Aloha everyone!
Oahu Fresh spent the past weekend with Class 13 of the Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawaii touring the Big Island to learn what types of agriculture farmers are undertaking there. We traveled from Hilo to Waimea to North Kona and saw everything from an exotic fruit orchard to Hamakua Mushrooms to an EPA award-winning pond at the Four Seasons Hualalai that is home to the prawns that will eventually end up on dinner plates at the restaurant. We hope you enjoy the pictures and if you have any questions about the farms please contact us!

This week’s bag contains hydroponically grown lettuce from Maunawili Greens, Ho Farms tomatoes, Nalo Farms arugula, and Pit Farms pak choi, apple bananas, carrot, & possibly Thail basil.

For some recipe ideas using your fresh produce see below:

Corn, Avocado, & Tomato Salad

Grape Tomato and Avocado Salad from Whole Foods

Mild Spiced Summer Squash and Pak Choy

Glazed Carrots

From the Hawaii Farmer’s Market Cookbook:  Bok Choy with Kurogoma

8 whole heads baby bok choy

1/2 cup kurogoma (black sesame seeds)

1 cup dashi

2 teaspoons usukuchi soy sauce

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons sugar

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Hold 2 heads bok choy together with tongs, grabbing leaf ends.  When water is boiling, immerse the stem ends in it.  Cook stem ends first, about 30 seconds.  Then drop whole heads into the water and cook another 30 seconds.  Remove from water with tongs and immerse in ice bath.  Repeat with remaining bok choy.  When bok choy is well chilled, remove from ice bath and squeeze out as much water as possible.  Lay on cutting board and trim ends.  Leave whole or cut crosswise into pieces and arrange on serving plate.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.    Place sesame seeds, dashi, soy sauce and sugar into blender.  Blend until smooth.  When ready to serve pour sauce over bok choy.

This week’s bag will have a variety of greens for you to try!  We’ll have braising greens from Nalo Farms, hydroponic lettuce from Maunawili Greens, grape tomatoes from Ho Farms, organic mangoes from Poamoho Organic Produce,  and a variety of produce, including green onions, celery, and corn from Pit Farms.

For braising greens, you can search our site for previous recipes or try a few listed here:

Spaghetti Squash with Spicy Braised Greens…

Braising Greens with Tofu, Cashews, & Raisins over Polenta

Southern Braised Greens with Bacon

Spicy Grilled Chicken and Green Onions

Roasted Grape Tomatoes

Spicy Bok Choy in Garlic Sauce

Aloha Oahu Freshies, and welcome to the last bag of summer!  This week’s bag will have Maunawili Greens lettuce, Nalo Farms baby arugula, Ho Farms tomatoes, Pit Farms mint, Poamoho Organic Produce avocados, and Aloun Farms canteloupe.  There will also be either zucchini or long squash from Pit Farms.

A few suggestions on how to use your produce this week:

Canteloupe Salad with Lime, Mint, & Ginger

Thai Shrimp and Squash Soup This recipe calls for butternut squash but long squash works so well in soup it’s worth changing the recipe.

Squash Griddle Cakes

Long Squash Chicken Soup Very few ingredients in this recipe, so you can make it as is, or get creative!

Baby Arugula Salad with Lemon Dijon Dressing

Baby Arugula Pesto A pesto with capers instead of pine nuts!

Six Great Recipes for Zucchini:  zucchini oven chips, grilled zucchini and summer squash salad, zucchini bread, layered zucchini, chocolate zucchini cake, and stuffed zucchini with potatoes and peas!

Sweet Potato Fries with Avocado Dip

Enjoy the produce and please let us know if you try something really tasty-we’d be happy to put it up on the site!

Please remember to provide your previous week’s bag when your order is delivered each week.  You can leave the bag on a door or desk if you are not present when the delivery occurs.

Avocados!  The avocado in your bag is an organic one from Poamoho Organic Produce.  Al Santoro, owner and farmer, told us that normally avocados will ripen in 5-7days after coming off the tree.  This variety however has been consistently ripening within 2-4 days.  Your avo should be ready to eat this weekend-enjoy!  Al says that this variety was called Butterball by the person who gave it to him, although many avos are referred to that way.  Al’s not sure exactly what variety it is but he’s been eating them on BLTs for several days!  Thanks Al!

aloha and bon appetit!

Aloha fresh local foodies!  We have another great bag this week:  Yummy apple bananas, chinese parsley,and white radishes from Pit Farm, tatsoi from Nalo Farms, Ho Farms tomatoes, fresh lettuce from Maunawili Greens, and organic tangerines from Poamoho Organic Produce!  I can’t wait for some tangerines and bananas in my morning yogurt!

Aloha Oahu Fresh clients!  Just a note:  our farmer at Pit Farm was not able to get enough Maui Onion for this week’s delivery, so he supplied a variety of produce.  We hope to provide you with some great Maui Onion soon, and hope you liked your substitute!  Thank you for trying local produce!!

For anyone who hasn’t had tatsoi before, it’s an Asian green similar to spinach.  It’s very good in salads, or steamed or wilted with meat, fish, or pasta.  If you search tatsoi on this website you will find several dishes to try in addition to the ones listed here.

Easy Sauteed Tatsoi and Gingery Sauteed Tatsoi with Tofu Steaks

Tatsoi with Garam Masala tatsoi with Indian flavor!

Tumeric Rubbed  Branzino with Tatsoi and Peanuts You don’t need to follow this exactly but the recipe gives you a great feel for what you can serve with your fresh veggies and the pictures are fantastic.

Hawaiian Grilled Tuna with Maui Onion Slaw Everyone probably has most of the ingredients for this already …just pick up the tuna and wine!

Carmelized Maui Onion Dip just in time for Labor Day picnics

Goat Cheese and Maui Onion Tart from the Hali`imaile General Store Cookbook

Yogurt with White Radish another Indian recipe that will use the white radish and chinese parsley (Cilantro)

Savory Slaw with Mint and Cilantro another great recipe that will use the chinese parsley and daikon