This Week’s Share
Share Notes
- Beets: Hail the arrival of beets! This week your beets have their greens attached, and make sure to keep them because they can be used in anyway you might use chard or kale.
- Fava Beans: Favas are a “broad bean”, that, unlike most of the beans we eat, which are native to Mesoamerica, originated in the Old World. For the time they are here they make a delicious seasonal food. Warning: There is a rare genetic deficiency that affects some people and can lead to health problems if they eat fava beans. This condition is relatively rare and usually detected by childhood, but if you have never eaten fava beans before we recommend you check out www.g6pd.org to learn more.
- Fennel: Enjoy the last spring harvest of fennel, it will return again in the fall.
Recipes
Beet Recipes
Roasted Beet and Avocado Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette
From Karla Benedetti (CSA Coordinator Francesca’s Aunt)
4 beets
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons plus 7 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 tablespoons fresh orange juice
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 shallot, minced
¾ teaspoon grated orange peel
8 ounces arugula
8 ounces lettuce, chopped into ribbons or bite-sized pieces
4 ripe avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and sliced
8 ounces goat cheese
This first part can be made 1 day ahead. Preheat oven to 400˚F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Peel beets with a vegetable peeler. Cut into ½-inch wedges. Place wedges in a large bowl and sprinkle with vinegar, 2 teaspoons oil, salt and pepper. Place beets on foil in a single layer and cover tightly with another sheets foil. Bake until juices form, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until juices evaporate and beets are tender, tossing occasionally, about 40 minutes. Cool.
For the dressing, whisk orange juice, lime juice, shallots and orange peel in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in 7 tablespoons oil. Season dressing with salt and pepper.
Place greens and cheese in a bowl. Toss with ½-cup dressing. Mound greens (arugula and lettuce) on a platter or individual plates. Surround the greens with beets and avocados, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with the rest of the dressing and serve.
Beets with Fennel
Note: You can make this and then let it cool, and when you’re getting ready to eat, put the heat back under it to warm it up again.
4-6 beets (depending on size)
2 fennel bulbs
1 onion
Juice from 1 Lemon
1/3 cup white wine
2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Peel the beets and put into the boiling water. You’ll want to let them cook for about 15 – 20 minutes (when a knife easily goes into them). Once they’ve cooked, drain them and set them aside to cool. Cut your onion in half, and cut those halves into slices. Do the same with your fennel and your beets. Put your olive oil and butter into a medium stock pot and set it over medium heat. Add in your onion, fennel, salt, and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, add in your white wine, mustard, and lemon juice. After another 5 minutes, add in your beets. Cook for another 5 minutes.
Fava Bean Recipes
Grilled Fava Beans
Recipe adapted from The Food Section, http://www.thefoodsection.com/foodsection
Olive oil, enough to coat pods generously
Salt, use generously
Fava bean pods, as many as you want to grill (I recommend a large number because they are so delicious and so easy to make)
Season the whole raw bean pods generously with salt and toss with extra virgin olive oil. Place the pods on the grill and cook until blackened and soft. As the pods pop and blister on the outside, they steam within. When they have sufficiently charred on both sides, remove the pods from the grill, let cool, and then pry them open to reveal the beans, which may be slipped from their thin skins or eaten whole, skin and all. The salty, meaty beans are as tasty as they are easy to prepare.
Fava Bean Ragout
From Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters
3 to 4 pounds fava beans
1 large clove garlic
1 small sprig rosemary
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
½ lemon
Shell the fava beans and discard the pods. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the favas, and simmer for 1 minute. Drain and cool them immediately in cold water. Pierce the outer skin with a thumbnail and squeeze each bean out of its skin with a thumb and forefinger. Peel and chop the garlic very fine. Strip the rosemary leaves off the sprig and chop very fine. Put the fava beans in a saucepan with a mixture of half water and half olive oil, enough to barely cover them. Add the garlic and rosemary, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until the beans are tender, about 5 minutes, more or less, depending on the beans. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and another grind or two of pepper, and serve. This is great with potato gnocchi or pasta.
Fennel Recipes
Pasta with Golden Fennel
From Local Flavors by Deborah Madison
Note: Member Jessica Roberts, lover of fennel, submitted this recipe to us last season. She often makes it with bulghur wheat instead of pasta, and says both ways are, “so delicious and easy!”
2 fennel bulbs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (can use olive oil)
1 tablespoon olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups water, divided
1 garlic glove minced
3/4 to 1 pound fettuccine
Parmigiano-reggiano or dry Monterey jack cheese
Set aside the fennel greens. Quarter the bulbs and thinly slice. Heat a large pot of water for the pasta. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter with the olive oil in a wide skillet. Add the chopped fennel and saute over high heat, stirring occasionally, until browned in places, 7 to 10 minutes. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt. Toss with the lemon juice, then add 1 cup of water. Reduce the heat and cook, covered, until the liquid has evaporated. Add another 1/2 cup of water and continue cooking in this fashion until the fennel is very soft and deep gold in color, about 25 minutes in all. Season with pepper. If your fennel still has any greens chop up a handful (about 1/3 cup) and mix with the garlic and lemon zest and set aside (omit the fennel greens if you don’t have any to use). Add salt and the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Scoop it out and add it to the pan with the fennel and chopped greens. Taste for salt and season with pepper. Serve with the cheese, finely grated or thinly shaved over the top.
Beet with Fennel
(see above in Beet Recipes)