Week 4 - Time to get creative with the lettuce.....

Hello All,
I hope all of you are enjoying the vegetables. In my house, we have been trying to be a bit more creative with our salads. This past week, we had a Taco Salad and a Grilled Romaine Lettuce Salad. We also used a whole head of cabbage and some of the peas in an asian stir fry with yellow noodles. My youngest did not even notice the cabbage. Frank and I discussed how we usually only buy cabbage in the winter.So, we can thank our farmer for helping us eat more vegetables and definitely a few more salads.

Speaking of the vegetable farmer, Jonathan Einwechter is farming 3 and 1/2 acres of land. The vegetables for our CSA take up about 1/2 acre of the plot. Jon is engaged to be married in August and I recently met his fiance and his sister fresh from the fields. They had been harvesting our vegetables and preparing the boxes. On this particular morning, they were removing colorado potato beetles from young potato plants by hand which is extremely labor intensive. Jon was thanking me and all of us for buying his vegetables. He sells the rest of his vegetables at various farmers markets and grocery stores. Jon mentioned the lettuce was started from organic seeds in a green house and planted after the danger of frost had past. Now we are enjoying the fruits of his labor.

For those of you wondering where the bacon is, Nate at Breakaway Farms now has bacon back in stock. Any back ordered bacon should be in this Wednesday's delivery. For those of you that haven't tried the bacon, the taste has a very nice natural smoked flavor.

Recipe for Grilled Romaine - Cut romaine head in half long ways. Leave the stem intact as it keeps the head from falling apart. Wash,let drain & dry. Liberally coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Have grill smoking hot. Sear the lettuce for less than one minute. The very edges will turn black. Remove from heat & cool a couple of minutes. Remove stem & cut up into a chopped salad. Add tomato, cucumbers & whatever you like. This is really good with a blue cheese dressing. Toss everything together and serve.

Taco Salad - Use your favorite meat recipe for tacos. Wash & Cut up your lettuce. Stack the following ingredients into serving bowls: tortilla chips, lettuce, refried beans, taco meat, mexican shredded cheese, green onions, cut tomatos. Also good with a dollop of sour cream or slice avocados.

Asian Slaw - Ingredients
* 1 cup matchstick-cut carrots
* 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
* 1 (16-ounce) package cabbage-and-carrot coleslaw
* 3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
* 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
* 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
* 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
* 1 tablespoon canola oil
* 2 teaspoons chile paste with garlic (such as sambal oelek)
* 2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Preparation - Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine vinegar and next 5ingredients (thru chile paste). Stir well with a whisk. Add vinegar mixture & peanuts to cabbage mixture. Toss well.

Thats it for this week. See you on Wednesday.
Sherri