CSA Week 2, Welcome Summer Members

Vegetable List
Gonzales Cabbage
Bunch 'o' Carrots
Clientele Collards
Jericho Head Lettuce
Pint 'o' Sugar Snap Peas
Cherry Belle Radishes
Winter Ice Scallions
Spoon Spinach
Some Kind Of Zucchini and/or Summer Squash


Notes from the Farm
So Collard Greens sometimes throw folks for a loop... but this day, today, is not that day. Today you will master Collard Greens. You will do it with shrimp, or peanut butter, or cornmeal. Today you will embrace the unwieldy cooking times, the elaborate multi-stage directions. Today you will throw off the hard-held-hangups about cooking greens. BECAUSE TODAY IS YOUR INDEPENDANCE DAY (from feeling less than inspired by collard greens)...
Hope you're all having a great beginning of the summer... we're glad you're aboard.


Recipes
Shrimp with Bacon and Collards
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup long-grain white rice
4 slices bacon, thinly sliced crosswise
1 garlic clove, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced medium
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 bunch collard greens, center ribs removed, leaves sliced crosswise
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Hot-pepper sauce, such as Tabasco, for serving
1. In a small saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups salted water to a boil. Add rice and return to a boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook until rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon, stirring occasionally, over medium until browned and crisp, about 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Add garlic and onion to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and collards; season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until collards are tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Wipe skillet clean.
3. In skillet, heat oil over medium-high and add shrimp. Season with salt and pepper and cook, undisturbed, 2 minutes. Add collard mixture and cook until shrimp are opaque throughout, 2 minutes. To serve, spoon mixture over rice and top with bacon and a few dashes hot sauce.


Creamed Collard Greens with Peanut Butter and Chile
2 lb. collard green leaves, roughly chopped (12 cups)
1 cup dried shrimp
4 Scotch bonnet or habanero chiles, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
1 1⁄2 medium yellow onions (1 roughly chopped, 1⁄2 sliced into 1⁄4-inch-thick rings)
1 vine-ripe tomato, cored, seeded, and roughly chopped
4 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1⁄2 cup natural peanut butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan and season with salt. Add the collard greens, cover, and cook until the leaves are tender and wilted, about 5 minutes. Drain the leaves in a colander set over a bowl and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Place the leaves and reserved liquid in a blender, purée until smooth, and scrape the paste into a bowl.
Clean the blender and return it to its base. In the blender, combine the dried shrimp with three-quarters of the chiles, half the chopped onion, and the fresh tomato and purée until smooth. In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons palm oil over medium-high. Add the remaining half of the chopped onion and the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until the onions are soft and lightly caramelized, 6 to 8 minutes. Scrape the shrimp and tomato paste into the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until lightly caramelized, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the puréed collard greens and peanut butter, and mash until evenly combined. Season the greens with salt and pepper and scrape into a serving dish.
In a 10-inch skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons palm oil over high, add the onion rings, and cook, stirring, until soft and slightly caramelized, about 5 minutes. Arrange the onion rings over the collards and garnish with the remaining chile.


Collard Greens, Cornmeal, and Sausage Soup1⁄2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tbsp. canola oil
6 oz. kielbasa sausage, cut diagonally into 1⁄4"-thick slices
7 cups chicken stock
4 oz. collard greens, stemmed and thinly sliced crosswise
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 scallions, thinly sliced

Heat cornmeal in a 10" skillet over medium-high heat and cook, swirling pan constantly, until lightly toasted and fragrant, about 3–4 minutes. Transfer cornmeal to a bowl; set aside. Heat oil in skillet and add sausages; cook, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Bring chicken stock to a boil in a 6-qt. pot over high heat. Whisk in reserved cornmeal, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, whisking often, until cornmeal is tender, about 40 minutes. Stir in reserved sausages and collards and cook, stirring occasionally, until collards wilt, 15 minutes. Place eggs in a medium bowl and add 1 cup cornmeal mixture; whisk until smooth. Return mixture to pot and stir until incorporated; cook for 1 minute more and season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into 6 serving bowls and garnish with scallions; serve hot.