Sweet Potato & (Bok) Choi Soup

This recipe contains a handful of produce items from our April 27th 2022 CSA box.

NOTE: You can substitute Li Red Choi or other produce from this ‘family’ for the Box Choi. We also suggest adding in the Chinese Cabbage and/or Swiss chard in Step 4 of the recipe!

Prep Time: 8 minutes    Cook Time: 35-40 minutes    Serves: 4

Recipe type: Soup

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, diced

• 2 leeks, white part only, roughly chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• pinch red pepper flakes

• 2 medium carrots, chopped into coins

• 2 celery stalks, diced

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and roughly chopped

• 1 tsp ground thyme

• 1 tsp ground parsley

• 4 cups vegetable broth

• 1 large bok choy or 3 baby bok choy, washed and chopped

• ½ tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Saute the onion, leeks, garlic and red pepper flakes in a large pot over medium heat until the vegetables soften, about 3 minutes.

2. Add the carrots, celery, sweet potato, thyme, parsley and sauté 3 minutes.

3. Add the broth and increase the heat to high. Bring the mixture to a boil, then return to a simmer and cook until the vegetables soften, about 30 minutes.

4. Stir in the bok choy and cook for another 5 minutes, or until soft.

5. Stir in the black pepper and serve.

Notes

Use this recipe as a guide. Adjust measurements and ingredients to suit your tastes. Taste test as you go. Have fun in the kitchen!

Grilled Bok Choy & Turnip Rice Bowls with soy sesame sauce

This recipe contains three staples of our December 8th CSA box: purple top turnips, radishes, and our bok choy. Note: You can also use/throw in you Baby Asian greens if desired.

Prep Time: 20 minutes    Cook Time: 10 minutes    Serves: 4

Rice Bowls

• 2 heads bok choy, large leaves trimmed and sliced in half lengthwise

• 1 bunch turnips, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds (reserve greens for another use)

• 1 cup cooked edemame (soybean - can substitute bean or pea if you wish)

• 2 cups cooked white rice

• 3-4 radishes, thinly sliced

• handful of micro greens OR cilantro

• 3 Tablespoons sesame seeds

Soy Sesame Sauce

• 3 1/2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

• 2 1/2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

• 1 1/2 Tablespoons honey

• 1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Preparation

1. Heat the grill to medium. Rinse the chopped bok choy under cold water to remove any dirt. Set aside.

2. Whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce. Taste test and adjust seasonings if need be.

3. Lightly brush the bok choy and turnips with a little bit of the sauce. Place the bok choy cut side down on the grill; cover and cook until tender. About 5-8 minutes. Place the turnips directly on the grill and cook, covered for 2 minutes per side.

4. Serve the grilled veggies with the cooked rice, edemame, radishes, micro greens and a few tablespoons of sesame seeds. Drizzle with remaining sauce and enjoy.

Notes

*Use this recipe as a guide *Adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary *Taste test as you go *Have fun in the kitchen

Creole Style Gumbo with Greens

Created by Heather Trumbauer 

Last week’s cold weather made me decide to try making Gumbo, something this East Coast transplant had never done before. I did a little research first, finding that there are Cajun & Creole styles, along with ones that feature greens. (Including tomatoes makes it Creole as apparently a Cajun would never do that!) After foraging thru my awesome produce pack, I came up with the following hybrid recipe.

Hopefully one week you froze some of your okra to use later. I make no claims for authenticity, so if you are from Louisiana and make it with your Mamaw’s recipe, I apologize.

To make turkey bone broth (see in the ingredients below) take your well picked over turkey carcass  (I know there is not a nice word for it) break the back bone in half.  Put it into a large pot - throw in all the other turkey bones and any leftover roasted root veg from your thanksgiving meal. Cover with water. Bring to boil 10 minutes. Then simmer for next couple hours (longer the better). Take of heat and then pour (careful now) through colander into another pot - or big bowl. Let it cool. Cover it when cool - put in fridge over-night. Next day scrape off the top layer of fat.  You have healthy done broth ready to be heated and used. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb smoked sausage, sliced

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 cup diced peppers, (I used a mixture of green & banana with 1 jalapeno & 2 of the tiny red ones we have been getting; you adjust the spiciness to your taste)

2 cups celery, sliced (this is a good chance to use up the inside pieces of the celery bundle, including the leaves)

6 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup oil

½ cup AP flour

8 cups turkey or chicken bone broth

2 cups fresh or frozen okra, sliced

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

2 bay leaves

1 tsp Tony Chachere Creole seasoning (this is very salty, hence no salt called for otherwise. If you don’t have it, use a little more paprika & chile powder, then salt to taste)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp chile powder

½ tsp oregano

½ tsp ground white pepper

1 yellow squash, chopped

2 cups diced cooked turkey or chicken

2 cups sliced greens

DIRECTIONS:

Heat a large skillet & then brown the sausage slices. Remove from pan and set aside. Pour off the fat rendered from the sausage, leaving about 1 Tbsp in the pan. Sauté the onion, peppers & celery for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic, cook & stir one more minute. Take pan off heat and set aside.

In a large stock pot, heat the oil until shimmering. Stir in the flour until smooth, reduce heat to medium low. Cook & stir until the mixture turns a deep brown color. This is a crucial step that can take 15-20 minutes and will add a lot of flavor to your gumbo. Gradually stir in the broth, making sure to whisk out any lumps.

Add the okra, tomatoes & all seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the squash and meats, bring back to a boil, and simmer again for 20 minutes. Taste to adjust seasonings. Stir in the greens & cook for a few minutes until just wilted.

Serve over rice, passing hot sauce on the side. Enjoy!

Green Tomato Salsa

 Ingredients

• 4-8 Green onions

• 1 Bell pepper & 1 Hot pepper

• 1 -2 toes of Garlic

• 1 cup fresh herbs & microgreens (oregano, parsley or Cilantro)

• Dried Cumin

• Black Pepper

Instructions

1. Either chop or process tomatoes in a food processor, to desired consistency. I like a chunkier salsa, so I chopped.

2. Place tomatoes in large saucepan.

3. Dice onions, get a few bell peppers, hot peppers and garlic together.

4. Fine dice the peppers and the garlic.

5. Add onions, peppers and garlic to the tomatoes in pan.

6. Next, add fresh oregano, microgreens and parsley or cilantro. Then add dried cumin, salt and black pepper. Combine.

If you like add so feta cheese at end.

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Crustless Bacon and Greens Quiche

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. butter

• 8 oz. frozen chopped collard greens (&/or other field greens)

• 3/4 tsp. salt divided

• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp. onion powder

• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

• 8 slices cooked crispy bacon chopped

• 1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese

• 8 eggs

• 1 1/4 cup heavy cream

• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

• 1/4 tsp. paprika

Instructions

1.   Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and thoroughly grease a 9 inch pie pan.

2.  In a medium skillet, melt the butter over medium low heat and cook for 3-5 minutes or until the butter begins to brown. Add the frozen collards and season with 1/2 tsp. salt, garlic and onion powder and pepper. Sauté for 5-7 minutes or until tender and no liquid is left in the pan. Place the cooked greens evenly in the bottom of the prepared pie dish.

3.  Evenly sprinkle the chopped bacon over the collards. Layer the shredded Monterrey jack cheese over the bacon. Whisk together the eggs and heavy cream with 1/4 tsp. salt till well combined and pour the eggs over the cheese, bacon and collards. Sprinkle the parmesan and paprika evenly over the top of the eggs. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 – 40 minutes or until set. Cool for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

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Simple But Delicious Bok Choy Stir Fry

Ingredients

·         Bok Choy

·         Sugar

·         Soy Sauce 

·         Chilly Flakes if you like. 

Instructions

1. I start the process by setting up a colander in the sink and placing the baby bok choy directly in the sink.

2. Rinse the bok choy with running tap water while removing the outer leaves, leaving only the bite-sized stem intact.

3. Use a paring knife to slice off the tough ends and leave them on the other side of the sink.

4. Transfer the peeled bok choy to the colander to drain.

5. NOTE: When I get extra large baby bok choy, I further chop the outer leaves, leaving the green leafy part, and cutting the white part into smaller bite-size pieces, so they will be cooked through faster.

Cooking bok choy 

1. Heat up the pan until hot and quickly stir in the garlic to release the fragrance without browning.

2. Stir in the baby bok choy. It will look like the bok choy is spilling out of the pan. Don’t worry, it will shrink a lot at the end.

3. Add the soy sauce and sugar (you can mix sugar in soy in bowl before adding), then cover to steam. This process helps the bok choy turn tender.

4. Cook (uncovered for a bit more), sprinkle Chile flakes if desired to let the bok choy absorb more sauce.

Green Salad with Egg Mustard Dressing

Created by Heather Trumbauer 

With all the delicious variety of greens we’ve been getting each week, I was reminded of a salad at a restaurant called Simon & Seafort’s we used to love when we lived in Alaska. Any of the more tender greens should work well. The original (decadent) recipe calls for using bacon fat, but if you are cooking healthier, olive oil is a good substitute. I find sugar substitutes to be more intensely sweet; that is why it calls for half the amount.

Ingredients:

6 cups of mixed boy choi, Swiss chard, Kale and turnip greens, torn in bite sized pieces

1 cup croutons

4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled

2 green onions, sliced

3 hard boiled eggs

2 tsp yellow mustard

3 Tbsp cider vinegar

2 Tbsp sugar or 1 Tbsp sugar substitute         

1/4 cup warm bacon drippings or olive oil

Directions:

Peel eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Chop whites, set aside. In a small bowl, mash the yolks with the mustard, vinegar & sugar until smooth. Whisk in the bacon drippings or oil.

Place the mixed greens in a large bowl. Toss with the dressing until well coated. Add most of the croutons, bacon, onions & egg whites, lightly toss again. Garnish with the remaining ingredients & serve immediately.