Week of March 20th

My dear Community,

My apologies for not adding recipes to the blog last week. After I took my Health and Wellness Coaching board exam on Monday, a workload on the farm was waiting for me on Tuesday and it felt overwhelming. On the bright side I'm done with my exam and should know the results in about 6-7 weeks. I also made a mistake and ordered pints of blueberries instead of half pints. That was a costly mistake, but I hope you enjoyed them. We'll continue to look forward to half pints moving forward. I was wondering!!

Between winter mud, which slows planting down to a halt and a missed round of planting carrots, we're really stretched thin this week for items in our CSA boxes.  We've reached out in gratitude to neighboring farms. Being able to support local, organic neighboring farms continues to align with our mission to create food security for our community and generate a working relationship. We're able to give them back all their boxes to create a truly minimal packaging experience. 

I want to highlight cabbage this week. I think it's one of those humble vegetables that doesn't carry the glitz and glam of say a tomato or strawberry, yet so versatile and delicious raw in slaws or topped on a taco, roasted in the oven to sweet perfection or cooked for a quick and healthy stir fry. I made a bunch of sauerkraut this weekend. It's a short prep that results in deliciousness a few weeks later and an easy way to add a boost of nutrition to your day. Feeding your gut microbes fermented veggies really help the good bacteria and yeasts in your body thrive which in turn helps foster a healthy immune system and more. Add a scoop to your salad, use it as a side or topping, or enjoy it as a snack on its own.

Be good to each other.

CSA Contains:
CARROTS from SUNRISE ORGANICS
RED BEETS
GREEN CABBAGE
BROCCOLI from CAPAY ORGANICS
BABY SPINACH
RED BUTTER LETTUCE
LACINATO KALE
BLUEBERRIES from HOMEGROWN ORGANICS
SPAGHETTI SQUASH from SUNRISE ORGANICS
ITALIAN PARSLEY from SUNRISE ORGANICS
BIG BOX ADD: RED LEAF LETTUCE, CARROTS, BLUEBERRIES, FINGERLING POTATOES, LEEKS

JUST the BASICS:
RED BUTTER LETTUCE
CARROTS
RED BEETS
BLUEBERRIES
BROCCOLI
BABY SPINACH

JUICE FEAST:
CARROTS x2
ROMAINE LETTUCE
FUJI APPLES
FENNEL
GREEN CABBAGE
ITALIAN PARSLEY
CELERY
BABY SPINACH
EUREKA LEMONS

FRUIT EXPANSION: GOLDEN NUGGET TANGERINES + BLUEBERRIES
LETTUCE of the WEEK: RED BUTTER
MUSHROOM MIX: SHIITAKE + OYSTERS from WOLFE FARMS

Kale Parsley Pesto

Ingredients:
8 cups coarsely chopped kale, no stems (about 4 ounces)
2 cups fresh parsley or basil (about 1 ounce, some stems ok)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (I love using sprouted pumpkin seeds)
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
(Find the full recipe and inspiration here at Modern Minimalism)

Spaghetti Squash Quiche with Kale and Mushrooms

Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1 medium spaghetti squash about 2.5 pounds
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon onion powder or garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the Filling:
3 cups brown mushrooms sliced
1 medium onion finely chopped
5 large garlic cloves minced
2 cups kale stems removed, chopped & packed
2 large eggs
1 cup egg whites
1 cup mozzarella, cheddar, gouda or swiss cheese shredded
1 cup cottage cheese
2 teaspoon onion powder or garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme divided
1/2 teaspoon salt divided
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper divided
(Find the full recipe and inspiration here at ifoodreal)

Asian Broccoli Salad

Ingredients:
2 heads broccoli
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/3 cup toasted salted cashews
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Asian Dressing
1/4 cup almond butter (or cashew butter)
1 clove garlic
1 inch piece of peeled ginger
2 tsp honey (or 1 medjool date soaked in boiling water for 10 mins for Whole30/Vegan)
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp coconut aminos (or tamari/soy sauce)
(Find the full recipe and inspiration here at Every Last Bite)

Blueberry Hemp Smoothie

Ingredients:
1 heaping cup frozen blueberries
1 ripe banana (sub another berry or frozen spinach here for less sweet)
½ large avocado
¼ cup hemp seeds
½ cup coconut milk (or any milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup collagen peptides (omit for vegan)* or vanilla protein powder
1 TBSP nut butter <--I added this to the recipe because it sounds good
(Find the full recipe and inspiration here at Bake It Paleo)

Homemade Sauerkraut: A beginner’s guide

Ingredients:
1–2 heads of cabbage, about 2 pounds (1000 grams)
Mineral or sea salt (not iodized)- ( 20 grams based on 1000 grams of cabbage). Or multiply .02 x the grams of cabbage, see notes)
(Find the full recipe and inspiration here at Feasting at Home)