Harvest Notes - Week 6

Broccoli We harvest broccoli with a good amount of stem and leaves because both are delicious parts of the vegetable. Treat broccoli leaves like kale. Broccoli stems take a little longer to steam than the florets to you may want to take that into account if you want a perfect texture on each.

Toscana Kale You may have seen this kale called ‘Dinosaur,’ ‘Lacinato,’ or ‘Italian’. No matter what you call it, its a dark green super food that makes a delicious massaged kale salad, kale chip, or addition to soups, casseroles and morning eggs.

Carrots A familiar stand by! Try shredding these up with beets and cucumbers, then dousing the mixture with lemon juice and salt for a very simple delicious salad. The greens are useful for making soup stock.

Beets This heirloom variety is called ‘cylindra.’ The cylindrical shape makes it easy to end up with equally sized slices. I made a simple delicious salad this week with chopped cucumber, steamed (and cooled) beet cubes, chickpeas, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. You can shred beets for salad or steam them lightly before roasting to get a tender, candied dish. The greens are delicious and cook like chard.

Basil Store these on your counter with the stems in a glass of water to avoid the blackening and wilt that can happen when kept in the fridge. Use quickly. I toss basil in just about anything to give it that aromatic complexity- sandwiches, salad dressings, soups, curries, stir-fries, and pasta.

Cucumber The palate of cucumber options is expanding. This week you have American slicing cucumbers (the big dark green one that should look and taste familiar to you from the grocery store) and round yellow ones. The latter is a fun heirloom variety called a Lemon Cucumber, named more for its look than the flavor. Use both as you would any cucumber- in salad, veggie sticks, tzatziki, or try a cucumber soup since you have such bounty.

Hakurai Turnips These are all the rage at farmer’s markets and local foods venues and it is hard to understand why they aren’t already a staple veggie in more American kitchens. Unlike your typical storage turnip, these can be eaten raw as veggie sticks or chopped up on top of salad. Try lightly sauteeing or roasting them as well. The greens are delicious too- raw in salad, or cooked.

Summer Squash We grow several types of summer squash and you will become familiar with each over the course of the season- flying saucer shaped yellow patty pans, yellow zucchini, and the more familiar dark and light green zucchini varieties. They all cook the same way. I find them tastiest when roasted with a light coating of oil in the oven, grilled, or shredded up and added to flour to make fritters. It may be time to whip out the zucchini bread recipes as well!