Lovely Produce

Here's some of the beautiful produce we've had recently.

Purple peppers, Yellow chard, Yellow Beans, Red Beets and Mediterranean Cucumbers from Gee Creek Farm.


Sorry about the cucumber picture, I forgot my camera, and took this with my phone.

How To Prepare...White Turnips.

We're entering root vegetable season, one of my favorite times. Recently we got some White Turnips from Winter Green Farm. This was a first for ChildRoots, I've never served turnips before, and was excited to see how the kids reacted to them. Also these small turnips had some excellent looking edible greens, so I wanted to use them too.

Turnips roots are rich in vitamin C. The green are packed with vitamin A, folate, Vitamin K, calcium and more vitamin C. When buying greens look for firm roots and rich leaves that aren't wilted. And never buy them without the greens. Can you tell that I love greens?

The roots of the turnip can be eaten raw or cooked, this time I decided to steam them.

Start by soaking them in cold water.
Pull one bunch out at a time and shake it, get off as much of the water as possible. Then lay it on cutting board.
Notice that they are still bunched by a rubber band, keep that there. It will help, just be aware of it. Roll up the leaves as tight as you can.
Hold the greens like above, then keep your fingertips where they are and curl your fingers until the knuckles are just past the tip. Chop down length of the greens, stop at the stem.
Collect the greens and put aside, in the fridge is best.
Turn the bundle and cut off the roots. (Sorry about the picture)
Cut off the tip and stem, use a small knife for this.
Still using a small knife, stand the turnip on the fat end and quarter it.

Collect the turnips in you steamer basket of choice.
Steam them for about 15-20 minutes, until they are easily pierced with a small knife. Then open the steamer and add the greens.
Recover the steamer and steam for around 5 minutes, or until the greens look soft. Remove from steamer, place in a bowl and toss with olive oil and salt.
I'm happy to report that they were well received by kids. I didn't get that many back from the classrooms. I can't wait to do them again, next time they'll be roasted.

Farmer Update

We're off to a good start on our farmer partnership program. Here are pictures of some of the goodies we've been enjoying.

Yellow Beans from Gee Creek Farm.
Pink Pearl Apples from Kiyokawa Family Orchards.
Yellow Watermelons from Gathering Together Farm.
Chioggia Beets also from Gee Creek Farm.
Mixed Pears from Kiyokawa Family Orchards
Juicy Red Tomatoes from Winter Green Farm.

How To Prepare...Carrots

Carrots are one of the favorites at CR. An excellent source of vitamin A, fiber, antioxidants, calcium, phosphorus and potassium. Sometimes I steam them, sometimes they are roasted. This time I'll show you how I roast them.

Start with some Nantes Carrots from Winter Green Farm.
I peel them carefully, and rinse them off. You can save the peels, more on that later.
I hold the carrot strait in from off me and cut them on the bias. Be sure to keep the fingers curled under. Save those tips and ends.
Once they are all cut I toss them with olive oil and salt.
I layer them about three layers deep on a well oiled sheet pan.
Roast them in a very hot oven until the tips are just starting to burn.
At home you can then toss them with fresh herbs, orange juice or champagne vinegar.

Remember those peels, tips and ends?
Save them for use in stocks. At home i keep a bag in the freezer and keep adding vegetable scraps till its full. Once it's full, I roast them up, and boil them into stock. At CR we often feed them to Bunny Foo Foo.

How To Prepare...Artichoke Hearts

Artichokes--a large edible thistle--are a good source of fiber, vitamin C, folate, magnesium, potassium, manganese, iron and calcium. I should confess that i use a canned, not marinated, variety at CR. I would prefer to use frozen, they have a much better texture, but i have yet to find a good source of those. For cooking at home you can find frozen varieties at New Seasons or Trader Joe's. There are two local artichoke seasons a year, late spring and a late summer, although non-local varieties can be found year round now. Unfortunately, I do not have the time or resources to prep enough fresh artichokes for the center.

This is a flowering artichoke that grew in front of ChildRoots last summer.
I have a very simple method for the artichokes. Artichokes are usually a guest star in a recipe, I want to make it more of a side dish. First I place them in a strainer and rinse them for a few minutes to get rid of as much of the briny flavor as possible. Then I let them drip for awhile and let the excess moisture drain away.The artichokes are then tossed with olive oil, salt and thyme. Then they are layered onto sheet pans and roasted in a very hot oven till the tips take on a dark brown color.
At home you can use the roasted artichokes in so many ways, besides as a tasty side dish. My favorite uses would be in pastas or a frittata with heirloom tomatoes and spinach.

Winter Greens Farm

The next farm I would like to introduce is Winter Green Farm out of Noti, OR. They will be supplying CR with many varieties of organic produce. Winter Green Farm can be found at the Eastbank Farmers Market on Thursdays, the Hollywood Farmers Market and PSU Farmers Market on Saturdays, and the King Farmers Market on Sundays. Stop by their booth too say hi, and mention that you heard about them through ChildRoots.

Bright and crisp Nantes Carrots.
Dark and beautiful Purple Majesty Potatoes.