THE GRAZER

Urban Graze www.ugraze.com P.O. Box 54 Champlin, MN 55316 Liz Talley 952-201-2330 liz@ugraze.com

June 21, 2018

Produce Possibly Coming Next Week

Sugar Snap Peas

Cauliflower &/or Broccoli

Zucchini

Spinach &/or Lettuces

Fennel

Kohlrabi

Radishes &/or Carrots

Green Garlic &/or Onions

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S PRODUCE SHARES

3/4 and 7/8 Bushel Produce Shares

Broccoli

Savoy Spinach

Romaine Heads

Rainbow Chard

Bok Choy

Red or Easter Egg Radishes

Kohlrabi

Green Bunching Onions

Mint

Strawberries

Shortcake

1/2 Bushel Produce Shares

Broccoli

Rainbow Chard

Romaine Head

Bok Choy

Red or Easter Egg Radishes

Green Bunching Onions

Strawberries

Shortcake

We’re thrilled to kick off the18-week CSA season!

Welcome!

A very special thank you to our awesome hosting drop

sites. They make your CSA possible.

Please be considerate of their spaces, and supportive of

their businesses!

All of your CSA items are individually labelled; eggs are

separately labelled (they’re not inside your box).

Please! Take only what has YOUR name on it.

Pick up by others (a friend or neighbor while you’re on

vacation) is certainly fine-BUT, it’s really important that you

share the rules and protocols of your individual drop site,

and the CSA– e.g. only take the box with your name on it!

The farmers thank you for returning the previous weeks’

boxes and empty egg cartons each week. Be sure to flat-

ten your box before returning. Please take a minute to view

this link:

“How to Flatten a CSA Box” Thank you for your commitment to healthy food, land, rela-

tionships– and a healthier you! We’re excited to share the

wonders of wholesome, beautiful food together, and to

explore new food adventures right along with you as well.

With communal readiness, and good natured cheer, we

join our farmers in saying “Here we go”!

Liz

Link to general CSA member information, including drop

site protocols (sent in June 18 email):

St. Croix Valley 2018 CSA Member Information

Page 2: Storage Tips and Menu Ideas

Page 3: Recipe Links

Page 4: Farm updates, photos, and farm letter

“The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.” - Hanna Rion

THE GRAZER

Urban Graze www.ugraze.com P.O. Box 54 Champlin, MN 55316 Liz Talley 952-201-2330 liz@ugraze.com

June 21, 2018

June 21 Recipe Ideas Selections below are from the Urban Graze Recipe Library, chosen for this week’s produce.

Click link to access full 800+ Recipe Library for lots more: Urban Graze Recipe Library

Once at Recipe Library’s home page, click on the Green “Get Cookin’” Tab

Best search methods:

In column on the right side of page, click on the veggie name of your choice to access recipes using that veggie

Enter key words in the search box- e.g. the list of different veggies you want to use in a recipe

Note: Library is NOT accessible using a phone; must have larger computer screen. However, if using phone, you CAN click on the recipe links that can be found on the next page.

Click on this link for info on this week’s produce: June 21 Storage and Prep Tips

Here are a few menu ideas to get you started this week, all pulled from some of the recipes listed on the next page. Of course, use these

ideas to unleash and launch your own creative, inner-chef self!

Be adventurous!

Try a new flavor profile - Greens and Strawberries Salad with Ginger-Onion Dressing, Pickled Strawberry Salad, Kohlrabi & Bean

Salad with Horseradish-Mustard Sauce

Or a new cooking technique - Broccoli Galette, Swiss Chard Tart, Stovetop Broccoli Risotto or Cous Cous

Swiss Chard Stem Quick Pickles would make an impressive addition to your July 4th veggie tray.

Aquafaba “whipped cream” would be awesome on your strawberries.

Mint in Grain and Greens Bowl Salads is wonderful- I have three variations listed

Savor the savory spinach! It’s much more robust than the smooth variety, and it won’t cook down nearly as much.

Add radishes to your cooked dishes- they become a whole new vegetable, sweet and mild!

Revisit nostalgic family favorites- remember creamed spinach? It is indeed Swoon-Worthy. How about kugels?- try this savory twist-

Broccoli and Noodle.

Use the WHOLE vegetable:

Bok choy, broccoli, radish, and kohlrabi leaves are all edible, and can be used in salads or cooked like (or along with) spinach or

chard leaves.

Broccoli stems are fabulous- sweet, tender, and versatile. Chard stems are crisp and mild, and their beautiful color makes anything

you add them to extra special. Cooked or roasted, used in stir frys, chopped into salads and wraps, or as crunch on pizza; we love

them both eaten raw as a snack. Chopped spinach stems are great for crunch in a salad too.

Chop some veggies in advance, so that you have some snacks at the ready all week. You’ll never be sorry you’ve done some prep- they

may also come in handy for roasting or another dinner dish. This is one of the key secrets to using up all of your CSA veggies. We like

to keep a dip in the fridge, for our snacking. This week I’ve listed a curry dip– delicious with radish, kohlrabi, broccoli (and chard) stems.

Cook salmon once, use for two meals: Salmon and Bok Choy Pasta, and Soft Tacos with Salmon and Greens

Grill or roast some chicken, and serve with a greens, kohlrabi, and/or broccoli salad. Use leftover cooked chicken in Chicken Pizza with

Spinach-Radish Salad or Chicken Tacos with Strawberry Salsa.

Never underestimate the power of a lonely item in the fridge. For example, “just a few green onions” can be transformed so easily into a

meal- a green onion pizza or green onion omelet are both wonderful meals.

Pick a stove top or oven dinner on a night when you’ve got a half hour- it’s such a treat, so rewarding, and even therapeutic- I try to do

this at least once or twice a week. Warm Chicken Salad with Bok Choy is on the menu at our house this week. I also love to make a

soup once a week, regardless of the time of year- and Bok Choy is so light and lovely in soup.

THE GRAZER

Urban Graze www.ugraze.com P.O. Box 54 Champlin, MN 55316 Liz Talley 952-201-2330 liz@ugraze.com

June 21, 2018

Links to Recipes from the Urban Graze Recipe Library

Stir Fry, Skillet, & other Stovetop Dinners

Warm Chicken Salad with Bok Choy

Skillet Teriyaki Chicken with Broccoli Cous Cous

Hoisin Beef and Green Onion Saute

Stovetop Broccoli Risotto

Pasta Dishes

Salmon and Bok Choy Pasta

Broccoli and Noodle Kugel

Radish and Greens Pasta

Pizzas

Chicken, Spinach, and Radish Salad Pizza

Green Onion Pizza

Sandwiches, Wraps, Tacos

Soft Tacos with Salmon and Greens

Swiss Chard Wraps

Taco Wraps with Broccoli Slaw

Soft Chicken Tacos with Strawberry Salsa

Oven Dinners

Swiss Chard Oven Tart

Broccoli Galette

Soups & Stews

Bok Choy Noodle Soup Bowl

Sausage, Spinach, and Lentil Stew

Simple Broccoli Soup

Eggs

Veggie Frittata

June 21, 2018 Generally, recipes are for 2-4, but most are easily adaptable

Salads

Broccoli Avocado Salad

Kohlrabi and Broccoli Stalk Slaw Salad

Kohlrabi Bean Salad w/ Horseradish-Mustard Sauce

Mediterranean Wilted Spinach Salad

Pickled Strawberry Salad

Three Spinach Salad Ideas

Greens and Strawberries with Ginger Onion Dressing

Chard and Strawberry Salad

Minted Salmon Salad

Greens and Grains Bowls

Grains & Minty Greens Bowl w/ Maple Syrup Vinaigrette

Strawberry Mint Grain Salad

Quinoa, Strawberry, Mint, and Feta Salad

Sides & Misc.

Swoon-Worthy Creamed Spinach

Kohlrabi, Radish, & Broccoli Stem Ragout

Roasted Kohlrabi

Grilled Green Onion Relish

Swiss Chard Stem Quick Pickles

Kohlrabi Blue Cheese Gratin

Roasted Bok Choy

Curry Dip for Brassica Veggies

Treats

Strawberries and Mint

Strawberry Mint Dessert Salsa

Strawberries with Aquafaba

About the bonus treats in your boxes Results of our 2017 survey showed members overwhelmingly loved the treat gifts from the farmers as a real highlight of their CSA experience. These are items made in their licensed, commercial kitchen. Treats are given lovingly because they enjoy making them for you– they are not part of the cost of your CSA produce share. 1/2 Bushel Shares typically will not include treats, and there may not be a treat every week in the other shares. If you won’t be eating the treat yourself, as with anything in your box that you won’t use yourself, pass it along, and pay it forward in the same spirit, as a gift of kindness for a friend!

THE GRAZER

Urban Graze www.ugraze.com P.O. Box 54 Champlin, MN 55316 Liz Talley 952-201-2330 liz@ugraze.com

June 21, 2018

A Letter From Your CSA Farmers

Welcome, to the 2018 CSA season!

Here we go! After waiting all winter, your boxes filled with

delicious vegetables are finally coming!

Strawberries are my pick this week. I think I could eat

them all year, and still not have enough.

Things are really looking good so far this year. We are

getting just the right heat and rain to make things grow

very well. But there is something else that likes to grow.

Can you guess what it is? Those bad weeds. They just

seem to grow in any weather.

Hopefully, you can have sugar snap peas in your box

next week. A few of the vegetable crops have been slow

to catch up after the late spring– the peas are one of

them. They have pods, but they’re not quite ready yet.

We have a few rabbits this year. One of them had five

little bunnies, and boy, how quickly they grow! It’s fun to

take a break and watch them play. They are so cute.

We’ve been cleaning the packing shed, and stacking up

new bags and CSA boxes– they are all set and ready to

load with produce for you. The shed is attached to our

ice house, so everything can be stored on even the hot-

test days. Inside the packing shed, we have washing

sinks, drying spinners, and many long tables in lines, that

serve as our work stations. Many hands will have a part in

carefully filling your boxes.

Just like you, we’ve been waiting and waiting for the sea-

son to start, and are so excited for it to begin. We’ve

made plans and schedules, we’ve tilled and nourished the

soil, placed the drip lines, hand planted each seed, tend-

ed to the weeds between the rows, and much more. Now

the rewarding harvest time has arrived!

I hope you enjoy all of the bounty this year!

Thank you for your support of our family farms.

Aden

Morning field check by the horses -they amble by on an adjacent path that leads to their pasture.

Many stages of growing now in progress, so there’ll be continuous produce coming. Some pictured below include cauliflower, tomatoes, and snow peas.