11/24 box

Sweet Potatoes - Pi Farm

A quintessential Thanksgiving food, these sweet potatoes are the star of such dishes as sweet potato casserole (this version is topped with pecans), sweet potato pie (here's a smaller alternative to the full pie), or just as standalone baked sweet potatoes.

For a twist, try these baked maple pecan sweet potatoes made with lime juice, or these ones, cubed and roasted with coconut oil. Or, use some apples from last week to make this sweet potato and apple soup.

Don't celebrate Thanksgiving? No worries. These recipes are equally delicious in non-festive environments and easily scalable depending on how overfull you want to be come Thursday.

Here are the past blurbs from 11/5, 10/14, and 10/22.

These carrots can be simply roasted with olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper. Or, use some of last week's turmeric for this spicier twist to roasted carrots (season to taste). If you have five spice at home, take it in another direction and roast with ginger and other Asian flavors. Of course, roasting isn't the only simple preparation for these flavorful, fresh carrots. They can also be grated into various salads, from a classic carrot salad with apples and raisins, to this simple French version, made into soup, sautéed, or eaten raw.

Click here for the previous blurb on carrots.

Yukina savoy recipes are few and far between on the internet. Instead, search for spinach recipes and simply replace the spinach with the yukina savoy. This is our second week with these Asian greens. Edible both raw and cooked, they can be eaten in soup (can also be replaced by mustard greens in this preparation), braised with radishes or other root vegetables, stir fry with tofu or mushrooms, creamed, or in this simple garlic and ginger preparation that doesn't even use oil.

Here's a pdf with more information on how to store and use yukina savoy.

Click here for last week's yukina savoy blurb.

Making traditional Southern collard greens can be a painstaking exercise in patience, especially if there are eight other things that need to happen in the kitchen pre-Thanksgiving. For some faster alternatives, try this quick and simple skillet-cooked recipe with apples and pecans, creamed collard greens, or this 15-minute Brazilian preparation that only takes a bit of olive oil and garlic.

For other ideas, make a hearty gratin, using either collards alone, or mixing it up with kale and/or sweet potatoes. Or, try them coconut-braised, in lasagna, or in this soup designed to use up any leftover turkey.

Check out this list or our past blurbs from 10/14, 10/22, 10/29, 11/5, 11/12, and 11/19 for more recipes.

Kale - Pi Farm

After a few weeks of absence, kale is returning to our boxes this week. Try this simple side salad with lemon-garlic dressing, or this recipe that also includes apples and pecans. Or, go back to the basics by popping individual leaves in the oven with a bit of olive oil for our kale chip recipe from the very first week (or try this quick microwave version). For a twist, try these two sauté recipes that switch up some of the ingredients: one calls for smoked paprika, the other uses red wine vinegar or orange juice for a particularly tender and flavorful take on basic sautéed greens.

Here's a list of additional recipes for kale. You can also check the blurbs from 10/8, 10/22, 10/29, and 11/5.

Lettuce - Pi Farm

Other than its role as a fundamental salad green, or adding crunch to sandwiches, tacos, wraps, spring rolls, and what have you, lettuce can also be pan-roasted for a simple crispy and tender side dish, stir-fried, grilled, braised, puréed into soup, or simply tossed into soup by the handful. It can also serve as a wrap or vehicle for any toppings you want, from this recipe for pickled vegetables in a lettuce cup to this snack idea for "ladybugs on a leaf" (replace goji berries with cranberries, raisins or whatever dried fruit you might have on hand).

Here's a list of even more lettuce recipes.

(repost from 11/19)

Mustard Greens- Community Herd

Mustard greens are back! Like yukina savoy, they can be used as a spinach substitute. Unlike yukina savoy, it has a stronger, not milder taste than spinach, and can have a sharp, bitter edge. To get rid of some of that bitterness in salads, mix them with other greens. In cooking, blanche them, add salt or acid, or braise them. Here's a recipe that uses practically all of those techniques. You can also make them creamy, bake with ricotta or pasta, make a simple greens gumbo, or even batter and fry them.

Here's a site with many additional specific cooking tips and ideas for getting the most out of your mustard greens.

Past blurbs can be found on 10/29 and 11/12.

Assorted Butters - Banner Butter

Because we were unable to get our normal milk by Tuesday, we're replacing it with small-batch, cultured butter from Banner Butter. Made with the cream of local, grass-fed cows, we have a mixed assortment of 5oz pats of Unsalted; Sea Salt; Cinnamon, Cardamom, and Ginger; Smoked Sea Salt; and Roasted Garlic, Basil, and Parsley. While we don't know which one you'll get, they are all delicious and much more flavorful than your average store-bought butter.

The butter can be stored in the freezer for up to 12 months, but once it's opened, it should be refrigerated and used within 6 weeks.

Click here for more information about Banner Butter.

Elliot Pecans - Koinonia Farm

A specialty of the Southeast, Elliot pecans are a variety of pecan known for its sweet flavor, high oil content, and buttery crunch. They are noticeably smaller and more rounded than other kinds of pecans. Their sweet flavor makes them perfect for baking or snacking, such as in these recipes for praline and caramel pecan apples. Or, try these pecan tassies, which pack pecan pie flavor into smaller, at-home Thanksgiving portions. If you'd rather have them savory, try topping meat dishes with crushed pecans for crunch or eat them in salads and sandwiches (see kale). See this list for more recipes and ideas.

This week's extra comes from Koinonia Farm. Perhaps the excess of vowels sounds familiar; like Paideia, "koinonia" is a Greek word, one that means "communion" or "community". An intentional Christian community in Georgia, they are most known for being the founding force behind Habitats for Humanity, which grew out of their housing ministry. Read more about them here.