Re: Storing herbs, with basil I try to use it as fast as possible, usually same day, or I freeze it in ice cube trays covered with olive oil. When available, I buy a basil plant, and keep it on my window sill, snipping when I need some.
I used to store Cilantro and parsley in a glass jar, stems in water, and covered by a plastic bag, in the fridge. The downside was it took a lot of room in my fridge and it was accidentally tipped over a couple of times, which made a huge mess. That is when I decided to try my wide mouth mason jars with the plastic screw lids.
I add water to the mason jar, a few inches, then cut the stems quite short, on the herbs. Remove the ties or whatever around the herbs. Add the herbs to the jar, stems downward. If any are sticking out the top, I gently coax them inside the jar. Put on the lid and store in the fridge. No fear of spillage, and the herbs are completely protected against bruising, etc. And actually, I find most herbs keep longer with this set up than the bag method. To access, simply pull up a few stems at at time until you have what you need and put the rest back in the fridge.
Your mason jar tip is brilliant! Thank you so much. I would totally knock over my jars and spill water everywhere if I tried that method in my fridge, which is terribly disorganized and often packed to the brim. Your tip is also reminding me I need to order those white plastic lids that fit on mason jars — I find my metal ones always rust, and I've been meaning to replace them for so long. Looking forward to testing out this method!
Hello Alex, I've been looking through your farm newsletters and regular posts. I didn't locate the socca/parm "pizza" recipe. Can you point me in the right direction. (ps I keep getting distracted by all the fresh, irresistible recipes I likely have missed the socca!) Thank you.
HI! You actually haven't missed anything yet. I am definitely planning on posting both the socca recipe and the tomato recipe, but likely not as a pizza... it was so tasty, but the crust got a little soggy. I think socca might be better on its own or as a dipper bread as opposed to a base OR it's possible that the tomato sauce is just too wet. From my brief bit of research it seems as though all socca recipes are very similar: equal parts chickpea flour and water (by volume) + salt + olive oil. The recipes differ in their cooking methods — stovetop or oven — and I haven't figured out which method I prefer.
Okay, that chard hummus is incredible! Also, I made basil lemonade today and it was a huge success 🌿 🍋 Between that and pesto I don't think any basil is going to waste this year 😊
The recipe is from The Spruce Eats, and from memory it's a cup of sugar, cup of packed basil leaves, the zest of two lemons and the juice from five. I blended it all together, strained it, and then you serve it over ice and dilute with water or seltzer. My husband was wary when I handed him a green drink but one taste and he was converted :)
If you have beans and their cooking liquid in the fridge, Abra Berens' bean pot licker recipe on p. 109 of Grist is a fantastic way to use up greens.
Apologies for making everyone go hunt down a book (though Grist is definitely a book worth hunting down, if you haven't read it)! The gist of the bean pot licker is: saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, add bean cooking liquid and greens and cook down veg, add beans and heat through. It's good even in the heat!
I got a big head of bel fiore radicchio in my share last week and I don’t know what to do with it. It looks more like romaine lettuce than the radicchio I’m used to. Any suggestions on how to cook it?
I am also thrilled to see this newsletter back! For storing fresh cilantro, I’ve had great success wrapping small bunches completely in a paper towel, and storing in a ziplock bag in the crisper drawer. I do this with cilantro from the garden when it sprouts all at once, and I’ve had it last for 4-6 weeks when stored this way. I make sure the cilantro is 100% dry before wrapping, and sometimes replace the paper towels after 2-3 weeks if it seems like there is any moisture. For longer storage, I chop it in a food processor, stick it in a mason jar and completely submerge in olive oil. As long as it stays under oil, I can use it all winter long.
So many of my favorite recipes last summer came from this newsletter, but here are a few that I’ve made and enjoyed recently:
I live in Kansas, so my farmer’s market offerings seem to be a little ahead of yours. We recently had cauliflower and new potatoes available, and this recipe was the perfect use for them. I served it over cilantro rice one night, and had the leftovers with salad for lunch. https://smittenkitchen.com/2016/04/sheet-pan-chicken-tikka/
We’ve been blessed with fresh strawberries, which I mostly eat straight away and fresh, but this weekend I had some that needed to be used quickly, and were great in muffins https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/strawberry-muffins/
So many great ideas! Love your tips on storing cilantro — thank you! — and thank you for sending along these recipe ideas, all of which look out-of-this-world delicious and all of which are right up my alley. I could see making just the cauliflower piece of the bahn mi — it looks so good! Will definitely be sharing these recipes as soon as we start receiving cauliflower. Thank you!
Update: I made the banh mi, and it was so good! The cauliflower on its own was super tasty, and it came together with the other fresh (and quick pickled) ingredients beautifully
Thank you so much for this, Ali! I love your recipes and always learn something about how to be a better cook! I grow lots things in my garden and I have a CSA, as well. I find storing herbs like basil, parsley, cilantro, dill, etc in a glass of water is a must, but I have started doing it with lettuces, too, and find it really works well. Some lettuces seem to do fine at room temperature and others like the fridge. I usually slice a bit off the bottom of the stalk so the water can be better absorbed.
So interesting! I picked up my CSA this afternoon, and I now have my basil and parsley in glass jars, as usual, and I also have my head of lettuce in a shallow bowl with a little bit of water — I cut off some of the bottom — and I also put my scallions in a glass jar with water. I am loving having so much of my produce out on the counter. I will keep you posted on how my lettuce does and if it looks tired tomorrow, I'll place it in the fridge. Thank you!
Kathy, I ended up using my head lettuce the day after picking it up, so it didn't have much time on the counter, but it looked fine. I'll try again this week :)
So happy to see the Farm newsletter back!
Re: Storing herbs, with basil I try to use it as fast as possible, usually same day, or I freeze it in ice cube trays covered with olive oil. When available, I buy a basil plant, and keep it on my window sill, snipping when I need some.
I used to store Cilantro and parsley in a glass jar, stems in water, and covered by a plastic bag, in the fridge. The downside was it took a lot of room in my fridge and it was accidentally tipped over a couple of times, which made a huge mess. That is when I decided to try my wide mouth mason jars with the plastic screw lids.
I add water to the mason jar, a few inches, then cut the stems quite short, on the herbs. Remove the ties or whatever around the herbs. Add the herbs to the jar, stems downward. If any are sticking out the top, I gently coax them inside the jar. Put on the lid and store in the fridge. No fear of spillage, and the herbs are completely protected against bruising, etc. And actually, I find most herbs keep longer with this set up than the bag method. To access, simply pull up a few stems at at time until you have what you need and put the rest back in the fridge.
Your mason jar tip is brilliant! Thank you so much. I would totally knock over my jars and spill water everywhere if I tried that method in my fridge, which is terribly disorganized and often packed to the brim. Your tip is also reminding me I need to order those white plastic lids that fit on mason jars — I find my metal ones always rust, and I've been meaning to replace them for so long. Looking forward to testing out this method!
Hello Alex, I've been looking through your farm newsletters and regular posts. I didn't locate the socca/parm "pizza" recipe. Can you point me in the right direction. (ps I keep getting distracted by all the fresh, irresistible recipes I likely have missed the socca!) Thank you.
HI! You actually haven't missed anything yet. I am definitely planning on posting both the socca recipe and the tomato recipe, but likely not as a pizza... it was so tasty, but the crust got a little soggy. I think socca might be better on its own or as a dipper bread as opposed to a base OR it's possible that the tomato sauce is just too wet. From my brief bit of research it seems as though all socca recipes are very similar: equal parts chickpea flour and water (by volume) + salt + olive oil. The recipes differ in their cooking methods — stovetop or oven — and I haven't figured out which method I prefer.
Okay, that chard hummus is incredible! Also, I made basil lemonade today and it was a huge success 🌿 🍋 Between that and pesto I don't think any basil is going to waste this year 😊
So great to hear! Tell us more about this basil lemonade... sounds amazing!
The recipe is from The Spruce Eats, and from memory it's a cup of sugar, cup of packed basil leaves, the zest of two lemons and the juice from five. I blended it all together, strained it, and then you serve it over ice and dilute with water or seltzer. My husband was wary when I handed him a green drink but one taste and he was converted :)
Thank you! Sounds so good. I might make it today with the last of last week's basil. Here it is for anyone else curious: https://www.thespruceeats.com/basil-lemonade-recipe-5209042
If you have beans and their cooking liquid in the fridge, Abra Berens' bean pot licker recipe on p. 109 of Grist is a fantastic way to use up greens.
Apologies for making everyone go hunt down a book (though Grist is definitely a book worth hunting down, if you haven't read it)! The gist of the bean pot licker is: saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, add bean cooking liquid and greens and cook down veg, add beans and heat through. It's good even in the heat!
I have Grist! And I haven't cooked enough from it. Love the sound of this recipe and will definitely try it!
The dreaded “Leafs Season” that challenge farm to table chefs yearly. Thank you for some great ideas!! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Such a challenge!
I got a big head of bel fiore radicchio in my share last week and I don’t know what to do with it. It looks more like romaine lettuce than the radicchio I’m used to. Any suggestions on how to cook it?
Yes! So good. You can chop it up and use it any salad recipe with any dressing. It can handle a more assertive dressing like this tahini one (https://alexandracooks.com/2021/01/05/large-batch-tahini-salad-dressing/)or this cashew one (https://alexandracooks.com/2020/04/02/charred-broccoli-chopped-salad-with-spicy-cashew-dressing/).
Or you could broil or grill it, and make it a sort of grilled Caesar salad: https://alexandracooks.com/2020/03/06/grilled-romaine-caesar-salad/
Thank you so much! The ceasar looks delicious - making it tomorrow :)
I am also thrilled to see this newsletter back! For storing fresh cilantro, I’ve had great success wrapping small bunches completely in a paper towel, and storing in a ziplock bag in the crisper drawer. I do this with cilantro from the garden when it sprouts all at once, and I’ve had it last for 4-6 weeks when stored this way. I make sure the cilantro is 100% dry before wrapping, and sometimes replace the paper towels after 2-3 weeks if it seems like there is any moisture. For longer storage, I chop it in a food processor, stick it in a mason jar and completely submerge in olive oil. As long as it stays under oil, I can use it all winter long.
So many of my favorite recipes last summer came from this newsletter, but here are a few that I’ve made and enjoyed recently:
I live in Kansas, so my farmer’s market offerings seem to be a little ahead of yours. We recently had cauliflower and new potatoes available, and this recipe was the perfect use for them. I served it over cilantro rice one night, and had the leftovers with salad for lunch. https://smittenkitchen.com/2016/04/sheet-pan-chicken-tikka/
I haven’t tried but am intrigued by the idea of cauliflower bahn mi https://minimalistbaker.com/cauliflower-banh-mi/?fbclid=IwAR1l7fMJZGENk58XafdvZ69M5NBnOWo94xVy9Wzv_ZdrL93WJFsQCcQo7F0
We’ve been blessed with fresh strawberries, which I mostly eat straight away and fresh, but this weekend I had some that needed to be used quickly, and were great in muffins https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/strawberry-muffins/
So many great ideas! Love your tips on storing cilantro — thank you! — and thank you for sending along these recipe ideas, all of which look out-of-this-world delicious and all of which are right up my alley. I could see making just the cauliflower piece of the bahn mi — it looks so good! Will definitely be sharing these recipes as soon as we start receiving cauliflower. Thank you!
Update: I made the banh mi, and it was so good! The cauliflower on its own was super tasty, and it came together with the other fresh (and quick pickled) ingredients beautifully
Great to hear! I'm dying to make that cauliflower :)
Thank you so much for this, Ali! I love your recipes and always learn something about how to be a better cook! I grow lots things in my garden and I have a CSA, as well. I find storing herbs like basil, parsley, cilantro, dill, etc in a glass of water is a must, but I have started doing it with lettuces, too, and find it really works well. Some lettuces seem to do fine at room temperature and others like the fridge. I usually slice a bit off the bottom of the stalk so the water can be better absorbed.
So interesting! I picked up my CSA this afternoon, and I now have my basil and parsley in glass jars, as usual, and I also have my head of lettuce in a shallow bowl with a little bit of water — I cut off some of the bottom — and I also put my scallions in a glass jar with water. I am loving having so much of my produce out on the counter. I will keep you posted on how my lettuce does and if it looks tired tomorrow, I'll place it in the fridge. Thank you!
Kathy, I ended up using my head lettuce the day after picking it up, so it didn't have much time on the counter, but it looked fine. I'll try again this week :)
Glad you're back, friend!! x
Thank you Friend!