Hello!
In case you missed last week’s email: the farm will be closed 12/24- 12/26 and will not be delivering CSA shares on those days.
If you’re a CSA Member (and have not already), please fill out this form to acknowledge you are aware of the schedule change and let us know if you would like us to donate or pause your share that week. (Want to know more about how you can give VRDNT veggies to Keep Austin Fed? Read here.)
And now, a roundup:
Holiday cooking is on my mind. This year I’m traveling to Louisiana and offered to cook Christmas lunch for a small group of 6, including one pescatarian and no children. I won’t have much time to prep beforehand, will likely have had a rowdy Christmas Eve, and also will be up early at my mom’s house without any other real agenda other than getting some food together. So like, it should be festive, but I also am not interested in going overboard. It’s a busy work season for me, and I’m looking to r.e.s.t.
I’m going one of three directions: a Cajun redfish courtbouillon served over rice, an Italian seafood stew - Cioppino style- or a big tamale spread with beans, rice, heaping piles of fresh smashed avocado and a big cast iron of queso flameado with vegan chorizo to start. (I’d bring frozen tamales and tortillas from Texas, to be sure.) Whatever direction I go (I must choose very soon) I’ll definitely be recreating this very simple but very memorable fennel salad which I recently had in New York and have been dreaming of since. It’s the perfect salad… bright and crunchy, but with creamy olive bites (and creamy provolone bites), and I think it will go with either stew or the tamales, too. And well, our family’s Christmas day traditions are shifting a bit, so the food might as well be a fresh take, as well.
Recipe Roundup:
Holiday-inspired food, mostly salads:
Altro Paradiso’s Shaved Fennel Salad with Green Olives and Provolone. Recipe here.
Roasted Broccoli Salad with Charred Lemon and Kale. Recipe here.
Beet, arugula, avocado, goat cheese, walnut salad. Recipe here.
Kale, radish, and pecan salad. Recipe here.
Charred Broccoli with figs. Recipe here.
“Christmas Salad”- arugula, citrus, pecans, and pomegranate. Recipe here.
Roasted cauliflower, feta, currants, and parsley salad. Recipe here.
Simple Asian Purple and Green Daikon Radish Salad. Recipe here.
Kale Salad with Sesame Dressing. Recipe here.
Heirloom Carrot Salad (with pea tendrils, herbs, and cheese). Recipe here.
The Best Simple Tossed Green Salad. Recipe here.
Magdalena Roze’s Broccoli Slaw. Recipe here.
Shannon Bennett’s Pork and Fennel Stuffing. Recipe here.
Sweet potato salad with sage, speck, and horseradish. Recipe here.
Sweet potato and red cabbage gratin. Recipe here.
Jerusalem artichoke, gorgonzola, and arugula salad. Recipe here.
Chorizo and sweet potato salad. Recipe here.
Sesame butter radishes with lemon. Recipe here.
Broccoli with ‘nduja. Recipe here. Happy holidays to you all.
-Ada & The VRDNT Crew