Good Afternoon! In case you missed the news there's a major crop shuffle underway at Vrdnt. Winter crops that we planted in August, like cabbage, broccoli, and carrots, are finally starting to make their debut - carrots now, and the others soon. Meanwhile, the summer stalwarts - okra, peppers - are OUT. Adios.
We hope you're as excited as we are to cook with some of these newbies. Here are a few recipes to get you going.
PEA SHOOTS:
Tender pea shoots, freshly snipped from their nitrogen-fixing bodies, are one of my favorite farm delicacies. They taste like spring, but winter varieties make them available in cold months, also. Pea shoots are relatively easy and quickly to grow (a favorite field snack mid-harvet), and I don't know why more farmers don't decorate their farms with these tendrils. My favorite way to eat PEA SHOOTS is to STIR FRY WITH LOTS OF AROMATICS like this recipe. But also, you can snack on them raw, add them to a simple PASTA, blitz into a SOUP or incorporate into a raw SALAD like this one that plays on their natural sweetness to balance the flavor of spicy ARUGULA & RADISHES.
Here is a recipe where PEA SHOOTS get ground with MINT and pistachios to make a versatile PESTO.
I tend to think of PEA SHOOTS as a cross between a green - like kale - and an herb - like parsley. They're special little flavor bombs -good raw or cooked - that I hope you grow to treasure as much as I do.
GREENS AND RICE: If ever I wanted to hug an Instagram post, it would be this one by Bon Appetit. "One of the simplest, most obvious (but also, smartest!) ways to turn a pot of rice into a complete meal? Add a bunch of greens to the post while the rice rests - they'll steam in the residual heat, giving you some extra veg power with no additional work or dishes." For weekday CSA meals, this technique - so obvious and so dependable - is one you should certainly add to your toolbox. Literally any Vrdnt greens would work here, but I personally would use my BRAISING MIX and PEA SHOOTS for this application.
KOHLRABI:
When I was in college, I worked for Katz Coffee company at the Sunset Valley Farmers Market every Saturday morning. It was there that a farmer (I wish I could remember who!) gave me my first kohlrabi bulb. I'm allergic to raw apples, and kohlrabi quickly became my round-veg of choice to crunch down on. I still love to eat kohlrabi this way - peeled and raw, ideally with lemon and salt. Here is a more composed KOHLRABI SALAD recipe if you want those flavors. I also like to slice them thin, and mix with lime and tajin.
KOHLRABI makes a great raw comp