IG Fresh Haul Week 4

Written By ian pasloski

Bears, Beets and Battlestar Galactica

Slow mornings at the garden have to be most

The weeding battle continues at the garden. If you have ever had a garden, then you know the challenge far too well.

Along with the weeds growing like crazy so are the vegetables. In fact all of the warm weather crops are putting on flowers.

The season is switching, we are moving out of a bunch of leafy greens and moving into more leafy greens. But those leafy greens are attached to bright coloured and tasty vegetables.

*Half Haul                               *my morning view

Mid Season Boost

There are so many new flowers popping up on plants this time of year. This is a great time to give the plants a little boost of nutrients. All of the warm weather crops like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squash got some extra love this week. When plants start producing flowers. They go into overdrive and start drawing as many nutrients from the soil as possible. So it is common practice to give them a boost with a little fish fertilizer. I will dilute the concentrated brown sludge in a gallon of water and spray it directly onto the leaves of the plant. The plant will directly absorb it and put it to use. I will notice significant growth from all of the plants in a couple short days.

As the plants grow the weeds are slowly beaten back and I take back the garden one bed at a time. A freshly weeded garden is so satisfying. Clean rows and pathways make the garden look’s nice but it also allows the actually plants to use the available water instead of having to compete with the weeds. Creating bigger stronger plants.

We are in mid summer and that means we are making the transition from lettuce to more hardy vegetables that we love to eat like. Beets, cabbage and fennel are making their way into the hauls this week.

What’s In The Haul

HALF

Garlic Scapes

Fennel

Lettuce

Beets

FULL

Mesclun Mix (lettuce)

Kale, Collard Greens, Swiss chard Bundle

Green Cabbage

Fennel

Beets

Salad Booster Microgreens

 

Week 4 Recipes

Green Cabbage

  • Classic Coleslaw

  • Bacon and Onion Fried Cabbage

Cabbage Storage Tips:

Store cabbage in the fridge, whole and uncut. It will stay good in the fridge for up to 2 months. When ready to use just peel off a couple outer leaves.

When freezing cabbage you can cut into 1/4 wedges or shred the cabbage. Blanch the wedge cabbage for 4 minutes and the shredded cabbage for 1 and half minutes. Next strain the cabbage and shock it in ice cold water.  Place the cabbage on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 3 hours and then place into freezer bags.

Classic Coleslaw

4 cups cabbage, shredded

1 Bunch of Green Onions

1/4 cup mayo

3 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar

Salt and Pepper

In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Let the coleslaw sit in the fridge for a couple hours before serving.

Bacon and Onion Fried Cabbage

4 strips of bacon

1 onion, diced

2 cups cabbage, diced

1 tbsp vinegar

Salt and Pepper

In a sauté pan over medium high heat, cook the bacon to desired doneness. Once cooked remove the bacon from the pan, but leave all the bacon fat still in the pan. Add in the diced onion and cabbage. Cook the veggies until the cabbage becomes soft. Add in the vinegar, salt and pepper and cook for another minute. Serve.

 

Fennel

  • Fennel and Orange Salad

  • Fennel and Apple Salad

  • Roasted Fennel Tomato Sauce

Fennel Storage Tips:

Remove the fronds (tops) from the bulb base, store the fronds in a resealable bag for up to a week. The bulb end can be placed in a resalable container in the fridge for up to a week.

Fennel and Orange Salad with Toasted Pistachio

1 bulb of fennel, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fennel fronds

1 orange cut into segments

1/4 cup toasted pistachios

1/8 cup dill, chopped

1 tbsp Olive oil

Juice from a 1/4 of a lemon

Salt and Pepper

Cut the tops off the bulb and reserve the fronds to one side. Thinly slice the fennel. Peel one orange and cut the segments out of the orange.

In a sauté pan toast the pistachios until golden. Roughly chop the dill and fennel fronds. Now to assemble the salad. In a bowl toss the fennel, orange, fennel fronds, dill, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Lay out on to a plate top toasted pistachios, enjoy.

Fennel and Apple Salad

1 large kohlrabi, peeled and sliced

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1 red apple, sliced

1/4 cup walnuts, toasted

1 bundle of green onions sliced

1 bundle of cilantro

1 leaves of mint

3 tbsp olive oil

Juice from half of a lemon or 1 tbsp of vinegar

Salt and Pepper

Peal and slice the kohlrabi, fennel and place in bowl. Then add the thinly sliced apple, walnuts, green onion, roughly chopped cilantro, mint, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss the salad together and let sit in the fridge for a couple hour for the salad to come together and develop flavour.

Roasted Fennel Tomato Sauce

1 bulb fennel, cored and sliced

2 shallots, sliced

1 tsp anchovy paste

1 can of whole tomatoes

1/2 cup kalamata olives, halved

Salt and Pepper

In a sauté pan over medium high heat add the olive oil and wait for the pan to heat up. Once the olive oil is hot add in the anchovies and slice shallots and cook for about 2 minutes. Add in the sliced fennel and let it cook for about 5 minutes or until the fennel becomes tender. Next add a can of whole tomatoes and reduce the heat to medium and cover the pan. Let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes. Lastly add the olives and season with salt and pepper. Serve with pasta and enjoy.

 

Mesclun Mix

  • French Vinaigrette

  • Green Goddess Dressing

  • Balsamic Vinaigrette

Lettuce Storage Tips:

In a resealable container or bag, line the bottom with a paper towel. Place the lid back on or reseal the bag and store in your fridge for up to 7 days. A container works great because it prevents the lettuce from getting bruised.

French Vinaigrette

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar of your choice

1 tsp dijon mustard

Fresh or dried herbs of your choice

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a bowl whisk together all of the ingredients until everything comes together in a smooth consistency. Use right away or store in the fridge in an air tight container. (It will store up to 7 days in the fridge, simply shake before using)

Green Goddess Dressing

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or oil of your choice

2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar of your choice

1/4 cup yogurt

1/2 avocado

1 clove of garlic

Herbs of your choice (dill, cilantro, parsley, oregano, chives, sweet marjoram)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 tbsp water

In a blender or food processor combine all the ingredients together. Add 1 tbsp of water to the dressing if it is looking too thick and blend together again. Use right away or store in a container for up to 1 week.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 clove of crushed garlic

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients together and mix well.

 

Beets

  • Roasted Beet Salad

  • Garlicky Beet Greens

Beets Storage Tips

In a resealable container or bag, line the bottom with a paper towel. Place the lid back on or reseal the bag and store in your fridge for up to 7 days. A container works great because it prevents the lettuce from getting bruised.

Roasted Beet Salad

Beets, cooked with skin removed

1/4 cup toasted walnuts or nuts and seeds of your choice

1 cup micro-greens of your choice

Goat cheese

Dressing

/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp dijon mustard

Thyme

Roast the beets in the oven for an hour at 350 degrees. Once cooked, let the beets cool for a minute and then peel. In a sauté pan over high heat toast the nuts until they are brown and toasted. In a bowl whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing. Next add in the diced cooked beets, toasted nuts, cheese and micro greens. Add salt and pepper and toss everything together.

Garlicky Beet Greens

1 bundle beet greens, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and Pepper

In a sauté pan over medium high heat, heat the olive oil. Once the oil is hot add in sliced garlic and chopped beet greens. Cook greens for a couple minutes until wilted. Add salt and pepper, enjoy.

Kale

  • Kale Pesto

  • Winter Greens Salad

Kale Storage Tips:

Take the washed kale and place in a zip lock bag or air tight container. Put a dry piece of paper towel in the bag or container to wick away any moisture. Kale is pretty resilient and will last in your fridge up to 10 days.

Freezing kale, remove the rib from the kale leaf. Blanch the kale in boiling water for 1 minute. Remove the kale from the water, letting it air dry or dry it off with a dry towel. Place it on a baking sheet and put into the freezer for 2 hours. Once frozen put into a zip lock bag and put it back into the freezer. It will last up to 3 months.

Winter Greens Salad

1 bundle of any hardy greens of your choice

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup olive oil

Juice from half a lemon

1/4 tsp red chilli flakes

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Toasted Bread Crumbs

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

2 tbsp butter

With your hands tare the greens into bit size pieces. In a large bowl combine the olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, parmesan cheese, chilli flakes, salt and pepper. Give the dressing a quick mix and put in the greens. Make sure to evenly coat the greens in the dressing and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to let the dressing, break down an soften the greens. While the salad sits, make the toasted bread crumbs. In a non stick pan over medium heat add the butter until melted. Let it brown slightly and add in the bread crumbs. Make sure to evenly coat the bread crumbs in the butter. Continue to let me brown for 1 minute. Add hot bread crumbs to the top of your salad and finish with more parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Kale Pesto

8 leaves of kale, roughly chopped

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Juice from half a lemon

1/4 cup walnuts

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup grated parmasion

Salt and Pepper

In a dry (no oil) sauté pan over hight heat toast the walnuts, until they are becoming brown and aromatic. Dump the walnuts into a bowl. Next in the same pan put the roughly chopped kale with some water and steam the kale. Once the kale is steamed pour off any excess water and put the kale and the rest of the ingredients into a food processor. Blend everything together to form a smooth paste.

Garlic Scapes

  • Scape & Lemon Compound Butter

Garlic Scape Storage Tips:

Store garlic scapes in a resealable bag in the fridge. They will last up to two weeks.

Scape & Lemon Compound Butter

1 bundle of garlic scapes

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup soft butter

Salt and Pepper

In a food processor add all the ingredients and blend together.  With a rubber spatula scrape the butter mixture out and onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form the butter mixture into a rough log shape and wrap the plastic wrap around shaping the butter. Twist the ends of the plastic wrap to tighten the package. Place in the freezer to keep. When you want to use the compound butter remove from the freezer 10 minutes before using. Slice a coin off the butter and serve over grilled meat or potatoes.

Salad Booster Microgreens

Microgreen Storage Tips:

Store microgreens in the fridge in the original container. If stored properly, these greens will last up to a week from the harvest date.

Microgreens are a immature plant that is harvested after only 10 days of growing. They add great flavour and colour to any dish. On top of that they are the easy nutrition on the go.

ian pasloski
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IG Fresh Haul Week 3