CSA 2023 Spring Week 3

Week 3 of our Spring CSA season brings:

• Baby Green Cabbage
• Celery
• Baby Carrots
• Dandelion
• Dill
• Romaine Lettuce
• Scallions
• Tricolor Potatoes
• Daikon Radishes

This week’s CSA box brings a hearty mix of greens, herbs, and root crops. Your daikon radish (which literal translates to “big root”) is a mainstay of sushi restaurants, but when it’s simply relegated as garnish, folks are missing out big time! This veggie is a superfood, packed with vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. The two recipes we share below illustrate its versatility, and also it’s yummy raw. If you prefer to stash them away for now, here’s a few storage tips to keep ’em fresh: Daikon will last up to 2 weeks stored in the fridge in plastic bag or wrapped in damp towel in fridge, sans greens.  You can also freeze it by cutting into smaller pieces, blanching in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, and placing in a freezer-safe container after it cools.

State of the Strawberry Report

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who joined us last weekend. We loved sharing the day and the farm with you! We especially appreciate everybody rolling with the strawberry situation at our April 15 Spring Festival. After monitoring the situation for weeks, we made the difficult decision to limit our strawberry U-Pick to pre-registered guests only. We are experiencing our most challenging strawberry crop in a decade. We attribute this mainly to the freeze that we had at the end of December, where we used water to save our citrus trees. The days of running sprinklers saved our trees, but it reduced the fertility in the soil. We traded off a strawberry crop for 2023 for the potential of citrus over the next decade.

We also experienced pest pressure which caused cosmetic damage to the fruit that did grow. Our yields are the lowest we have ever seen. Those who have visited our U-Pick before will recall that previous years were much more abundant. After watching field conditions carefully without an abundant yield, we knew closing reservations to the field was the right decision.

Normally this time of year we are swimming in strawberries, sometimes picking over two hundred pounds at a time. This year is a bit different but we will make the best of it. As farmers we are at the mercy of the weather and natural cycles, and in control of very little beyond how we interact with our soil and crops. We are still making a limited amount of jam with the berries that we are harvesting, so make sure to pick up a jar while it lasts. We’ll enjoy this sweet treat and look forward to a more abundant strawberry crop next year!

Recipes

Dandelion Greens ‘n Beans Skillet  – adapted from runningtothekitchen.com 

Ingredients:

• Large bunch of dandelion greens, washed and chopped
• Sliced scallions
• Fresh thyme or rosemary
• Ground nutmeg
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 2 cups white beans (cooked)
• Splash balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

1. Sauté the scallions until softened.
2. Add the herbs and spices and stir.
3. Add the dandelion greens, cover and let them steam until tender.
4. Remove the cover, add the beans and continue cooking until they’re just warmed through.
5. Turn off the heat, add the balsamic vinegar.
6. Season to taste and serve!

Tri-Colored Potato Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette – adapted from cuisineathome.com

Ingredients:

• 6 strips FSO bacon, diced
• 1 lb. tricolor potatoes, quartered
• ¼ cup each extra-virgin olive oil and white wine vinegar
• 3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 cup minced scallion whites 1 cup sliced scallion greens
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Cook bacon in a skillet until crisp; transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.
2. Whisk together oil, vinegar, Dijon, and scallion whites for the vinaigrette; season with salt and pepper.
3. Place potatoes in a pot of cold salted water, cover, and bring to a boil. Remove lid and boil potatoes until fork-tender, 6  Drain potatoes and arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Pour wine over warm potatoes and toss. Let potatoes cool to room temperature, 15–20 minutes.
4. Gently stir together potatoes, bacon, vinaigrette, and scallion greens; season with salt and pepper.

Pan Fried Daikon Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups grated daikon radish
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ cup scallions, chopped
• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ cup seasoned bread crumbs
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon chili-garlic sauce (such as Sriracha)
• 1 ½ cups vegetable oil for frying

Instructions:

• Place daikon in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Drain daikon. Stir in garlic, onion, egg, bread crumbs, pepper, paprika, and chili garlic sauce; mix well. Form into 8 patties.
• Pour oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Fry patties in hot oil until firm and nicely brown, about 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.

Daikon Fettucine with Tomato Basil Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 pound daikon
• 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) plum tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for serving (optional)

1. Using a swivel-blade vegetable peeler, remove outer skin of the daikon and discard. Continue peeling down the length of the daikon, creating long ribbons that look like fettucine noodles. Place daikon noodles in a large bowl and cover with salted water; let soak 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, drain tomatoes, reserving half the juice in a medium bowl. Squeeze tomatoes with hands into the bowl of reserved juice; mash to combine. There should be around 2 cups.
2. In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and salt. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring often, until sauce is thick, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Drain daikon noodles and dry them using a kitchen towel. Gently add noodles to sauce; reduce heat to medium. Cook until noodles are just heated through, about 1 minute. Divide among 3 or 4 serving plates; serve immediately, with cheese, if desired.