Garlic scapes are a CSA and farmers’ market specialty that I look forward to every summer. I usually collect them over the course of a few weeks (they keep for quite a while), then make a batch of pesto with basil.

5 garlic scapes
1 bunch Genovese basil
1 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
1 Tbsp grated Parmigiano cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Finely chop scapes, basil, and pine nuts in a food processor. Add cheese, salt, and pepper. While food processor is running, slowly drizzle in olive oil.

Toss with pasta, cheese, and shaved summer squash (as seen below), or use it on roasted potatoes, scrambled eggs, or anything else you think could use a lightly garlicky kick.

Swiss chard & escarole are both dark (a.k.a. cooking) greens.  To store, wrap unwashed greens in a clean, damp kitchen towel or damp paper towels, then cover loosely with a plastic bag. 

Swiss chard has large, crinkled leaves on fleshy, ribbed stems and a distinctive, acid-sweet flavor.  It is tasty cooked on its own but is often cooked in omelets, pies and other dishes.

Escarole is a slightly bitter member of the chicory family with broad, ruffled leaves and may be eaten cooked or raw. The bitterness is easily tamed by cooking or smoothed by olive oil.

Sauteed Escarole
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 or 2 dried chilies, or 1 teaspoon dried red chili flakes, or to taste
1 red or yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut in strips
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 pounds escarole

1. Put all but 1 tablespoon oil in a large, deep skillet or casserole that can be covered, and place over medium heat. Set aside 1 teaspoon garlic, and put the rest in the oil, along with chilies, bell pepper, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pepper softens, about 5 minutes.

2. Add escarole, along with 1/2 cup water, and adjust heat so mixture simmers steadily. Cover.

3. Cook about 20 minutes, checking and stirring occasionally and adding water if mixture starts to dry out. When escarole is tender, remove lid, and raise heat if necessary to cook off excess liquid; stir in reserved garlic, and cook a minute more.

4. Taste, and adjust seasoning. Serve hot or at room temperature, drizzling with reserved olive oil just before serving

Don’t forget to look in our CSA cookbook, Recipes from America’s Small Farms, for tips on handling, preparing and storing all our veggies.

- Heather Parlier

This recipe works well with any firm cabbage-y vegetable, including bok choy, nappa cabbage, chinese cabbage and brussel sprouts.  I serve cumin-scented brussel sprouts at Thanksgiving.

Ingredients

2-3 whole star anise
2 cardamom pods, crushed
1/2 cinnamon stick (abt 1″)
2 whole cloves
1 clove garlic, crushed
salt to taste
2 tablespoons canola or other cooking oil
2-4 ounces chicken stock or water (optional)

1 head cabbage, diced and sliced as you like.  If you are using a vegetable with thick, firm stems such as bok choy, you may choose to separate the cut up stems from the leaves.

Cooking

Saute all spices except the garlic in oil until they are fragrant.  Add garlic and continue to saute for one minute.  Reduce heat if necessary so the garlic does not burn.  Remove all spices and the garlic and discard.

Turn heat to high and add the cut up bok choy stems.  Saute for a few minutes, until they just begin to brown.  Add the leaves, salt to taste, and continue to saute until the leaves start to wilt. 

Reduce heat to low and cover.  If the pan is dry, add a few ounces of water or stock.  Continue to cook, approx 5 minutes more, until leaves soften to your taste.

Variation: Use cumin instead of the star anise and cardamom.  Saute cinnamon stick and cloves and garlic as before.  Add vegetables, saute 1 minute, then add 1/2-1 tsp cumin and salt to taste.  Continue to saute until vegetables are to your taste.

Leslie Vail

Chili Pepper or pepper flakes – a pinch
Burdock – 1 (available at Union Square Market)
Cherry Tomato – 6
Garlic – 3 cloves
Mizuna – ½ head
Salt
Pepper
Lemonade – ½ cup (or some lemon, water and a little sugar)
Canola Oil – 1 tbsp.

Crumble a dried chili pepper or use pepper flakes. To prepare the burdock, peel the outside or scrape with the blunt end of a knife, cut into 4 inch long pieces, cut each of those piece in half length-wise and cut those pieces into thin strips. Cut the garlic into thin slices. Quarter the tomatoes. Wash and trim the mizuna then chop into 2-inch long pieces.

Heat the oil in a pan or wok. Add the chili and garlice for a minute, then add the burdock, stirring regularly. If the pan gets sticky, add some of the lemonade. Add the tomatoes after a couple of minutes and the mizuna a couple of minutes after that. Add the salt & pepper to taste. The burdock should still be a bit crunchy. Serve as a warm side dish or refrigerate and serve as a cold salad.

Steven Waxman

Bok Choi – 1 head
Ginger – 1 knob
Onion – 1
Carrots – 2
Amchoor – 1 tbsp. (mango powder)
Cumin – 1 tbsp.
Rice Vinegar – 2 tbsp.
Soy Sauce – 1 tbsp.
Water – ¼ cup
Canola Oil – 1 tbsp.
Salt
Pepper

Amchoor is a sweet and sour dried mango powder available at Indian spice stores. It’s   not critical, use whatever seasonings you like.

Cut the bok choi greens off of the stems, trim the stems, cut into ½-inch pieces, wash and let dry. Cut the greens lengthwise and crosswise into 1-inch squares, wash and let dry. Cut the skin off the ginger then cut into small matchsticks. Wash and chop carrots. Dice the onion.

Put the oil into a pan and let it heat up. Add the onion, carrots and ginger and sauté for a couple of minutes to let the onions soften a bit. Add the bok choi stems and salt to draw out the fluid. After a minute or two, add the vinegar, soy and water. Start adding the cumin, amchoor, salt and pepper to taste. The stems should get tender but not too soft in about five minutes. Add the greens, stir everything and adjust the seasonings for about two or three minutes. Serve with rice.

Steven Waxman