Eating/Cooking Local

The 2018 main season commences this week - telling us it is truly and finally spring! Welcome (back) to the farm. For new members, this is the place to watch for storage and preparation information on the produce we receive each week from the farm. Starting next week, I will have a weekly column called "How I enjoyed my Harvest", which is meant to provide ideas to you on how to incorporate the delicious veggies into your meals. My sections of the newsletter are meant to be collaborative and I encourage members to email me with ideas, recipes and questions about the harvests we receive. Please email me at lindadansbury@comcast.net and please put Anchor Run in the subject line so I can find your email.

For this week's harvest, we have a couple of items you may not be very familiar with: pea shoots, green garlic, fresh chives.

Pea shoots are a lot of fun to use - they have a mild pea flavor and look really pretty in any dish. Add them to the lettuce in your salads - the best way to taste the freshness is to dress very lightly - a little fresh squeezed lemon juice and mild flavored oil, salt and pepper is all you need (this is also true with the early lettuce we receive). Another option is to gently stir fry the pea shoots. A very simple method - slice the green garlic and a chili pepper or red pepper flakes if desired, swirl it around in the oil for a few seconds. Ginger can also be put into the pan at this point. Add the pea shoots and swirl them around until barely wilted - don't cook for long because you don't want to destroy the delicate flavor. Remove from heat and drizzle a little soy sauce or sesame oil and fresh ground pepper, mix and enjoy.

Green garlic - I am excited to receive this item this year! The immature garlic bulbs and edible green stalks/leaves have a nutty-oniony flavor that is great fresh or cooked. Substitute green garlic in recipes for onions, scallions or leeks. The young, tender cloves don't need to be peeled before chopping. Slice and use in potato salad or mince and stir into salad dressings. Toss some in a stir-fry, on a pizza, or in soups. The light garlicky flavor enhances dishes without overpowering. Flavor-wise, one stalk and bulb of spring garlic is equivalent to a small onion, or a leek and one clove of mature garlic. Refrigerate.

Chives - these can be eaten in salads or cooked in any dish that calls for a member of the allium family (onion, leek, garlic). The purple flower is a bit more pungent than the green stalk/leaf.

Enjoy the first harvest!