Notes from Debbie's Kitchen
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Welcome, everybody, to the start of a new season! I especially want to welcome our new members; I've heard from so many of you that are excited to be getting your first CSA box and I want to nurture that enthusiasm. Cooking with truly spanky-fresh seasonal veggies is so transformative. People often comment about never realizing how good real fresh produce could taste. So my goal in this section of the newsletter over the season is to a) help you identify new and possibly unfamiliar veggies and b) give you plenty of good ideas as to what to do with them! If you haven't been there yet, I hope you will check out my recipe database for ideas too. And feel free to email me any time if you have questions, comments, recipe ideas, pictures or stories to share of your adventures in CSA cooking. Whatever you do though, be sure to enjoy! - Debbie

Collard "rapini"
Let's start with the new kid on the block, the one most of you won't know what it is: the collard greens 'rapini'. This looks like a bunch of broccoli raab - tender medium green stalks and leaves, with broccoli-like buds, maybe just a few opening into tiny yellow flowers - but it actually is the very top of our collard greens plant. This is incredibly delicious! It requires very little cooking time, and I recommend simple preparations, so as to let the flavor sing. (Of course I say this about a LOT of veggies, because when the veggies are so fresh, they have a lot of flavor all on their own. You will quickly discover this for yourself!)

The collards 'rapini' can be used in any recipe you might use broccoli, broccolini, or broccoli raab, but I would recommend simply steaming the stalks whole, for maybe 2 to 3 minutes, then either serving them plain with butter and salt, or my absolutely favorite way of eating them (my fave way of eating lots of different greens, actually; you'll hear this a lot from me), is steamed to al dente, then squeezing fresh lemon juice over them, then drizzling with a flavorful olive oil - the warm veggies volatilize the oil making it fragrant and marvelous - and sprinkling with a good sea salt. That's it!


Green Garlic vs Leeks
To the uninitiated, green garlic looks exactly like leeks. You will be getting both in your box this week. Tom says the leeks are larger and more mature, and so will be in the box loose, whereas the green garlic is still young and so will be bunched. But if you are ever in a situation where you're not sure which is which, trust your nose: do a "scratch-n-sniff" test - the garlic will definitely smell like garlic. Lastly, if you mix 'em up and use one in place of the other inadvertently, not to worry. They are both in the allium family and will do wonderful flavorful things to whatever you prepare - it may be a little different, but it will still be good!

Something I intend to try (as an appetizer for an Easter dinner I'm attending) is to make my crispy leeks recipe, but use both leeks and green garlic!


Rutabagas
Seems like so many people don't know what to do with rutabagas, but they are a delicious veggie. Peel and cube them, cook in boiling salted water about 10 minutes, drain and mash like potatoes with butter and salt. Sprinkle with minced fresh parsley for color and a little zing. You can also cook them together with potatoes for a potato-rutabaga mash... or with carrots for a carrot-rutabaga mash... or combine all three for a triple veggie mash!


about the Apples
Our apples are the only item in your box which were not recently harvested. Apples are a seasonal crop harvested in the late summer and early fall, and then stored in controlled temperature coolers. The beauty of apples though, is that they can store so well this way, enabling us to enjoy their fruit for many months (we could never do this with strawberries!) Any apple you buy at the store would be the same. My only reason for telling you this, other than truth in advertising ;-) is because stored apples do not last as long as ones you get fresh in the fall, so 1) be sure to keep them in your refrigerator and not in a basket on your table, and 2) eat them fairly soon, i.e. don't expect to hold them in your fridge for weeks. They don't have as long a shelf-life as their younger cousins from September and October. The Fujis you are receiving this week are still sweet and good - do like I do and have one as a snack each day and they'll disappear before you know what happened!

Consider, too, trying them in a green smoothie. My favorite is apple, ginger, lemon and kale.


Radishes
Many people do not realize that radish greens are an edible cooking green! So if the green tops of your radishes are fresh and healthy, consider saving them for a saute or wherever you might use other cooking greens like chard, kale or spinach. If I'm going to save my radish greens (I don't always, sometimes I just compost them), I cut the tops off and put them in a basin of cool water, swish 'em around good to get off any dirt or debris, then pluck them out, spin them in a salad spinner, and lay them out to air dry before bagging and refrigerating. Alternatively you can wrap them in a tea towel or paper towel when still somewhat wet from the spinner, then put them towel and all in a bag in the fridge. They'll keep for a number of days this way (but are of course fresher if used sooner!)

The other eye-opener for a lot of folks is that you can cook radishes! Use them in stir-fries or sautes or soups. Here's a simple recipe for Sauteed radishes with their greens to get you going.


Beet greens
Beet greens, like radish greens, are also a great cooking green. I'd prepare them exactly the same way I described prepping the radish greens, above. There are a bazillion beet and beet green recipes in the database, so take a peek if you are new to this veggie!


Well, I'm running out of time to cover the rest of the veggies in the box this week, but hope this will get you started! Have fun with the artichokes (yum!) and enjoy your strawberries (yum!!) and savor that kale (I love kale!!) and the sweet crispy carrots! You will never go back to eating those tasteless, bagged, whittled-down 'baby carrots' again after tasting real carrots. Cheers, and I'll talk to you next week! :-) Debbie

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