ATHENS HILLS WINTER CSA:

WEEK THREE

Hello Everyone!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed all the holidays that you celebrate this time of year. With plenty of friends, family and food around, I know that I manage to have a good time visiting with folks and I hope that you did too.

One of the benefits of celebrating (any time of year) is the bounty of delicious food that appears at our tables thanks to the hard work of our loved ones. But what do you do with all of the leftovers (and for you, with your new bag of veggies)? Hopefully the recipes I’ve included this week can help with these dilemmas. I pulled these wonderful ideas from one of my new Christmas gifts and from one of my tried and true favorite cookbooks. If they don’t work for you, I hope they at least provide enough inspiration and innovation to help you use up many of those goodies that came your way over the past couple of weeks!

The crew here at Green Edge is happy to have all of you with us to ring in a new and exciting year here at the farm. We wish all of you joy, success, and peace in 2008! Thanks for all of your support and have a great week!

Best Wishes,

Claudia

FEATURED VEGGIES

8 oz. Salad Mix: A mix of several lettuce varieties picked for their delicious taste and color combinations.

6 oz. Micro Mix: A mix of sunflower, buckwheat, radish, cabbage and kogani (pac choi).

4 oz. Mushrooms: Pickers' choice of our farm-grown shiitake, oyster or trumpet mushrooms.

1 bunch of Tatsoi: A beautiful Asian green that is a member of the Brassica family. It is technically a mustard green, but is quite mild and crunchy. It is a delicious raw addition to our salad mix, and is also wonderful steamed or sautéed with your favorite seasonings.

1 bunch of Swiss Chard: Another of our favorite greens from the Goosefoot family that had tender leaves that can be eaten raw or steamed, sautéed, etc. along with its crunchy white stems; some complimentary flavors include marjoram, parsley, savory, nutmeg, allspice & paprika. Cook these greens only until they are bright green.

4lbs. Potatoes: Wow! What a wonderful and versatile vegetable that is common to so many of the world’s cuisines; this tuber finds its wild origins high in the Andes where Peruvian farmers were cultivating fifty different varieties by the time the Spanish arrived.

2 heads of Garlic: A perennial from the Lily family; many of you are already familiar with its myriad of uses and attributes so I will say no more about this gem.

Recipe: Twice-Baked Potato Casserole (Serves 10-12)

4lbs. Potatoes

1 8oz. package of cream

cheese, room temp.

½ C. butter, softened

2 C. shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 pint sour cream

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

¼ C. chopped chives for garnish

6 slices bacon, cooked crisp, drained, and crumbled, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350F. Pierce the potatoes and place on a baking pan. Bake the potatoes for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until very soft.

Peel and mash the potatoes in a large bowl with a potato masher or the back of a fork. Add the cream cheese, butter, 1 C. of the Cheddar cheese, and the sour cream. Stir well. Add the garlic, salt, pepper and stir again.

Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray. Place the potatoes into the dish. The casserole may now be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated until ready to bake.

When read to bake, preheat the oven to 350F. Remove the plastic wrap and bake the potatoes for 30 to 35 minutes, until hot. Sprinkle the remaining 1 C. Cheddar cheese over the top of the casserole and return to the oven for about 5 minutes, until the cheese melts. Garnish with the chopped chives and crumbled bacon before serving. Enjoy!

(Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen Celebrates, 2006)

Recipe: Greek Salad Dressing (Makes about 1 cup)

This recipe and the one that follows could be used both as a salad dressing and as a “sauce” for the greens in this week’s bag. Simply chop the greens and sauté or steam them until bright green. Pour the dressing (amount of which is entirely to your taste) on the warm greens and toss. Serve immediately and enjoy!

½ C. olive oil

¼ C. canola oil

1/3 C. fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

¾ tsp. dried oregano

¼ tsp. sugar

Place all of the ingredients in a pint jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When ready to use, allow the dressing to come to room temperature and shake well.

(Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen Celebrates, 2006)

Recipe: Honey-Lime Dressing (Makes about 1 1/3 cups)

1/3 C. honey

½ tsp. finely shredded lime peel

¼ C. lime juice

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

¾ C. salad oil

In a small mixing bowl, combine honey, lime peel, lime juice, and nutmeg. Beating with an electric mixer on medium speed, add oil to honey mixture in a thin steady stream. Continue beating till mixture is thick. Serve immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

(Recipe courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens: New Cook Book, 1996)

Have a wonderful couple of weeks and don’t forget you can contact us at:

(740) 448-4021 OR

greenedgegardens@verizon.net

We look forward to hearing from you!

WELCOME 2008!