Adventures in Farm Shares

I need to do something with this blog I've opened, and since it's not going to be what I had originally planned (at least right now) I figure I can use it to explore our first year attempt at eating locally, as much as we're able. We signed up for a Medium share with Isabelle Farm this year. I had hoped it would be largely overage from our own garden, but my garden has sadly not thrived the way I had hoped so it's going to be the major part of our meals until fall.

Last week was our first pickup, lots of greens that I was incapable of dealing with as a result of Roger being gone for a week and the children being insane. So this week is take two. 

This we we brought home:

Broccoli

Rapini

Chard

Baby Purple Mustard

Basil

Beets

Lettuce Mix

I still have some of last weeks beets and the radishes, so we'll need to get those eaten quick. 

The radishes are super spicy because of the early heat we've had. They're amazing sliced in salads. I can't wait to try roasting them. The mustard greens are to die for just to crunch on. these are baby leaves, not the large and sometimes bitter ones you get from the store. The lettuce mix is basically "spring mix" you can buy in bags, but it's fresher and more flavorful coming right from the farm. I love that when we pull up to the Open Space we look out over one of the fields where the food we're picking up is grown. 

Every week we get a newsletter with recipes featuring the items we're taking home. It's super helpful when you're going, "rapini? WTF is rapini? Do I cook it? Huh?"

Tonight we're doing wilted mustard greens with garlic, rapini with pasta, and pan seared chicken breast. 

Rapini and Carmelized Onion Pasta

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 bunch rapini

4 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 lb. linguine or spaghetti

1-2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1. Sauté onions over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Add garlic. Turn off heat.

2. Rough chop the greens and stems of the rapini. 

3. Prepare pasta in a large pot of salted water. Add rapini after 5 minutes. 

4. Drain pasta and rapini together, reserving 1 cup of pasta water for the sauce.

5. Toss the hot pasta and rapini with the camelized onions and garlic. Add red pepper flakes, cheese and a little pasta water (2-3 tablespoons at a time) to bring it all together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Drizzle with olive oil to taste and serve immediately.

Wilted Baby Mustard Greens (and/or Collards or Kale)

Mustard greens are tasty raw on any breakfast or lunch sandwich or cooked, where they can take on many flavor profiles.

1/2 pound baby mustard greens 

1-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon red white wine vinegar

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil in which to blanch the greens.

2. Add greens and cook for 1-2 minutes. Drain, and rinse with cold water.

3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until golden brown, about 1 minute.

4. Add greens and stir well. 

5. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens are heated through.

6. Season with salt and pepper. 

Stir in vinegar and serve.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The pasta with rapini was *amazing* - you wouldn't think that so little would do so much for a simple pasta, but holy crap. The various flavors spread and mingled and made for a super delicious dish.

This might be my new favorite way to cook mustard greens. They were amazing also. And the chicken was, you know, chicken.

I call day one a success. \o/