CSA Box Contents Week of Apr 27th

Pictures are worth a thousand words, and it seems like you guys, our wonderful farm community, have uploaded thousands of beautiful photos of what you're cooking lately. We went to Instagram and pulled 45 community-submitted photos that have been posted in the past couple of weeks. Scroll through the photos and photo descriptions below to see what everyone is making - perhaps it will help inspire you're weekend plans! And please, keep these submissions coming! Not only are they helpful for fellow farm-followers to see, but they are also wonderful for the farm staff to see... we love how you transform our veggies into drool-worthy plates. And if you're not on Instagram, feel free to submit recipes directly to Ada: ada@jbgorganic.com. Oh! And one of our CSA Members, Ashley Franklin, shared this wonderful illustration on Instagram. It's not a recipe, but it's too cute not to share. See more of Ashley's wonderful work on her website or Instagram .

If you're looking to up your food-inspiration on Instagram, perhaps you could start by checking out some of these accounts: real people, cooking the same seasonal ingredients that are landing in your CSA shares or market hauls. Keep on, and keep cookin'!

 

1. @seasonal.ish : Carrot top pesto! The recipe is posted on this original post as well as on the JBG website - just search "carrot top pesto" in our search bar and you'll find it.
2. @cityofthevioletcrown : "Thank goodness for farmer's markets and JBG! Did you know only 1% of food consumed in Austin is sourced locally?"
3. @themigonikitchen : Moroccan Carrot and Kale Couscous Salad. Lucky for you, this complete recipe is featured on the blog today!
4. @rollsriceforever : The makings of some wonderful spring rolls featuring JBG beets and herbs. Make yourself, or simply order these rolls directly from Rolls Rice Forever.
5. @carlyloveskale : Seasonal salad with homemade dressing made of apple cider vinegar, olive oil, mustard, and salt.
6. @sierralashofficial : The most comforting bowl of minestrone soup. Checkout the original post for the recipe!
7. @dakotameurer : Traditional golumpki... aka, cabbage rolls! We're interested!
8. @eatingwelle : Spaghetti squash chap chae. Yep.
9. @barenutritionalhealth : A very nutritional bowl featuring a homemade veggie burger patty and herbed salad. Perfect lunch combo.

10. @c_leemonsta : This lady locavore made a delicious bowl of roasted Brussels sprouts and beets.. topped with Yellowbird siracha.

11. @squabletime : This Houston restaurant made Sardinian-style gnocchi featuring Caprafoods lamb and JBG carrots. Let this dish be your compass. Or, simply order for curbside.

12. @rollsriceforever : This Austin-based company is at it again with beautiful spring rolls.

13. @browngalbakes : Roasted JBG carrots and blood oranges, laid to rest in a bed of za'atar and tahini. Another Allison Roman home-run.

14. @browngalbakes : (She's been busy!) Squash, mushroom, and carrot greens with a garlic-y, lemony-y za'atr yogurt magic on the side.

15. @mackannecheese : Allison Roman's "the stew" made better by cheetos. And loads of JBG veggies.

16. @aimeeatx : Jingalov hats - greens-stuffed Armenian flatbread stuffed with beet greens, spinach, parsley, carrot tops, onions, and carrots. garlicky yogurt on the side for dipping!

17. @wholesomefoodjourney : Homemade tortillas topped with Okinawa potatoes, homemade seitan and greens. Checkout t his account for, as the name, a journey into wholesome food!

18. @christineterrell : "Spent the morning pesto-izing all the fresh greens we were in no way going to get to eat fresh. Gotta get my CSA legs under me."



19. @satoriahost : A beautiful rainbow chard and queso fresco situation. Checkout the original post for the recipe!

20. @clubhomemade : Miso glazed turnips, which is maybe the best way to cure any potential turnip-fatigue. Recipe on the JBG blog - just use the search bar!

21. @foodsoph : A dish, and a poem:  "Polenta, sauteed chard, (veggie) Itialn sausage, pickled radishes. Pitter patter rain. Whiskey sour. Quarantine."

22. @katnprat : "One month into #quarantinelife, and now i know what beet, blueberry and oat muffins taste like. #realgood"

23. @aargersi : "Castoff sourdough pizza crust + csa = lemony swiss chard, carmalized onion and ricotta pizza."

24. @chelsea.hutchens : Schwarma-spiced beets and cauliflower, served with garlic-y labneh.

25. @seasonal.ish : "Sour cream and onion biscuits - goodies you can make from last week's CSA box if you have sour cream, flour, and butter!"

26. @laurel_wilson923 : "This was AMAZING!!!! Rice noodles tossed with hoisin, leftover San Bai Zu, and leftover Yuzu Pon (from Uchi cookbook)... Spring onions and cilantro from JBG Organic."

27. @sierralashofficial : Big bowl of comfort = homemade matzo ball soup. Checkout Sierra's page for the full matzo ball soup recipe!



28. @sewknitter : Za'atar (which seems to be a thing this quarantine!) topped roasted carrots with chickpeas and yogurt. Scroll on the original post to see the tantalizing reverse-seared rib-eye steaks.

29. @aargersi : "Beets with mint and lime yogurt. Eat the rainbow!"

30. @laurel_wilson923 : Red lentil soup featuring JBG carrots, kale, cilantro, and spring onions.

31. @laurelizsp : "I'm typically anti-anise but the warm spices work well with the sweetness of the golen beets. Are dessert pickles a thing? Anyway..."

32. @mojoquix : Torta de carote (Italian carrot cake)... featuring JBG carrots and Barton Springs Mill flour, so you know it was good.

33. @hifimyco : "Shoyu pork bone broth ramen #stayhomeedition."

34. @themigonikitchen : Baked fried chicken served with braised JBG collard greens. And cornbread, because duh.

35. @foxxotron : Collard green wraps with marinated jackfruit and JBG veggies.

36. @_worldinapocket : Chard-filled enchiladas with a secret carrot-filled sauce. Recipe coming to the JBG blog next week. Stay tuned!



37. @marthapincoffs : "Yesterday, I needed to clea out my veggies from last week and soup is a great way to do it. I developed extra flavor by roasting the veggies ahead of time."

38. @juanalbertorey : A "grateful for everything" quiche featuring JBG veggies and Whitehurst Farm eggs.

39. @lenoiratx : Roated and spiced Texas carrots with cardamom yogurt, herbs, and dukka - available from their Lenoir curbside menu if you need a break in the kitchen.

40. @makewithmadeline : Coconut carrot soup with lots of garlic and ginger for ultimate soupy vibes.

42. @clubhomemade : JBG Beet Hummus. Recipe on the JBG blog - search it up!

41. @biggals_kitchen : "How much time is too much time watching Bon Appetits test kitchen? Tonight I recreated Andy Baraghani's chicken stew with carmalized lemons. I served it over rice and braised (JBG) greens."

43. @mexicanity : A chickpea and veggie stew, perfect for then your next CSA box is on the way and there are still some lingering veggies. Full recipe on the original post.

44. @mackannecheese : A kale pesto, or sorts. Perfect for kale, or any green you might find. Recipe on the JBG blog - just use the search bar. 45. @justapinchaustin : Leftover Moroccan rice served over sauteed kale, chard, avocado, and chili crisps. "A perfect #meatless lunch option during the covid-19 quarantine. Or any time."

 

How are you spending your time these days? For us, it's rows of carrots, potato flowers, and endless harvest schedules. Scott's trip out to the farm this week caught all the action typical of a JBG spring.

Beloved box truck # 3. She's been with us for a long time, hence the need for a paint-touch up. But really, we kinda like her just the way she is. You? Photo by Scott David Gordon.

We heard you guys like carrots, so we planted a few more. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

These heads of romaine are sizing up. Coming to a CSA box near you, soon. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Luke, who joined our crew this past fall from a farm in Vermont, power washing the green picker in preparation for a harvest in a few weeks. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

New gravel on an old road. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

The appearance of flowers on our potato plants indicates the end of their growing season.... which is a good thing! Because that means it's almost time to uproot these green plants and dig ourselves some potatoes! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Could these colors be any more electric? Photo by Scott David Gordon.

You don't have to look hard to find a reason to love chard.... Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Our chard plants love this warmer weather and the leaves size up to monstrous proportions - perfect for using like a tortilla for chard enchiladas. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Just a few short weeks ago every inch of this greenhouse was covered with spring plants. Now, most of these are in the ground and there are only clues to their previous home. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Lots of green, and a bit of red, leaf lettuce. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

If harvesting beets don't bring you joy, you're not doing it right. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

A farm in thirds: dandelion, tractor, Texas sky. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Servings: 4 Author: www.themigonikitchen.com

During my college years, I was fortunate enough to spend 3 weeks in Morocco for a travel term with the sweetest host family. They prepared traditional Moroccan food for me every night, and it really opened my eyes to this unique cuisine. Before visiting, I thought Moroccan food would be similar to other Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes, but the flavor profiles are truly unique to Morocco. I’ve tried to bring back those flavors to my own kitchen, and it can be admittedly hard as some of these ingredients are hard to find, but I always enjoy even little remnants of those Moroccan dishes.

This couscous salad is in no way authentic, but the flavors and textures bring me back to that trip. If you have not had the pleasure of experimenting with Moroccan recipes, I highly recommend checking some out.

For this particular recipe, we used some grated carrots, finely chopped kale and mint. It should go without saying that you can use other greens you have on hand like spinach or arugula. The same goes for the herbs – cilantro or parsley would be good alternatives if you don’t have mint on hand.

In keeping with Moroccan textures, we added in some dried figs for a little sweetness. You can use raisins, dried cranberries, or dried apricots as alternatives. We also added in some chopped walnuts for some crunch. Again, you could use almonds or other nuts instead. We just used what we had on hand in the pantry. Lastly, we added a little bit of goat cheese for a touch of creaminess. If you have feta, this would be ideal.

Ingredients: Couscous Salad

• 1 Cup Carrots Grated
• 2 Cups Kale Finely Chopped
• 1/4 Fresh Mint Finely Chopped; can sub parsley or cilantro
• ½ Cup Walnuts Chopped
• ½ Cup Dried Figs Or other dried fruit, chopped
• ½ Cup Goat Cheese Such as Feta
• 1 Cup Dried Couscous Cooked according to package instructions and cooled
  
  Dressing
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Honey
• 1 Lemon Juiced
• ½ Teaspoon Kosher Salt
• ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper
• ¼ Teaspoon Garlic Powder

Instructions:

Combine all the ingredients for the dressing and whisk together in a small bowl. Set aside. Combine the cooled couscous with the remainder of the salad ingredients and toss to mix well. Pour the dressing over and toss once more to combine. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

CSA Box Contents Week of Apr 20th

Farming, on some days, can feel isolating: working out in a rural landscape, with fields so vast you have to use a radio to talk to your co-worker. It’s you, the plants, and the thousands of variables that affect those plants. Sometimes, this is nice. But sometimes, when the cold wind is stinging your nose, when the hole in your boots first presents itself in the form of wet socks, or when the afternoon sun is beating down and there are still 30 cases of beets to go… sometimes, farming is just plain exhausting. So why do we do it?

Well, we do it for you! Since the backyard days, the community that surrounds our farm and your demand for fresh, healthy produce, is the number one motivator in our agricultural endeavors. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and this special relationship is one we do not take for granted - it truly supports us: it pays our employees’ wages and finances big purchases like spring seeds, tractor parts, and mountains of compost. When we suddenly needed to buy a new delivery vehicle earlier this month to meet the increased demand for our boxes, it was the upfront payment for new CSA subscriptions that enabled the purchase of our new veggie-mobile. The men and women that make up our CSA community are as diverse as the vegetables we grow, and each and every member helps to form a web that supports our every move.

This week we’re shining a spotlight on just one of our beautiful CSA families - the Browns! Thank you to the Browns, as well as our entire web of CSA Members. We appreciate your partnership and cherish your patronage. We love planting, growing, picking, and delivering vegetables just for you. Hope you enjoy the veggies.

Without further ado, The Browns! Tucked away in the hills just northwest of central Austin live the Browns, a wonderfully down-to-earth family who have successfully incorporated the CSA program into their laid-back and homey kitchen since December of 2016, which we’re pretty sure pre-dates at least two of their kiddos. Since then, we’ve delivered 156 boxes (2,000+ pounds!) of produce straight from the farm to their doorstep, which is where I happily found myself a few weeks ago. The Browns were expecting Scott and I, so the funny sign adorning the front door didn’t deter me from giving a strong knock.



As soon as I entered the Brown’s household, I was greeted by a warm couple - Ilana and Ben. Reverberating from down the hall was the sound of a lively group of kiddos - Rosie (5), Lev (3), and Sam (6 months). Everyone was smiling, and Noa, the babysitter, was holding court in the playroom in a staged game of school for Rosie and an army of stuffed animals. I think Lev may have sort of been playing school, too. I quickly realized that the normal, focused and calm CSA interviews I was used to conducting wasn’t going to fit the scene - three kids under the age of 5 tend to direct their own scene. The Browns are a wonderful, laid-back, and lively bunch, and on the day I visited their home, I was there to observe, attempt to make some kiddos laugh, enjoy some old-doggo snuggles, and sneak in a question or two about their family’s experience with the CSA.



Ilana was born and raised in Israel, and some of the details in she and her husband, Ben’s, kitchen, as well as their generally laid-back approach to cooking, were consistent with the other Israeli kitchens I’ve spent time in. There were lots of bowls of fruit on the counter, along with a rogue toy or two, and a tupperware of nuts. I don’t have kids, but the plethora of easy-to-grab counter top snacks seemed advantageous- no sooner had we finished introductions than Lev (meaning “heart” in Hebrew) started announcing his hunger. He was swiftly given a peeled mandarin, then another. On the cabinet next to their cookbook collection, the Browns have a smattering of candid and posed family pictures, hung up with scotch tape and crinkling edges. It immediately made me wish I had more printed pictures in my kitchen because theirs is the kind of kitchen that exudes warmth. We easily settled in, leaned on counter tops, and laughed when Lev announced that “There’s a booger stuck in my nose!”, interrupting our conversation about seasonality.



Ilana and Ben met at a conference in New Jersey and were both surprised to meet each other at something so mundane as a work conference. Ben is a Houston native, and around 5 years ago, together with Ben’s doggo Sandy, they all moved to Austin where Ilana said, “life is just so good and easy.”

Who does the cooking? “We take turns,” Ben tells me, “Ilana does most of the vegetable cooking, and I might make chicken or fish. But she helps with the chicken dishes, also.”

Ilana agreed, “Yes, Ben does most of the meats and fish, but I kinda tackle the veggies. Part of the reason I chose to do the CSA was because it was a challenge. I get to know new things I wouldn’t normally. But to say we’re very adventurous would be a stretch. We mostly bake (roast) veggies in the oven.” Somehow we were managing to have a discussion about vegetables, but we quickly got sidetracked by Sam’s sudden bout of stranger-danger towards Scott, the JBG photographer that was along for the visit. Then Lev needed more snacks, and then there was a discussion about whether or not Sam needed a diaper change, and then a tangent about Sandy - the angelic and obviously old golden retriever that was slowly wagging at my feet. Multitasking is obviously a skill Ben and Ilana are practiced at, because while I was thinking about what it would be like to road trip with Sandy from New York to Austin, Ben suddenly got us back on track - “When the food’s that good, you don’t have to do much more than just roast it.”





Ilana: “Also, we have kids, so how much can we really do? The time just isn’t always there. We’re also working around a few food sensitivities, so we just try to keep the food very simple. We eat a lot of salads. Lots and lots of salads.” Ilana loves parsley and often puts a whole bunch in her salads- undoubtedly an influence from her experience growing up in the Middle East. When asked about her kids’ tolerance of JBG veggies, both Ben and Ilana chimed in that their kids, thankfully, aren’t super picky. “”We’re lucky - our kids love lentil soup and I can basically throw any vegetable in there - like the turnips.” Sam, the youngest just had his first introduction to solid foods (sweet potatoes - he wasn’t a fan), and in no time he’ll likely be eating lentil soup, too.



No matter how our members find their way to the farm, we're certainly glad they did. Ilana was introduced to the CSA through her membership at the JCC, which has been a JBG pickup location for over 10 years. When Lev (3) was born, the JCC offered a service where you could drop off your kiddo at a daycare for an hour or so to get in a quick workout at the community center’s gym. Thankfully for the farm, Ilana would most often find herself enjoying her hour of freedom reading a book in the center’s lobby… which is the drop location for our boxes each Thursday. “When I saw the boxes I just thought - this would be a good way to get more vegetables into our kitchen. And it did help! It actually, it really did help! Because there are all kinds of things, like kale, that I wouldn’t normally buy. Kale wasn’t really a big then where I grew up. I would never buy kale on my own. But now I have kale, and I just have to figure out something to to with kale.... But of course, especially with kale,  sometimes it just doesn’t happen, and the kale, and collards, go home with the babysitter, Noa, for her to enjoy. And Kohlrabi! This is never something I would have bought. There’s actually this Israeli kids’ song with kohlrabi in it (the word is the same in Hebrew and English), and even though I’d heard of kohlrabi, I’d never actually seen it or cooked it.”

Discussions of kids’ songs lead to the origin story of the piano that sat in the space between the living room and kitchen, though really it’s all just one big homey space. The piano was Ben's grandmothers, and he is the musician in the house. Though there was a dedicated playroom, several toys trickled into the living room, and you could imagine a really fun existence in this home. No one was that concerned about the play trail, and Ilana gracefully navigated Lev’s very specific opinions and feelings about how he wanted his mango to be peeled (or not peeled?).

The whole Brown gang - Rosie, Lev, Ilana, and Ben with Sam in tow, and even the babysitter, Noa, who seemed to be part-family, made their way outside. Sandy, the golden retriever, walked very slowly and everyone cheered her on. Scott and I followed and we finished up our visit with a family portrait session. We visited the Browns at the beginning of February and had plans to share this spotlight shortly thereafter. But of course, the world (and our blog schedule) got turned on its head.



We’re happy to say that the Browns are all doing well - spending lots of time at home, “with what is now the new normal… which also means a lot more home cooking. We’re loving your boxes even more :).” And with that, we love you even more, Browns, and all the CSA members and member families who are spending time in the kitchen with our vegetables. We hope you feel the love we are putting into each and every CSA share and we hope you are cooking up some delicious home cooked meals. Stay well!

Thank you, Browns, for letting us in to your home! We loved meeting you!

 

 

 

Recipe by Isaac and Heydon

Hi friends! We are hunkered down in quarantine and cooking more than ever. Thankfully, we have a wizard in the kitchen at this humble abode, so I can (very gratefully) busy myself with eating said wizard’s creations and then write about his fruitful culinary escapades sated on the couch, a welcome distraction. This easy salad utilized a ton of the CSA veggies and also brought some much needed colorful nutrition to our diet that has been consisting of mostly beige: think pasta bakes, meaty tacos, you know the drill… savory and so, so delicious, but lacking in vibrant veggies. This was and felt like a salubrious elixir. I even drank some of the remaining beet juice that had pooled at the bottom of the bowl when I finished noshing. Yum.

Ingredients

• 2 chioggia beets
• 3 red beets
• ⅔ bunch of curly kale
• 1 large green onion
• 1 lemon
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Claussen pickle juice or some sort of quick pickle brine

Peel chioggia beets, and cut into paper thin slices. Put them into a cup full of Claussen pickle juice to soak and *quick pickle* while preparing the rest of the salad.

Get a pot of salted boiling water going. Cut the tops off the red beets (and save for a later saute). Once the water is boiling, throw the topless red beets in, and turn the water to low heat. Put a lid on the pot and let simmer for an hour. Check tenderness with a fork. If they are ready, they should be very easily pierced. Put the finished beets in an ice bath. After they are cooled, peel, cut in half, and slice thinly. Put them in a bowl with a third of a cup of olive oil and about 10 grinds of salt. Stir thoroughly. Set in the fridge to marinate.

Trim the stalks off of the kale, and chop coarsely to prepare for the blanching process. Put greens in the pot that you boiled the beets in, as the water should still be hot enough to blanch. Let soak for about a minute, and put into an ice bath. Shake the excess water off the kale and put into a bowl.

Chop a green onion thinly and combine with kale. Add the red beets and the olive oil soak into the mixture as well. Cut a lemon in half and squeeze juice into the bowl and stir. Additionally, grind about 10 grinds of salt, another drizzle of olive oil, and toss.

Serve the salad and garnish top with the stunning quick pickled chioggia beets. Enjoy. Sending love from our home to yours.