Edition 170

March 12, 2010

• Local Box Contents
• News & Updates
• Recipe Corner
• Greenling Tidbits

• Back - Italian Sausage, from Organic Prairie
• In Nepal -Kala & her fresh pico, she'll be back in the kitchen in April
• New -Tamale Varieties, local from White Mountain Foods
• Gone - Local Avocados, from G&S
• New - Soft cheese & Spreads, local from Humble House in San Antonio
• Peak Season - Blood Oranges, Tangelos, Mandarisn, Tangeries, Marrs, Navels, Valencias, from local and non-local sources

Don't Mess With Texas Organics

Organic regulations are not perfect. They outline what you can't do and there's no way to specify how you should do it across the myriad bio-regions of the US. There are gray areas that are still being worked on like meat production, but vegetable rules are rock solid. Some say the existing regs have been watered down, but the only ACTUAL rule changes to the Organic code since inception in 2002 have been to close loopholes and strengthen the code. All attempts at watering them down have failed.

Organic regulations are also enforced! You don't often hear about it, but people go to jail for claiming their product is Organic when it's not. A recent case was right here in Texas where Basilio Coronado was sentenced to 2 years in a federal prison for selling non-organic produce as organic. Federal prison is where they send the really, really bad guys.

Read more about it here

Delivery Tip - Haven't ordered yet and wonder how your groceries arrive? Check out this 1-min video.

Get to Know Greenling

Ryan Adams, your Fleet Admiral

Ryan is the glue that holds our delivery system together...or at least he carries the glue. He started as a delivery driver and has worked just about every job in Greenling at some point. You'll catch him on the phone sometimes and he's always the one to track down where your basket is if it hasn't quite arrived yet.

He keeps the packing room on pace, routes deliveries, fixes our trucks and equipment, and basically helps out wherever he can. It's people like this that go above and beyond their job who keep Greenling purring like a kitten. He's about to tie the knot with his partner, Grace (the famous Keeper of the Peas who used to work here) and has 1 little organic sprout named Griffin. Check out a short video 'Hello' from Ryan here.

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The Magic of Soup

Not just for accompanying roasted chestnuts by the open fire, soup can be enjoyed year-round even in Texas. In the summer you may want to set the mood by turning the A/C down a little (just kidding, that's a total waste of carbon footprint). Mylie makes amazing soups and explains why this category of food should be your best friend:

One of the many things that makes soup magical is it’s ability to take a hodgepodge of ingredients and turn them into a nourishing, affordable, and most importantly yummy meal. Making soup has rescued many a veggie just slightly past it’s prime from sitting in the fridge too long, and various leftovers, giving them new life instead of them progressing to the science experiment stage. Growing up we always cooked from recipes, but once I married Mason and made my focus cooking with local, in-season, ingredients I’ve found that having flexible recipe templates works better.

The following soup template has always yielded such good results that it is often what I use even if I am making a planned soup as well as my "clean out the fridge" soup. This week's soup used up several bunches of collard greens, turnips, left over roast beef and lima beans. In the summer I’m sure we’ll enjoy several variations of soup made with the tomatoes, peppers, squash & okra so plentiful during that season. Truly I have found that the saying “what grows together, goes together” works well for soup. Take what veggies are available, some onions, garlic, tomatoes and beans and/or meat and you have a meal:

• 2 Onions, diced
• 6 Cloves Garlic, minced
  
• 1-2 Tablespoons Olive oil
  
• Red pepper flakes 1/4 tsp – 1 tsp depending on how spicy you like it
  
• 1 28oz can diced tomatoes
  
• 2 quarts broth or stock
  
• Assortment of chopped vegetables, cooked beans and or meats
  
• Salt & Pepper to taste
  
• Optional: Basil, Oregano, Italian Herb Mix, Savory

In a 6qt pot sauté onions, garlic & red pepper flakes in olive oil until onions are soft and translucent. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer, and cook until vegetables are tender.

Notes:

- If I am using sausage in the soup and it’s uncooked I add it with the onions and garlic, and if you are using a flavorful sausage such as the Italian Sausage from Full Quiver or Richardson farms, you often don’t need any other herbs.

- I would also add any peppers that are a part of your concoction with the onions to sauté for a bit.

Eat Well!

Mylie Arnold

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vote here for Slow Money on Change.org.

This Week's Box Contents & Local Items

Did anyone else get some hail this week? Farmers hearts stopped for a few minutes as these crop-destroying death-balls fell from the sky for a few minutes on Wednesday. Most survived and some didn't even get any, but it was a vivid reminder that Texas weather can change on a dime and turn a field full of goodness into a slap-chopped mess in a matter of minutes.

Here's what will be available from local farms on our website this week (the best selection of local produce in the state - guaranteed):

In Local Boxes ($34.99) this week (Mar 15-19):

• Lettuce, Red - Bluebonnet
• Cabbage, Green or Red - Acadian
• Spring White Onion - My Fathers Farm
• Green Garlic - Green Gate
• Beets or Carrots - Naegelin
• Turnips or Daikon Radish - Green Gate
• Spinach - Various
• Citrus - G&S
• Dinosaur Kale - Tx Natural
• Herb - Pure Luck
• Collard Greens - Tx Natural

Last Week's (Mar 8-12) Local Box Video:

In Farmstead Boxes this week (Mar 15-19):

• Dozen Pullet Medium Eggs - Vital Farms
• Peach & Pecan Pastry Delight - Little Bluestem
• Goat Milk (quart) - Wateroak

Order Here

Fresh, Prepared Meal Selection for this week:

Dish #1 - Tuscan Bread Soup w/ White Beans (1 pint - serves 1 for lunch) - One of Tuscany's famous bean dishes, this soup is filled with all kinds of goodness. Tender white beans, cabbage, hearty greens and potatoes simmer together to create a flavorful broth that's thickened with day-old country bread. A great soup right out of the pot, but even better in the following days as its flavors mature.

Dish #2 - Lentil Soup (1 pint) - Most lentil soups are enriched with bacon, sausage or ham hocks, but this recipe is just pure, unadulterated lentil flavor. We use Spanish brown lentils and plenty of onion, carrot, celery and sun-dried tomatoes to craft a simple yet satisfying soup that lets this modest legume shine through.

Produce from Local Farms

• Herb, Asst. - Pure Luck
• Herbs, Basil, Live - Bella Verdi
• Sunflower Sprouts - Groovy Greens
• Lettuce, Baby - Animal Farm and My Father's Farm
• Lettuce, Bibb - Bella Verdi
• Meyer Lemons - G&S Groves
• Kale - Naegelin
• Mars Orange - G&S Grove
• Grapefruit - G&S Grove
• Limes - G&S Grove
• Green Leaf Lettuce - The Farm Patch
• Romaine Lettuce - The Farm Patch
• Red Leaf Lettuce - The Farm Patch
• Spinach - Naegelin
• Baby Spinach - Animal Farm
• Green Shallots - Lundgren and Acadian
• Pea Shoots - Bluebonnet
• Watercress - Bluebonnet

Produce from Local Farms

• Microgreens, Arugula - Bella Verdi
• Microgreens, Broccoli - Bella Verdi
• Mushroom, Crimini - Kitchen Pride
• Mushroom, Portabella - Kitchen Pride
• Mushroom, Shiitake - Kitchen Pride
• Mushroom, White - Kitchen Pride
• Potatoes, Sweet -Naegelin
• Red Radish - My Father's Farm
• Daikon Radish - Green Gate
• Green Garlic - Green Gate
• White Spring Onion - My Father's Farm
• Onion, Yellow - Naegelin
• Arugula - Acadian
• Baby Arugula - Acadian
• Green Cabbage - Naegelin
• Tomatoes - Village Farm
• Broccoli - Various
• Collard Greens - Naegelin
• Mustard Greens - Naegelin
• Cilantro - My Father's Farm
• Kohlrabi - My Father's Farm

Events & Local Food Happenings Around Town

Local Food Tasting Soiree

-March 28th, 4pm-7pm

-Beets Cafe (map)

A super-cool new raw food restaurant in town, Beets creates some amazing vegan dishes. My favorite is the asian salad. They also have this amazing chocolate almond milk that is only sweetened with dates. But anyway, they're going to share some of their awesomeness with us for our next Local Food Tasting Soiree.

Bring you favorite local ingredient recipe (with a focus on VEGAN) and get voted into our cookbook! The group will decide which recipes are good enough to go in our seasonal cookbook. So bring your best dish and let Greenling make you famous. As an additional reward, all recipe winners will get a free Local Box! With all these local food potlucks asking you to bring food, we figured we could give a little back to you.

RSVP by emailing jevans AT greenling.com or clicking here.

Check out pictures from the last one.

Stone Soup Party

-April 10th, 3-6pm (kid friendly)

-$10 donation to Sustainable Food Center

-1 vegetarian ingredient

You know this story! It's time to share it with your kids. David Ansel (aka The Soup Peddler) and Mason Arnold of Greenling are throwing a party on April 10th from 3-6pm for friends and families to celebrate together for a cause: healthy, local, affordable food for all - the mission of Sustainable Food Center! Bring a vegetarian ingredient, no more than will fill your belly, to contribute to the pot. Soup Peddler provides the stones and Greenling brings the libations. We’ll have a reading of Stone Soup story for kids. Outdoors, weather-permitting.

RSVP here

Slow Food Austin Farm Tours

-Throughout March

-$16 - towards food from farm

The Yonder Way tour was a huge success so Slow Food Austin has created several more farm tours from Urban farms like the relatively new Springdale to the Stryk Dairy farm where you can learn more about raw milk regulations (and why we can't sell you raw milk). Slow Food Austin also puts on great happy hours. Click here to follow Slow Food Austin on Facebook and stay up to date on their events. Or just check out http://slowfoodaustin.org

Recipe Corner

Beet Ravioli

To contrast the all-purpose, easy to make soup this recipe is a bit time consuming so might be best for a special weekend dinner

Ingredients:

• 2 large red beets
• 1/2 cup fresh whole-milk ricotta cheese
  
• 2 tbsp dried breadcrumbs
  
• 1 1/4 lb fresh egg pasta (instructions below)
• 1 stick butter
  
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds
  
• Freshly grated parmesan
  

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Wrap beets individually in foil; place on baking sheet. Roast until tender when pierced with knife, about 1 hour. Open foil carefully (steam will escape). Cool. Peel beets; finely grate into medium bowl. Add ricotta cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in breadcrumbs.

Roll Fresh Egg Pasta dough into sheets according to recipe. Place 1 dough sheet on work surface. Using 3-inch round biscuit cutter, cut sheet into 7 rounds. Transfer rounds to lightly floured baking sheet; cover with plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining dough for total of 56 rounds.

Sprinkle 2 smooth kitchen towels with flour. Place 8 pasta rounds on work surface, keeping remaining dough covered with plastic. Place small bowl of water next to work surface. Spoon 1 teaspoon beet filling onto half of each round. Dip fingertip into water and dampen edge of 1 round. Fold dough over filling, pushing out as much air as possible and pressing edges firmly to seal. Transfer to prepared towels. Repeat with remaining rounds. (Can be prepared 1 week ahead. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet and place in freezer until frozen solid, about 6 hours. Transfer ravioli to resealable plastic bags.)

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat and stir in poppy seeds; keep warm. Working in batches, cook ravioli in large pot of boiling salted water until cooked through, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to skillet with melted butter; toss to coat. Divide ravioli among 8 plates; sprinkle with Parmesan.

Fresh Egg Pasta:

2 3/4 cups (about) soft wheat flour

4 large eggs (scant 1 cup)

Making dough:

Place flour in processor. Add eggs. Using on/off turns, blend until clumps of moist dough form (do not process into ball). Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface; shape into ball. Knead until smooth, sprinkling lightly with flour if sticking, about 3 minutes. Wrap in plastic. Let rest at room temperature at least 20 minutes and up to 2 hours.

Rolling dough into sheets:

Cut dough into 8 equal pieces. Cover with plastic wrap. Set pasta machine to widest setting. Flatten 1 dough piece into rectangle; run through machine. Fold in half crosswise (end to end) and run through again. Continue, adjusting machine to narrower settings after every 2 passes and dusting with flour as needed to keep from sticking, until pasta sheet is 22 inches long (scant 1/16 inch thick). Place sheet on lightly floured work surface; cover with plastic. Repeat with remaining pasta pieces.

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For More Recipes Check Out The Eating Out of the Local Box Blog. Also make sure to become a fan of Greenling on Facebook to get weekly recipes from Woman With A Whisk & The Best of Thymes food bloggers.