[Week 2] Reviving Greens, A Useful Kitchen Item + Six Recipes to Make this Week

Garlic Scapes, Greens, Broccoli, Bok Choy, Summer Squash & More

Hello Farm Share Friends:

Last Tuesday, as I munched on arugula on my way home from picking up my first share of the season, I was reminded of one of the many joys of farm fresh produce: incredibly tasty (and sandy!) greens.

If you receive items such as bok choy, kale, arugula, and head lettuce in your farm share, you likely need to give them a good soak in cold water. Once the dirt settles, scoop out the greens and transfer them to a colander, salad spinner, or a large towel — I use a beach towel.

Also, if you have the space for it, a large bowl — as in an extra-large bowl — is so handy not only for soaking greens but also for making large salads and slaws. Most bowls, I find, are not large enough to fit the amount of greens I need to tend to or wide enough to allow for easy tossing and dressing. This one (pictured below) is great (but do know I store it in my basement as it is very large.)

As noted in the 3 Tenets post, sometimes you open the vegetable bin to find the greens looking like this:

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Don't despair! A quick soak (30 minutes or so) in cold water will work wonders:

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I am always amazed by the resilience of greens — how they’ll spring back from what appears to be a point of no return.

Friendly reminder: Trim greens from roots before storing.

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Week 2 Vegetables

This week we’re expecting garlic scapes, and while I don’t have a category on the blog dedicated to them, here are some thoughts:

Garlic scapes grow from hardneck garlic bulbs, and farmers trim them because they draw energy away from the forming bulbs. They taste sweet, like a chive or scallion, with a more mild but familiar garlicky zing. Finely sliced, scapes can be used just the same as garlic cloves, such as sautéed with vegetables or puréed into pesto, aioli, and hummus. They will keep for months. Store in a bag in the vegetable bin of your fridge.

• radishes → Radish Recipes

• summer squash → Zucchini & Summer Squash Recipes​​

• scallions → Scallion Recipes​

• kale → Kale Recipes

• chard recipes → Chard Recipes​​

• basil & parsley → Herb Recipes​​

• head lettuce → Salads

• bok choy → Bok Choy Recipes

• broccoli → Broccoli Recipes

Find recipes for all the vegetables here → Farm Share Vegetables

6 Recipes

As this week’s share is very similar to last week’s, definitely check out week 1’s post for salad ideas. I will be making another batch of this lemon vinaigrette to dress the arugula and head lettuce for salads the next few days.

Raw Summer Squash Salad with Lemon, Herbs & Pecorino

Favorite Kale Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette

Schug (I’ll use the parsley, basil, and some garlic scapes in here.)

Roasted Broccoli Steaks with Tomato Butter

Hetty McKinnon’s Life Changing Udon Noodles

No-Bacon Carbonara Loaded with Greens

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Fellow Farm Sharers: Please share in the comments links to recipes you are loving for your early season farm share vegetables! Tips, questions, and suggestions are always welcome, too. Enjoy your vegetables! 🥦🥬🥒🌶🌽🥕 See you next week :)