Doorstep Harvest Newsletter 4-27-2013
As always, try new foods with caution, and in small amounts. Also, please note that some herbs-foods may have some interactions with some pharmaceuticals. If you use meds, Go to http://www.drugs.com/ to check them out.?
News from the garden: The gardens growth slowed down quite a bit with the SNOW this week but the cilantro loved it! The spinach isn’t growing fast enough, yet, because of the snow, so while you are receiving less spinach, you are getting some stinging nettle to supplement! See attached recipe for how to cook nettle. Obviously, stinging nettle stings, so it’s a good idea to use gloves. The stingers are said to go one direction, so if you can figure out what direction it is, you’ll be fine without gloves. (FYI: the stingers get softened when cooked). Tomatoes, brocoli and cucumber are hardening off.
All produce this week is organically grown in my garden in town, as always thus far this year, with exception of some of the braising mix, which has been organically grown in my garden at my grandparents in the country.
Carrot: Obviously great eaten whole, or grated into salad. I added some delicious purple carrot to the mix. (Wiki-fact: Together with onion and celery, carrots are one of the primary vegetables used to make various broths.)
Braising mix: Contains Red Russian Kale, Dinosaur kale, Mustard Greens, Chard (red and green), and Beet Greens. Just stir-fry them. One tablespoon of Mirin, and a teaspoon of brown rice vinegar, added near the end, adds to the flavor. Adding sesame seeds also makes it taste great to me.
Salad mix: Contains encore salad mix, wood sorrel, baby beet greens, baby chard, baby red russian kale, baby spinach, and violet flowers.
Spinach: (Wiki-fact: the United States Department of Agriculture states that a 180-g serving of boiled spinach contains 6.43 mg of iron, whereas a 170-g ground hamburger patty contains at most 4.42 mg.)
Tea herbs:
Stinging Nettle: grown in one of my winter hoops, nettle will sting through the bag,
so be careful rummaging blindly! Cooking will eliminate the sting, and it is tasty. You
can also make a tea with it. WEAR GLOVES! Stinging nettle contains more vitamins/
minerals than cultivated greens. Tea or veggie or both! Mom cooks it in tea then chops the steeped greens and puts into tomato sauce or into hamburger patties with chopped onions.
lemon balm: You can put lemon balm with hot water to make a relaxing tea or add to salad.
Culinary Herbs: Oregano, thyme, parsley, cilantro, and Japanese green onions. Chop green onions and add to salads or soups.
(WikiFact for Parsley: Green parsley is often used as a garnish on potato dishes (boiled or mashed potatoes), on rice dishes (risotto or pilaf), on fish, fried chicken, lamb or goose, steaks, meat or vegetable stews (like beef bourguignon, goulash or chicken paprikash).
A great way to store your herbs for long term use is to keep them in their paper bag on the counter, and let them air dry on the counter. For short term, just store in fridge.
Flowers: quince (pink), grape hyacinth (purple), daffodil, and star of Bethlehem (white).
Simple Braised Greens
printer friendly
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 ounces mixed greens (kale, collard, mustard, or greens of your choice) about 3-4 cups chopped and well packed
1 clove garlic, minced
⅛ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
Add greens stirring to coat with oil
Stir until greens are barely wilted
Add garlic, salt and pepper flakes
Continue stirring until greens are tender
Serve
Serves 1
(1/4 lb braising mix is exactly what we are delivering)
Simple recipe for stinging nettle:
Steam in one inch of water in a covered pot for 10 minutes or until they turn dark neon green. By now, the stingers have been disabled and they are edible! Snip the leaves off the stems and eat as is or prepare as follows: chop fine, sprinkle with garlic powder, dash vinegar, mirin, sea salt. Save cooking water and drink as a tonic tea.