This week, your colorful bounty will include the following-
From Frog Song
- Tulsi “Holy Basil”- Frog Song
- Mississippi Peas-Frog Song
- Malabar Spinach-Frog Song
From our Partner Producers
- Carrots- Clem’s Organic Garden
- Sweet Corn- Watsonia Organics
- Red Butter Lettuce-Organic Aqua Fresh
- Cherry Tomatoes- Watsonia Organics
- Seedless Watermelon- New Sprout Organic Farm
This week’s CSA includes the power house Tulsi, aka the “queen of the herbs”. Across India, Tulsi has been revered for thousands of years as a sacred herb, and for good reason. As an adaptogen, Tulsi is know to simultaneously increase stamina and energy while helping with mood and relaxation. According to a conclusion of an article looking at various studies on National Institute of Health website : “The finding that the reviewed studies reported favorable clinical effects across these domains suggests that Tulsi may indeed be an effective adaptogen that has a role in helping to address the psychological, physiological, immunological, and metabolic stresses of modern living.” Wow, what an herb indeed! Enjoy a few of these recipes, that include Tulsi, to jump start your day.
Tulsi Chai- adapted from Simple Indian Recipes
Ingredients
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 1/2 cup Water
- 1 tea bag-black or green or 2 tsp tea leaves
- 10 Tulsi leaves
- 1/2 inch piece of Ginger or Turmeric (or 1/4 of both)
- 1/2 tsp sugar
Directions
- Crush the Tulsi Leaves with ginger/turmeric with a mortar and pestle (coffee grinder works as well)
- Add water to a pot and bring Tulsi mixture to a boil over medium hear. Add tea. Boil for 2 minutes.
- Add milk and sugar, allow to boil and then reduce to a simmer.
- When tea is to desired color, remove from heat.
- Strain liquid and Enjoy!
Tulsi Watermelon Sorbet
Ingredients
- Approx. 3 cups of diced watermelon
- 5-10 Tulsi leaves and stems
- 1 cup of water
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/4 cup of lemon juice
- dash of salt
- 1 tsp or pectin or gelatin OR 1tbsp of a hard liquor to help with freezing
Directions
- Bring water, sugar, to a low boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Smash Tulsi with your hands and add to the mixture. (If using pectin, add toward the end of the boil.) Remove from heat (if using gelatin, stir in at this point). Simmer on low for 5-10 min. Allow t cool completely and let the Tulsi infuse with the simple syrup. Add lemon juice once the mixture is cool.
- Blend watermelon in a blender. Add the Tulsi syrup and dash of salt and continue to blend until smooth. If using a liquor such as vodka, do so at this stage.
- WITH ICE CREAM MAKER- Add blended mixture to the maker and churn until desired consistency. Scoop out into a freezer safe container and store until ready to serve.
- WITHOUT ICE CREAM MAKER- Pour mixture into a freezer safe container and freeze. Every 30 minutes, take out of freezer and blend again. Do this twice. Store in freezer until ready to serve.
- Scoop into a dish and enjoy as a snack, light dessert, or as an excellent palate cleanser between meals!
Carrot, Apple, and Corn Slaw- Sunset
Ingredients
- 2 cups of corn, cut off cob
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 English cucumber, coarsely shredded
- 3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely shredded
- 4 large carrots, coarsely shredded
- 1/3 cup coarsely chopped parsley
Directions
- Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add corn and cook until just tender if using fresh (about 2 minutes).
- Whisk together oil, vinegar, cumin, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Squeeze excess liquid from cucumber, apples, and carrots with your hands and discard. Add vegetables, apples, and parsley to the bowl with dressing. Toss until well combined. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
This meal would be a wonderful addition to BBQ ground pork! Our Pork and Cane Syrup can be ordered here.
BBQ Ground Pork
Ingredients
- 1lb Ground Pork
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup of bell pepper
- 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup of water
- 1 cup of Ketchup
- 1 1/2 tbsp Worchester Sauce
- 2 tbsp of cane syrup
- dash of cayenne pepper, to desired heat
- fresh cracked pepper
- small dash of nutmeg
- salt to taste
Directions
- In a skillet, cook the ground pork, breaking it up, until cooked through. Remove from heat to a plate, reserving about a tablespoon of fat in the pan.
- Add onion and pepper, and cook in fat until brown. Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Whisk together water, ketchup, Worchester, cane syrup, cayenne, and nutmeg in a dish.
- Add pork back to pans with onions and peppers. Mix in “bbq” sauce and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water as needed. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve on-top of buns, with carrot and corn slaw. Enjoy!
How to cook Purple Hull Peas – adapted from Smarty Pants Kitchen
Shell and rinse – the hulls are not edible.
Add them to a large stockpot. Recommended but optional: season with your choice of meat (bacon, ham hock, fatback, neckbones, ham, etc). Did you know we offer pastured pork?
Stovetop: Fill pot with water or broth and bring to a rolling boil. Foam is normal, you can scoop off or leave as-is. Reduce heat to low and cook 45-60 minutes, keep covered with liquid and add more water if needed. Season with salt, pepper and a little garlic and/or onion powder.
Crock Pot – 4-6 hours on low
Instant Pot – 10-15 minutes, natural release