Grow Your Own

One of our members and the host of Eat Outside the Box in Lafayette, Autumn Gonzalez, has a creative new business. She and her business partner, Julie Cimino, have started growing food for people in a clever and unique way. Click on the link below to get an idea of what Autumn and Julie do. They will come to your home, assess your site, create a plan and execute it for you. You will have freshly grown veggies as close to home as possible: your own backyard.

http://lamorindahomegrown.com/default.html

The name of Autumn and Julie's business is Homegrown and in their tag line they urge you to Eat Your (own) Vegetables. If you want to have a garden but don't know where to start, contact Autumn.

Sorrel Time

Sorrel is a beautiful leafy green. The sorrel we got this week in our CSA box was long, pale green and looked a lot like puntarella or dandelion greens. It has smooth leaves, though, without indentations on the leaf edges.

Sorrel grows wild in many places but has also been cultivated for centuries. It can be eaten in salads, on sandwiches or cooked. Commonly used in stews or soups, sorrel has a tangy flavor and is high in ascorbic acid. Recipes that feature sorrel can be found in almost every culture.

Sorrel has iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, potassium phosphorus and fiber.

Greens, greens, greens

This week, my rapini, (all mixed types) was used up in one meal. Granted the meal lasted us several meals with leftovers. So, many of you have asked me what I did with all those bitter greens this week. This is what I did. I have adapted this recipe to suit the amount of greens I had. I also increased the red pepper flakes.

Rose’s Pasta with Winter Greens
1 pound winter greens (chard, kale or rapini)
2 small Meyer lemons
6 TBS olive oil
6 large cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
8 C water
2 tsp kosher salt
1 pound penne rigate
3 oz parmesan cheese grated

Chop up the greens into 1 inch strips (or bite sized) pieces. Juice one lemon, cut the other into wedges and set aside.

Add oil to a wide bottom 12 inch saucepan with sides at least 6 inches high. Tip pan so oil collects along one edge. Add garlic and cook gently over low heat until deep golden, about 4 minutes. Add pepper flakes, 8 cups of water and salt. Bring to a boil.

Add the pasta and stems and stalks of greens to boiling water. Boil over high heat for 7 minutes, stirring for the first few. Add leaves of greens and boil for another 7 minutes, stirring to keep pasta and greens submerged until the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat and stir in half the cheese and lemon juice stirring constantly.

Divide pasta, greens and cooking liquid into serving bowls. Garnish with a wedge of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil.