The only year-round CSA produce box program featuring Alaskan vegetables!

How would you like to pick up a box full of beautiful fresh, local vegetables when you need produce? Subscribers to our Glacier Valley Farm CSA program aren’t limited to our short farmers’ market season to get Alaskan vegetables--we’re loading boxes with Alaskan produce year-round! Each box also includes a newsletter packed with delicious, healthy recipes specifically tailored to the vegetables of the week! The weekly update also includes vegetable storage tips and news about the local farms that contribute produce to the boxes. While you’re enjoying delicious, economical Alaskan produce, you’re also supporting your local farmers! You can sign up to receive a box of produce once a week, twice a month, or more sporadically—you choose the dates! You pre-pay $35 for your box, then pick it up at a pre-determined location.

HELP US PRESERVE AGRICULTURE LANDS IN ALASKA
Only 4% of Alaska’s farmland is accessible and viable for farming, and less than 5% of food consumed in Alaska is locally grown. Here is a great way to make your voice heard and it takes less than a minute. Please go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/Help-save-Alaska-Farmland to learn more and help us reach the 1,000 signatures needed! 

what’s in the box?

Week of February 28, 2010 box contents

No deliveries the first week of every month

Week of March 7, 2010 box contents

From Alaska’s Glacier Valley Farm, VanderWeele Farm: Alaskan yellow onions | Alaskan Russet potatoes| Alaskan beets

From Outside: certified organic Braeburn apples | certified organic Honeygold grapefruit | certified organic blood oranges | certified organic broccoli | certified organic cauliflower | certified organic chard | certified organic collards | certified organic delicata squash garnet yams

Week of March 14, 2010 box contents

From Alaska’s Glacier Valley Farm, VanderWeele Farm: Alaskan yellow onions | Alaskan Russet potatoes| Alaskan beets

From Outside: certified organic red D’Anjou pears | certified organic navel oranges | certified organic kumquats | certified organic escarole | certified organic cauliflower | certified organic chard | certified organic Romaine lettuce | certified organic rappini (a/k/a broccoli rabe)

We should have all the ingredients listed above, but we might have to make last minute substitutions.

glacier grist

Issue #59 • Tuesday, February 23, 2010

DID YOU KNOW?
Celery and celery root (sometimes called celeriac) are varieties of the same plant, but are in fact, two different vegetables. Celery root is not simply the part of the plant that grows underground.
This root can be eaten raw or baked, boiled, braised, or sautéed. As a raw vegetable, it is often grated into salads. As a cooked vegetable, celery root can be a good substitute for potato dishes and it makes a nice complement to potato-cheese dishes. It can be added to risottos and also provide added body to soups, stews, and purees. When preparing, slice off the top and bottom to provide a flat surface for slicing stability and then begin to slice off the outside skin.

LOOK FOR YOUR NAME ON THE LABEL!
Look for your box label with YOUR name on it.  If you should happen to take someone’s box, please call customer service at 529.7630.

DO YOU HAVE ANY GLACIER VALLEY BOXES?
You can always drop them off early the day of delivery or bring and bag and leave your box the day of delivery. 
If that is not convenient, please let us know.  We will work with you to get rid of your box clutter.

ALWAYS REMEMBER that if you are not happy with something in your box, please let us know right away.  We are dealing with Mother Nature and sometimes she throws us a curve. We will make it up to you in your next box. 

recipes

for glacier grist Issue #59

baby carrots with ginger butter

(contributed by Nancy)
This recipe originally calls for baby carrots, but our carrots are so sweet that this works well with “grown up” carrots too.  This is my version from Claire Robinson’s 5 Ingredient Fix.

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces and about the size of your pinkie
sea salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 ½ tablespoons finely diced crystallized ginger (or more to taste)
freshly ground pepper

1.  In a shallow saucepan, over low heat, add the carrots and cover with water. Add a pinch of salt and bring the water to a simmer. Cover them with a parchment round set over and touching the simmering water to get a perfect steam. Remove carrots from the water when they are almost fork tender and drain.
2.  In a medium sauté pan, over low heat, add the butter and stir in the chopped crystallized ginger. Allow the sugar from the ginger to melt into the butter, and then transfer the steamed carrots to the pan. Toss gently for approximately 2 minutes until the carrots are completely coated with the ginger butter. Finish with a pinch of salt and a crack of freshly ground pepper. Serve immediately.

seasonal vegetable soup

(contributed by Nancy)
I have made this wintery soup many times and usually substitute kale for chard, or use more carrots if I don’t have potatoes on hand; it’s a very forgiving recipe. From the French Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Hermann Loomis.

1 large bunch Swiss chard, washed, and coarsely chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch rounds
2 stalks celery, cut into quarters into ½ inch pieces
1 celery root, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, peeled and cut into quarters
1 medium potato, peeled and cut into quarters
4 large cloves garlic, peeled
10 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon sea salt

1.  Place all of the ingredients through the garlic in a large heavy saucepan and add enough cold water to cover by 1 inch.  Tie up the peppercorns in a square of cheesecloth and add them to the pan with the bay leaves and salt.  Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium and cook gently and slowly, covered, until the vegetables are completely tender, 25 to 3 minutes.  Check them occasionally to be sure they are covered with plenty of water, adding some more if necessary.
2.  When the vegetables are cooked through, remove the bay leaves and the peppercorns.  Puree in the a food processor or with a wand mixer.  If the potage is very thick, add water to thin to your taste.  Serve piping hot.
Cook’s note:  Don’t have cheesecloth for the peppercorns? I have used a tea ball or even a coffee filter that I tied with a piece of string or stapled shut.

quinoa salad with apples, pears, fennel and walnuts

(contributed by Nancy)
Quinoa is a sacred grain of the Incas and is very high in protein, niacin, iron, phosphorous and potassium.  Be sure to rinse it.  It has a self protecting coating that if not rinsed off, can taste bitter.  The pears and fennel are a classic combination.  I like to have this for breakfast for a change of pace. From The One Dish Vegetarian by Maria Robbins.

1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable stock or water
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 apples, peeled, cored, diced and sprinkled with lemon juice
2 ripe pears, peeled, cored, diced and sprinkled with lemon juice
1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and diced
½ cup dried currants
½ onion, finely diced

dressing

freshly grated zest of 1 orange
freshly grated zest of 1 lemon
½ cup fresh orange juice
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted for garnish

To cook the quinoa:
1.  Put the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
2.  Bring the stock or water to a boil in a 1 quart saucepan, add the quinoa and salt and lower the heat to a simmer.  Cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed.  Remove from the heat and let stand, still covered, for 45 minutes, then fluff with a fork and set aside to cool.

Mix the quinoa (you should have 3 cups), the apples, pears, fennel, currants and shallots in a large shallow serving bowl.

To make the dressing:
1.  Whisk together the orange and lemon zest orange juice, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Pour over the salad and toss to mix well.  Sprinkle with the walnuts and serve.

delicata squash soup

(contributed by Nancy)
If you don’t want to make the soup, just follow the beginning directions to bake the delicata squash.  I have used heavy cream which makes a decadent soup, but have used whole milk as well with very nice results.

three 1-pound delicata squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1 small thyme sprig
3 cups vegetable stock, chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
1 1/3 cups heavy cream (or whole milk)
1/4 cup crème fraîche or sour cream (optional)

1.  Preheat the oven to 300°. Set the squash, cut sides up, on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Add 1/2 teaspoon of the butter to each squash and season with salt and pepper. Add 1/8 inch of water to the baking sheet. Roast the squash for 45 minutes, or until tender.
2.  In a large saucepan, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the onion and thyme and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
3.  Scrape the flesh out of the squash and add it to the saucepan along with the stock and heavy cream. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced by one-fourth, about 20 minutes.
4.  Puree the soup in batches in a blender or food processor. Strain into a clean saucepan and season with salt and pepper.
5.  Ladle the soup into soup plates and garnish with a dollop of crème fraîche or sour cream.