CSA Week 17: Final week!
Welcome everyone! This is the last week of CSA. Please return your bags!
Full Shares
Bok choy
Red Cabbage
Roma Tomatoes
Peppers
Half Shares
Kale
Both Shares
Potatoes
Carrots
Delicata Squash
Cucumbers
Salad mix
Fennel
We made it to the end of the CSA season! We got a rough start to the year, but the warm nights and dry days helped us have an abundant season anyway. I hope you have enjoyed your CSA share. You’ll have one more chance to get Corvus Landing veggies this season: we’ll be open at the Lincoln City Hospital on Tuesday, November 22 from 11-2 for a Thanksgiving farm stand. We’re also offering farmer’s choice Thanksgiving shares that can be picked up at the hospital stand or the farm on Tuesday 11/22: sign up here.
Today, it rained so much. A hole in my rain gear made harvesting carrots wetter than I would have liked. But the rain signifies the end of the growing season. Carolina made a bunch of salsa with the roma tomatoes and I have been mixing peppers into my breakfast scramble, and I finally cooked that huge beet that I harvested some weeks ago and I had myself a “beet-steak”.
Purple cabbage is great in Asian-inspired dishes like soups and stir-fries, but also great in slaws, salads, and fresh rolls. The Delicata squash is great baked, served with pasta, blended into soup, made into a stromboli, or stuffed with cooked grains and spices. Delicata squash is known for being sweet and having tender skin, so don’t worry about peelingit.
Bok choy is one of my favorite cabbage greens. I like it in miso soup, or lightly steamed and served added to Asian-inspired dishes. I also just like to eat it in the morning with my tofu scramble. If you’re not in the mood for a cold salad, something I like to do is lay out a bed of salad greens and put my cooked food on top. That’s what I did with my “beet-steak” over the weekend.
However you like your food, I hope that you will continue exploring the possibilities and expanding your options!
Reflecting a bit on my time at the farm, because of the wet start at the beginning of the season we lost a bunch of onions, but we had an unexpected abundant beet yield, which has left us with many beets. I got to try fennel for the first time and I learned that some crops, like beets, have multiple sprouts that come from the same seed. My favorite crop to harvest was squash and my least favorite was zucchini because of the spiky vines. What was your favorite crop to eat from the farm this year? Did you try something you never had before?
I enjoyed writing these share notes for you guys and I hope you got some benefit from the words and recipes I’ve shared. It’s been a pleasure serving this community and I hope you will do us the honor of returning next season! Thank you for your support, and may this food that you receive, benefit you for years to come!
-Corvus Landing Team
Drew Barrymore’s Delicata Squash Gratin
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Since I was a child I’ve been told I look like Drew Barrymore. It’s the cheekbones. Anyways this recipe popped out to me. This could be a great holiday dish idea!
INGREDIENTS
2 cups raw cashews (about 1/2 lb.)
1 cup warm water
2 TBSP Dijon mustard
2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
2 TBSP white-miso paste
1 tsp kosher salt plus more to taste, divided
¾ tsp black pepper plus more to taste, divided
1 TBSP plus 2 teaspoon olive oil, divided
1 large red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 TBSP coarsely chopped sage
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 TBSP lightly chopped packed fresh thyme leaves
½ tsp ground nutmeg
2 medium delicata squash (2 lbs. total), halved, seeded and cut crosswise into 1/2-in.-thick half-moons
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1:
Place cashews in a small bowl, and add just enough cool tap water to cover. Let soak, at least 1 hour at room temperature or up to 2 days in advance, covered, in refrigerator.
Step 2:
Drain cashews and rinse. Process cashews, warm water, mustard, vinegar and miso paste in a blender until mixture is very smooth and creamy with no grainy bits remaining, scraping down sides of blender as needed, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 3:
Preheat oven to 400°. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and sage; sprinkle with ½ teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until onions are softened and beginning to turn golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in almond milk, thyme, nutmeg and ½ cup of the cashew cream until smooth.
Step 4:
Lightly grease a 9-inch round broiler-safe cake pan or 2-quart oval casserole dish with remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil. Working from the outside of pan in, place squash in the pan, lining up and arranging pieces in a circular fashion. Add additional squash pieces to fill any gaps. Sprinkle with remaining½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Pour cream sauce over squash, spreading with a small spatula to make sure that all pieces are covered.
Step 5:
Bake gratin in preheated oven, rotating halfway through, until squash is tender and golden on edges and cream sauce is set, 40 to 45 minutes.
Step 6:
For additional browning, turn oven to broil. Broil until top of gratin is browned and crisp, watching carefully, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from oven, and serve.
Enjoy!
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Fennel and Bean Stew
Beans are the staple food of winter. Do something interesting with your beans and try this recipe with fennel! Consider serving with a side salad, rice, quinoa or couscous.
INGREDIENTS
2 TBSP / 30 ml olive oil, plus more for grilling and roasting
1 small onion, diced finely
4 garlic cloves, diced finely
1 Romano or Ramiro pepper, diced finely
½ fennel bulb (about 150 g / 0.5 oz), plus 1½ more for grilling (optional)
1½ tsp ground cumin
3 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp ground fennel seeds
¼ tsp hot chilli flakes, adjust to taste
two pinches ground saffron threads (optional)
2 x 400 g / 14 oz tin chopped tomatoes
2 fire roasted peppers (about 150 g / 0.5 oz), diced finely or blended*
1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp salt, adjust to taste
black pepper, to taste
2 x 400 g / 14 oz tin cannellini beans (or chickpeas)
12 green olives, (optional)
fresh parsley or thyme (optional)
¼ cup pepitas / pumpkin kerns
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat up the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot and add the diced onion, fry it gently (on a low heat) until almost translucent (for about 7 minutes), stirring from time to time.
Add the chopped garlic. Keep on frying gently until the onion is translucent and the garlic softens completely and releases its beautiful aroma (approx. 5 minutes).
Add a finely chopped Romano pepper and half a chopped fennel. Saute for a few minutes until softened.
Stir all the spices into the vegetables. Fry them off gently for a minute or two (stirring the whole time) as they tend to burn easily.
Add tomatoes and two cans worth of liquid (water or veggie stock). Add finely diced fire-roasted peppers and dried thyme. Add salt and simmer, covered, so that the tomatoes have a chance to break down.
Once the tomatoes are sufficiently broken down, take the lid off and simmer for a further 20-30 minutes for the stew to thicken and for the excess moisture to evaporate. Remember to give the stew a good stir from time to time.
While the sauce is simmering, grill the extra fennel (if using). To do that, cut the fennel into same size wedges. Heat up a griddle pan and brush it with a little oil. Place the fennel wedges on a hot pan, cut side down, and grill them until you get nice char marks on both sides. Set aside to add to the stew at the end.
Heat up 1 tsp of olive oil in a very small pan. Once hot, add pepitas, toss them in the oil and allow them to roast (stirring the whole time). Take them off the heat once lightly browned, fragrant and crackling. Toss some salt through them – I like to use garlic salt. Once the sauce thickens, taste it and season with a generous amount of black pepper and more salt if needed.
Finally, stir in the drained cannellini beans and let them warm through. Add the olives and grilled fennel just before serving. Decorate with fresh parsley (or thyme) and salt-roasted pepitas.
Enjoy!