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MEADOWLARK FARM SPRING CSA NEWS 4-10-09 Dear friends, The sun is shining, spring beckons and the rebirth, regeneration and budding unfolds. Boxes today expand offerings to you and we hope that you will make some delicious and lovely meals over the weekend. Included in your spring share today: easter egg potatoes(little lovelies of rainbow hue, just wash and braise), Nicola yellow potatoes, yellow onions, shallots, a 3# bag of parsnips, overwintered for optimum sweetness and freshly dug from the ground this week, a pint of fresh maple syrup from the amish community of manton, 1# of spinach, 1# of lettuce mix, ½# of red russian kale. Remember, the greens are fresh, full of vitamins and not washed. Don't forget to wash them! We've had a couple of memorable dishes this week including some of the above. First, we've been making pizzas. We love making pizza and our toppings this week included sausage from the amish community, sauteed shiitake mushrooms and my favorite, sautéed onions, shallots and spinach in olive oil with salt. First, I browned or caramelized the onions and shallots and then the spinach until just tender. So good! The second memorable dish was a quick sauté of parsnips. I just washed them, left them unpeeled and cut into half moons, thinly. I sautéed them in unsalted butter, salt, pepper and then drizzled a little bit of maple syrup to glaze them. Not a lot of syrup, just a touch. They were so sweet without the syrup, but the syrup highlighted their natural nuttiness. We gobbled them down! Parsnips are also delicious oven roasted. Toss them with potatoes, shallots, carrots, olive oil, salt and pepper and dried herbs are a nice addition. You can also toss these with a bit of maple syrup or honey for a bit of sweetness and caramel. Here's another idea for parsnips: FUSILLI WITH GREEN LENTILS, ROOT VEGETABLES AND PARSELY CAPER PUREE -1/2 C. dried green lentils -2 shallots -2 bay leaves -2 parsnips cut into dice, 1 cup -2 carrots, diced, 1 cup -1/3 c. fresh parsley -2 TBL drained capers, minced -1/2 tsp lemon zest -2 TBL fresh lemon juice -1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil -1 pound fusilli pasta**try adding some sautéed kale** Bring 4 qts. water to a boil in a large pot for pasta. Meanwhile bring lentils, garlic, bay and 1 qt. water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in parsnips, carrots, 1 tsp salt and continue cooking until veggies are tender. While lentils are cooking, combine parsley leaves(minced), capers, lemon zest, juice, oil and salt to taste in a small bowl. Add 1 TBL salt and pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve ½ c. cooking water and drain pasta. Return pasta to empty pot over low heat and add lentil mix, parsely sauce and ¼ c. cooking water. Toss to combine, adding more cooking water as needed to moisten the pasta. Check out the enclosed information about honey! We are excited to collaborate with Greg Griswold to bring bees to Meadowlark Farm. You can order some of his bee's honey with the enclosed sheet and we will include the honey in one of your spring share boxes.....support the bees who will pollinate your fruits this summer. Bring a little more sweetness into your lives with pure, nutritious honey. Enjoy as well, this pint of maple syrup. Fresh, real syrup is loaded with minerals, is easily assimilated and digested and is a true gift from the maple trees. Next spring share will be in two week, on Friday april 24th. Please remember to return your boxes, we keep reusing them. Love, the meadowlarks
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