RECIPE: Strawberry Tip

Clean and hull your extra strawberries and let freeze on a baking sheet overnight.  Once they are completely frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag and enjoy in smoothies all summer long!

Submitted by Erin Hotchkiss

RECIPE: Warm Shrimp and Escarole Salad

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons drained capers, chopped
8 radishes, trimmed, quartered
1 1/4 pounds large shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 head of escarole, torn into large pieces (about 10 cups)
3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add anchovies and cook, mashing with the back of a spoon, until anchovies dissolve and a paste forms, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and capers; cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant but not brown, about 1 minute.

Increase heat to medium-high. Add radishes and cook, tossing often, until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Add shrimp; cook, tossing occasionally, until just cooked through, about 4 minutes.

Add half of escarole and toss until beginning to wilt, about 1 minute. Add remaining escarole and toss until wilted, about 1 minute more. Remove from heat.

Add Parmesan and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper; toss to combine.

Submitted by Judy Plows

RECIPE: Collard Greens Tips

Collards contain 8 times as much Vitamin A as cabbage and twice as much as broccoli.  There is more vitamin C in a serving of collards than in a glass of orange juice!

Storage Tips:

• Store collards unwashed in a plastic bag in the drawer in your fridge.         
• Will keep for up to 2 weeks, but best when fresh.
• Although collards are best eaten fresh, they can also be frozen.  To freeze, clean and trim the leaves, cut them into strips, steam blanch them for 4 minutes, cool them quickly and pack them into a hard plastic container.

Preparation:                

• Wash the collard greens by swishing them in a bowl of water with a little bit of salt (to help draw any dirt away from the leaves).
• Slice out the main rib and slice it into chunks.  Slice the leaves into strips.                   
• Sautee garlic in olive oil, add sliced collards with a bit of water, cover and braise until collards become bright green, about 10 min.  Top with tamari, balsamic vinegar, or toasted sesame oil. 
• You can also add collards to stir fries.
• Combining collards with other greens (such as arugula, kale, mustard, chard or spinach) is also a wonderful way to prepare this vegetable.
• Cooking collards causes them to shrink down to 1/4 or 1/8 of their original volume.  Allow for 4-8 cups of greens per person. 

 

RECIPE: Strawberry Jam

Difficulty Level: EASY

Makes 2 pints

• 4cups hulled and quartered strawberries
• 2 1/4cups granulated sugar
• pinches salt
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 1/2teaspoon cold unsalted butter
         

1. Put a small plate in the freezer.
2. Combine the strawberries, sugar, salt and lemon juice in a medium, heavy saucepan. Set the pan over low heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture starts to bubble.
3. Continue to cook over low heat for about 30 minutes, until a bit of the jam sets on the plate you've been keeping in the freezer (when you tip the plate, the jam should run only very slowly).
4. Turn off the heat and stir the butter into the jam -- this will help to clarify the jam and get rid of the foam once it cools.
5. Spoon the hot jam carefully into hot sterilized jars and either process the jars or seal and keep refrigerated. If refrigerating, use the jam within a week or two.
6. Some sterilizing notes:
7. Use glass jars with no chips or cracks and tight-fitting lids.
8. To sterilize, wash both the jars and lids thoroughly with hot, soapy water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and boil the jars and lids (don't boil metal lids or rubber seals) for 15 minutes. Alternately, after you've cleaned the jars and lids, arrange them (lids open sides up), without touching, on a baking sheet and put them in a 175 degree F oven for 30 minutes. To sterilize metal lids and/or rubber seals, put them in a bowl, pour boiling water over them to cover and let them soak for a few minutes.
9. Sterilize all of your additional equipment (tongs for handling hot jars, funnels, ladles, etc.) by dipping them in boiling water for a few minutes.

 

RECIPE: Couve A Miniera (Brazilian quick collard greens with garlic)

Difficulty Level: EASY

These quick-sauteed collards traditionally served with Fejoida (black bean and pork-ends stew) are barely reminiscent of American braised greens, and are a much easier and crunchier way to enjoy collards.  If you're not up for making Fejoida, this makes a great green side for any meal.

Ingredients:

1 bunch collard greens

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced or mashed

1 1/2 tsp kosher (coarse) salt

A little olive oil and butter

Directions:

Wash the greens thoroughly. Gather the collards up and roll them into a bundle, then slice very thinly as if shredding for salad. If they're still big slice once or twice in the opposite direction, creating little strips or shreds of collards. 

Using a cast iron skillet (always my favorite) with medium heat, coat with oil, add garlic and salt and cook a few minutes, then add the greens and sautee only for a few minutes (up to 4 minutes or so), using tongs to flip them over halfway through, making sure the greens are all thinly coated with oil. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper if desired, and serve immediately. 

Submitted by Adrienne Mishkin

 

RECIPE: Radish Tips and Recipe

STORAGE:

- Store radish bulbs and tops unwashed in separate plastic containers, or wrapped separately in paper towels or cloths, in the refrigerator drawer
- Stored this way, the greens will last 3-4 days, and the bulbs will last about 1 week

PREPARATION:

- Clean radishes well before eating.  Radishes do not need to be peeled (except for black radishes). 
- East whole, or slice, chop, grate or dice as desired.
- Raw radishes are delicious in salads, on vegetables platters with dips, and on sandwiches.
- Radishes can also be cooked.  They can be steamed, sautéed or stir-fried.
- Radish greens can be eaten raw in salads or they can be cooked as you would other greens.

RECIPE:
Cucumber Salad with Radish and Dill
Difficulty Level: EASY

Ingredients

• 1 English cucumber or 3 Kirby cucumbers, halved lengthwise, seeded, thinly sliced
• 4 large radishes (about 6 ounces), thinly sliced
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 6 ounces feta cheese, coarsely crumbled (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill, plus more sprigs, torn, for garnish
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 garlic clove, crushed with the flat side of a large knife
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1. Put cucumber, radish, and lemon zest in a medium bowl, and add cheese.
2. Whisk together lemon juice, vinegar, dill, sugar, and garlic in another medium bowl, whisking until sugar has dissolved; season with salt and pepper. Whisk in the oil in a slow, steady stream until emulsified.
3. Add vinaigrette to cucumber mixture; toss well. Garnish with dill. Discard garlic clove before serving. Refrigerate salad in an airtight container up to 1 hour.

RECIPE: Pesto Variations

Difficulty Level: EASY

 

We recently got a lot of great ingredients for pesto.  The garlic scapes can be made into a robust, very garlicky pesto on their own, but I prefer using a few garlic scapes in a batch of herb pesto to add a subtler flavor. The trick is to blend the scapes in olive oil first, because they need more time through the blender than the herbs do -- add in softer ingredients once the scapes are pulverized. Try the following combinations for a delicious topping for pasta, rice, salmon or chicken:

2 scapes, 3 TB olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1 good squeeze of a lemon, and the entire bunch of fresh dill, trimmed and washed (this is actually delicious in chicken soup!)

2 scapes, 3 TB olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1 TB parmesan, plus the bunch of spinach or arugula or kale, trimmed, washed, and boiled for 1-2 minutes and then mostly drained.

OR the whole bunch of scapes, 3 TB olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1  good squeeze of a lemon and the fresh dill PLUS the slightly cooked spinach/arugula/kale. 

 

 

I went easy on the salt because I knew I'd be putting mine on smoked salmon, but you'll probably want to add a little more salt and possibly pepper depending on what you decide to use these for.

Submitted by Adrienne Mishkin

RECIPE: Rhubarb Pickles

Difficulty level: EASY

4 stalks rhubarb, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
2 cups cold water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tb sugar
2 tb salt
2 tb whole black pepper corns
2 tb whole cardamom pods
2 tb whole cloves
1 tb commercial pickling spice

Mix all ingredients, cover and refrigerate for 2-3 days before serving. Makes a delicious accompaniment to stew or greasy food.

 

Submitted by Adrienne Mishkin