rather soft. you want a lot of onions– about equal to the amount of turnips– unless you don’t. maybe you don’t like onions. add a few (or several) cloves of coarsely chopped garlic.
    3. to the onions, turnips, and garlic, add canned or pre-cooked chickpeas and the sweet potato base you made in the first step. Thin as desired with stock or water, and add salt and herbs/spices to taste. (suggested flavor profile: oregano, thyme, paprika, cumin, garlic powder) simmer for awhile so the flavors can “marry” (or form a delicious civil union, if you will)
    HOW WE ATE IT:
    with a bunch of greens (collards, turnips, mustard) cooked with tamari and rice wine vinegar (did you throw those turnip greens away? i mean, did you compost them? don’t do that, they are delicious, albeit a little spiky- cook thoroughly) and bread and butter.
    VARIATIONS: 
    a. obviously you don’t need to eat a chicken first. but, after all, “if you want to make an apple pie from scratch you must first create the universe.” (just saying.)
    b. and of course, you don’t need to blend the sweet potatoes with the stock, but it gives a nice texture and makes the soup feel more filling, amy says “special.” they’re just going to fall apart anyway, so take the extra step. it’s worth it. you’re worth it.
    c. you could use white potatoes or pumpkin to make the base, in addition to, or instead of, sweet potatoes.
    d. really you could use any combination of vegetables in step 2– carrots would be great, or beets (if you don’t mind fuchsia soup); celery perhaps? let your imagination run wild
    e. make the whole thing vegetarian by using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.
    f. throw in leftover pasta, rice, or other grains near the end. (why not, right?)
    PRO TIP:
    notice i didn’t include amounts. don’t worry. just make a lot, you’ll want leftovers.