What's in your share this week

Small
1. mix green
2. White Radish
3. Red Radish
4. White Paty Pan Squash
5. Yellow Paty Pan Squash
6. Bull's Blood Beets
7. Arugula
8. Straight Eight Cucumber
9. Peach
10. Tomato
11. Prune
12. Banana Squash

Medium
1. Yellow Zucchini
2. Green Zucchini
3. Straightneck Squash
4. Zephyr Squash
5. Chinese Okra

Large

1. Green Cabbage
2. Artichoke
3. Collard Green
4. Red meat Radish
5. Armenian Cucumber
6. Extra mix green
7. Baby Bok Choy
8. Extra Banana Squash

Lavendar & Herbal Honey

I know it's been a long time since we had the lavender in our share, but I just came across this great use for it.  So if you happened to dry some of your lavender . . .

Herbal Honey
Take 4-6 stems of fresh lavender, or 2 four-inch pieces of fresh rosemary, and submerge in a one-pint jar of honey. Screw the cap on tight and put in a sunny window for two weeks. Every day or two, invert the jar several times. Taste after two weeks and see if the herbal flavor is strong enough for you. If not, repeat for one more week. You may remove the herbs before using the honey, or leave them in.

What's in Your Share this week

Small
Tomatillo
Tomato
Green Bell Pepper
Apple
Hales Peach
Red Radish
White Radish
Papaya Squash
Yellow Sunburst Patty Pan Squash
White Patty Pan Squash
Green Zucchini
Straight Eight Cucumber
Bull's blood Beets
Mixed Greens
Bok Choy
Shungiku
Mache


Medium
All of Small share plus
Stanley Prunes
Pasilla Pepper
Extra Mache
Extra Bok Choy
Flying Saucer Squash
Crooked Neck Squash
Dark Green Zucchini

Large
All of Medium Share Plus
Cabbage
Purple Beans
Chinese Okra
Bitter Melon
Purple Ruffle Basil
Gala Apple
Anaheim Peppers
Extra of many items on the small share list

We'll miss you Jessica!

Thank you to Jessica for being our blog editor while you could.  You did a fantastic job.  Best wishes in all your future endeavors.

Members: For the rest of the season, David will be posting the share lists here each week.  If you have any specific questions regarding what's in your share or how to use it, please give David a call at 801-721-8238. And please feel free to contribute recipes and ideas on either the blog or Facebook.

In your share this week

Small Share:

mixed greens
white radish
red radish
white patty pan squash
yellow patty pan squash
straight neck squash
papaya squash
golden zucchini
green bell pepper
poblano pepper
lemon alberta peach
suncrest peach
stanley prunes
baby artichoke
bok choy

Medium Share:
bigger quantities of the small share, plus
green zucchini squash
zephyr squash
raspberries
tomato

Large Share:
bigger quantities of the small and medium share, plus
gala apple
blackberry
wealthy apple
blue kale
spinach
opal squash
8 ball zucchini
extra bag of mixed squash

Cold Summer Nights

Hello Everyone,

Small Share:
Spicy Green Salad Mix
Bok Choy
Mixed Variety Squash
Monroe Peach
21st Century Asian Pear
Small Tart Peach
Tomato

Medium Share:
All of Small Share
Extra Mixed Variety Squash
Beets

Large Share:
All of Medium Share
Extra Bok Choy
Extra Mixed Variety Squash
Artichoke
Blackberry
Raspberry
Cabbage
Purple Basil
Beet Greens

Enjoy!
Jessica

Simple and Delicious Fruit Tart

Photo Courtesy of Life123.com

Since we recieved peaches, blackberries and raspberries in our share this week I really would like to make a fruit tart for dessert.

• 
  
  Here is a recipe for a simple, easy fruit tart at Food Network.
• 
  
  Here is a recipe for a more healthy fruit tart that is gluten-free and sugar free (without substitutes like Splenda) courtesy of Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.

Hope you all have a sweet Labor Day holiday,

Jessica

Not Your Average Basil: Using Thai Basil

Photo Courtesy of Xotic Spice

Thai Sweet Basil, or Anise/Licorice Basil (Bai Horapa): This tropical variety of sweet basil provides the unusual basil flavor present in so many Thai dishes that it has come to be identified as "Thai basil" in America, even though the Vietnamese and Laotians also use lots of it in their cuisines. Its leaves are deep green, smaller and not as round as Western sweet basil. They grow on purplish stems, topped with pretty, reddish purple flower buds. Both leaves and edible flowers are have a strong basil scent and an equally strong under note of anise or licorice. The flavor is just as distinct as its scent, when some people think of licorice - black twizzlers come to mind, but the flavor is much more complex and exciting to the palate.


Plentiful in Thailand, bai horapa is eaten almost as a vegetable, and I have found it's flavor equally pleasing whether it is raw or cooked. It goes well with anything made with coconut: milk, cream or juice. It is also a great replacement for cilantro...

As with many leafy herbs, this basil can be kept fresh by placing it in a glass with the cut ends in water, covering it with a plastic bag and storing it in the refrigerator. Or, you can wrap the herbs in paper towels before bagging them in plastic before refrigerating. They will stay fresh for about a week."-excerpt and picture from the blog Xotic Spice 

I still have a bag full of Thai basil left in my refridgerator, so I am hoping to try this recipe for Thai basil pesto.

Thai Basil Pesto-courtesy of the blog From Scratch

Ingredients:

•1/3 cup peanuts

•1 cup Thai basil

•1/3 cup cilantro

•4 cloves garlic

•1 TB lime juice

•1 small red chili (I left the seeds in, if you aren't a spice fiend you might want to scrape the seeds out)

•1/3 cup vegetable oil (although, next time I'm going to try peanut oil, I was out when I made this)

Directions:
I am sans food processor right now, so I just tossed all peanuts, herbs, garlic, and pepper in my spice grinder, tossed the resulting paste in a mixing bowl and added the lime juice and the vegetable oil and used a hand mixer to combine everything. I used half of it for Rice Noodle Stir Fry with Thai Basil Pesto , and froze the other half in a ziploc bag in the freezer.

Note: Because of the lack of a substitute for the cheese in Italian style pesto, this paste doesn't have much in the way of a salty flavor. Next time I make this I may add a TB of fish sauce--but then again may not, since almost everything I will probably cook with this with with have Nuoc Cham on the side.

Let me know how you've been using your Thai basil at produce@zoegarden.com.

Jessica

Bitter and Full of Nutrients

Photo Courtesy of Serious Eats

Bitter gourd has a variety of health benefits, including helping with disorders such as diabetes, blood issues, cholera, fatigue, hangover, toxemia, skin disorders, and respiratory disorders. Aside from helping to alleviate symptoms of these ailments, bitter gourd is also very high in vitamins and nutrients and is an excellent source of dietary fiber. Eating it may also help boost the immune system and is considered a healthy way to promote healthy vision and eye function.

  

One of the most well known medical uses of bitter gourd is to help lower blood sugar in diabetics, and to increase insulin tolerance in those with diabetes and pre-diabetes. This is possible because the gourd contains a type of plant insulin, which helps level out the body’s insulin levels naturally. Blood sugar levels should still be monitored, but a regimen using this gourd may be appropriate for many diabetics.

Bitter gourd also has substances which helps the body rid itself of toxins at a faster pace than usual. Drinking the juice from bitter gourd may help the blood get rid of toxic substances and it may improve liver function so that the body can flush toxins away naturally. This is useful in helping alleviate many diseases and conditions like toxemia and hangover. By improving immune function, this fruit also helps to prevent illnesses and some cancers by allowing white blood cells to work for efficiently.


Blood conditions and other disorders may also be helped by consuming bitter gourd juice or by eating the fruit. The fruit itself may help prevent colon cancer because it is especially high in dietary fiber and helps rid the colon of compacted waste material. The juice can be mixed with other ingredients to make the taste more palatable for those who can’t stand the bitter flavor.


The gourd may work better when used in combination with other healing foods or juices, such as onion juice, lime juice, or certain teas. Juice from the bitter gourd fruit can be sipped slowly throughout the day and can be taken long-term. No side effects have been reported when bitter melon is taken as directed.


It is important not to consume too much bitter gourd juice in one day or to consume more than two fruits per day. Gastrointestinal upset may occur, and can include abdominal cramps and diarrhea. Diabetics who use this fruit to lower blood sugar may need to alter their doses of any medications being taken to avoid low blood sugar. ---information courtesy of wisegeek

Recipe for Stuffed Bitter Melon

Recipe for Chinese Bitter Melon Stir Fry

Photo Courtesy of Serious Eats