Feeling Spicy!

This week’s basket is full of all kinds of kick — there is the arugula from our own Harpersville, AL farm, which is an inherently peppery green. Aside from a sophisticated dinner salad, we love using arugula to gussy-up a midday sandwich or folded into morning omelets. 

Our farm’s radishes are equally peppery with a crunch that can pack a punch. Shaving the radishes (or slicing with a mandoline) can temper their pepper power. Try them in this type of salad or in one of these Food52 recipes. Of course, the easiest way to enjoy them is sliced and layered onto a fresh baguette (ahem, like the one from baker Corey Hinkel) with some sweet butter and sea salt. 

Also from our farm this week is fresh ginger root. We’ll have more in the weeks to come, as well as fresh turmeric, so consider this your heads-up. Aside from being deliciously piquant, ginger is packed with antioxidants and has been known to help alleviate nausea. We just like the way it tastes in dishes like this soup and this cake — the flavor is almost synonymous with fall. 

Cranberries are also emblematic of the season and we are so excited about the crop that just arrived from farm friends in Wisconsin. We’ve put them to use in our signature cranberry relish which will garner new fans at the Thanksgiving table, if it lasts that long at your house! Why wait? Perhaps you’ll smoke a turkey breast this weekend, for a little pre-holiday feast? Or add the relish to a pretty pork roulade like this one. 

Mother Nature seems to be operating on a different schedule this year which has delayed the arrival of seasonal persimmons but we have a bevy of them today from Mountain Orchard Farms. Lots of our CSA members simply use these fruits to add a pop of orange color in tablescape decor but there are plenty of ways to eat and drink your persimmons too. 

If you have yet to do so, be sure to stop by our private Facebook page to see what is happening at the farm, what your fellow CSA mates are making with their weekly shares, and discover new recipes. 

Deborah has promised us her candied ginger recipe which will be fun to try.  Until then, we look forward to seeing you at pick-up today!