This week we harvested or created: Collard Greens, Thyme, Fingerling Potatoes, White Potatoes, Chive Compound Butter, Whole Wheat Bread, Onions, Eggs, Baby Salad Mix, Kale and "First Run" Maple Syrup.

TABLE TALK

It's definitely springy in the hoophouse.  Our herbs are off to a terrific start.  Because the chives were looking exceptionally healthy I decided to harvest a bunch and store them in butter!  Yummm butter!  I wish I could say that the butter came from cows we raise, but as of yet, we do not have milking cows.  Cows are definitely on my "someday" wish list-I'll keep you posted.
 

What other menu creations will I attempt this week?  Well, now that I've got chive butter, one night I'm going to boil the fingerling potatoes and douse them with the herbed butter as a side dish.  These potatoes have turned out to be remarkable storage potatoes.  You can bet we'll be planting more this year.  There creamy, nuttiness is unparalleled (in my opinion).

 
Last week, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I made an Irish-Chinese Stir Fry using cabbage and our abundant collard greens.  The recipe was simple and satisfying.   This week I'm going to do something wildly different to the greens.  I'll be preparing dal (a dish of cooked lentils) with collard greens and various other stir fried veggies.  Again, I'm making another attempt at celebrating Ireland with my Irish-Indian cuisine!  Search for collard greens in our recipe data base to find my latest creation!

A note on dal: leftovers taste delicious and can keep a while in the fridge.  If on a subsequent day you wish to change the recipe a little (keeping the dal base the same) it is simple.  The Wholefoods website has a basic dal recipe upon which you can create endless Indian dishes.  The link is found at the bottom of the page.  While it may seem like a little bit of work up front, and the ingredient list rather long, remember that you can get a few good meals out of one batch.  You can also be vary liberal with the spices.  Don't have something in the cupboard?  Don't sweat it.  You can tailor the base to whatever taste suits you best.