4.30.2011

Weekly Box Time Is Here

[Posted by Ruth]

Our Spring Farm Share from Stone Gardens Farm  will now be sending us a box a week.  This means I will no longer be found frowning and muttering in the produce section of my local store.  Just in time, I think I was starting to scare people.  Here's what we got this week:


A large bunch of Dandelion Greens
A bag of Spinach
A bag of baby Kale
A bag of baby Lettuce
Small bunch of Radishes
Large bunch of Scallions
1 dozen Eggs
We added in 1 cut up chicken and were also able to get 4 more packages of their terrific Ground Beef.


I got everything washed and prepped right away.  Last year taught me how important it is to do this.  We went for the Dandelion Greens first and had them Thursday night.  


Lamb and Dandelion Greens




This is a little bit of a cheat since the instructions should read, "First, cook too much lamb for Easter dinner."  We used up our leftover lamb with this dish, but you could use any leftover lamb, beef, pork or chicken to add meat to this.




Approx 3 cups cooked lamb (or other meat) cut into small cubes
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 T olive oil
1 bunch Dandelion Greens, washed, spun dry and coarsely chopped
Zest of 1/2 lemon, finely chopped
1 T Herbs de Provence (if you don't have this a mixture of thyme and tarragon can be substituted)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/3 cup cream




Heat olive oil in a large heavy pan over medium heat, add the onions and garlic and cook slowly until softened and a bit caramelized.  Stir in meat and the Herbs de Provence and continue heating until it warms through.  Add in the dandelion greens and lemon zest and cook stirring until the greens are wilted.  Stir in the cream, salt and pepper and cook over slightly higher heat until the cream thickens.  Serve over rice, grains or pasta.




One caution on dandelion greens.  Wash them thoroughly by submerging them in several changes of water.  Do this until you are sure they are clean and then do it about 2 more times.  Just rinsing will not get all the dirt out.