Hi everyone,
We hope you all enjoyed your first share of the season. Please definitely reach out if there are any issues. The feedback is super helpful. And tag us in any photos of food you make with the shares. We love seeing what you all put together with the produce. Don’t forget to bring with your tote and empty containers to the pick-up (or set them out for delivery).
Exciting news! We’re doing a collaboration dinner with Next Door Dinners and Traverse at Loft Lucia in West Loop on June 18th. The venue is gorgeous and the menu was designed by my friend and chef, Tom DiCarlo. All proceeds will go to Market Box to support their work in distributing locally sourced produce to low income families across the south side. You can get your tickets here. We hope to see you all there!
This week’s share is full of greens, as is expected this time of year. The weather has been consistently warm though, so we’re expecting that the produce will start looking a little more summery before we know it. The recipe this week features a couple of larder items that we’ve made this year (pickled golden beets and green garlic salt). We’ll have them available for purchase at pickup, but feel free to purchase them ahead of time to add to your share.
Hope you all enjoy the share!
-Ben
I think you can never have too much garlic. A fun shift in the green garlic from when we had it our last shares is that the garlic scape is now more developed and included as well.
Joi Choi is a brassica very similar to bok choi. The stems are tender and juicy, and the leaves are broad and flat. The flavor is zesty with a woody perfum-y flavor that I love. They do well quickly grilled over high heat, or as a stir-fry with a touch of garlic.
Dutch kale sits right in the middle of the more classic curly and dino kales. With some frills, this kale hold on to sauces and seasoning, but it’s hardy enough to hold up well to sautéing.
Lisa and I use our broiler a lot. Broiling is pretty much upside down grilling. These cherry tomatoes would probably be nice broiled until charred (~5 min), and then tossed into a salad or pasta.
Peas have been cultivated for over 9,000 years, mostly as dried legumes. Fresh varieties weren’t developed until the 17th century, initially seen as a luxury. Snap peas, with a thick-walled and round body are an even more recent development. A bright light green, these are crispy and extremely sweet.
Last year’s spring weather was dramatically different than this year’s. Between drought-like conditions and a mite issue, Nichols produced very few strawberries. This year, the farm reports that the mite issue is lingering a bit, but there will be enough for us all to enjoy. They are a deep red and very delicate.
A nice mix of crispy, refreshing lettuces. This mix is pretty similar to what you would find in those plastic clamshells at the grocery store. A little bigger than they were last week though.
I’ll probably say something is my favorite thing a couple times during the season so don’t hold me to it, but these are my favorite. They’re adorable with the cute little green hat of stems, and have a nice crunch to them if you’re brave enough to eat them raw. Roasted or sautéed they shift to a nice creamy texture with the slightest hint of horseradish. We take off the greens and will blanch and freeze them. If you’re someone that enjoys turnip greens, let us know and we’ll make sure to get some of that to you as well.
