Edition 194

August 27, 2010

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

• Out - edible Austin, Summer edition. Look for Fall edition first of September
• New -Gala Apples, from local farms, all the summer rain has started this season early
• Gone -Peaches & Blueberries, from local farmers - we'll get them from non-local farmers
• New -Hungarian & Hatch Green Chilies and more peppers, from local sources
• New - School Lunch Items, Organic healthy choices so your kid can eat right
• Peak Season -Summer Squash & Okra, from local sources, taste the freshness. Just a little oil in a skillet and these burst with flavor

Join The Texas Stream Team

Ever wonder how we find out a creek is being polluted or that some waters are dangerous to drink or swim in? A big part of that is the Texas Stream Team. They're a group of dedicated scientists who organize volunteers all over the state to continually monitor water quality in lakes, rivers, and streams.

Any body of water that is present for most of the year is a candidate to be monitored and anyone can monitor it! That includes you. These guys train you on proper water collection so you can make sure your neighborhood's creek isn't being pumped full of fertilizers or pesticides.

Read more and join the Texas Stream Team here

7 Must-Read New Books for Sustainable Eating

Like treehugger.com I thought the crop of books from a few years ago did a great job of summing up sustainable eating, but this whole new set of books are definitely worth the read:

Diet For a Hot Planet by Anna Lappe

Edible by Tracey Ryder & Carole Topalian

See the rest of the books on Treehugger

No Recall On Our Eggs!!

It just plain makes me sad to hear about recall after recall of conventional food. With large production of anything, there's always a slim chance that during processing or packaging some pathogens can contaminate the food, usually from rodents or dirty conditions. But this egg recall is something else entirely and is pretty much the epitome of the broken conventional system. Salmonella infected tens of thousands of chickens and was surviving in the chickens' internal organs and was just passed on to a total of 380 MILLION EGGS. The company has been described as 'an agricultural sweatshop.' The chickens were probably only alive because of the drugs being pumped into them, but the drugs couldn't completely kill the salmonella and so every egg they produced was a sespool of bacteria. The fantabulous news is that Greenling's eggs are either certified Organic or local or both and they're all pastured! And this means there's never any reason to worry about our eggs contracting salmonella from the hens cause, well, It just doesn't happen with healthy chickens and healthy eggs.

Where To Find This Witty Banter

A few people have mentioned it being hard to find information in this newsletter like the recipes or local box items when they're not living in their email inbox. We've been adding links all over the place to help you get back to this info. A link to the current newsletter & the Local Box items can always be found on our home page (www.greenling.com):

Another link to the newsletter and a link to the facebook local box video are at the top of your account page (where it takes you when you log in):

So you never have to be more than a couple of clicks away from breaking news in local food or seeing what that crazy purple thing in your box really is. And remember we always include a sheet of recipes with the local box when it lands on your door.

This Week's Box Contents & Local Items

Here's what will be available from local farms on our website this week (the best selection of local produce in the state - guaranteed). Items with a (*) are only available in the Local Box:

In Local Boxes ($34.99) this week (Aug 30-Sept 3):

• Red Potatoes - Naegelin
  
• Yellow Onions - Naegelin
  
• Lady Cream Peas - Just Peachy Farm
  
• Grape Tomatoes - Pedernales Valley
• Basil - Various
  
• Summer Squash - Texas Natural
  
• White Patty Pan - My Father's Farm
  
• Gala Apples - Bat Creek
• Cucumbers - My Father's Farm
• Arugula or Sorrel- Bluebonnet or Tecolote

Last Week's (Aug 23-27) Local Box Video:

In Farmstead Boxes this week, an after school snack:

• Curry Hummus and Traditional Hummus- Baby Zach's
• Extra Dark Chocolate Chop Pecan Cookies - Little Bluestem Bakery
• Hibiscus Mint Tea or Moroccon Mint Tea - Nile Valley or Zhi

Order Here

Fresh, Prepared Meal Selection for this week:

Dish #1 - Cranberry Quinoa with Almonds, Broccoli & Spinach Pesto (1 pint - serves 1 for lunch) - Who says incredibly healthy can't be incredibly delicious? This dish is here to prove them wrong! Nutty quinoa (a proven superfood) is folded with tart cranberries, crunchy almonds, and organic broccoli, then tossed in our tasty spinach-walnut pesto for a delicious lunch on the go, or a quick and nutritous side dish. It's sweet, crunchy, savory & ready to enjoy chilled, at room temperature or even warm!

Dish #2 - Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables, Mozzarella & Parmesan Breadcrumbs (1 pint) - Fire-roasted peppers, zucchini, yellow squash & sweet onions folded with penne pasta & mozzarella. Topped with herb & parmesan breadcrumbs for a delicious lunch or great pasta side dish.

-Ingredients: semolina pasta, tomato, onion, garlic, sweet peppers, summer squash, mozzarella, cottage cheese, olive oil, parmesan, cream, panko breadcrumbs, lemon, herbs, spices, salt, pepper

Produce from Local Farms

• Arugula- Simmons
  
• Basil- Various
  
• Basil, Live- BellaVerdi
  
• Cucumbers- Acadian Family Farm
  
• Garlic- Ringger Family Farm
  
• Herbs- Pure Luck
  
• Lettuce,Bibb- BellaVerdi
  
• Microgreens- BellaVerdi
  
• Mushroom, Crimini- Kitchen Pride
  
• Mushroom, Oyster- Kitchen Pride
  
• Mushroom, Port caps- Kitchen Pride
  
• Mushroom, White- Kitchen Pride
• Okra - Bradshaw, Tecolote
  
• Pepper,Cayenne - Tecolote
• Pea Shoots- Bluebonnet
• Pepper, Jalapeno- Acadian
• Peas - Just Peachy Farms
  
• Pepper, Bell Assorted - Comanche Oak, Ringger

Produce from Local Farms

• Pepper, Sweet Italian
• Pepper, Banana - Acadian
• Pepper, New Mexican - Tecolote
• Pepper, Hungarian - Tecolote
• Pepper, Serrano - Acadian
• Pepper, Anaheim - Comanche Oaks
• Pepper, Sweet Red - Tecolote
• Shallot- Lundgren
  
• Sprouts, All- Groovy Greens
  
• Summer Squash- Various
  
• Watercress - Bluebonnet
• Berries, Blueberries - Berry Best Farms
  
• Limes - G&S Grove
• Cantaloupe - Massey
  
• Peaches- Caskey, Lundgren
• Watermelon - Ringger

Events & Local Food Happenings Around Town

16th Annual Sweet Sorghum Festival

-Sept 6, 10am-5pm

-FREE

-Homestead Heritage Farm(map)

Homestead Heritage invites you to visit their sorghum mill at Brazos de Dios and watch as they make sweet sorghum syrup—from pressing the raw cane with their horse-powered mill to cooking the juice into rich, golden brown syrup.

Learn more here

Farm Camp for Adults

-Starting September 12th

-$50

-Green Gate Farms

Let out your inner-farmer! Green Gate is graciously opening their farm to people interested in knowing how an organic farm works. Yep, you'll get to be a farmer for a day (Sunday) and learn about tractors, tools, irrigation, and how to care for vegetables, flowers, 150 animals, and other critters on the 5-acre Organic farm. Future classes available as well on Oct 10th, Nov 14th, and Dec 12th. RSVP by emailing greengatefarmsevents@gmail.com.

Olive Oil Crush & Field Day

-September 14th

-FREE

-Texas Olive Oil Ranch

The Texas Olive Ranch Harvest & Gold Crush 2010 will be open to visitors September 14 -15 (tuesday & wednesday) from 9 am - 2 pm for you to see the mechanical harvester operating, and observe the pressing of the 2010 new oil. We will sample the new oil with delicious grilled bread during visitors hours. This is the first year the olive harvest is open to visitors and we are spreading the word about fresh, healthful and delicious Texas grown olive oil. It will be hot, both literally and figuratively. Sun protection, hats and boots are suggested.

In addition, the USDA is hosting OLIVE FIELD DAY, an olive agriculture seminar at Texas Olive Ranch September 14. Interested parties should call 830-279-0164 to RSVP for this event. This will ensure your information packet and meal.

Greenling Annual Potluck Bash

-Sept 18th, 6:30pm

-FREE

-Location TBD

Just wanted to let you know to save this date....we have something in the works that will be awesome if it all comes together. Vendors bringing all sorts of goodness, other Greenlings bring recipes in traditional Soiree style, and a few extra goodies. But this Soiree is going to be one for the ages! So, just put this date down in your calendar and look forward to our annual collaboration with vendors, some incredible venue, music, and tons of good food, wine, and company.

Recipe Corner

Zucchini & Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
  
• 1 1/4 pounds zucchini, thinly sliced
  
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  
• 1 bunch (about 8 ounces) spinach, chopped
  
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
  
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
  
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup oil and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Add zucchini; toss to coat, and let marinate while cooking chicken.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat remaining tablespoon oil over medium. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook chicken until golden brown and opaque throughout, about 7 minutes per side.

3. Toss chicken with zucchini mixture, spinach, onion, pecans, Parmesan, and mint. Serve.

Psst...Thanks for Telling Your Friends About us

Remember you can always share the love of Greenling and get free food for doing it. Just download this coupon to give to others and type in your personalized coupon code - first 3 letters of your first and last name and the first 3 numbers of your address (add zeros if you just have 1 or 2 numbers) - where it says 'Go with Greenling and save!', print it and hand it out to your friends and co-workers. You get 10% off your next order after they've joined. They get 10% off, too, by entering your coupon code when they order.

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.