Bit by bit, there is a touch more of color and substance working its way into the baskets.  There are some colorful pea pods, red swiss chard and radishes to brighten things up.  Hopefully you been finding ways to enjoy (or choke down) the bounty of greens you have been receiving. We have been pretty lucky to recieve a good amount of rain, but not too much like many folks. Still, it was poor timing and hurt the quality of strawberries, made some lettuce rusty, and drounded out some tender beets and spinach, but other things have been loving the rain and heat and look beautiful like corn and cabbages.

This week you will find a few standbys and some new things:

Asparagus – the ample rain has kept the asparagus coming well. Don’t be afraid of the fat ones, they are often just as, if not more tender as the skinny ones.

Lettuce- A larger head of romaine.  The heads are not real dense yet, but needed to be thinned.  If it is broken apart and washed it will have a tendancy to rust more unless it is dried very well.

Frisee Endive  – this is rinsed and bagged.  Endive green a little on the bitter side, but mellows out tremendously when wilted a bit.  A traditional French way of eatting endive is wilting it and adding fried egg to the top.  It can also be mixed in with other greens in a salad, just be prepared for it.  If you don’t get to using it up, don’t feel bad as I know it is not for everyone. Endive is also very nutritious being high in fiber, B vitamins, manganese, copper and iron.  So if all else fails, blend it up in a smoothie.

Salad Turnips – along with the plum purple radishes, there are a few white salad turnips.  These salad turnips are similar to radishes, and can be eatten in many of the same ways.  As their name implies, slicing them for a salad is probably their main use.

Brigh Lights Swiss Chard – swiss chard comes in a wide array of colored varieties, but for now it is mostly red.  Chard is closley related to the beet, so any ways you would use beet greens would be a way to use chard. The little leaves can be used in as salad greens, the larger ones can be used to replace spinach in many recipes and you can simply steam or boil the leaves and drown them in butter.  I like it sauteed and tossed with pasta like the Hot Chard Pasta recipe below.  Chard is exceptionally high in vitamin K, B-complex vitamins, beta carotene and many minerals.

Pea Pod Mixture – There is a mixed baggie of pea pods.  You will find the Purple Podded Pea, Sugar Ann Snap Pea and the Golden Sweet Yellow Pod.  All of these have edible pods so there is no need to shell them ( you wouldn’t find much any ways)  Eat fresh, or steam or stir fry. 

I hope you enjoy the week, and planning ahead to the 4th of July, I am hoping that we can shift the pick up to Tuesday, the 3rd as I will be out of town from the 4th to till friday or Saturday. 

Frisee Salad with Egg Bacon

Hot Chard Pasta

• 1/3 pound whole-wheat spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 bunch Swiss chard, chopped
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice, or to taste (optional)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste

1. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the spaghetti, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, and pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute to soften. Add the Swiss chard. Cook and stir until the stems of the chard are tender. You can use some of the hot pasta water to help steam the chard in the covered pan.
3. Stir the hot spaghetti into the chard mixture. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and drizzle with lemon juice if desired. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to serve.