This Week’s Box Featuring Avocados – Week of January 3

January 3, 2022 by Amy Buglione

This week we have avocados from Adaptations

Preparation

How to cut or slice avocados in half:

1. Be sure to fully wash before cutting or slicing.

2. Place the avocado lengthwise on a secure surface.

3. Hold the avocado securely with one hand, and slice slowly down the center lengthwise around the seed, starting at the narrower end.

4. Holding the avocado in the palm of one hand, use your other hand to twist and rotate the two halves apart.

5. Use a teaspoon to remove the stone from the center of the avocado. Use a dessert spoon to scoop the whole avocado flesh out from the shell if required. Cut into slices, chunks, or mash with a fork.

How to peel an avocado:

1. For ripe Hass Avocados, the outer skin or peel is easy to remove. Simply slice the avocado in half or cut into wedges as shown in photo. Then grasp the outer dark layer or skin and pull it away from the inner green flesh of the fruit. If some of the darker almost black portions of the skin remain on the green flesh of the fruit, simply cut them away. The yellow to green portions of the avocado are what you want. Do not consume the peel.

What else is in the bag?

Avocado
Kahumana Organic Farm & Cafe

Mixed Tomatoes
Sugarland

Sweet Potato
Twin Bridge Farms

Swiss Chard
Ho Farms

Tangerine
Adaptations

Zucchini
Aloun Farms

Try out these recipes!

Avocado Banana Bread

Garlic Sautéed Swiss Chard with Egg and Avocado

This Week’s Box Featuring Kale – Week of December 13th

December 13, 2021 by Amy Buglione

This week we have kale from Local Harvest

Kale is a vegetable with green or purple leaves, in which the central leaves do not form a head. It is a member of the Mustard, also known as the Cabbage, family. Kale can be curly, flat, or even have a bluish tint mixed in with the green. This week we have curly kale from Shawn’s Farm.

Depending on the variety, kale can sometimes be spicy or a bit sweet, and usually slightly bitter. In general, kale offers an earthy flavor with a nutty sweetness that is accentuated when cooked. Kale is rich in antioxidants and packed with vitamins A, C, E, K and B, as well as minerals like iron and calcium. Kale is a great source of fiber and contains a fair amount of protein.

Preparation

Kale is incredibly versatile in the kitchen and can be enjoyed raw or cooked. Young kale leaves add an earthiness to raw salads, and mature kale is one of the few leafy greens that doesn’t shrink much when cooked. Try it sauteed, roasted, stewed, or even baked into kale chips. Or try it raw in juices and smoothies.

To prep mature kale – first remove the tough fibrous stems. Hold the stem and strip the leaves along the stem away from you. If preferred, you can cut the leaf into thin, confetti-like ribbons.
A quick massage with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt can break down the cellulose structure of kale. This gives a slightly sweeter, silkier kale to add to salads.
To store – wrap the leaves in a loose bundle, cover with a paper towel or a thin cotton towel (to absorb excess moisture) and store in a large, sealable bag in the crisper for up to a week.

Check out this video:

Farms that grow kale

Recipes

Crunchy Dino Kale and Coconut Bowl
Kale Caesar Salad
Chocolate Mint Smoothie with Kale
Kale and Eggplant Summer Pasta
Kale with Onion, Celery & Tomato
Stir Fry Greens– Same method, but you can just use Kale!

What else is in the bag?

Japanese Cucumbers
Ho Farms

Kale
Ho Farms

Long Beans
Aloun Farms

Longan
OK Farms

Mixed Tomatoes
Sugarland

Orange
Adaptations

This Week’s Vegetarian Meal Kit Box Recipes

Try out these recipes!

Kale Caesar Salad

Toasted Orzo with Kale, Feta, and Radishes

This Week’s Box Featuring Lemongrass – Week of November 22

November 22, 2021 by Amy Buglione

This week we have Lemongrass from Ho Farms

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