This week:
2 lbs. Sugar snap peas /
1 English Cucumber /
1 bunch red beets /
4 nectarines /
1 Heirloom tomato /
1 bunch Italian parsley /
1 head Romaine lettuce /
1 bunch Lacinato kale /
1 half pint blueberries /
This week’s box is just about ready for a summer wedding, we have something old (heirloom tomatoes), something new (Sugar snap peas!), something borrowed (sweet nectarines from the east side) and something blue (You can probably figure it out).
It’s a good mix in the box this week, but as I look at it, the only combination that comes readily to mind (and by “comes readily to mind” I mean “I’m fixated on” is the prospect of blueberries and nectarines over vanilla ice cream, but you don’t need a recipe for that, so let’s see what else we can come up with…
I had better do my part to support the burgeoning barley renaissance here in Skagit County, so here is a recipe for Barley Salad with Green Garlic and Snap Peas by way of The Kitchn. Barley takes a little longer to cook than rice, especially if you use hulled—not pearled—which is hands down the more nutritious of the two. But unlike, rice, barley is a staple crop of the Pacific Northwest and well adapted as a rotational
One thing to note: The recipe calls for green garlic, which is different from both fresh garlic (harvested before the skin has dried) and garlic scapes (the distinctive, curly stalk harvested in the spring). Green garlic is the immature stalk of the garlic plant, harvested when it is the size of a large scallion or a small leek and used much the same way. Since we’re already late in the summer for green garlic, I’d recommend using regular garlic cloves, and roasting or sautéing them lightly until they lose just a little of that raw edge, then proceed with the recipe as described.
Okay! That’s it for now! Eat well and we’ll see you around the valley!
Yours,
The Chardmonger