CSA #5

Dear CSA-ers,

This week’s preassembled bag will include Tatsoi, Romaine, Swiss Chard, Mint, Caraflex Cabbage, Carrots, and Spring Garlic. If you would like to custom assemble your bag, you can do so at: https://magneyfarm.locallygrown.net/market
The online market will be open for this week until Tuesday night.

We’ve had another big week here on the farm. Those of you who have been following our facebook page have likely seen some of the photos from our updated and expanded greenhouse. We’ve been working on this project since early March and it’s been very satisfying to see it come to fruition. We moved the existing seedlings to their new location on Tuesday. The renovated tunnel is a tremendous leap forward. It quintuples our seedling production capacity, gets more sunlight, airflow, and is more conveniently located for the planned expansions of our outdoor grow beds. Your support of our farm as CSA members is largely responsible for our ability to increase both our capacity and quality through improvements like this. Thank you.
A vegetable we’d like to highlight this week is Tatsoi. Tatsoi is a leafy green hailing from Asia. It is similar to bok choy, but with smaller, more numerous leaves. The leaves have a mellow flavor and it is well suited to both stir fries or eating raw as an addition to salad mixes. Nutritionally the vegetable is high in Vitamin C and Folate. This vegetable is rarely seen in the United States, and we are so excited to grow for you this exclusive item.

Tatsoi Citrus Salad

1. 1 head (3 small) of fresh Tatsoi
2. 3 small ripe Clementines (substitute canned Mandarin Oranges)
3. ½ red bell pepper
4. A few slices of a red onion
5. 25 roasted almonds
6. A pinch of salt
7. ¼ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
8. ½ tablespoon of Dijon mustard
9. ½ honey
10. 1 tablespoon of Orange Marmalade
11. 1.5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
12. Juice of half a lemon
Peel and thinly slice the three Clementines and place them in a large salad bowl. Thinly slice the red onion and wash the slices under cold water (this allows some of the pungency to be washed off) and then dry them with a paper towel. Slice the red bell pepper into bite sized pieces and place them in the bowl.
Wash Tatsoi under cold water and dry it completely with kitchen towels or in a salad spinner. Place the leaves in the salad bowl. The stems of Tatsoi are edible but would be a bit stringy in the salad, so I didn’t use them in the salad. But they add a lot of flavor to vegetable broth so I’ll keep them for use later. Using a sharp knife coarsely chop the roasted almonds. Add the chopped almonds and the onion pieces to the bowl.
Combine the Dijon mustard, Orange marmalade, honey, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small dish and whisk them all together till the liquids get emulsified to make a dressing. Drizzle the dressing over the salad bowl and toss everything together (gently) with a pair of salad serves. Serve the salad immediately so that the leaves do not wilt from the dressing.

If you’ve got feedback on tatsoi, or any of our vegetables, we’d love to hear it! Your input helps us know how to plan our future plantings. We’re so glad to have you a part of our extended team.

Sincerely,
The Magney Legacy Ridge Farm Team