Clockwise from bottom left, spring onions, purple kohlrabi, redleaf lettuce, romaine, Nevada lettuce, rainbow chard, broccoli, and cauliflower greens. The cauliflower head, basil, and zucchini are pictured at center.
This week, One Straw Farm CSA once more brought lots more greens: kohlrabi and cauliflower leaves; rainbow chard; and redleaf, romaine, and Nevada lettuces. Veggies included spring onions, zucchini squash, cauliflower, broccoli, and two utterly glorious purple kohlrabi bulbs—a real surprise! A beautiful bunch of basil rounded out this week’s share.
Another CSA shareholder observed that when buying cauliflower from the grocery store, the greens have mostly been removed already but that our CSA cauliflower comes with greens intact, and asked if the cauliflower greens are edible. Turns out, they certainly are. After roasting, they retain a pleasant chewiness—not tough like celery, but toothsome. Together with the kohlrabi greens, this quick and easy cooking method yielded a side dish for 2–4 people and was a great way to put perfectly good food to use. Read more on cauliflower greens here.
You might be thinking, but we’re already overrun with greens! Why would we go looking for more? The traditional Portuguese kale recipe below, suggested by TNCS’s own Robin Munro, can substitute any of the greens we have been receiving and promises to keep them exciting and delicious! (Note: This recipe uses canellini beans for protein; the original dish uses spicy sausage and can be found here.)
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- Important cupboard staples to keep on hand!
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- Like a turnip in texture and flavor, but kohlrabi is even sweeter. Delicious!
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- Also delicious simply steamed.
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- Deep purple on the outside, but crisply white on the inside.
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- The chard bunches keep getting fuller and more colorful!
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- Looking like something from Outer Space, this oddity is nevertheless edible—and quite tasty! (It’s the cauliflower stem.)
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- For busier-than-normal weeks, just lightly steam everything until you’re ready to use it!
Portuguese “green soup” can be made with almost any of our CSA greens!
Vegetarian Portuguese Caldo Verde (Green Soup)
Ready in 45–60 minutes; makes 6–8 servings
Ingredients
1 large onion diced
3–4 garlic cloves chopped or minced
32 ounces vegetable broth and 32 ounces water (just water can also be used, or chicken broth)
8 medium size potatoes cubed peeled or unpeeled (unpeeled provides more nutrients)
1 can of cannellini beans
¾ cup fresh cilantro chopped
½ cup fresh parsley chopped
¼ cup fresh chives chopped
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
8–10 cups kale chopped or julienned
Preparation
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil then add the onion and sauté until semi-soft. Add the garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes.
- Add the vegetable broth, 32 ounces of water (or 64 ounces of water if using all water as the broth), and the potatoes.
- Cook the potatoes until they are very soft–about 40 to 45 minutes. After the potatoes have become very soft and while still in the pot, mash them with a potato masher, leaving some small pieces intact.
- Add the cannellini beans (juice included), cilantro, parsley, chives, hot pepper flakes, salt and pepper to the pot and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the kale (or other greens) and simmer for another 5 minutes or until the kale is semi-soft. Serve.
From Yum Scrub Organics
For some background on Portugal’s national dish, see Caldo Verde.