Ten Things to Do with the Chives in the Share This Week

We got a nice big bunch of chives in our CSA share last Saturday. What have you been doing with yours? Here's a Top Ten List with a few ideas:

10. Boil some new potatoes, drain, and toss with butter and chopped chives. Duh!

9. Chop some up fine with a little of the cilantro and oregano we got and add it to a two-egg omelet as it is cooking, then grate a little Gruyere cheese over all, and enjoy a fines herbes omelet, as the French would say.

8. Add chopped chives to homemade salad dressing—they are good in vinaigrette, bleu cheese, and even ranch dressing.

7. Make chive butter. Chop ’em up and add ’em to a stick of softened butter, then refrigerate. It’s delicious on steamed vegetables.

6. Add them to a baked potato with sour cream.

5. Cut off the blossoms and toss them in your salad for an oniony taste and some interesting color.

4. If you want to get all fancy, take a few of the longest chives and use them to tie up bundles of cooked asparagus before serving. Oo, la, la!

3. Make vichyssoise (cold potato soup) and top it with chopped chives. Does there seem to be a potato theme developing here? Chives and potatoes just go so well together . . .

2. Roasted beet, grapefruit, and goat cheese salad garnished with chives—it’s colorful, messy, and swoonworthy.

1. And, as David Letterman would say, the #1 thing to do with chives: add them to whipped cottage cheese for a true German delicacy, Schmeerkase mit Schnittlauch. One of the best foods ever. I want some right now!

If It’s Spring, Those Must Be Greens

We get a lot of greens in the early weeks of the Enright CSA’s season. That’s a good thing; greens are good for you, and they are very versatile. We got some salad greens, some cooking greens, and some greens that swing either way (spinach and arugula) this week. I’ve had a couple of delicious salads, and I used some cooking greens in a stir fry, but there were still some greens in the fridge. I also had some leftover couscous, so I decided to concoct a new dish using greens. You could use any kind of greens—kale, yukina or other Asian greens, collards, bok choi—you name it. I used cheddar cheese, but I think it would also taste great with Swiss or mozzarella or even Monterey Jack. It’s a quick and easy dish that’s good for you, too. (I know that from watching Popeye as a kid . . .) And it will clear out a little room in your greens-filled refrigerator, too.

Couscous Greens Casserole

1 cup couscous

1½ cups water or vegetable or chicken stock

1 bunch greens

1/3 cup vegetable or chicken stock (in addition to the amount used above to cook the couscous)

1¼ cups shredded cheese (cheddar, Swiss, whatever)

Boil the water or stock, adding a little salt if you prefer. Stir in the couscous, turn off the heat, and let sit for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash the greens well but don’t dry them. Cut off any thick stems; chop up the rest of the greens into 1/4” ribbons.

Grease an 8” x 8” casserole dish. In a bowl, mix the couscous, the greens, and 1 cup of shredded cheese. Arrange in the casserole dish and top with the rest of the cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until cheese melts.

You could steam or sauté the greens first if you like them softer, but they are good with a little crunch in this casserole, too.

It's Time to Start Eating Fresh Local Produce Again!

It's been a long six months since the last pickup at the Enright CSA greenhouse last December, but it's finally time to start getting our locally grown greens and vegetables again. This Saturday, May 18, is the first pickup of the 2013 season. Pickup times are 10:00 am to 12:00 noon at the greenhouse, as usual.

The packout workers work hard, and they are working a longer shift this year, so they really, truly appreciate it if you can respect the pickup time and arrange to be there in time to be finished by noon so they can clean up and get on with their Saturday, too. If you can't make it before noon, just let the packout folks know (packout@enright-csa.org) the evening before and they will pack up your share and have it waiting for you in the greenhouse cooler.

We haven't heard what will be in this first week's share yet, but you can probably expect greens. There's lettuce growing at the Terry Street garden, and there are also greens coming along at the greenhouse. Whatever we get will be welcome as we can start eating fresh and locally grown food again.

Don't forget to bring your bags, and if you haven't signed up for a work team yet, there will be people there on Saturday morning to help you do that. There is also a plant sale during the same hours as pickup, so if you are looking for plants grown using organic practices, heirloom varieties, tomatoes, peppers (hot and sweet, bell and pimento), tomatillos, eggplant, collards, cabbage, and chard, be sure to check out the plant sale, too. There will be several kinds of herb plants available as well, including dill and three kinds of basil.

See you at the greenhouse!

Keeping You Updated with Enright CSA News via This Blog

We are trying to set up a way to have members of the Enright CSA who subscribe to our blog receive an email notification when a new blog is posted. By trial and error, we have found we needed to "turn on" the gadget at the top of our blog that sends emails to our subscribers. So, this blog entry is essentially a test of that gadget.

We also want to let people know what they need to do to get email alerts that there is a new blog post. Since the gadget wasn't functional, even if you have entered your email in the past, you need to do it again. (Also, just signing up to "follow" the blog does not provide these email alerts, so you need to enter your email in the gadget even if you are a follower.)

Here's how to sign up for email notifications:

1. Enter your email address in the box above (where it says Email address . . .) and then hit Enter on your keyboard. (For some reason the Submit button does nothing; ah, technology!)

2. This will open a pop-up box that will ask you to enter some text you see, to make sure you are a human and not some kind of bot program. Enter the text and then click the Complete Subscription Request button.

3. This will generate an email from the gadget maker, FeedBurner, that you will receive at the email address you signed up with. Click the link in the email to confirm you want to receive email notifications, and you're done!

Actually, there are more steps than we expected to sign up for these emails, but it is really simple and quick to do, and it will ensure you know when there is news (or an interesting recipe or bit of food lore) on the Enright CSA blog. So, we encourage you to sign up for email alerts today. And thanks for taking the time to do so!

Optimistically looking forward to spring and fresh veggies

Vegetable Man, 1590-1591, Guiseppe Arcimboldo

You all know that the regular consumption of fruits and vegetables leads to superior health, but a new study took a look at over 2,500 healthy men and women from 45 to 60. The study measured the amount of fruits and vegetables they ate and discovered another good reason for a diet of natural foods—individuals who consume fruits and vegetables on a regular basis are not only healthier but are far more optimistic about the future.

So I am sure that you are optimistic that in spite of the lingering chills, the cold rain and snow, Spring will eventually spring forth and we will soon get our weekly output of healthy veggies.

I will post these occasional blogs this season telling you about the condition of our vegetables, the herculean tasks of our volunteers, and frivolous stories about farming and food in general.

The Old Curmudgeon

Interviewing Farmers, Tours, and Social Time

Enright CSA members are invited to participate in the selection of our next farmer by meeting two candidates that the committee has selected for a second interview this weekend.

Kelsey Fitzgerald will visit this from Minneapolis on Friday and Saturday, January 4 and 5. She will tour the greenhouse and gardens starting at about 3:30 pm Friday. You are welcome to come along at that time. If you prefer, you may join us for a potluck* brunch at 10:00 am Saturday at Jim & Eileen Schenk’s home 553 Enright Ave. Kelsey’s interview with the committee will follow at 11:30 am.

Laurel Blomquist, from Chicago, will visit Sunday, January 6 for a greenhouse garden tour about 3:00 pm and she will stay for 6:00 pm Sunday Soup Supper* at Suellyn’s house, 537 Enright. The committee will interview Laurel on Monday morning.

*Bringing a dish for these occasions is optional, you may eat according to how much food is available.

Thank you,

The Enright CSA Hiring Committee

A Chance for a Little Late Season Produce

Hello CSA'rs,

On Saturday, a couple of nursery team along with volunteers from Xavier HS, put the greenhouse nursery to bed. Now the compost team is mulching the bare beds outside the greenhouse. Another dedicated group is putting the garage back together so our equipment can be safely stored there.

Food is still available:
The nursery workers harvested seven flats of green and ripening tomatoes. If you want any of these (you can take and ripen them at home), you may come in any time this week and take what you want. There are Three foam boxes of ripening ones to the right and four of green to the left. Please bring your own bags. And do leave them covered as you find them.

Also still available:
--Small amount of onions in basket.
--Oregano prunings for drying.
--Lemongrass to dry for tea.
--Some rather large bok choy in the cooler.
--And about forty pounds of radishes in the cooler.

This food will remain available this week, and whatever is left that is still usable will be taken to the Manna food pantry on Saturday morning.

While you are there, you may harvest some kale from the beds in the greenhouse. It is beautiful and needs to be harvested to encourage it to continue growing. If you've never done this before, please note how the outer leaves are broken from the plant to allow the inner ones to continue growing. Follow the example of the first few plants in the rows near the center aisle that have been harvested. Follow the example of the first few plants in the rows near the center aisle that have been harvested. Do not take one or two leaves from many plants, but fully harvest a few plants until you have what you need. Happy eating.

Happy eating,
Suellyn