Week #25
• Onions
• Garlic
• Leeks
• Potatoes
• Kale
• Tomatoes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Sweet peppers
• Hot peppers
• Basil
• Beans
• Zucchini or cukes (the plants are mostly pulled so these are the last!)
• Cabbage (choose from Napa, Red, Green or Bok Choi)
• Broccoli
• Lettuce
• Fennel
Fall is in the air and the plants and the farmers know it! The rain last week breathed new air into tired plants, split the tomatoes and sprouted the weeds! The cherry tomatoes got water they hadn’t had for 2 months and decided to flower again. Little do they know that frost is around the corner (hopefully after October 31) and will stop them in their tracks.
It is soup weather! See recipes below, share recipes with us and others. Nothing is so delicious on a cool night like a bowl of minestrone. We roasted tons of peppers and have packaged them away for winter. We are busy turning greenhouses over into fall and winter crops. Juve pulled the zucchini, they had been spitting out 1-2 zucchini a week and were hogging space we could use for radishes and lettuce. He also went wild with the mower and then tilled up all the areas he mowed. Take a look at the fields they are transformed.
We will plant cover crop where we have space, we are pulling giant weeds to prevent generations of future weeds. We have winter squash to harvest and get under cover before it gets too cold. So much to do and so little time, such is life. We do have a group of high school students from Liberty High School who will be joining us for a work party. Any of you are welcome to join us on Thursday from 10:45 – 2:30 to pull in the winter squash, harvest the pumpkins, pull the weeds and bag up the onions and garlic and clean the upper level of the barn.
La Finquita Del Buho presents:
The 15th Annual
Harvest Festival
Sunday October 19, 2014from 2- 6 p.m.
At the farm; 7960 NW Dick Road, Hillsboro 97124
Lots of fun for the whole family:
Swiss alp horns, Traditional Mexican dancing, Music, cider pressing, wood fired pizza oven, potluck, farm tours and festive fall wreaths and bird feeders for sale and much more
Please bring: your favorite pizza topping, a dish to pass, a mason jar for cider, plates, cups and silverware for your family, a check book or cash to purchase items and contribute to the performers
Contact Lyn Jacobs (503-568-5760) or Juvencio Argueta (503-830-0342) for more information
Recipes for the week:
Thai-Style Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon peanut oil
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
• 1 green cabbage, finely shredded
• 5-6 leaves kale
• 1 small red onion, sliced extremely thinly
• 3 peeled and grated carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• Honey-roasted peanuts
Instructions
1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the lemon juice, oil, sugar and fish sauce until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cabbage, kale, onion, carrot, mint and cilantro and toss well. The dressing will coat the ingredients very lightly; there will not be a pool of dressing in the bottom of the bowl. Throw in a handful or two of peanuts, toss again, and serve.
2. Serves 8-10.
Quick notes
Technique note: An easy way to get super thin slices of onion for use when you are eating them uncooked, as in this salad, is to do it this way. Slice an onion in half lengthwise (stem to root), cut off stem end and root end, peel off and discard papery skin. Then peel off a single layer of onion, press it flat against the cutting board, and slice as paper-thin as possible. Chop the onion one layer at a time, for maximum control.
Creamy Choi Soup
Farmer John’s Cookbook
Serves 4
1 tablespoon peanut oil
½ cup chopped scallions (about 3)
2 teaspoons coarsely chopped fresh ginger
1 pound choi (any kind)
1 large potato, peeled diced
2 cups vegetable stock or water
3/4 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper hot pepper flakes
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons sour cream
1. Heat the peanut oil in a medium pot over medium high heat. Set aside a couple tablespoons of scallions for garnish. Add the remaining scallions, garlic, and ginger to the pot. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Add the choi and potato. Pour in the stock or water and add the salt, pepper and hot pepper flakes to taste. Increase the heat and bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer until the potato is tender, above 20 minutes. Remove the pot from heat. Stir in the toasted sesame oil.
3. Transfer the soup to a food processor or a blender and puree. Ladle soup into individual bowls.
4. Garnish each bowl with a dollop of sour cream and some chopped scallion. Serve immediately.
Fennel and Red Pepper Salad
By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN
This is one of my favorite salads. I make it for buffets all the time because it never gets soggy — the longer the vegetables marinate, the tastier the salad is.
For the salad:
1 pound trimmed fennel bulbs, quartered and cut into very thin crosswise slices
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut in thin 2-inch slices
1 to 2 tablespoons minced parsley
1 tablespoon minced chives
1 ounce shaved Parmesan
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or champagne vinegar
1 small garlic clove, very finely minced or puréed
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. Toss with the salad and serve.
Yield: Serves six.
Advance preparation: This is a great keeper. The vegetables marinate in the dressing, and they don’t get soggy, just saturated and extremely tasty.
Nutritional information per serving: 137 calories; 11 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 4 milligrams cholesterol; 8 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 128 milligrams sodium (does not include salt added during cooking); 3 grams protein
FENNEL VINAIGRETTE DRESSING
1/2 cup
1/2 cup
1/4 cup
1 clove
pinch
pinch olive oil
green leaf fennel leaves
lemon juice
garlic, peeled
salt
sugar
In a small saucepan, heat oil, fennel leaves, lemon juice, crushed garlic and salt and sugar. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.
Ellen Ecker Ogden, From: The Cook’s Garden catalog
DrWeil.com
Tomato Red Pepper Salad Dressing
This rosy, zesty salad dressing is great on a bed of leafy greens, sliced cucumbers and fresh mozzarella cheese. It is virtually fat free and therefore very low in calories. It also keeps well in the refrigerator for at least a week.
1 small (6 ounce) can of tomato paste
1 whole roasted red pepper or pimento from a jar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
1. Combine all ingredients in a blender container. Blend until well mixed.
Serves 8
Nutrients Per Serving
Calories: 22.9
Protein: 1.0 grams
Fat: 0.2 grams
Saturated Fat: 0.0 grams
Monounsat Fat: 0.0 grams
Polyunsat Fat: 0.1 grams
Carbohydrate: 5.3 grams
Fiber: 1.1 grams
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Vitamin A: 1,057.4 IU
Vitamin E: 1.0 mg/IU
Vitamin C: 33.3 mg
Calcium: 9.6 mg
Magnesium: 13.2 mg