2014 Season, Harvest #1And Away We Go…Nose to Tail?Seems like just a minute ago it was January, now here we are, anticipating Wildwood Farm’s fourth season of CSA deliveries! Laurel and Paul will tell you their most important crop is their soil. Good soil depends on good stewardship: rotating plantings, using cover crops for weed/pest control and fertilization, and other methods for ensuring nutrient-rich dirt that will sustain the healthiest plants and deliver optimal flavor – even imparting the vegetable world's version of terroir. Maintaining good soil also requires a financial commitment.

Maybe some of you caught the recent radio interview or NYTimes article featuring chef and author Dan Barber's opinions on how the farm-to-table movement, and apparent foodie revolution, has missed the mark in terms of yielding a truly sustainable pattern of eating that will support the ecology of mid-size diversified farms. He advocates creating a market not only for the celebrities of the CSA but the lowlier, less well-known offerings which help keep farms healthy and balanced (as well as producing and earning enough that food economics actually change on the larger scale). It's great to support local growers by purchasing their heirloom tomatoes, he says, but "at the end of the day, what we need to support is all of the farming decisions that lead to that one great tomato." At his restaurant, he's added a popular dish he calls "Rotation Risotto," relying on supporting-crop ingredients such as legumes and barley, rather than insisting upon a classic interpretation of the dish. "I used a purée of cowpea shoots and mustard greens to thicken the grains and replace the starchiness of rice. As one waiter described the idea, it was a “nose-to-tail approach to the farm” — an edible version of [sustainable] farming strategy."

Whether or not you pick up his book or espouse his notions, you’re already part of the change and can feel great about using your food dollars to encourage responsible food production, and to embrace the surprises that show up in your shares, maybe even re-training tastebuds along the way. The bonus is the delicious discoveries you'll make, plus the advantage of delivering the highest possible nutrition and flavor to those who share your table, in the least resource-draining way. Win, win, and win! Barber envisions going much farther (getting to that “third plate,” representing a stage of evolution in which vegetables and other crops are the stars and anchors of the meal, with protein in a supporting role), but--gotta start somewhere, and right here’s a tasty place.

Spring Garlic

These scallion-like stalks are thinnings from the garlic plants which will eventually mature into bulbs. From their white (sometimes reddish or purply-hued) base to their green tops, you can chop the whole thing up and use it just about any way you like. “Nearly anything you can do with regular garlic, you can do with green garlic; the result, however, will be milder, sweeter, fresher-tasting and more subtle,” says David Tanis in the New York Times. "There are hundreds of ways to use it. To me it tastes best barely cooked, just briefly warmed in butter or olive oil. Lately I have been adding a generous amount of just such a mixture to a pot of steaming, roughly mashed potatoes. But you can use it uncooked in salad dressings or fresh herb salsas, too."

For example, in this recipe for Spicy Green Garlic Chicken Soup, if tender new garlic shoots weren't available, the suggestion is to substitute 6-8 individual mature cloves, for 2 bunches (about 12 stalks) of green garlic.

Broccoli RabeLike green garlic, the spicy leaves, pretty florets and tender stalks of Broccoli Rabe are a transitory springtime treat. They can

be enjoyed together as simply as possible: a few garlic shoots chopped fine and sautéed in olive oil along with a rough chop of rabe (use all its parts!), seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper, makes a tonic-y side dish that’s perfect on its own or added to already-cooked grains or pasta. Here are some variations:

Broccoli Rabe Sautéed with Garlic and Gnocchi Good gnocchi, fresh or frozen, it is easy to find at the store these days, but if you like making your own, here's a tutorial with Mario Batali's mama.

Broccoli Rabe with Polenta Croutons Yum! Pictured below, this could also be made using homemade or store-bought polenta, turning the broccoli rabe into a main dish.

Mario Batali's Broccoli Rabe Sauce Less a "sauce" then a sauté, this combines rabe with tomatoes.

Ravishing RadishesEvery year, while I do prowl websites and cookbooks for recipes including radishes, I can't let radish season go by without talking about the plainest and most enjoyable way to eat them: whole, accompanied by salt and butter, with or without a nice baguette nearby. This year, my variation on the theme is to take the enjoyment factor up a notch by making your own butter! It's so easy: if you have a food processor, a quantity of nice, sweet cream and about 10 minutes, you'll end up with a little dish of heaven to slather on your radish before rolling it in salt and making it disappear.

Read all about it at Sunset magazine's 6 Ravishing Radish Recipes, which include a simple salad with goat cheese, an old-fashioned icebox salad, sliced radish on baguette toasts with the flavor of nori added, a radish and sorrel salad (you'll want to use a mandoline for some of these, which I also say every year, because for any use other than eating them whole, in my opinion, really thinly, uniformly sliced radishes are key for optimal flavor, texture and consistency), and of course the few simple steps to making the homemade butter that will turn your radishes into your favorite hors d'oeuvre ever. There are all kinds of different

mandolines, here's a link illustrating a handheld option which might be more convenient than the larger tabletop models.

And remember you can enjoy the radish greens too! Detach the leafy stems from the radish bulbs and store them separately. You can tear them into salads, or add them to sautés that include other greens, such as the kale you'll get this week… You can also turn them into a beautiful dressing, as described by a reader commenting on a blog post of Dorie Greenspan's (a favorite online source of mine):

“Made the Radish Leaf Vinaigrette tonight, or at least one inspired by this recipe. I used mirin because I didn't have white wine vinegar and added some raw garlic and omitted the walnut oil and just added a bit more olive oil. The result was vibrant green and super delish. I drizzed it on an organic mesclun blend with some sliced radish, cucumber and black cherry tomatoes. My husband loved it and even was dipping his bread in it.”

I admit, this is another offering that has resurfaced from last year’s recipe posts, but I promise to only recycle them if I think they bear repeating. As Dorie says, and as her reader above attests, "this is a recipe you taste your way through," so don't be afraid to substitute or tinker with the ingredients. The original recipe was made to go with white asparagus, but as a pesto or dipping sauce its versatility is extended.

Big Boy Bok ChoyBaby bok choy will make its way into your shares eventually, but this week you get the full-sized version to play with. Although this first recipe is written for the baby size, it seemed to me adaptable for larger heads, and I liked that the leaves were treated separately from the thicker white base and stem. They're practically different vegetables, with the white part of the stalk requiring a longer cooking time to reach that tender

crunchy-outside-creamy-inside state, and the leaves needing much less heat to be edible-ready. Anyway, here's how to make grilled-baby-bok-choy-with-miso-butter, from KCRW's Meatless Monday blog. Great radio station, great idea.

Bok Choy and Kale Fried Rice With Fried Garlic: Double bonus – first, you'll get to use both types of big leafy greens you'll receive this week, and second you'll learn how to make those lovely crispy garlic bits without burning them.

I must admit it wouldn't have occurred to me to whip up a Bok Choy Pesto, but it sure looks pretty! It calls for cilantro,

garlic (yep, you could use your fresh green garlic) ginger, lemon, salt, pepper and some oil. Why not?

I'll leave it there for this week, back next week with more grist for the mill. Enjoy!