· Lettuce
· Spinach
· Fava beans
· Sugar snap peas
· Cabbage
· Carrots
· Basil
· Zucchini
· Chives
· Garlic
· Fennel
· Kale
Juvencio is pretty much back to his hard working self. He weeds like a machine and has helped rescue many a bed from the clutches of the pig weed and bunching grass. As I look out at the field I thought I might see the plants beneath the weeds but no such luck. The weeds continue to dominate, we have not won yet.
The hoop houses are going through a transformation. The sugar snap peas and Chinese broccoli are out and in go the last cucumbers, more basil, carrots and beets for fall and winter. We may try a summer Daikon (we know how much you love your radishes!). Early season plantings of kale and chard are going to seed and we will have to replace them. The garlic and wheat have come out of the field and are hanging to dry and cure. You will notice the dramatic difference in the garlic this week as the skin over each clove dries and becomes more paper like the garlic gains stronger flavor.
How does the zucchini do that? It is just our third week of giving zucchini and there are some huge overgrown buggers that are best used for self defense. Fortunately we have some great zucchini bread recipes and they are included below. We ate the first three cucumbers which means they will be in the share in the next 1-2 weeks. The beans are in bloom and we keep thinking it is almost summer. Hopefully with the upcoming warm weather we can get some ripening of tomatoes and beans and then we can announce “summer is here”.
We hope you like kale as all the other col crops (broccoli, cabbage and kohlrabi are in short supply). They did not like the spring wet weather or the spot we chose to plant them or the wet ground we stuck them in in April. Enjoy the cone shaped cabbage called “carafax” or other small green cabbage. The red cabbage is still a few weeks off. The fava beans are here. They are delicious but quite a pain to prepare. Sue Kass found a recipe in the Oregonian a while back to roast with shell on but on close examination of the recipe it does not include instructions on line L, I will include the ingredients and if you can figure out how to prepare give it a try it may be easier. If you are up for the work, the recipe with pancetta is one of our favorites. Sue recommends just grilling the favas with a brushing of olive oil and sale and pepper on the pod until they blister then pop them out of their pod and eat. If they are small and young you can eat the whole pod.
Fava Beans and Pancetta | February 2007
Victoria Granof
| If your toddler doesn’t want the toast part, give him a more finger food–friendly bowl of cooked, unmashed beans. Four-star chefs wait all year for the same privilege.
Yield: Makes 4 servings
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces pancetta or unsmoked bacon, diced 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 cups shelled and peeled fresh fava beans Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 8 slices country bread, toasted 4 ounces pecorino cheese, shaved or grated (optional) 1. Heat half the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the favas, season with the salt and pepper, and cook until the beans are tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, drizzle the remaining olive oil over the bread slices and toast in a 450°F oven for 5 to 6 minutes.
4. With the back of a fork, mash the beans in the pan until the mixture is chunky.
5. Spread the beans on the toasts and top with the pecorino, if desired.
Tip: If your toddler doesn’t want the toast part, give him a more finger food–friendly bowl of cooked, unmashed beans. Four-star chefs wait all year for the same privilege. |
The easiest way to prepare favas is to grill them. The heat of the coals will pop the pods open and split the hulls that wrap each bean. Remove the beans with your fingers and they’re ready. If there’s a bit of char on your fingers from plucking out the beans from the grilled pods, it only helps the flavor.
Julia’s Desperation Favas
This works best with freshly picked young fava beans.
1. Have children, guests, or domestic partners remove fava beans from pods.
2. After taking the beans out of the pod but BEFORE removing the ‘skin’, sauté the beans with garlic, olive oil and salt. The skins come half off and the whole thing can be eaten hot over rice, noodles, as a side dish or as a salad if chilled. Enjoy!
Our Favorite Fava Beans
from Julia and Andy
These two recipes are similar to the desperation favas, above, but these can also be used with larger fava beans, or ones that have already been stored a few days since harvest.
2 pound favas, taken out of the pods
1-4 cloves of garlic, chopped AND/OR:
1/2 cup onions, chopped
olive oil
1-4 cloves of garlic, chopped AND/OR:
1/2 cup onions, chopped
olive oil
S & P The simplest version: sauté the favas with the garlic in the heated oil. the shells will come off in the pan, they are a lighter green, and the whole thing can be eaten like that. (Season with S & P) Version #2: Put the light green favas (that have been removed from the pod) into boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Remove immediately, rinse in cold water. Take the outer shell off each fava bean, so that you have just the bright emerald green bean. Then cook just the inner brighter green beans in the heated oil with the garlic for 2-3 minutes, then eat. We like both versions, and which one we do depends on if we have guests or willing children to help in the extra step of Version #2.
Fava Bean/Couscous Salad (you can adapt the vegetables to whatever you have on hand….)
-1 cup raw couscous (Trader Joe’s has whole wheat…) Cooked according to package intructions. (This is easy! Bring one cup water with a bit of butter or oil and a pinch of salt to a boil. Turn off heat and stir in 1 cup raw couscous and stir up well. Put a lid on and set the timer for 5 minutes. Fluff couscous and you’re ready to go.)
-1 small bowl or more shelled, blanched favas (the bright green ones)
-3 green onions, chopped
-large handful orach leaves, thinly sliced
-Green Garlic Dressing
-1 small bowl or more shelled, blanched favas (the bright green ones)
-3 green onions, chopped
-large handful orach leaves, thinly sliced
-Green Garlic Dressing
Mix all ingredients above, making sure you don’t put in too much dressing. Eat!
Green Garlic Dressing
1-3 stalks roughly chopped green garlic, tough end leaves discarded
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1/3 cup olive oil
S & P
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1/3 cup olive oil
S & P
Whirl all in a blender. Can be used as a salad dressing or marinade.
Fava and Fresh ricotta Bruschetta
Recipe from Lou Bustamonte
All I did was cook the favas in low heat in a tiny bit of water, peeled them, and sprinkled them on top of some olive oil and garlic brushed toasted Acme bread that had a nice helping of farm fresh ricotta. I added a little salt and pepper, and ate. Amazing.
Roman-Style Raw Fava Beans, Scamorza(or Smoked Mozzarella), and Fresh Onion
Antipasto di Fave e Cipolla Fresca
from Verdura by Vivana La Place
A springtime antipasto of raw fava beans and new onions. Eating tender fava beans is a special treat. Eat them unpeeled if you enjoy the refreshing bitter edge of the peel, or peel them first for a sweeter flavor. Serve this dish with crusty breadsticks, a sturdy country loaf, or black pepper taralli, a type of pretzel found in Italian specialty markets, and company with a pitcher of cool dry wine.
2 pounds fava beans, unshelled weight
a few small lettuce leaves
3 scallions or 1 small fresh onion, thinly sliced
1 pound scamorza cheese, sliced (substitute smoked mozzarella)
Basket of bread sticks, black pepper taralli, or bread
a few small lettuce leaves
3 scallions or 1 small fresh onion, thinly sliced
1 pound scamorza cheese, sliced (substitute smoked mozzarella)
Basket of bread sticks, black pepper taralli, or bread
Shell the favas and mound in the center of a platter. Surround with the lettuce leaves and scatter the onions over the top. Arrange slices of the cheese around the edge of the platter. Serve with the bread.
Umbrian Fava Bean Stew (Scafata)
This recipe is about as simple as spring cooking gets. It’s adapted from Antonella Santolini’s La Cucina Delle Regioni D’Italia: Umbria The name comes from the Umbrian word for the hull of the beans.
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup shelled fava beans
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped fennel
1 1/2 cups chopped chard leaves
1 1/2 cups chopped, peeled tomatoes
salt, pepper
1/2 cup shelled fava beans
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped fennel
1 1/2 cups chopped chard leaves
1 1/2 cups chopped, peeled tomatoes
salt, pepper
Cook oil, beans, onion, fennel, carrot and chard over low heat in medium saucepan. When beans are quite tender, after about 45 minutes, add tomatoes and cook for another 25 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Zucchini Pesto
Lyn–this is the one that was in the Oregonian–it’s quite good! Pretty tasty straight up, but seems like it would be great on crostini or pizza, or w/chicken or fish, for instance…
1/2 c olive oil
1 large shallot chopped (I used a sweet onion)
6 garlic cloves
3 Tbs toasted blanched almond slivers
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 ” dice
1 c basil leaves
@tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste.
Sauté garlic and onions in 1Tbs oil until softened, not browned. Transfer to blender or processor and blend with remaining ingredients (except oil) until smooth. Gradually add in oil with blender running until smooth and creamy. Season w/S&P to taste.
Apparently keeps several days in fridge or freezes well
1/2 c olive oil
1 large shallot chopped (I used a sweet onion)
6 garlic cloves
3 Tbs toasted blanched almond slivers
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 ” dice
1 c basil leaves
@tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste.
Sauté garlic and onions in 1Tbs oil until softened, not browned. Transfer to blender or processor and blend with remaining ingredients (except oil) until smooth. Gradually add in oil with blender running until smooth and creamy. Season w/S&P to taste.
Apparently keeps several days in fridge or freezes well
Lonnie’s chocolate Zucchini Cake
½ c soft butter
½ c cooking oil
2 eggs
1 ½ c sugar (can be cut down)
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 ½ c flour
1 tsp soda
½ t salt
½ c chocolate chips
½ c sour milk (buttermilk)
4 T cocoa
½ tsp. Cinnamon
2 c grated zucchini
¼ c chopped nuts
Mix butter,oil, eggs, sugar, vanilla and milk together. Add cocoa, soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well. Add flour, mix well, add zucchini, chocolate chips and nuts. Mix well. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. 13 X 9 inch pan or 2 loaf pans.
Chocolate Zucchini Cake 2
A great cake for all that zucchini at the end of the season, and the kids love it too!
Makes 1 9 x 13 inch cake
Printed from Allrecipe, submitted by Sandi
½ cup butter, softened 1 ¾ cup white sugar
½ cup vegetable oil 2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ cup sour milk
2 ½ cups all purpose flour ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup semiweet chocolate chips
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 cups zucchini, finely diced
chocolate chips
Directions
- Preheat oven to 305 degrees F, grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch pan.
- Cream the butter, oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and sour milk(sour milk = 1 teaspoon vinegar in ½ cup milk)
- Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda and cinnamon toger and add to creamed mixture. Beat well, stir in diced zucchini
- Pour into 9 x 13 inch pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 40 – 45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.