Whats in the Share?
NAPA CABBAGE, arugula, loose and head lettuces, pea tendrils, beets w/greens, radish, mini onions, garlic scapes, green garlic, zuke and/or summer squash, parsley, basil.
a few recent csa member emails:
"Hello all, I've been very impressed by my vegetables and have improved my diet exponentially since your first delivery. I do have some questions, though, as I'm not always sure what I am getting, even though I consider myself a fairly decent cook. What was the large elongated head of green we received -- bok choy or other cabbage? ......"
"What kind of lettuce (the bigger one) was in our box this week? I thought it may be bok choi. But now I'm not so sure. "
Thanks! These words make farming fun! We nominate Napa Cabbage as Crop of the Week.
There are basically 2 types of vegetables that are both refered to as "chinese cabbage". One are the head forming types such as the Napa (literal translation being "large white vegetable"). These are typically light in color, and have thinner tighter leaves, which, you guessed it, form something resembling a head. The other type of vege that we call chinese cabbage are the non-head forming types such as bok choy, which tend to be darker and have more succulent stems . (literal translation for bok choy -"small white vegetable").
Vegetable names can be confusing; there's the common name, the botanical name (latin genus,species,variety), and a ton of local names. Some cultures get more into it than others. I was selling green garlic at the Salem Farmers Market last Thursday and a woman asked me what I call it in English. I was feeling pretty smart and replied "green garlic". She was like "yeah i know that, but do you have another name for it because it is immature?" I forget where she was from, but the point is that her people refer to, and use a given crop differentially over the course of the growing season. Very cool.
RECIPES
A popular Salad made with napa cabbage involves sautéing dry ramen noodles in butter with slivered almonds, sesame seeds, and scallions/green onions. brown it, then toss with a chopped up napa. (dont cook the napa).
a "base" Dressing recipe is:
2 parts oil, 2 parts sweetener, 1 part vinegar, and soy/tamari to taste. You can use various types of oils, various types of sweeteners, vinegars, salty things, etc. be creative, it's what you make it man!
(If you have several pounds of Napa, you could pickle it in salt water for several hours, then add garlic juice, onion juice, ginger, sugar and pepper to make a korean dish known as Kimchi.)