Edition 40

August 7, 2009

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

• New - Dog Treats by Bubby Biscuits are made with organic ingredients in Dripping Springs
• Back in Stock -Beef Patties, from Betsy Ross
• Limited -Duck Eggs, we're reaching the end of duck egg 'season'
• New & Limited - Yellow Watermelon - from local farmers
• Switcharoo - Local Eggs - will just be coming from Rinnger for a while. Vital Farms is just not able to keep up production

Can We Have Your Water Bottles?

Please consider using reusable drinking containers whenever possible. If you end up with some plastic water bottles don't even put them in the recycling bin. Put them in your Greenling Bin! We fill them with water and reuse them as ice packs (don't drink your ice packs, please).

Everyone Please Welcome Jessica

She's joining our CS team as your Lemon Aide. Here's a video introduction to her:

Newsletter Tip - Font a little too small for you? On a PC just hit 'Ctrl'and '+' to zoom in

Farmer Updates

As the summer heat really sets in a few farms are taking a break. It's hard to imagine spending all day, every day outside in this heat, but that's what many farmers do. Few continue to farm through the whole summer without taking a break. Rod and Acadian Farm will take a 2-month break and travel to South America to teach an orphanage about organic farming. Tecolote will soon take a break & start planning for next year. Buena Tierra is actually moving to Washington State for work up there. We welcome several farmers back to our selection including Cooper Orchards bringing us late-season peaches as well as Bluebonnet Hydroponics and Bradshaw farms.

Eggplant Lore

Eggplant originated in India and China and has had a bad wrap for thousands of years because of its association with the Nightshade family (they contain alkaloids that are used as drugs in higher concentrations and affect nervous system and inflammatory processes). It was also very bitter until some milder and sweeter varieties were developed in the last few centuries. In Texas, we get an abundance of these beauties in amazing variety in August and September.

Today's eggplant is much different than its ancestors, has lower levels of alkaloids (which are reduced further with cooking), and is very versatile in your kitchen. Aside from traditional Indian and Greek dishes, eggplant has started being stuffed, turned into french fries, and even sliced thin, baked, and used as pizza crusts. Here are some recipe sites:

http://www.eggplantrecipes.net/EggplantRecipes.htm

All Recipes Eggplant

Southern Food Eggplant Recipes

Send us your favorite eggplant recipes and we'll feature them in next week's newsletter. Add some local eggplant to your basket now.

Storage - Eggplant is fairly perishable and you should plan on eating it within a week and ideally within a few days. Eggplant is best stored at 50F and it is sensitive to colder or warmer storage. Wrap in a paper towel and place in a perforated plastic bag (or Debbie Meyer Green Bag) in the vegetable crisper.

Nutrition - Eggplant is a great source of fiber, potassium, manganese, copper and B-vitamins. It's also a good source of folate, magnesium, and tryptophan (not the kind that make you sleepy).

Summer Specials

Check out these specials and see Recipe Corner below for a recipe using them:

Pork Tenderloin, Organic Prairie - $15.99

Texas Olive Ranch Olive Oil - $12.89

Raspberry Chipotle Sauce, Fischer & Weiser - $8.49

And many, many more! Just browse awesome.greenling.com to find them (hint - they'll say 'SALE' next to them)!

Follow Us on Twitter & Facebook

We're all about this social media stuff. Turns out it's a great place to announce events, news, post photos, recipes and more. We post a new local food recipe just about every day.  Christina P described the recent Stuffed Jalapeno recipe as 'Like crack.' Not that we know what that would be like, but it sounds very addictive. We also share any cool tips we come across having to do with food or Central Texas or Sustainability. So check us out and become a fan:

This Week's Box Contents & Local Items

Here's what's 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 (August 10-14):

• Blueberries - Berry Best Farm
• Okra - Bradshaw/Naegelin
• Eggplant - Tecolote
• Red Bell Peppers - Tecolote
• Figs - Purple Goose
• Baby Leeks - Animal Farm
• Porabella Caps - Kitchen Pride
• Lettuce - Bluebonnet
• Red or Purple Potatoes - Tecolote/Naegelin
• Limes - G&S Groves
• Peaches - Cooper Orchard

Last Week's (August 3-7) Local Box Video

In Farmstead & Local Produce Boxes ($49.99) this week (August 10-14):

• BBQ Sauce - Friends & Family
• Wholegrain Pizza Dough - Sweetish Hill
• Smoked Gouda - Brazos Valley

Produce from Local Farms

• Arugula, Baby - Animal Farm
• Watermelon - Lexington
• Berries, Blueberries-Berry Best Farms
• Grapefruit - G&S Grove
• Herb, Asst - Pure Luck
• Herbs, Basil, Live - Bella Verdi
• Lentil Sprouts - Groovy Greens
• Tomatoes, Slicing - Various
• Sunflower Sprouts - Groovy Greens
• Anaheim - Arnold Organics/Lundgren
• Purple Hull Peas - Animal Farm
• Elephant Garlic cloves - Green Gate
• Lettuce, Baby - Animal Farm
• Lettuce, Bibb - Bella Verdi
• New Mexican Chilis - Tecolote
• Red Bell peppers - Tecolote
• Okra - Bradshaw Farms
• Parsley - Bluebonnet

Produce from Local Farms

• Limes - G&S Grove
• Microgreens, Arugula - Bella Verdi
• Microgreens, Broccoli - Bella Verdi
• Mushroom, Crimini - Kitchen Pride
• Mushroom, Portobello - Kitchen Pride
• Mushroom, Shiitake - Kitchen Pride
• Mushroom, White - Kitchen Pride
• Onion, Yellow - Naegelin
• Orange, Valencia - G&S Grove
• Peaches - Cooper Orchards
• Potatoes, Red - Naegelin
• Cantaloupe - Tecolote
• Shallots - Lundgren Farm
• Jalapeno - Lungren
• Serrano - Lungren
• Eggplant - Tecolote

News & Events

Lunch Bomb and Cooking Class at Thai Fresh

-Lunch Bomb Tue. Aug 11th, 12pm

-Cooking Class Tue. Aug 11th, 6:30-9pm

-Thai Fresh (map)

-Dutch for Lunch

-$25 for cooking class

Join Greenling for two separate indulgences at Thai Fresh on W. Mary. I've blogged about Thai Fresh before; it's one of my favorite local food restaurants and it's so much more. Jam runs this operation like a true artisan. She goes to the market every week to get the freshest produce and adjusts her traditional dishes based on what's in season.

We'll get together at lunch to show our support for all her hard work. Lunch Bombs happen the 2nd Tuesday of each month and we pick a different restaurant each time who uses local food to converge on and thank them for doing what they do.

Then, if you want to learn how to cook like her, join us that evening for a Local Box Workshop! She'll take the Greenling Local Box and incorporate it into some vegetarian thai cooking. Email jevans@greenling.com or call 440-8449 to RSVP for either & see more info here:

Lunch Bomb Facebook Page

Local Box Workshop Facebook Page

Oh, and you don't have to go to both. You can sign up for just the lunch or just the class.

Other Greenling Events and Appearances

-Healthy Living Radio Show, Sat., Aug 8th, 10:20am & 4:20pm

-Blues on the Green, Aug 12th, Waterloo Park

-Local Food Tasting Soiree, Aug 21st, Location TBD

-Sweet & Twisted Triathlon, Aug 16th, Pace Bend Park

-Fresh (the movie) Screening, Aug 25th, Boggy Creek Farm

East side Showroom Now Open

-Daily 5pm-midnight

-1100 East 6th St

If you attended our last Local Food Tasting Soiree you were able to enjoy the culinary expertise of Sonya Cote. She's been refining her skills with Cote Catering and is now sharing her local food creations at East side Showroom. The showroom is more than a local food restaurant, however, and seeks to create an intimate and stimulating environment with work by local artists. Browse some local art, sip on beverages and enjoy local food.

http://eastsideshowroom.com

Recipe Corner

We had to patiently wait for the recipe for the big winner from the last Local Food Soiree because like many great recipes the chef didn't remember the exact quantities - she just added key ingredients until it tasted right. So she had to make it again to write down quantities, but here it is. The crowd went crazy for this salad and it became an instant classic easily winning 'Best Overall.'

Winner 'Best Overall' - Butternut Squash Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

by Mylie Arnold

Ingredients:

• 2 butternut squash
  
• 4 ounces bacon (without bacon this is an excellent vegan dish as well)
  
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
  
• 2 bunches arugula, washed and dried
  
• Dressing
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 2 tablespoons honey
  
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
  
• 2 tablespoons red onions, minced
  
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove ends from butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise, remove seeds, slice into 3/4" slices, and cut peel off.

Oil baking dish with a little olive oil, place squash slices in single layer and season lightly with salt and black pepper. Back at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until tender all the way through but nut mushy. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.

Place bacon in a skillet over medium heat and cook 15-20 minutes or until slightly crispy. Remove bacon from skillet and let cool on a paper towel. Chop bacon crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces. Tip: starting the bacon in a cold skillet helps to keep it from curling while cooking.

Toast chopped pecans in a skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes, just until you start to smell them.

Chop extra stems of Arugula if there are any. Roughly chop if the size of the leaves is larger than what you'd like in your salad.

Combine olive oil, honey, lime juice, minced red onion, salt and pepper in a small bowl and mix well. Taste, and add additional salt and pepper to taste if desired.

In a medium bowl toss roasted butternut, chopped bacon and toasted pecans. Add dressing, toss lightly, and serve at room temperature.

Sale Items Recipe - Grilled Pork Tenderloin w/ Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

From Fischer & Wieser

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Texas Olive Ranch olive oil
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh Pure Luck rosemary
• 1 tablespoon minced Naegelin garlic
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 (about 1 pound each) Organic Prairie pork tenderloins, trimmed
• 1-3/4 cups Fischer & Wieser Gourmet The Original Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

Instructions:

Heat a gas char grill to medium heat. Combine the olive oil, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk to blend well. Place the tenderloins on a baking sheet and rub generously all over with the seasoned oil. Grill the meat on preheated grill, turning often, until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers 145 degrees, about 25-30 minutes.

While meat is grilling, pour Fischer & Wieser Gourmet The Original Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce® into a small saucepan and cook just to heat the sauce through. Remove meat from heat and set aside,

loosely covered with foil, for 10 minutes, to rest. Slice meat as desired and serve with warmed sauce.

** Try any of the Chipotle flavors for this recipe. Roasted Blackberry, Roasted Blueberry or Pomegrante Mango Sauce

For More Recipes Check Out The Eating Out of the Local Box Blog