Tag: squash

  • Spring CSA – Week 12

    We are providing the following produce from our farm in our last week of the Spring CSA:

    • Tulsi Basil, bunch
    • Baby Green Cabbage
    • Sweet baby Carrots, loose
    • Sweet Corn
    • Scallions
    • Squash, Mixed Varieties
    • Green & Yellow Snap Beans
    • Melons, Cantaloupe
    • New Red Potatoes
    • Slicer Tomatoes – TFG

    Excerpt of an article from NCBI : Within Ayurveda, Tulsi Basil AKA Holy Basil, is known as “The Incomparable One,” “Mother Medicine of Nature” and “The Queen of Herbs,” and is revered as an “elixir of life” that is without equal for both its medicinal and spiritual properties. Studies have shown that tulsi protects against toxic chemical-induced injury by increasing the body’s levels of anti-oxidant molecules and enhancing the activity of anti-oxidant enzymes, which protect cellular organelles and membranes by mopping up damaging free radicals caused by lack of oxygen and other toxic agents. Modern research has revealed that tulsi has anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal activity, that includes activity against many pathogens responsible for human infections.

    Fresh Tulsi Tea for Immune Defense and Inner Peace

    1. Gently rinse a handful of tulsi sprigs
    2. Bring a quart of water just to a boil, and turn off heat
    3. Add tulsi to pot and let steep for 10-15 minutes
    4. Sweeten if desired
    Pork and Holy Basil Stir Fry (Pad Kra Pao) source: The Woks of Life
    Ingredients
    • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
    • 2 shallots (thinly sliced)
    • 7 cloves garlic (sliced)
    • 3 Thai bird or holland chilies (de-seeded, if desired, and thinly sliced)
    • 1 pound ground pork 
    • 1 teaspoon sugar
    • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
    • 1 tablespoon thin/light soy sauce
    • 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
    • 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
    • ⅓ cup low sodium chicken broth or water
    • holy basil leaves (about 1 1/2 cups packed)
    Instructions
    1. In a wok over medium high heat, add the oil, shallots and garlic, and fry for 3 minutes. Add the chilies and cook for another minute. Crank up the heat to high, and add the ground pork, breaking it up into small bits and allowing it to crisp up.
    2. Add the sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Stir-fry for another minute and deglaze the pan with the broth or water. Because your pan is over high heat, the liquid should cook off very quickly. Add the basil, and stir-fry until wilted. Serve over rice.

    Holy Basil Lemonade – source: Our Cooking and Travel Diaries

    Ingredients
    • 10-15 Holy basil leaves
    • 2-3 Lemon
    • 1/2 cup Sugar
    • 3-4 cups Water
    • 1 tsp Basil seeds Soaked in 1/2 cup water for 10 minutes
    Instructions
    1. Wash the leaves thoroughly. Dissolve sugar in a cup of water in a saucepan by heating it over a medium flame and add leaves into it. Let it come to a boil. Switch off the flame. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes so that the flavors are released. This would take around 4-5 minutes.
    2. In a large vessel combine the tulsi leaves water(strain the leaves and remove), lemon juice squeezed from 2-3 medium lemons and 2-3 cups water. Keep refrigerated.
    3. Add basil seeds soaked in water. Garnish with tulsi leaves, ice, and lemon wedges.
    Notes
    • Adjust the sweetness and tanginess according to your taste
    • If you dont like the dominant flavor of tulsi add few leaves. Also if so After boiling immediately remove the basil leaves.

    Garden-Fresh Corn Salad – source : Cookie and Kate

    Ingredients
    • 3 cups raw corn kernels (from about 4 cobs)
    • 1 medium tomato, chopped (about ½ cup)
    • ¾ cup chopped green onion
    • 1 cup quartered and thinly sliced cucumber (preferably English cucumber)
    • ½ cup chopped fresh leafy herbs (choose from basil, dill, mint, parsley and/or cilantro)
    • ½ cup chopped radishes
    • 1 medium jalapeño, very thinly sliced (omit if sensitive to spice)
    • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar, to taste
    • 2 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced
    • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
    • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    • ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese or 1 ripe avocado, diced
    Instructions
    1. In a large serving bowl, combine the corn, tomato, green onion, cucumber, herbs (don’t skimp on the herbs!), radishes, and jalapeño.
    2. In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and several twists of black pepper. Whisk until blended, then pour it over the salad. Toss to combine.
    3. Add most of the feta or avocado (reserve some for garnish), and gently toss. Taste, and add more vinegar for more tang (I usually add another full tablespoon), or salt for more overall flavor. Garnish with the remaining feta or avocado.
    4. Serve promptly, or chill for later. This salad keeps well for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator, covered.

    Summer Chili with Vegan Cornbread

    Ingredients
    • 1 medium onion, diced
    • 3 medium carrots, diced
    • 2 corno de toro pepper (or bell/sweet pepper), diced
    • 1 jalapeno, if desired, diced
    • 1 medium summer squash, cubed
    • 2 ears of fresh sweet corn, cut from cob, plus 1 more cup if adding to cornbread
    • 1 1/2 inch piece of fresh turmeric, grated
    • 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
    • 1 can tomatoes
    • 1 cup broth of choice or water
    • 1 1/2 tbsp cumin
    • 1/2 tbps smoked paprika
    • salt and pepper to taste
    • Fresh Herbs to garnish – I used fresh basil and parsley
    1. I added a cup of sweet corn to our corn bread recipe ! While the cornbread bakes, heat a couple tablespoons of your choice of oil (I used coconut) to medium high.
    2. Add onion, peppers, carrot, stirring occasionally until onion becomes translucent.
    3. Add summer squash, spices, grated turmeric and a few twists of salt and pepper, stir.
    4. Add canned tomatoes and broth, stir and reduce heat.
    5. Let simmer for fifteen minutes. Add black beans and fresh corn, stir. Let simmer for a few more minutes.
    6. Garnish and Serve with corn bread!
  • Weekly CSA Share October 31-November 3

    This Weeks Eclectic Share Includes: You guessed it..Sugar Cane, Roselle Hibiscus, Baby Bok Choy, Tri-Colored Green Beans, Squash, Korean Daikon Radish, Fresh Arugula and Colorful Red and Green Okra.

    Sugar Cane- We started growing this crop for it’s protection as a wind and sun barrier, with the climate changing we are experiencing much stronger winds accompanying hurricanes, we headed into hurricane season this year with that in mind. Not only is it a great source of protection, it is “nature’s own candy”. Sugar cane is the most economically valuable field crop in the state of Florida, 75% of the states sugar comes from South Florida, the palm beach county specifically (field to feast, 2012). If you know anything about South Florida you know that most of the farmland was once part of the great river of grass i.e. the Everglades. This diverse environmental habitat that was once home to a variety of wild animals, was drained for agricultural purposes and is now having devastating effect on Florida’s fisheries, tourism industry and clean water. If you care about any of those issues please inform yourself and go to the polls to vote. Ok, that being said check out this handy informational video on how conventional table sugar is made from sugar cane by Imperial Sugar How Cane Sugar Is Made (Video)

    Back to the basics.. how do you eat this strange wooden stalk that I have included in your shares…. I knew this would come up so I made sure to do my research for a method that would be the easiest and most efficient way to clean and eat sugar cane, came up with the same answer every search, the best tool… your teeth.  I asked Lalo a while back , after struggling with it for what seemed like an hour, how do you eat this? fácil (easy in spanish) he says, and starts to rip off the outer layer with his teeth. Here is Lalo demonstrating it.
    Do you have a better way? Please share your sugarcane knowledge with me at FrogSongCSA@Gmail.Com
     Take a look at these comical YouTube videos I stumbled across while I was doing my research…
    Not interested on gnawing on the stalk for it sugary goodness, use the fibrous woody stalk as skewers for scallops or veggie shish kabobs. Follow the directions from the book ““Field to Feast” –recipes celebrating Florida farmers, Chefs and Artisans, that I have included below.
    Check out our Blog on Sugar Cane to find out how you can start growing your own sugar cane from the ten inch stalk included in your share.
    Baby Bok Choy- A popular Asian green. Make sure to chop off the very end of the stalk and pull apart the spoon shaped leaves, sand and dirt like to hide at the base of the stalk. I’ve always sautéed bok choy with onion and garlic in my wok but when I was chopping it this this evening a small part of the stem jumped into my mouth, It was delicious, not bitter as I had expected. I could see a resemblance to the crunchiness of celery but without the fiber. I julienned a little white daikon radish from the share and chopped the bok choy stems like celery (use the green leafy part in a sauté) and tossed with a vinaigrette, nice quick little bok choy and radish slaw.
    Roselle- These Calyces make a delicious tea, read here to follow a recipe on how to make refreshing Hibiscus Tea, delicious hot or cold. You can also peel the petals leaving behind the seedpods. The petals will taste very earthy and tart, you may be a little shocked at the sourness at first but you will develop a taste for them and by the end of the season you will be snacking on them regularly. Read on up on some of the favorite 5 EASY & TASTY WAYS TO ENJOY ROSELLE, Teas, Cocktails, Jams Jellies & Desserts.
    White Daikon Radish-  You can eat them raw but you better be prepared, they are pretty spicy, at least my taste buds think so. Enjoy them raw on salads if you are tough enough or try baking them– toss them in olive oil and your seasoning of choice (I am partial to my Florida Everglades seasoning) roast them on a greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 40 minutes tossing them a few times in between, let them cool down on a flat surface and enjoy as a little bite sized snacks. You can also just sauté the daikon with some garlic, onion and toss in some bok choy from your share.
    Summer Squash- Bright yellow crookneck, vibrant green zucchini and  tye-dyed patty pan squash (round) are three of the four varieties of squash that we grow on the farm. Did you know the name “summer squash” refers to the short storage life of these squashes. They have a very tender and edible rind, unlike that of winter squashes whose tough rind allows for longer storage life and use during the winter such as acorn, butternut, and pumpkins.
    Red and Green Okra- Last of the season, unfortunately CSA seasons lie just before and after okra season however with the sustained heat through the month of October we get to sample the ever so popular summer vegetable in south. You can steam it, sauté it, definitely fry it, but have you ever tasted it raw? Next time you get a piece of okra about the size of your pinky or smaller I want you to bite into it, you will be pleasantly surprised. You may never eat it cooked again.
    Tri Colored Green Beans- Eat these beans raw when they are delicate and small, with your favorite dip or hummus. If they get larger than the diameter of a pencil you should cook them; stir fry them, steam them, even bake them. Here’s a baked green bean recipe to try…Baked Garlic Green Beans from Mykitchencraze.com
    Arugula- A zesty, peppery green, use similarly to lettuce but use caution,  Arugula can be very strong and overpowering standing alone. Pair the spicy green with some creamy cheese for a more pleasurable palate experience. Goat’s Milk Panna Cotta with Arugula a recipe from “Field to Feast” –recipes celebrating Florida farmers, Chefs and Artisans.