Life on the Farm (Week 34)

Well, the wheat harvest is in. Whew! Pretty excited about it; we grew some good grain! Once we get things figured out with this new addition, we will have some wheat options available in the market. Hoping for wheat berries (hot cereal), flour, wheat bran.

Lots and lots of local wheat!

We have a big day ahead of harvesting cukes, zukes, and broccs, seeding the last of the field items (before switching to high tunnel plantings), feeding the brassicas one last time, coaxing the celery to be more crisp (haven’t perfected this item yet!), and dreaming about the original Sunday designation as “The Day of Rest”. :) Who thought of that anyway? Whimps!

Get your order in for the last of the peach special orders…we are picking up next week.

The Market is now open for a wide selection of warm weather produce.

Ordering will be open from Sunday morning until Monday 8pm. Get your orders in now so harvesting can begin specific to your requests.

Deliveries will be made Wednesday per usual to your chosen Dropsite Location .

Recipes for your consideration

A wonderful and simple recipe to take advantage of the moment when all of the summer produce is coming into season. It is flexible enough to be used as a stand-alone or a side. If you haven’t tried polenta, you should!

Calabacitas

2 Tbsp olive oil
½ cup onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups zucchini/yellow squash, ¼" slice or large dice
1 cup corn kernels
1-2 jalapeno, small dice (or small can green chiles)
1 cup fresh tomatoes, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup extrafirm tofu, crumbled and marinated in ¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp chili powder, salt/pepper
½ cup cilantro, chopped

Sauté onion in oil over medium heat until soft. Add peppers, garlic, zucchini, corn, jalapeno and tomatoes. Mix well and cover to simmer 10min until squash is tender.

Season with salt and pepper as desired.

Add marinated tofu and cilantro, mix and warm thru.

Serve as a side dish, burrito/taco filling, over prepared polenta.

To make polenta (it’s just “grits, dummy”), you can make a basic recipe (below) and modify how you like. Then either eat it “soft” with foods piled on top like a mound of mashed potatoes, or you can “mold” it and serve it decoratively. The simplest way to prepared the firm polenta is to spread it on a lightly oiled (or parchment papered) baking sheet to a thickness of approximately ½"-1". Let it sit (or refrigerate to hurry it up); then cut into a shape you like. Serve as-is or grill for some decorative grill stripes.

You can make variations sweet and cinnamon-y… or garlic-y… or spicy-y. Sky’s the limit; it’s a great staple if you like corn.

3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cups corn grits
1 tablespoons margarine

Bring the water and salt to a boil in a large pot. Add the corn grits in a thin stream stirring until well mixed (don’t just dump in; you’ll get lumps!) Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is very thick.

Remove from heat. Stir the margarine (and any variations) into the corn grits until combined. Serve “soft” or spread on prepared baking sheet for the “firm” variant.

Variations: minced fresh garlic, parmesan-flavored vegan sprinkles, nutritional yeast, fresh herbs, cumin/chili powder/paprika, cinnamon/nutmeg/maple syrup

With all of the cucumbers, I couldn’t pass on falafels. We had a great dinner of them last night. I cheated and used a box-mix that I found hidden on a back shelf (it was late!), but here is a recipe I have used before. Spice variations abound, so I have included some suggestions.)

Kale falafel

4 cups stemmed and torn kale or Swiss chard
1- 15.5 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
(or 2 cups dried chick peas soaked in water 24hrs)
3 medium to large cloves garlic, chopped
1.5 Tbsp tahini
1.5 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp cumin
sea salt and black pepper
3-4 Tbsp oat flour
~ 4 Tbsp high-heat oil for cooking
Other seasonings: fresh parsley, coriander, fresh cilantro, onion/scallions. Add to food processor with other ingredients.

Add kale, chickpeas, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, cumin, and a healthy pinch each salt and pepper to a food processor and mix to combine

Once well incorporated, transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in oat flour 1 Tbsp at a time until the mixture is thick enough to handle – about 3-4 Tbsp.

Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. More salt, pepper and lemon juice, and a touch more tahini?

Heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat and add 2 Tbsp oil at a time. Swirl to coat pan.

Add falafel (however many will fit very comfortably) to the pan.

Check at the 1-2 minute mark to ensure they’re not browning too quickly. If they are, slightly reduce heat. Flip once deep golden brown – about 3-4 minutes.

Cook until the underside is golden brown as well.

Serve immediately with hummus and paprika, or inside a pita or wrap with creamy cucumbers & dill

Will store in the fridge, layered with parchment paper in an airtight container, for several days. Freeze to keep longer.

Adapted from: minimalistbaker.com

Creamy cucumbers and dill
1 tub Sour Supreme by Tofutti
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 scallion, minced
2-3 Tbsp fresh dill, fine chopped
2 sprigs fresh parsley, fine chopped
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper
4 cucumbers, diced

Mix all ingredients together and let sit for 10-15min for flavors to merge.

Fill tortilla/wrap or pita pocket with cucumbers, top/stuff with 2-4 falafel patties. Enjoy!!!

Another polenta option; savory with sun-dried tomatoes (hey, they are easy to make on your own too!)

Kale, Sun-dried Tomatoes & Garbanzo Beans with Polenta

1 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 bunch of kale, stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped oil-packed sun dried tomatoes
1 can chick peas (or garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained (or cook your own)
a pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add chick peas and sauté for a minute or two.

Add the kale, the garlic and sun dried tomatoes to the skillet. Stir over medium heat until the kale is bright and tender, approximately 5-10 minutes.

Add the white wine vinegar, salt and pepper and stir for another minute.

Remove from heat and serve over slices (or “soft” bowl) of nutritional yeast & garlic-spiced polenta.

If anyone has some good recipes for this weeks ingredients, pop on over to the website and enter them there for everyone’s benefit!.

Subscription Box Highlights

Anticipated this week for the CSA/Subscription Boxes:

Tomatoes
Summer squash/Zucchini
Cucumbers
Sweet peppers
Cabbage
Wax beans
Potatoes
Lettuce mix
Onions
Garlic
Oregano
Thyme

Start your meal planning now!

We hope to feed you soon!

Roger and Lara

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