Week Four

Week four, and I am amazed by how the Swiss Chard seems to have taken off!  No, the can of Coke was not included in the box, I put it in the picture to add a sence of scale.  :)  According to the newsletter, our hot weather has taken it's toll on the cold weather crops like lettuce and kale, but the summer squash is comming along pretty good and hopefully they can stay ahead of the squash beetles.

For the time being I'll hold off on pricing out the produce, I need to get to one of the local farmers markets for accurate pricing.  Hopefully there will be someone with herbs and greens at the special 4th of July Marinette market tomorrow.

What's in the box this week:
Sorrel: 4.5 oz
Swiss Chard: 1.54 lbs
Oregano: 2.9 oz
Radishes: 4 (1.6 oz total)
Bigger bunching onions: 5 (4.1 oz)
Pok Choi: 2.2 oz (about enough to add to a 2-person stir fry, or a 1-person stir fry if you went heavy on it)
Lettuce: 3.7 oz (a variety of lyoung ettuce greens, including a red variety.  If you add a little chard and maybe a little sorrel it would make two nice sized salads)
Basil: 1.4 oz

I have to mention that the smell of the fresh basil when I opened the box was intoxicating.  I have GOT to figure out something to do with it that will do it justice- maybe some pinwheels or a margherita pizza with some finely chopped fresh basil added after cooking.  I found this site that I'll have to go through in a little more detail to see if anything sounds like it would truly hilight the freshness of the basil.   

A recipe for Swiss Chard balls was included in this week's newsletter, I'm considering making it tonight or tomorrow, I just have to pick up some more parmesean- I used most of the last of it when I finally made some sorrel pesto yesterday (very yummy!).   As for most of the rest of last week's produce, Scott snacked on the radishes, I've used the Swiss Chard mainly in salads or as a lettuce substitute, the sage is still in the fridge (maybe something basil-sage would be good), the oregano is drying (I didn't have the time to freeze it, so I just hung it), and the garlic scapes were grilled.  The grilled scapes showed promise, I think they would be very good if the grill hadn't flared up on Scott and toasted them.  We picked up some more at the Marquette farmers market when we were there on Saturday, so I have some more to play with.  Nothing fancy, but there's nothing wrong with simply enjoying greens in a salad!

Here's the recipe for Swiss Chard Balls:
8 cups fresh de-stemmed and chopped Swiss Chard
2 Cups Italian style seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup grated parmesean
1/2 cup mellted butter
4 small green onion finely chopped
4 eggs lighly beaten
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  In a medium bowl mix the chopped swiss chard, bread crumbs, parmesean, butter, onion, eggs, and salt/pepper. 
3.  Arrange balls in a single layer on a large baking sheet.  Bake in preheated oven 10-15 minutes until lightly browned.