Time to pick up your winter farm share and get some healthy recipes, too

Goranson family

Generally, when people sign up for a CSA, along with their farm share, they also get tips and recipes. That’s what they do at Goranson Farm. Jan Goranson, who owns the farm with her family, sent me two recipes.

They both call for spinach, which isn’t on their list of shares, but kale is and it’s a great spinach substitute. The kale they sell is small leaf, so it doesn’t have to be cooked as long as large leaf kale. The first recipe gives three options for cooking spinach or kale or most greens, for that matter.

The second recipe is for spinach or kale and turnips. I confess I didn’t learn to like turnips until a few years ago. I thought they were bitter because as a kid, what I was served were turnips that were boiled and mashed and that was that. This recipe has a bit more kick to it.

Jan says in this month’s share their white turnips are Hakurei. “A Japanese turnip that cooks up quite quickly,” she said. “They are sweeter than the purple top white turnip that grocers carry now, but certainly, any turnip can be used.”Both recipes came from one of Jan’s customers and were originally from the cookbook Classic Cooking from India by Dharam Jit Singh, Houghton Mifflin 1986.

If you want to know more about Goranson Farm, check out their website or Facebook page.

And by the way, spinach, kale, and turnips (root vegetable) are all really good for you. Time to get cooking.

Three ways to cook spinach or kale

Ingredients

• 2 pounds green spinach or kale
• water
• salt
• 2 onions
• 2 TBS butter
• 1 TBS green ginger (1/2) tsp powdered)

Instructions

Option #1

1. Wash the spinach or kale and chop it very fine.
2. Boil some water and cook until tender, using as little liquid as possible.
3. Slice the onions and fry in butter.
4. Ten minutes before serving the spinach, add the onions and butter, ginger, and salt.
5. Cook until all liquid is dried off.
6. Glaze for a few seconds over a high flame.

Option #2

1. Melt the butter and brown the onions.
2. Fry the chopped spinach or kale with the ginger for three minutes.
3. Add just enough water to cook.
4. Salt a few minutes before serving.

Option #3

1. Cook the spinach or kale in water until perfectly tender.
2. Remove from heat and strain coarsely or mash thoroughly with a heavy fork.
3. In a skillet, melt the butter, brown the onions, raise the flame high and add the spinach or kale with the ginger and salt.
4. Stir and cook in butter for five to 10 minutes.

Spinach with Turnips (substitute kale or other greens)

Ingredients

• 3 TBS butter
• 1 onion
• 3/4 TBS coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• strong pinch of cayenne pepper
• salt
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• 1 1/4 pounds baby white turnips
• 2 pounds spinach (or kale)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tomato, chopped

Instructions

1. Melt the butter and brown the onion, sliced.
2. Add the coriander, turmeric, cayenne, salt, and yogurt.
3. Cook very gently for 7 minutes, stirring a few times.
4. Add the turnips, split but not cut through and the spinach or kale, well chopped.
5. Mix well and cook for 12 to 15 minutes.
6. Pound the garlic to a paste with 1 cup of water. Splash this into the casserole, with the tomato, copped, and cook covered.
7. When the liquid dries, add water and repeat process, if necessary, until both turnips and spinach or kale are done.
8. This recipe will be ready in about 20 minutes (slow cooking, covered) after the garlic water has been added.

Serves 6.