Rhubarb in Camel CSA’s veg boxes this week

Rhubarb in our boxes is another sign that spring is here.

In all the boxes this week:-
*radishes
rhubarb (Mitchell Fruit Garden)
potatoes (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
beetroot (Restharrow)
onions (Restharrow)
red cabbage (Restharrow)
Jerusalem artichokes (Restharrow)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
leeks (Restharrow)
*kale/beet leaves
*mixed salad leaves

* = grown to organic principles
All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated.  Please wash all vegetables and fruit.

Try these delicious ways with rhubarb on Camel CSA’s recipe page:-
Rhubarb and custard cake
Delia’s rhubarb and almond crumble

Seasonal local food recipe No.321 – Radish and mint tzatziki

This recipe is from the latest West Country FoodLover magazine. It’s a topping for a Turkish pizza but I reckon it would be just as good with a curry.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
1 bunch (10-12) radishes
200g plain yoghurt
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
juice of 1/2 lemon, more to taste
1/2 tsp ground cumin

Method
Trim, wash and slice the radishes finely.  Mix with all the other ingredients and serve.

Radishes and bean sprouts in Camel CSA’s veg boxes

There’s nothing quite like the taste of sweet and crunchy new radishes as we come into spring.

In all our boxes this week:-
*radish bunch
*sprouted mung beans
*mixed salad leaves (rocket, baby chard, mizuma, golden mustard, red mustard, lettuce)
*onions
*cabbage (Camel CSA/Mark Norman, Bodmin)
beetroot (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*green tomato chutney (our own homemade)
*purple sprouting broccoli OR red Russian kale
leeks (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles
Please wash all vegetables and fruit. All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated.

Try these radish recipes on Camel CSA’s recipes page: –
Warm halloumi with radish, apple and pecan salad
Maharashtrian radish salad

Seasonal local food recipe No.295 – Hugh’s radish, mint and spring onion salsa

This taken from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s book River Cottage Light and Easy.  Hugh says “Crisp, crunchy and pretty, this colourful little side is delicious with chicken or fish.”

Serves 4-6

Preparation time; 10-15 minutes

Ingredients
150 g radishes
5-6 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
2 Tbsp chopped mint
2 Tbsp extra virgin rapeseed or olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Trim the radishes, roughly chop them and put in a bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients, leave for 10-15 minutes if possible, then toss well and serve.

Radishes and spring onions in Camel CSA’s veg boxes

The summer salad veg are ripening fast. Some of us also have the first of the cucumber crop this week, with plenty more to come.  Plenty!

In all our boxes this week:-
*radishes
*spring onions
*parsley
*new potatoes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
*calabrese OR spinach (Mark Norman  / Camel CSA)
*cauliflower (Mark)
*cabbage (Mark)

Standard boxes also have: –
extra new potatoes
*kohlrabi (how to use it)
*carrots
*peas OR cucumber

* = grown to organic principles.  All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated.  Please wash all vegetables and fruit carefully.

More radishes and plenty of chard in the veg boxes

Everyone is getting extra shares of chard and spinach at the moment as we experience a glut of this delicious and versatile green vegetable. The increased warmth and light is bringing on other over-wintered crops like mixed salad leaves and parsley as well as the early sowings of radishes and spring onions.

In all the boxes this week:

* radishes
* Swiss chard
* turnips
white or purple sprouting broccoli
(Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
leeks (Restharrow)
cauliflower (Restharrow)
potatoes 'Wilja'(Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:

extra potatoes
* parsley
* mixed salad bag
red cabbage (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles. All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise stated

Please ensure you wash all vegetables carefully

This week’s recommended recipes from our website archive:

Maharashtrian radish salad    
Warm halloumi with radish, apple and pecan salad

Radishes, bean sprouts and oriental stir-fry leaves in our veg boxes this week

Lots more freshly-picked and flavoursome veg to enjoy in Camel CSA’s weekly vegetable boxes.

All boxes have: –
* radish bunch (Camel CSA)
* sprouted mung beans (Camel CSA)
* stir-fry oriental leaves – mibuna, mizuna, spinach (Camel CSA)
* mixed salad bag (Camel CSA)
* purple sprouting broccoli (Camel CSA/Restharrow)
leeks  (Restharrow)
potatoes ‘Wilja’ (Restharrow)

Standard boxes also have: –
extra 500g potatoes
* rhubarb (Camel CSA)
* red Russian kale (Camel CSA)
* swede (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles
** baby leaf beet, lettuce, rocket,  red mustard and golden mustard greens

It’s time to… sow indoor radishes and tend our winter salad crops

The ground outside may be saturated, but Camel CSA’s growers have plenty to do in the polytunnels.

Seasonal local food recipe No.182: Warm halloumi with radish, apple and pecan salad

It turns out that the latest casualty of the financial crisis in Cyprus may be halloumi cheese. Not withstanding, if you like halloumi this recipe is for you. It uses both the polytunnel-grown radishes and mixed salad in Camel CSA’s veg boxes this week. It’s adapted from a recipe at BBC GoodFood.

Serves: 4
Preparation/cooking time: around 30 minutes

Ingredients
juice of 1½ limes
½ tbsp wholegrain mustard
½ tbsp honey
1½ eating apples, cored and thinly sliced
1 pear, cored and sliced into matchsticks
1½ tbsp olive oil
2 x 250g packs halloumi cheese, each block sliced into three
150g radishes, thinly sliced
2 small carrots, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
50g pecans (or walnuts), roughly chopped
70g mixed salad leaves

Method
To make the dressing, whisk together the lime juice, mustard, honey, oil and some seasoning. Pour half into a large bowl, add the sliced apples and pears, then gently toss everything together so all the fruit is coated. Cover and set aside. The fruit will sit happily now for up to 3 hrs without browning.

When you’re ready to eat, warm a large frying pan over a medium heat. Season the slices of halloumi with pepper (it doesn’t need any salt as it’s quite a salty cheese), then fry in batches for 2-3 mins on each side until the cheese is golden brown and beginning to crisp. You can keep the halloumi warm in a low oven while you fry the rest.

At the last minute, scoop the apples and pears out of the dressing (it will have gone watery with the moisture of the fruit, so discard), and layer up on a large platter with the radishes, carrot sticks, pecans or walnuts and mixed salad leaves. Top with the halloumi slices, then drizzle over the remaining dressing.

It’s time to… sow radishes and plant more onion sets

We’ve been enjoying some ideal growing weather in Cornwall. We had south-west gales and torrential rain on Easter Monday (which sent the tourists scurrying home early) followed by several days of spring showers and warm sunshine.

So we’ve been hard at work planting hundreds more onion sets and sowing radishes.

We’ve also planted out bunched spring onions and shallots, spring cabbage and some colourful ruby red and canary yellow leaf beet (perpetual spinach).