Market Ragout of Turnips, Kohlrabi, and Peas

Farm Fresh Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter/ olive oil
• 6 spring onions or shallots, halved
• 6 or more small turnips, scrubbed and quartered
• 2 or 3 small kohlrabi, about golf ball size, peeled and quartered
• 1 thyme or lemon thyme sprig
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 pound pod peas, shelled
• A few handfuls baby spinach
• Dollop crème fraiche
• 4 large basil leaves, slivered

 

Heat the butter/ oil in a skillet and add the onions, turnips, kohlrabi, and thyme.  Add water to cover halfway and a teaspoon  of salt.  Simmer while you shuck the peas.

As soon as the vegetables are tender, after 12 to 15 minutes, add the peas and spinach and cook until the spinach has wilted down, a few minutes more.  Stir in the crème fraiche and add the basil.  Taste for salt and season with pepper.  Serve this as a side dish or a course  by itself.  With a starch (puff pastry, ravioli, even buttered toast) it can be offered as a vegetarian main dish.

Stir-fried Snow Peas and Pea Greens

Farm Fresh Ingredients:

• ½ pound snow peas
• ¼ pound or more of pea greens
• 1 ½ tablespoons roasted of plain peanut oil
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• Sea salt

Trim and string the snow peas. Wash the pea greens in a bowl of cold water, then remove and shake off the excess water. Heat a large skillet or a wok.  Add the oil, swirl it around, add the pea greens and a pinch of salt and stir-fry until leaves are tender and bright green.  Serve right away.

Garlicky Bok Choy

Farm Fresh Ingredients:

• Bok Choy
• 1 tbsp peanut oil (this is critical, you won’t get the same richness of flavor without it)
• 2 heaping tsp garlic
• ¼ cup rice wine
• 1 tsp sugar

Heat peanut oil on medium (be careful, it gets hotter than regular oil), Sauté 1tsp garlic for 1-2 min until fragrant (be careful not to burn!!) Add vegetables. Cook vegetables until 3/4 finished (roughly ~5 min, then add rice wine, sugar, and remaining garlic. Stir until vegetables are finished (2 min or more)

This recipe works with bok choy, spinach, watercress, snow peas, pea shoots, Chinese broccoli, and other Chinese green vegetables. You want to have the vegetables a little more on the well done side than usual – soft rather than crunchy, but not mushy. Spinach & bok choy soak the flavor from the sauce up nicely.

Radish, Turnip and Carrot Salad

Farm Fresh Ingredients:

• ½ bunch carrots, sliced shredded or grated
• 1 bunch radishes, sliced shredded or grated
• 1 bunch salad turnips (Japanese) sliced or shredded
• ½ bunch pink turnips sliced or shredded
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• Soy Sauce to taste

 

Toss together vegetables. Mix liquid ingredients in a separate bowl. Taste the mixture and if necessary, adjust vinegar, oils, or other ingredients to your liking.  Pour over vegetables. Toss, let marinate in refrigerator for at least one hour before serving.

Curried Japanese Turnips

Ingredients:

• 1 chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 5 or 6 Japanese turnips peeled and sliced thin
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Sauté onion in oil for a few minutes until translucent.

Add turnips, curry powder and salt. Cook until everything is tender. Squeeze some lemon juice over the dish before serving. Serve with additionallemon wedges.

Arugula Salad with Cherry – Chive Vinaigrette

Farm Fresh Ingredients:

• 4 cups salad greens
• 1 cup shredded arugula
• 2 cups baby spinach, stemmed
• ¼ cup virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sweet brown rice vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic chives / greens
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons dried tart cherries (or dried cranberries)

Combine all ingredients together in a jar, except the vinegar.

Starting with one tablespoon, add vinegar to taste. Cap tightly and shake well. Drizzle over salad greens.

Roasted Kale with Sea Salt

Ingredients:

• 4 cups firmly-packed kale
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp. good-quality sea salt, such as Maldon or Cyprus Flake

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Wash and trim kale: Peel off the tough stems by folding the kale leaves in half like a book and stripping the stems off. Toss with extra virgin olive oil. Roast for five minutes. Turn kale over. Roast another 7 to 10 minutes until kale turns brown and becomes paper thin and brittle. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve immediately.

Spicy Greens Salad with Japanese Turnip

Farm Fresh Ingredients:

• 4 or 5 small red or white Japanese Turnip
• 2 apples
• ½ cup walnuts
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup salt
• ½ lb mesclun mix

Dress the salad greens with homemade vinaigrette and set aside.

Wash turnips, leave skins on and trim ends. Baton or dice and set aside.  Quarter, core and dice apples and add to turnips. Chop walnuts coarsely.  Mix salt and sugar into frying pan and cook on low/med heat until sugar starts to melt.  Quickly toss walnuts in sugar/salt mix.

Mix turnips, apples and nuts and gently pour on top of salad greens. Serve immediately

Collards or Kale with Potatoes

Farm Fresh Ingredients:

• 2 bunches collard greens or a mixture of collards and kale
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 medium yellow- fleshed potatoes, scrubbed and coarsely diced
• 3 or 4 strips of bacon, cut into small pieces (optional)
• 2 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
• ½ olive, finely diced
• 2 plump garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Good pinch red pepper flakes
• Hot pepper sauce or vinegar for the table

Strip collards leaves from the stems and wash.  Bring a few quarts of water to a boil.  Add salt and the greens,simmer for 10 minutes.  Scoop them into a bowl.  Add potatoes to cooking water and simmer until tender, 7 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned.  Set it on paper towels to drain, discard the fat, wipe out the pan.

Return the pan to the heat, add oil.   When oil is hot, add onion.  Cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.

Coarsely chop the cooked greens, add them to the pan along with the garlic and pepper flakes.  Scoop some of the potato water in the pan as well so that everything cooks in a little moisture, adding more water as needed.

When potatoes are tender, scoop them out and add them to the greens.  Add the bacon, then toss everything together.  Taste for salt and season with pepper.  Keep everything distinct or mash the potatoes in the greens. Season with pepper sauce and vinegar to taste.

Swiss chard with Bacon and Mustard Sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 slices lean peppercorn bacon, chopped into 1in pieces
• 1 small onion, chopped into medium dice
• 1 teaspoon fresh marjoram or thyme leaves
• 2 fresh sage leaves, shredded
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon stone-ground Dijon or any sharp mustard
• 8 cups shredded Swiss chard

In a large saucepan, cook bacon over medium-high heat until golden but soft. Remove and drain on a paper towel.Add onion, marjoram, and sage to the pan and cook, stirring often, over medium heat until onion is golden, about 10 minutes. Add vinegar and stir to deglaze the pan, loosening any stuck bits.Add the mustard and stir until smooth.

Bring sauce to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, add chard without stirring, cover tightly.  Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered, until chard is limp, 3-4 minutes.

Stir chard in sauce and serve at once, garnished with bacon.