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Recipes
Braising Mix Recipes
Our braising mix is one of our signature recipes at Sauvie Island Organics, arriving in your share during the cooler months of spring and fall when the many varieties of kale, mustard, and Asian chois that make up this mix thrive. You will enjoy green and red mustards, red choi, white steamed pac choi, yukina savoy (tatsoi) and Red Russian kale in this flavorful mix of “greens”.
Although all of these leafy greens can be eaten raw, as the name suggests, they are perhaps best lightly braised, steamed, or stir-fried. The recipes below offer ways to use them outside of a standard stir-fry or braised side dish. A quick and easy preparation is to sautee your green garlic until soft, adding in any other vegetables you want to use at the same time as the green garlic. Throw in the braising mix in the last few minutes of cooking with some soy sauce and rice vinegar and any other seasoning that you choose.
White Cheddar Polenta with Braised Greens, Spring Morels, and Pancetta
Recipe from Emily Thomson at Full Circle Farm, http://www.fullcirclefarm.com
½ pound fresh wild morels (or other seasonal mushroom), cleaned and sliced in half
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 stems green garlic, thinly sliced
¼ pound pancetta (Italian cured bacon), sliced
4 cups water
1½ teaspoons salt
1 cup polenta (coarse cornmeal)
¾ cup grated white Cheddar cheese
¼ cup butter
1 pound braising mix, washed and torn into bite size pieces
Salt and pepper, to taste
¼ cup freshly grated Parmiggiano-Reggiano cheese
Combine 4 cups water and 1½ teaspoons salt in large saucepan. Bring to boil. Gradually whisk in polenta. Reduce heat to low. Cook until polenta thickens and begins to pull away from sides of pan, whisking often, about 25 minutes. Whisk in the grated Cheddar and the butter. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Turn off heat, cover and set aside.
Meanwhile, rinse the braising mix in cold water and set in a colander. In a large, heavy pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the green garlic and pancetta until lightly colored. Toss in the morels and cook for 5-6 minutes. Turn heat to high and add the washed greens; the water that clings to them will create the braising liquid. Toss with tongs until slightly wilted, then turn heat to low, cover, and braise for 5-6 minutes.
Stir the polenta and spoon onto plates. Top with the greens and morel mixture and scatter the rest of the grated cheese over the top. Finish the dish with freshly ground pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
Mess o’ Greens Salad with Warm Pecan Dressing
Adapted from www.seasonalchef.com
1 lb braising mix
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons oil (vegetable, olive, peanut, etc.)
½ cup pecans, roughly chopped or broken
Wash greens, dry thoroughly, and remove and discard the long stems. Tear the greens into salad-size pieces and place in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, honey and mustard. Set aside. Heat the oil in a small skillet until hot but not smoking. Add the vinegar mixture and pecans and cook, stirring regularly, for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour over the greens and serve at once.
Spinach Recipes
Spinach and Lentil Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Recipe adapted from www.1001recipe.com
2 cups spinach
3-5 radishes or turnips, grated (optional)
½ cup mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup lentils
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Cook lentils with some salt in boiling water for 20 minutes, or until done. Rinse with cold water. To make the vinaigrette, whisk thoroughly olive oil and balsamic vinegar with some salt and pepper, or use vinaigrette recipe from below. Combine spinach, grated radish or turnip, chopped mushrooms, and cooked lentils. Pour the vinaigrette on and toss before serving.
Spinach and Mizuna Salad with Baked Goat Cheese Rounds
Recipe adapted from the Culinary School of the Rockies Staff
2 cups spinach
½ bunch mizuna
8-ounce goat cheese log
Vinaigrette (recipe below) or bottled Italian dressing
½ cup breadcrumbs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and dry mizuna and spinach and arrange on a platter or place in a salad bowl. Cut goat cheese log into eight ½ inch slices. Lightly brush goat cheese slices with some of the vinaigrette or salad dressing. Place breadcrumbs on a plate and thoroughly coat goat cheese slices in breadcrumbs. Place on a baking sheet and bake in oven for 10 minutes. Remove carefully from baking sheet. Place the baked goat cheese slices around the edges of the salad on the platter or on top of the salad in the bowl. Dress as desired and serve.
Note: Feel free to add whatever fresh sliced vegetables to the salad as you wish. Also try olives, fresh or roasted peppers, walnuts or almonds.
Basic Vinaigrette Recipe
Recipe adapted from the Culinary School of the Rockies Staff
Note: This recipe is given in terms of proportions so you can make as little or as much as you want.
3 parts acid such as vinegar or lemon juice.
1 part Dijon-style mustard
9 parts oil — vegetable (safflower, canola, etc.) or olive oils
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Whisk the acid, mustard, salt and pepper together until dissolved. Add the oil very slowly, by droplets, whisking continuously until emulsified.
Mizuna Recipes
Soba Noodle Salad with Mizuna
Recipe adapted from Dani Spies, www.danispies.com
2 cups mizuna leaves, washed, stemmed, and chopped
4-5 radishes or turnips, thinly sliced
2-4 scallions, thinly sliced (optional)
2 carrots, cut into diagonal slices (optional)
2 cups of cooked Soba noodles
2 stems green garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Combine mizuna, radishes or turnips, green garlic, carrots, scallions and noodles in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine garlic, ginger, oil, and soy sauce. Whisk together and pour over noodles. Top with sesame seeds and enjoy. Serves 3.
Spinach and Mizuna Salad with Baked Goat Cheese Rounds
(see above in Spinach Recipes)
What can I put in my SIO Compost Bucket?
If you’re at one of the bulk pick-up sites you can participate in our compost bucket exchange. Take a clean bucket and bring it back the following week with whatever compost you generate that week.
Here are the basic guidelines for what can go in the buckets: Any vegetable material, including coffee grounds, citrus, etc., also egg shells, and small amounts of oils, fats, and dairy are fine. Just please no meat in your buckets. We don’t like plastic bags in the buckets; they’re hard to clean out. Please don’t put rubber bands or other non-degradable items in the bucket, we end up having to sift them out and throw them away.
The most important thing is that you don’t hold onto a bucket for more than a week (and try to keep it in a cool place, out of the sun, during the week). After a week they start to get pretty smelly and that means they’re running out of air. This makes the compost from them less valuable.