Lemongrass is widely used as a culinary herb in Asian cuisine and also as medicinal herb in India. It is commonly used in teas, soups, and curries. It is also suitable for use with poultry, fish, beef, and seafood.  Research shows that lemongrass oil has antifungal properties.

Preparation

1. The softer, fleshier, pale yellow part of the lemongrass – which is what you want to use in your cooking – is located under the tough outer leaves. Peel away these layers and discard.

2. Then use a sharp serrated knife to slice off the lower bulb, which includes about 2 inches of the end. Discard.  The stalk is now easy to slice into pieces.  Stop slicing when you have cut two-thirds of the way up the stalk, or when it is no longer yellow. The upper end the stalk will be green and woody, but is still useful in cooking soups and curries.

3. Because lemongrass is so firm and fibrous, it helps to process the slices a little further. Place the lemongrass in a food processor and process well on “high”, or pound for a minute or two with a pestle & mortar. It’s possible to use the lemongrass slices as they are, but the thicker slices will be difficult to eat.

4. Your lemongrass should now appear finer – almost like yellow-green flakes. It is now ready to use in recipes such as curries or soups (note that the lemongrass still needs to cook or be boiled for at least 5 minutes before it is soft enough to be edible).

Storage: Use the lemongrass immediately, or store lemongrass by freezing it in a sealed container in your freezer. With lemongrass, very little is wasted. You can use the upper, reserved stalk to add even more flavor and fragrance to soups and curries. Simply make several cuts along the length of the stalk and bend it several times to “bruise” it. This will release the fragrance and flavor. Now throw the stalk into your soup or curry pot.

Farmers that grow Lemon Grass

• Ho Farms

Recipes

• Tom Kha Soup
• Vietnamese hamburgers
• Lemongrass chicken

What else is in the bag?

Try out these recipes!

The Roma Tomato is a plum tomato. They can be egg or pear-shaped and are generally a good for canning, sautés and sauces because of their small size and firm, meaty texture. Compared to other tomato varieties, these little guys are great for cooking: they boil down faster, have more flesh, less juice, fewer seeds and have great big sweetness and acid flavor. Smaller plum tomatoes can be closer in size to cherry tomatoes and are sometimes called ‘baby Romas.’ All tomatoes are a great source of phytonutrients, several vitamins and minerals and are known especially for the carotenoid lycopene, which packs a strong antioxidant punch and gives them their red color. The Italians are thought to be the first Western society to adopt the tomato into their diets, and their word for it – pomodoro – means golden apple.

How to prepare Roma Tomatoes:

Roma tomatoes are often used in canning or sauce making. They can be enjoyed raw and eaten as any another tomato. Slicing a roma tomato is best done from the halfs: take each half face-down and anchor them to the cutting surface with your hand. From here, make several vertical slices and let the size be determined by how many slices you want. To create a dice, rotate these slices 90 degrees and slice downward, away from you.

What else is in the bag?

Try out these recipes!

Papaya is native to the tropics of the Americas in the regions of southern Mexico and Central America. The papaya is a tree-like plant that can grow over 30 feet tall. The fruit is a type of berry and when ripe it feels soft and the skin turns an amber to orange hue.

Papaya plants grow in three sexes: male, female, and hermaphrodite. The male produces only pollen, never fruit. The female will produce small, inedible fruits unless pollinated. The hermaphrodite can self-pollinate because its flowers contain both male stamens and female ovaries. As a result almost all commercial papaya orchards contain only hermaphrodite papaya plants.

In 1998, in response to the papaya ringspot virus (PRV) outbreak in Hawaii, genetically altered papaya were approved and brought to market (including ‘SunUp’ and ‘Rainbow’ varieties.) Varieties resistant to PRV have some DNA of this virus incorporated into the DNA of the plant.

Preparation:

Papayas are often eaten raw. The fruit is cut in half and the seeds removed. The flesh can be scooped out or cut into wedges.

Farms that grow papaya:

Kumu Farms

Lokoea Farms

What else is in the bag?

Try out these recipes!

We all know that there is nothing more refreshing than a big, chilled wedge of watermelon on a hot, summer day. But more than being a refreshing treat, watermelon is a rich source of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and organic compounds. These include significant amounts of vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, fiber, protein, and a very large amount of potassium. Furthermore, they contain vitamin A, vitamin B6, niacin, thiamin, and a wide variety of carotenoids and phytonutrients, including lycopene!

Preparation
Wash, cut and eat! Try cutting watermelon it in half, then into slices. You can also remove the peel and add the sliced fruit to salsas or salads.

Farms that Grow Watermelon
Aloun Farms

What else is in the bag?

Try out these recipes!

‘Ulu or breadfruit was first domesticated in the western Pacific and today is grown on most Pacific Islands. It continues to be an important staple crop and a component of traditional agroforestry, grown as both a subsistence crop in home gardens and farms. As a dietary staple it is comparable in importance to tropical staples such as taro, plantain, cassava, sweet potato and rice.  The name breadfruit is derived from the texture of ripe fruit when cooked, which is similar to freshly baked bread, though it has a potato like flavor. Ripe fruit have yellow or yellow-brown skin and soft, sweet, creamy flesh that can be eaten raw or cooked. ‘Ulu is a versatile crop and can be eaten at all stages of maturity. The fruit is a good source of dietary fiber, potassium, calcium, and magnesium.

Preparation:

Watch this Cooking ‘Ulu Video !

 

 

 

 

 

 

Farms that grow ‘Ulu:

Kualoa Ranch

What else is in the bag?

Try out these recipes!