Tuesday, June 24, 2014

week 4

Fresh Garlic Sugar Snap Peas New Potatoes
Lettuce Broccoli Carrots
Parsley Sorrel Basil Celery

It's officially summer! And it feels like it, too. Dips in the creek have become mandatory for human health down in this hollow. We hope you're staying cool however you best know how.

The transition to summer crops is happening a we speak. All the Spring crops are on their way out, and summer crops are on the verge. This will be the last of the sugar snap peas, and the nice salad turnips got a little too shoddy to send. Basil is busting out into full beauty, and the summer lettuces are shaping up well.

Next week, it looks like we'll have fresh beans and yellow crookneck squash, but in the meantime, we dug a few new potatoes for you to enjoy. Even though these are not the red-skinned ones, a fresh potato is really a special item to enjoy. Here's a nice no-nonsense vegan potato salad for you...

FRESH HERB POTATO SALAD
1 1/2 pounds of small new potatoes 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar 2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 lemons)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil 2 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup shredded carrot ¼ cup of chopped chives (or green onions)
¼ cup chopped dill (or sorrel and celery) salt and pepper

Cut your potatoes in half or until they are in pieces that you can actually put in your mouth. Nobody should need a knife to eat potato salad. Boil some water in a medium pot, add a pinch of salt, and the potatoes. Boil them until you can easily stab a fork through one, like 10-15 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes. If you cook them too long they start falling apart and your salad will be a mess (a delicious mess, but still a mess).
While the potatoes cook, cut up the garlic into a bunch of tiny pieces. Mix together the mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, oil, and garlic in a small glass. Drain the potatoes and put them in a large bowl. Add the dressing and toss it all together. Add the carrots, herbs, and a little salt and pepper and mix them in. Let the salad sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so that the potatoes can soak in all the flavor. If it looks dry after that then add a little more vinegar and olive oil and stir. Make this the day before you go somewhere and keep it in the fridge.
Serves 4 as a side. (adapted from the website thugkitchen.com, which has good recipes, but intentionally uses a LOT of swear words just for fun, so I can't give it a hearty recommendation without that disclaimer.)
Our friends at Bugtussle Farm keep all their gardens up on the hill, and their carrots are a nice bit ahead of ours. They were kind enough to share their bounty, and we are grateful. Enjoy.

We're about to have WAAAY too much food out here. If you know anyone who might enjoy our services, please spread the word. Thanks and take good care....
Paul, Coree, Lulah and Levon