11/1/22-EXT Week #1

CSA EXTENSION SHARE – BEGINS THIS WEEK

This week in your CSA Share:

• Butternut Squash
• Leeks
• Arugula
• Swiss Chard
• Celeriac
• Broccoli
• Lettuce
• Onion
• Garlic
• Bell Pepper

Each item in the list is a direct link to the Vegetable Directory which has more details about storage and recipes. On each page, you will also find a link to a Pinterest Board for that vegetable.

Butternut Squash – So delicious roasted and eaten alone or added to salads, pureed into soup, baked into bread or muffins. To store: Store in a cool, dry, dark place at around 50 degrees, but make sure they do not freeze. Under the best conditions, they should keep for 3-4 months. They get sweeter in storage as the starch converts to sugar. To use: To bake, slice in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds, and place facedown on cookie sheet. Add 1/2 inch of water to pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour until shells are soft and starting to collapse. Remove from shells, and fill with butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, seasoning or fillings. To freeze: Method #1 Pour pureed squash into ice cube trays and freeze. Pop the frozen cubes into freezer Ziploc bags. Method #2 freeze cut into small chunks -in portion sized bags or first on a cookie sheet single layer them move to freezer bag – ready for roasting or to cook for soup.

Leeks – the allium family, relative of garlic and onion; tips for cutting, cleaning, and using – Roast, Grill, Sauté and recipe suggestions, mild onion flavor; use the white solid stalk with some of the light green; we have trimmed off the long green tops To store: Cut off the green tops (save those greens and put them in your veggie freezer bag to make veggie stock). Loosely wrap unwashed leek bottoms in a plastic bag and store them in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator where they will keep for 2 weeks. To prep: Cut the leek about 1 inch above the white part, where the leaves begin changing from dark to light green. Save the unused greens; they’ll give great flavor to your next vegetable stock. Slit the leek lengthwise and soak it in water. Fan the leaves under running water to dislodge dirt, then pat dry. chop the white part of the allium finely. To use: Use leeks in salads, casseroles and soups or wherever you’d use onions. They can be braised, boiled, grilled, or steamed. To freeze: Cut the white parts of the leek into slices and freeze in Ziploc bags.

Celeriac– Celeriac, also known as celery root, has a flavor like celery, and both its root and stalks/leaves are edible. Don’t be put off by celeriac’s ugly appearance. To store: Store unwashed celeriac in a plastic bag in the refrigerator where it will keep for 6 months! Celeriac leaves can be dried into an excellent seasoning or used for flavoring stocks, stews, roasts. To prep: Slice off stalks at the root crown. Soak the root in warm water to loosen dirt, then scrub with a brush. Peel skin with a sharp knife. Peeled celeriac will darken when exposed to air. To slow the darkening, toss with lemon juice or soak in water. To use: Use in place of celery as a base for soups or casseroles. Add raw celeriac in grated beet, carrot, or apple salads. Or serve raw celeriac with a creamy dipping sauce. Combine celeriac with other winter roots in stews and gratins. Add cooked celeriac to mashed potatoes: peel and quarter celeriac, then boil until soft, 20-30 minutes, before mashing it into potatoes or dice and boil with potatoes.

Arugula – We did not wash it. It will store better. Wash before use if needed. Great in salads, sandwiches or quickly wilted in to pasta or veggie sautés or on pizza.

Broccoli- please soak in cool salted water before cooking to dislodge/remove any inhabitants. Hey-it’s organic and no pesticides. Excellent broccoli soup – use stems too! If eating peel outer skin of stem for tender inside. Broccoli soup is one of the easiest – especially with an immersion blender. Use the stems – peel outer thick skin to reveal tender inside. To store: Wrap broccoli loosely in a plastic bag and keep it in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. Store for a week. To prep: For organic broccoli, soak head upside down in cold salted water (1 teaspoon salt to 8 cups of water) for 30 minutes to remove any hidden field worms. Any critters will float to the top. You can eat the stalks, leaves, and head of broccoli. Break the head into florets of desired size. Then use a peeler or paring knife to cut the tough skin off the broccoli stalk, and cut into equal size pieces. The stalks will require a few extra minutes of cooking time. To freeze: Cut into florets. Blanch in boiling water for three minutes or steam for five minutes. Remove and dunk in ice water for 5 minutes. Drain. Individually quick freeze broccoli on a parchment-lined tray and then package into air-tight freezer bags.

Swiss Chard – To store: Keep dry, unwashed greens in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator up to 2weeks. To prep: Wash leaves in basin of lukewarm water to remove grit. Remove the thicker stems by folding the leaves down the center and cutting out the stem. Stack several leaves on top of each other and slice into 1-inch wide ribbons. To use: Add uncooked greens to a mixed green salad. Steam stem pieces 8-10 minutes, and leaves 4-6 minutes. Or sauté greens until tender in a large sauté pan with olive oil, a pinch of salt, and garlic or onion. Watch for color to brighten as this signals they are done. Serve cooked chard alone as a side dish or use them in soup or with pasta, beans, rice, or potatoes. Chard also goes great in stir-fries or in any recipe calling for spinach. To freeze: Blanch washed greens for 2-3 minutes. Rinse in cold ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and freeze.

Recipes

Italian White Bean Soup with Tomatoes and Chard – recipe from Week #16

Butternut Squash Soup – Recipe from week #16