Aloha Oahu Fresh members!  This week we are pleased to again bring you some new items in your Oahu Fresh bag.  You’ll be receiving collard greens, daikon, mint, lettuce, tomatoes, taro, and tangerine.

Collard greens may be familiar to some of you, especially if you are originally from the mainland or if you have eaten at Soul Patrol in Kaimuki!  If you are not familiar with them, you will find some easy tips and recipes below for cooking and enjoying them. Collards are very nutritious, with plenty of vitamin K, A, C, folate, and manganese.  For more specific information on their nutritional value, see the World’s Healthiest Foods_Collards.  Collard greens are also well known for their anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.

Collards are similar to cabbage leaves.  Tips for cooking them include thorough washing, cutting the leaves to equal sized pieces, so that they cook at the same rate, and not overcooking them which tends to make them bitter and sulfurous.

Kickin’ Collard Greens

Sauteed Collard Greens easy, and few ingredients!

Spicy Southern Collard Greens with Sweet Maple Cornbread

Taro Cakes savory taro cakes with ahi!!

Taro Coconut Tapioca Dessert

We hope you enjoy this week’s bag, and we certainly hope you’ll be willing to share your recipes with us!  You can easily do so by commenting on our Oahu Fresh  facebook page.

Mahalo and bon apetit!

Aloha Oahu Fresh members!  For the first week of February we’re bringing you a new item from a new farmer.  We’re excited to introduce micro greens into our produce rotation, courtesy of Drylands Nursery in Mililani.  We will also have japanese cucumber, cherry tomatoes, papaya, swiss chard, and braising greens this week.

Micro greens have become popular in recent years, but are often confused with sprouts.  In fact, sprouts are grown differently, in water, and usually harvested in their entirety.  Micro greens are grown from the seeds of vegetables and herbs in soil (or other media) and are harvested  when very young, maybe two weeks.  At this point they have up to two sets of true leaves, and are cut but not pulled out of the ground.  Sprouts are germinated seeds which are grown in water and exposed to low levels of light.

Micro greens have intense flavor and should be added to a salad or used with other foods with strong flavors.  They are fragile though so a salad dressing that’s light would work well with them.  Try this one, it’s easy and has only three ingredients:

Lemon Honey Salad Dressing

For your other produce, here are a few ideas:

Swiss Chard and Bacon

Creamy Braising Greens soup

Tomato Cucumber Salad

Wow!  What a bag this week–okra, romas, nalo greens, chinese parsely, pineapple, sweet potatoes, tangerines and clementines!

What are you going to do with all this great tasting, locally grown, delivered right to you produce?  Here are a few ideas:

Smoked Sausage and Okra Dirty Rice

Grilled Okra with Smoked Paprika Shallot Dip

Pickled Okra–I like pickled or smoked okra in Bloody Marys!

Mashed Okinawan Sweet Potatoes

Okinawan Sweet Potato and Coconut Rice Pudding a you tube video –so you can easily make this one!!

Use your Nalo greens, chinese parsley, and romas to make a salad then make this Spicy Pineapple Dressing to go over it!

Bon Apetit Oahu Fresh Members!  Thank you for your support!

Hello Oahu Fresh members!  We’re excited about this week’s bag, because we have two great greens this week!  Swiss chard and pak choy.  If you’re not familiar with how to use these greens or what to serve with them, see below for some ideas.  You’ll also receive roma tomatoes, thai basil or parsely,  and papayas.

Swiss chard is a versatile green that can be used raw in salads when it’s young, and added to soups, or sauteed, when it’s mature.  It’s healthy and pairs well with other vegetables and meats and fish.  I like to saute mine with plenty of garlic!  You can also try it sauteed with pine nuts, raisins, and topped with goat cheese.

Swiss Chard Cooking tips

Sauteed Swiss Chard and Parmesan cheese

Swiss Chard with Garbanzo Beans and Fresh Tomatoes

Steamed Baby Bok Choy with Broiled Salmon and a Warm Roasted Tomato and Lemon Vinaigrette

Bok Choy Stir fry

Bok Choy soup–use your leftover bok choy in this soup!