Week 6 Boxes!

We were crazy busy at the farm last week trying to keep up with all of the mushrooms and weeds that flourished in the heat and humidity so we all took some time off this weekend. Mike and Lauren went up to Ely and the Boundary Waters for Mike’s birthday and Kate and Bryan went to the Land Stewardship Project’s annual hog roast and the Winona County Fair. It was nice to take some time off and enjoy the summer but this week we were back at it to get the most exciting box yet ready!

The stormy weather has made for an interesting week. The garden really needed it after all of the hot weather we’ve been having and the veggies are exploding right now. There was a flash flood on Sunday and the hard rain got the veggies really dirty! We did our best to clean them up, but we would recommend washing the salad and green beans once more.
Next week we are expecting scallions, kohlrabi and summer squash.

What’s in your box this week:

Broccoli
Green Beans
Sugar Snap Peas
Red Ace and Chiogga Beets
Swiss Chard
Salad Mix

Recipes:

Honey Balsamic Green Beans
(Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen)

Ingredients
16 ounces green beans
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium heat. Add the beans and blanch them for 2 minutes. Immediately remove the beans from the water and add them to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Drain. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and green beans. Cover, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover, then stir in the vinegar, honey, onion powder, and salt and pepper, to taste. Cook to desired degree of doneness, about 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer the beans to a serving bowl and serve.

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Poppy seed Dressing

4-5 Beets, all but 1” of greens removed
Olive oil
1 log of Goat Cheese
1/3 C. toasted walnuts
Salad mix
Poppy seed dressing (recipe below)

Rinse any dirt or debris from the beets – some beets may need to be scrubbed clean. Put beets on a large piece of aluminum foil and preheat the oven to 375. Drizzle the beets with a bit of oil before roasting. For even roasting of the beets, fold the foil over them and crimp the sides closed. Roast beets until tender. The amount of time this will take can vary greatly depending on the size of the beets, how many there are, if other things are in the oven, and how fresh the beets are (fresher beets cook up faster). For smaller beets, start checking them for tenderness at about 25 minutes. Larger and older beets can take up to an hour. Remove beets from oven when tender. Let sit until cool enough to handle. When beets are cool enough to handle, slip their peels off. You can use a paring knife, if you like, but you can also marvel at how easily the peels come off with just a rub of your fingers.

For the Dressing:

1/2 c. mayonnaise
2 tbsp. vinegar
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. whole milk
2 tbsp. poppy seeds
Place all ingredients in a jar; cover and shake until blended. Keeps several days in refrigerator.
(This salad is also great with balsamic vinaigrette!)