March 26, 2011

The latest OBC Happenings, food bits & generals Musings… Aside from a beautiful box of food love and delicious recipes, we have news…and information…things you are sure to enjoy! We love sharing insider information on the especially potent (in terms of nutrients and health benefits!) items in our weekly boxes. Here are a few things that may be news to you, great news, of course: • Rocky Canyon’s Sweet potatoes (well, all sweet potatoes, really)- Not sure if you are like me, where for years you

didn’t really think of sweet potatoes as a powerhouse of nutrition or good for any reason other than the fact that they were sweet and gooey and amazingly delicious with a roast bird. Well look again! Orange and purple fleshed sweet potatoes are apparently the food of the Gods. They are loaded with the antioxidant beta carotene (more than leafy greens), vitamin A (about 90% of the daily need), fiber and have the uncanny ability to regulate your blood sugar. Trust me, this is only the beginning…

• Lacinato Kale, steamed…all kale steamed. As if we didn’t already know that kale is a major superfood…what might be new and a little counterintuitive is that it is actually much better for you steamed than it is raw. Among other things (like Omega 3’s), kale is loaded with glucosinolates, which are known to prevent certain cancers. A squeeze of lemon actually aids in it’s nutritional effectiveness.

• “HOT” Manzano Pepper-Please note, these are HOT peppers…not of the “bell” variety !. If you are familiar with this sort of thing, they measure at 30,000 - 100,000 Scovilles on the “How Hot?” scale. This chili pepper originated in South America (ours are grown in Carpinteria by the lovely Chris Miliken) and is among the oldest of domesticated chili peppers. It was being grown up to 5000 years ago. In our box, it also serves as the first sign of Summer!

• Dates- These sweet treats are dense, high fibers little jewels whose benefits range from aiding in constipation issues to increasing sexual endurance and even curing a hangover. If that isn’t enough, they are just so delicious stirred into some plain yoghurt and drizzled with Orange Blossom honey.

Other housekeeping…not as exciting as the food updates…but important in their own right. • Credit Card fee- We are sure you are enjoying the ease and aesthetic pleasure of our new website (we know we are!).

You will also be seeing a 2.5% standard CC transaction fee. If you are a weekly or a bi-weekly subscriber, the delivery discounts applied far outweigh this fee. Just wanted you to know what it was when you saw the charge.

• Cheese and Butter- This week we are highlighting two lovely brands that are actually available in the general marketplace. Organic Valley and Straus Family are two brands that we really like and they are fairly readily available. This is in the spirit of Mark Bittman’s most recent article about celebrating the positive. Not everything available at the grocery store is evil…but most things are.

As always, we wish you a beautiful week, filled with people you love and great food to share with them. Enjoy the recipes, enjoy the food love,

Shaheda, your Market Maven

Box ContentsVegetables Fruit Roots • Asparagus* (Life’s a Choke) • Delicata Squash (Tutti Frutti) • Broccoli (Rancho Cortez)

• Kiwis (Mallard Lake Ranch) • Haas Avocados (Rancho Santa Cecilia) • Pixie Tangerines* (Somers Ranch) • Mutu Bhutan Pomelos (Mud Creek) • Bananas (Fair-trade) • Navel Oranges (Friend’s Ranch) • Orange Juice (Friends Ranch, Ojai)

• Sweet Potatoes (Rocky Canyon) • Green Spring Garlic* (Fairview) • Bunched Red Carrots (Tutti Frutti Farm) • Red Beets (Tutti Frutti Farm) • Spring Green Onions (Rancho Cortez)

Leafy Greens Extra Fruit Meat/ Eggs • Spring Mix (Shepherd Farms) • Curly Endive (Givens Farm) • Lacinato Kale* (Fairview)

• Daisy Tangerines (Mud Creek) • Guavas (Rancho Santa Cecilia) • Extras of the other fruit above!

• Whole Happy Chicken (Healthy Family) • Ground Beef* (Rancho San Julian) • Lamb Loin Chops (Healthy Family) • 1 Dz Eggs (Healthy Family

Herbs Dairy Regional Specialty • Sage* (Earthtrine) • Thyme (Earthtrine) • Manzano “HOT” Peppers (Chris Miliken)

• Unsalted butter (Straus Dairy) • Raw Sharp Cheddar (Organic Valley)

• Orange Blossom Honey (San Marcos Farm)

Conserves Grain/ Pulse Nuts, Seeds or Dried Fruit • Bread & Butter Zucchini Pickles (Bona Dea) • Dried Black/ Muave Runner Beans (2 Peas)

Pod)

• Dates (4 Apostles) Fair Trade Catch of the Week New Customer/ Referral Gift • Jasmine Thai Rice (Alter-Eco) • Black Cod/ Sustainably Farmed Trout

(Cadena’s Fish) • Calalillies (Ca. Tropics, Carpinteria)

* not included in the Couple’s Box

Let’s Celebrate the Meatless Monday Movement: Roasted Delicata Squash, stuffed with beans, greens and love!

Hot, dressed honey-citrus beets on the side.

I like stuffed squash…and I hope you do too! This meal is a lovely one to have when it is a little chilly outside and you want something warm and hearty. More Fall than Spring. Not to mention beautiful, because our serving dish is the beautiful striated yellow and green delicata. Ingredients:

" Out of the Box: • 2 delicata squash, halved and seeds

scooped out • Green garlic, minced • Beans- cooked, almost all the way.

Remember to salt your beans AFTER cooking.

• A couple large handfuls of chopped purple kale.

• About 1 tbls of finely chopped sage. • 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage leaves • 4 beets, peeled, quartered • 1 cup orange juice • fresh chopped thyme and/ or rosemary • a little orange blossom honey

" Other ingredients:

• Olive Oil • ½ cup of breadcrumbs • parmesan cheese, as much as you like • salt, pepper

Directions: " It’s all going into the oven

Preheat oven to 350F. Place the squash halves (cut side up) on a sheet pan or in a baking dish. Drizzle the surfaces with some olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. For the side of beets- Place beets in a small roasting pan, and stir in remaining ingredients. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake it all, the squash until it is tender, about an hour and the beets until they can be easily pierced, about 45 minutes. Check the beets halfway through to make sure they are not stuck to the pan. Remove everything from the oven once it is done and set aside. Set the oven to 425F.

" The stuffing part of the “stuffed delicata” Heat a little olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat until hot, then add the minced garlic and saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the kale and saute until wilted. Add in your cooked beans and eat until tender and cooked through. Stir in the chopped fresh sage, taste and adjust salt and pepper. Set aside to cool. Now you’ll fill the squash halves. In a small bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs and grated parmesan cheese. When the bean and green mixture has cooled slightly, stir half of the breadcrumb mixture into it. Divide this filling mixture between the cooked squash halves, mounding it in each. Sprinkle the remaining breadcrumb and cheese mixture over the top of the filled squash halves. Drizzle some olive oil over the top of each squash half. Return the pan to the oven and bake the squash halves until the topping is golden, about another 15 minutes or so. Keep an eye on it so it does not burn.

" Eat! Enjoy your stuffed squash beauties with a side of thyme-y, citrus-ey beets and maybe even a salad of mixed greens. Happy Meatless Monday (or Sunday or Wednesday or whatever day you choose to celebrate).

Dressed down Spicy Burgers with Sharp Cheddar and zucchini pickles. Served with a dressed up salad of Curly Endive and pixie tangerines.

Sauteed, garlic asparagus “fries” Burgers, only much cleaner than the fast food variety. Served with a lovely bitter yet refreshing salad of endive, asparagus and citrus. So good, you won’t miss the fries or the milkshake. Ingredients:

! Out of the Box: • Ground beef • 1 egg • manzano “HOT” pepper- minced finely • green garlic, minced • bread and butter zucchini pickles • cheddar • curly endive • pixies • avocado • dates (optional) • asparagus

! Other ingredients:

• Salt and pepper • Cider vinegar or red wine vinegar or a

squeeze of pixie. • Burger buns* • Handful of oatmeal or breadcrumbs

Directions: ! First and last steps

Combine the beef, manzano pepper, egg, oatmeal in a bowl and mix together gently. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Form 4 equal patties.

! Salad and side Combine curly endive leaves, segmented tangerines and avocado in a bowl. Dates are optional. Mix together acid and oil (1:3) in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Set aside until ready to eat. Prep asparagus spears. Bend until the end naturally snaps off. That’s the tough part! Nice, handy trick, right? Before you eat, quickly sauté the asparagus in a little olive oil and garlic until tender crisp.

! Burgers Heat up a grill pan. Cook burgers for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Do not move or press on them while they are cooking. Serve the burgers with pickles and that lovely sharp cheddar. *If you forgot to pick up buns, you can always serve these patties as they are with a side of plain rice.

! To eat Toss the endive salad with the vinaigrette. Serve burgers with asparagus “fries” and dressed up salad. Don’t forget the pickles!

Seared Lamb chops with herbed butter. roasted sweet potatoes. Mutu Bhutan Pomelo and Avocado Salad.

Beautiful, pastured lamb does not need much to make it delicious. This herbed butter, aside from being a great bit of flavor for this, is pretty much good on anything. Ingredients:

! Out of the Box: • Lamb chops- patted dry • Sweet potatoes • Butter- room temp • Drizzle of orange blossom honey • Chopped thyme • Chopped sage • Chopped any other herbs you like • Pomelo, supremed or just sliced. • Avocado, sliced

! Other Ingredients: • Salt, pepper • Olive oil

Directions:

! First Because the lamb will cook fairly quickly, let’s get everything else ready first. Preheat the oven to 400F. Pierce the sweet potatoes in a few places and place in the oven on top of a piece of foil, directly on the oven rack. Make sure they are dry. They will be done in about 45 minutes. Wrap in the foil until you are ready to eat.

! Herbed butter Prep all your herbs, chop them finely. Remember, this is your butter and you can flavor it however you like, the suggestions I have made are directed by what we have this week. The butter is yours! Using a fork, mix in all the herbs into the butter. Mix well. Drizzle a tiny bit of your favorite olive oil and the honey as well, not more than a tsp for the stick of butter. You can either salt now or salt later. Dump all the beautiful green pecked butter onto a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Form gently into a log and wrap up, twist the ends to secure. If you didn’t salt the butter earlier, you can use course sea salt and sprinkle the top of the log before securing the ends. Place in the refrigerator to firm up. Or even in the freezer for longer term storage. When you are ready to use it, it can easily be sliced and served. For this meal, we’ll use the butter on our lamb AND our sweet potato.

! Lamb loin chops! Heat up a heavy bottomed skillet or grill pan. Season the lamb with salt & pepper. Rub the meat with a little olive oil to prevent sticking. When the pan is hot, not blazing hot like with beef, but a little lower. Place the chop onto the pan and don’t move it. Let it stay on the heat for a few minutes, until it naturally pulls away and is relatively easy to turn over. Same on the other side. This chop will be good medium. Once the other side has been seared, remove and cover with foil. Your meat needs rest. Repeat the process with the rest if your pan was too small to fit them all. While the chops rest, ready the rest of your meal.

! To serve Place your pomelo segments and avocado into a bowl. You can place them on a bed of mixed greens if you’d like. Sprinkle with a little salt. Done. Unwrap your sweet potato and slice down the middle (not all the way through) and gently squeeze the sides. If you’d like, add a small pat of herbed butter in the slice. You can use a small pat of herbed butter on your now-rested lamb chop and enjoy. Meat and potatoes (and citrus!).

Roast happy bird, roasted red carrots, blanched broccoli. Quartered pixie tangerines for a refreshing dessert.

This is a classic meal, with a few, bright red, seasonal edits. Always remember that meat does best when it is at room temperature or close before cooking. Ingredients:

! Out of the Box: • 1 happy chicken • a couple spring onions, sliced lengthwise • a couple red carrots, sliced lengthwise • a couple green garlic stalks, sliced

lengthwise • 1 navel orange • a small bunch of fresh thyme, rosemary,

bay or sage, or a mixture • the rest of your red carrots • broccoli, washed and broken into florets ! Other ingredients

• Coarse salt, pepper • A little olive oil • lemon juice • Good quality balsamic vinegar

Directions: ! To prepare your chicken

Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven and pat dry, really well. Preheat your oven to 475F. Place the spring onions, the couple carrots and the green garlic into the bottom of a roasting pan. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Drizzle your happy chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the bird . Carefully prick the orange all over, using a fork. If you have a microwave, throw it in there for about 20 seconds as well. Shove the citrus inside the chicken, along with the herbs of your choice. Meanwhile, place the “rest of your red carrots” onto a small roasting tray, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt. Cover and place in the oven.

! Roast! Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting tray and put it into the preheated oven, along with the other tray of carrots.Turn the heat down immediately to 400°F and cook the chicken for a little over an hour, or until done. For the carrots, let them roast covered for about 30 minutes and then uncover, drizzle with balsamic and return to the oven for about 5 minutes. Baste the chicken halfway through cooking.

! To eat After the chicken is done, allow it to rest for at least 15 minutes. Blanch the broccoli while the chicken is resting and squeeze a bit of lemon over the top. Serve the happy roasted chicken with balsamic roasted red carrots and fresh blanched broccoli. Pass around a bowl of pixie quarters after dinner.

Catch of the Week | Black Cod Since we already went through the trouble of making herbed butter this week (if you missed it, see Lamb Chop recipe above), we’ll have a really easy time making fish. Heat up some olive oil over medium heat. Pat your fish dry Season both sides well with salt and pepper. Saute both sides for about 3 minutes each, until opaque in the center. Top with a small pat of herbed butter. Serve with a mixed green salad and more citrus!