CSA: Early Spring Session (Week 4)

Delicious sorrel!

Week 4's box has a great assortment of produce.  Although technically a vegetable, rhubarb is often considered a fruit because of the way it's used (in pies and so forth) - while we're craving sweet fruit during the winter & early spring months, it's such a relief to have rhubarb appear.  

Mizuna (a peppery Japanese green) is reminiscent of arugula.  Raw, it adds a lot of flavor to salad; it's also great in stir-fries.

The aromatic herb fennel (I love that smell!) is fairly versatile - the bulb can be eaten raw, sauteed, braised, etc.  I'll be posting a great soup recipe that uses fennel later this week.

Sorrel has quickly become one of my favorite herbs - it has a crisp lemony flavor.  To make a quick and easy sauce that's great for poached fish, I just cut out the tough center stem, chop the leaves up, and saute them.  As they cook, the leaves break down into a thick sauce, which can be served as-is on top of cooked fish.  I like to add some cream to the sauteed sorrel.  (In this week's box, a bunch of cut sorrel - freshly harvested here at Jubilee - was packed in a plastic bag.  It looks a bit like spinach, which was loosely packed in a banded-bunch in the box).

Early Spring Session, Week 4: Box Contents
Chard
Mizuna or Red Mustard
Fennel
Rhubarb
Collard Raab
Yellow Onion
Crimini Mushrooms
Sorrel
Granny Smith Apples
Spinach