A meal: spring time harvest and first CSA boxes

Spring still takes hold of the garden with just a few garden goodies ready to harvest. We recently had the pleasure of preparing and delivering our very first boxes  for our CSA members and we hope that they have already enjoyed those very first offerings. From here on out, this blog will begin to be filled with delicious recipes from our kitchen and farm that we hope will inspire our members, family, and friends in their own kitchens. 

This blog may feature meals we have enjoyed in our kitchen, showcase a vegetable or fruit we grow on the farm, or simply just provide some eye candy of some tasty items that make their way out of the ground, off of the plant, into the hand and eaten out of sight. 

As we watch the growth of our vegetables and fruits on the farm, we are anticipating what will go in the next box for delivery. Today it was time to pull out some carrots and see how they are growing and whether or not they were ready to harvest for tomorrow for the boxes. We had planned to put in the boxes "baby carrots', but their growth was much further along than we thought. 

I went around the farm and began to pull a few mustard greens here, arugula and lettuce there, some cosmic purple and scarlet nantes carrots, two chioggia beets, some thyme, and rosemary, some peas. My plan from the day before was to make roasted veggies, beans and a salad. Everything would come from the farm. And my Dad has this "secret" recipe for the best roasted veggies.  He calls them "three times cooked" roasted veggies. While you can simply roast veggies in a pan or on a baking sheet, this recipe calls for a little more work, but they are truly decadent and worth the effort.

The Beans:

Begin with dry beans and cook them for at least two hours until the are soft. We like using our crock pot to prepare the beans ahead of time (usually the day before) and then they are ready when we decide to cook dinner. These beans were cooked very simply.

One leek sliced into large chunks
a few sprigs of thyme
a stem of rosemary
olive oil
water to cover
salt

Put all ingredients in favorite soup or casserole dish and then either on stove top or in the oven and cook for at least 45 minutes. The longer it cooks, the more the flavors will intensify. I like putting my pots of beans in the oven so I don't have to watch over them and can get other things done around the house or just relax.

The Salad:

from L:R  Speckles lettuce, red giant mustard, mizuna, tat soi, arugula and its flowers,  french breakfast radishes and peas

For any salad all you need are a variety of tasty greens, a topping or two, your favorite dressing and maybe some edible flowers to jazz it up.

Lettuces chopped
Mustard greens chopped
radishes sliced
peas sliced
arugula flowers carefully removed from the stem and placed individually and scattered over the top
your favorite dressing

We like to keep our dressings simple by drizzling some good olive oil and either balsamic vinegar or lemon over the top with just a dash of salt and pepper. Then tossing the whole salad by hand and letting it rest in the fridge until the rest of the meal is ready.

The Roasted Veggies:

For our roasted veggies we had some chioggia beets, scarlet nantes and cosmic purple carrots and about a quarter of a Guatemalan Blue Banana squash that we had in storage from last years farm venture.

Step One: Prepare and Chop

To prepare clean and chop any veggies. I kept the small carrots whole. 

Step Two: Boil 2 Minutes

Begin by boiling water in a large pot that has a cover. Once it comes to a rolling boil (really make sure it's a good boil), drop in all your veggies and put on the cover . Now's the secret....

Begin a timer for two minutes. That's right, 2 minutes only and boil those veggies. After two minutes remove them from the heat and drain the water from the veggies, but wait! 

Don't get rid of that gorgeous veggie water!!

Use this veggie water as a liquid for any dish that you would use veggie stock or water in. There are so many excellent nutrients that are now in this veggie water. Save the liquid in a jar and either freeze it for later use or use it within a week with another dish (especially good for soups!).

Step Three: Fry

Next heat a cast iron pan on medium high and add olive oil. Once oil is hot then take all your drained veggies and add to hot pan. Allow veggies to brown on each side. Add a sprig of some herbs and salt as desired. Once everything is browned then it is time for step four.

Step Four: Bake

Take your pan of veggies off the stove top and place in an oven heated to 400degF. Allow to bake for at least 45 minutes or until veggies are super tender and caramelized. My beans are in the dish in the background. The pot was already cooking for about a half hour.

The Meal:

And then once everything is ready, it is time to serve and enjoy. We paired our meal with a bottle of Cabernet Franc from Imagery, some crusty bread and olive oil and vinegar for dipping, and the company of Yeti who we enjoyed getting extra last minute advice about what to harvest for our next box.