Roasted Fairy Tale Eggplants with Mint and Feta

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces Fairy Tale eggplants, trimmed and halved lengthwise

  • Pinch kosher salt

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

  • 1 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

  • 1 1/2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

  • Pinch zaatar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Arrange the eggplants cut-side up in a baking dish just large enough to hold them in a single layer.

Sprinkle the eggplant halves with a pinch of salt. Drizzle evenly with half of the olive oil. Sprinkle evenly with the chopped mint then the feta cheese. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil.

Roast the eggplants in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the eggplant is tender and the feta is golden brown in spots. Serve warm.

Author: The Spruce Eats https://www.thespruceeats.com/roasted-fairy-tale-eggplants-4068515

Braised Romano Beans with Spicy Tomato Sauce & Lemony Ground Walnuts

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 medium shallot, small dice

  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, minced

  • ½ – 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes or ground chillies (I used Diaspora Co.'s ground Guntur Sannam Chillies)

  • ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika

  • 1 tablespoon capers, minced

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste

  • 1 lb cherry tomatoes, halved

  • sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

  • ½ cup water

  • ¾ lb green Romano beans, cut into 2-inch pieces

  • ¼ cup walnut halves

  • ½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

  • ½ teaspoon tamari soy sauce

  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

  • chilli oil for garnish (optional)

Instructions

  • Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, pour in the olive oil and swirl it around. Add the shallot and thyme to the pan and stir. Cook until the shallots are translucent and soft, stirring often, about 3-4 minutes. If the shallots are browning on the edges, lower the heat.

  • Add the chilli and smoked paprika to the pan and stir for about 30 seconds. Then, add the capers and minced garlic. Keep stirring until the garlic is very fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste to the pan and break it up with the back of your spoon. Keep stirring and mashing the bits of tomato paste until it has darkened a shade or two. Again, if you’re experiencing rapid browning/drying of the pan here, just lower the heat.

  • Add the cherry tomatoes to the pan and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Once the cherry tomatoes let off some juices and start bubbling, keep the heat at this level. Simmer the cherry tomato sauce base for 5 minutes. Then, add the water to the pan and stir. Let the sauce simmer another 5 minutes. The sauce should be slightly thick but still fluid enough to move around the pan easily.

  • Add the cut green Romano beans to the pan along with some extra salt and pepper. Stir to coat the beans in the sauce. Bring the sauce and beans to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover the beans and continue to simmer until they are tender and the sauce has thickened around the beans, about 15-18 minutes. I like to lift the lid and check in on the beans here and there, giving it a stir each time.

  • While the beans are simmering, finely chop the walnuts and mix them together in a small bowl with the lemon zest and a pinch of salt. You could also grind this mixture up in a mini food processor if you like.

  • Once the Romano beans are done simmering, stir in the ½ teaspoon of tamari soy sauce. Check the dish for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Serve the braised Romano beans warm with the lemony walnut mixture and parsley sprinkled on top. Garnish with chili oil if you like.

Author: Laura Wright - https://thefirstmess.com/about/

Kohlrabi and Napa Cabbage Salad with Maple Lemon Dressing

This recipe comes from thekitchn.com

SERVES

6 to 8

INGREDIENTS

• 4 medium bulbs kohlrabi

• 3 cups shredded napa cabbage

• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds

• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

• Zest of 1 lemon

• Juice of 2 lemons

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Using a sharp knife, remove the long stems and greens from the kohlrabi. Using a

peeler, trim away the thick green skin until you reach the light green to white part

that is free of tough fibers. Shred on the medium holes of a box grater or in a food

processor fitted with the shredder disk.

2. Combine the kohlrabi, cabbage, cherries, sunflower seeds, and dill in a large serving

bowl. In a small jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the olive oil, maple syrup, lemon

zest, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Shake to thoroughly combine. Pour the

dressing over the salad and toss to coat well. Let sit for about 20 minutes before

serving.

The Best Damn Eggplant Recipe

You’ll thank me

Ingredients: 

  • One eggplant per person (though we ate two each!!) 

  • Panko bread crumbs

  • Flour 

  • Water 

  • Seasoning (we used chicago, paprika, oregano) 

  • Oil for frying

For the garnish - you can do what you want BUT this caprese topping was SLAMMIN'

  • Tomatoes

  • Garlic

  • Mozzarella cubed 

  • Basil

  • Salt and Pepper 

  • Balsamic Glaze (used as a topper)

How to do this: 

Don't do ANYTHING to the eggplant - leave their top stem on!! That's KEY!!

Using a fork poke hole in the eggplants (like you do potatoes). Put on a baking sheet and bake for 30-45 mins at 400 degrees. They should be soft when done. Let them cool and pull the skin off. Literally use your fingers.. don't get weird. Once they are skinned - use a fork to flatten them. Don't get crazy on them though - just make them flatter - not FLAT AS PAPER. Use a clean towel or a ton of paper towel to pat these puppies dry dry dry so the batter sticks. 

Mix up 1 part flour to 1.25 part water and some seasoning of choice to make a loosey paste. So if it's just two eggplant use 1/2 cup flour to 3/4 cup water.  If you make more (which you should - see how to use the next day below) just keep the ratio similar. This isn't rocket science.. you should be able to drag the thing in it without it feeling like toothpaste... 

Take your eggplant and drag it through heavily seasoned panko. both sides... pat it in ... 

From there - put it in a shallow frying pan with oil and fry. frying until crisp on both sides. I am a bit of a hippy so I use mediocre olive oil (not the good stuff we usually use) for this so it takes a while because you have to keep the heat down in order to not burn your oil. So if you're frying in veggie or canola - you're good to crank it - that shit is so synthetic you can't burn it!! If you're using more sensitive nut oils - know your smoke point!! 

The topping - Chop all of the shit up and toss in a bowl. We tend to keep the balsamic as a garnish though and not mix that in. Put it on top. VOILA - I have just changed your mind on eggplant!! 

How to eat leftovers the next day: 

I recommend the night before having one too many glasses of wine or beer in order to make the most of the leftovers....Using some of KY Millstones sourdough bread - make an eggplant parmesan sandwich - leftover fried eggplant - mozzarella and parm cheese - tomato sauce. Warm. Eat. Take a Nap.. 





What is a CSA and How Does it Work?

Have you ever wondered where your food comes from? How it was grown? By who? And if it traveled further than you do on a yearly vacation? Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is a system that connects the producer and consumers within the food system more closely by allowing the consumer to subscribe to a farm's harvest.

You know where your food is coming from and you are helping maintain a local farm operation. You are supporting a small local farm while at the same time ensuring you know exactly where and how your food is grown and by whom.

How Does It Work?

Each week Fox Whistle Farm will grow fresh organically grown vegetables harvested weekly for you and your family to pick up at a designated location. Each week we try to switch it up and give a diverse bag of goodies. Sometimes you may even get something you’ve never had or seen before!

If something happens and you can’t make the pickup, alert Farmer Sara ASAP and we can arrange a time for you to pick up at the farm. If you go out of town, or just don’t want to pick up your share that week, you can gift your share to someone else. Pickup time and place remains the same.

What happens if I don’t pickup or gift my share, do I get my money back? The answer is no, the investment you make in the CSA is for all of the weeks regardless if you pickup or not. This initial investment allows the farm to purchase seeds and start of the season materials. Basically, the money is already spent.

What to Expect

Every week I will send a newsletter to let you know how the farm is doing. What’s growing, what’s not and why. How the farm animals are doing and what’s coming in your share that week. Usually there will be a recipe as well. This will give you and your family a peek into the weekly life of a small sustainable farm and what goes into it.

There is also an egg share you can add to your weekly pickup. Free range, pasture-raised, happy hens living their best life and providing us fresh eggs daily. A dozen eggs of multiple colors, brown, green, blue. Never any antibiotics or chemicals. This can be added to your cart on the website. There are a limited number of egg shares available.

We can’t guarantee any one vegetable since Mother Nature has the final say, but here’s a rough idea of what you can expect in your weekly shares:

Month of June:

Radish, kale, lettuces, sugar snap peas, shelling peas, snow peas, herbs, carrots, beets, swiss chard, spinach, arugula, bok choy.

Month of July:

Beets, lettuces, carrots, cucumber, green beans, herbs, summer squash, kale, swiss chard.

Month of August:

Cucumber, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, okra, carrots, beets, herbs, swiss chard, sweet corn, watermelon.

Month of September:

Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, kale, swiss chard, spinach, lettuces, green beans, herbs.

Month of October:

Butternut squash, spaghetti squash, delicata, acorn squash, kales, swiss chards, lettuces.

JOINING FORCES

Bringing you not only local sustainable veggies, but now meat too! 

Now you can round out your weekly CSA box by adding locally grown, sustainable meat. I'm so excited that Earl from Hampton Ridge will be offering a CSA meat box each week for pickup at the Covington farmers market. Here's a little bit about our new partner.

For over 10 years now, we at Hampton Ridge Farm have been dedicated to regenerative practices of agriculture in order to provide quality food to our community. We work with the Livestock conservancy out of North Carolina in order to save the bloodlines of Heritage Breed animals, traditional livestock breeds that were raised by our forefathers. The breeds of the bygone era, before industrial agriculture became mainstream.

Our ancestors knew the importance of these animals, not only the quality of food they would produce but the purpose they served in helping to take care of the land. To protect our soil. Without good soil, we have no nutrient dense food. It has been an honor to bring these practices back to our land and help save these important creatures by giving them a purpose again.

We have been selling our meats for 7 years now at the Covington Farmers Market and we are very excited to be now offering weekly boxes through this CSA. We hope you can see the difference in what we provide vs. what the industrial market has convinced you is “good quality” all these years.

You will find in your box each week, different cuts from our Freedom Range Chickens and our Large Black Hogs, as well as possibly from time to time some specialty cuts from our spanish goats or Horned Dorset lambs. This is more than just making a buck off you to us, we want to nurture, educate, and connect folks back to where their food comes from and to feel good about it in the end.

                                     - Earl 
                                                                      
HamptonRidgeFarm.com

The FWF website is being revamped to include the offering of locally grown sustainable meat box options. Another newsletter will go out soon with how to order your first CSA box of the season! Stay tuned! 

Spring 2023 is HERE

news from the farm

Hello Farm Fam! I hope your 2023 year is starting out amazing. We had a WILD 2022, the farm had a rough start with losing most of our summer starts which caused us to cancel our CSA. Which turned out to be bitter sweet when we found out a few months later that we were expecting a tiny farm hand later in the winter! We welcomed baby Honor on 11/1 and we are just over the moon with this tiny addition to our loving farm family. I can’t wait for you all to meet him! 

We are well into spring and jumping into the growing season. We have some major cleanup to do from last season when we had to walk away from our tools and crops mid season. We decided we needed to make a major change to how we start our seedlings this year and are working with Vermont Compost, the top of the line potting mix. It's the Chanel of dirt! We were lucky enough to get our hands on some in time! The cold weather crops are in the long greenhouse already and over 1300 heads of lettuce are seeded. Next up will be to start working the soil. I personally can't wait to get my hands dirty. The feeling of the fresh dirt and the warm sun on your back in the spring is therapy for me after a long winter of staying inside. Though my hear tand soul always welcome time on the couch with my. loved ones close by while we watch the fire roar. The soil and the farmers heal during the winter. 

A CSA that is easier for you

This season we are trying something new. A CSA experience that is a little more customizable for you and your busy life. The hardest part of participating in a CSA is the commitment of 20 weeks with no breaks. What if you're going on vacation? What if you have soccer tournaments out of town? What if you just wanna binge and eat out all week? Or maybe you want to have more one week. Now you can do all of these things! 

Starting in May the CSA shop will be opened on the Fox Whistle website. Once the boxes become available for each week, you can go to the site, choose the size box you want, add eggs and other extras, and choose your pickup location. This allows you the opportunity to make changes as needed. Throughout the season we will also offer deals on extras like - canning tomatoes, cucumbers for pickling, and other sweet deals. There's no commitment! Come and go as you please each week. 

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