CSA Week 7

Vegetable List
Oh Boy! Beets
Lucious Sweet Corn
Cucumborama
Fairy Tale Eggplant
Jericho Head Lettuce
Ride The Red Bull Onion
Parsley
Green Bell Peppers
Quart 'o' New Potatoes
Sungolds
Purple Top Globe Turnips
Some Kind Of Zucchini and/or Summer Squash


Notes from the Farm
Is there truly free will? Can the will be free? Is there really a line between want and need? Nothing makes me dive further into arbitrary existential crisis than the passion wracked history of the turnip and the potato...
The turnip simply ruled Medieval Europe... It was a peerless vegetable... easily grown, easily stored, maddeningly nutritious. The bulk of the non-noble (and noble for that matter) diet was made of turnip... as it turns out, turnips have a rich nutritional value comprising of vitamins K, A, C, E, B1, B3, B5, B6, B2 and folate as well as minerals like manganese, fiber, potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium and copper. It is also a good source of phosphorus, omega-3 fatty acids and protein... folate and protein folks... folate and protein. It is, in a simpler time, the perfect food... then came the friggin potato.
Round about 1500, the first wave of New World explorers came back to Europe bringing all kinds of great stuff... corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, beans, tobacco, indigo, and, you guessed it, potatoes... Potatoes caught on like the Macarena at a mid-90's wedding... everybody was doing it, it was horrifying, but you couldn't stop, you couldn't look away. And while potatoes can provide solid nutrition, problems can arise because of their effect on blood sugar. Potatoes cause more of an increase in blood sugar than table sugar... it is a good source of vitamin C, vitamin B-6, niacin, folate, magnesium, manganese and potassium, and a good source of fiber when you eat the skin... but a turnip it isn't.
People loved the potato, because, well, it wasn't a turnip... lets be fair, turnips are great, but there is something to be said for the go-a-long potato... the turnip is the won't-shut-up vegetable in your mouth... the potato is the comforting listener. Turnips are sharper and emboldened... potatoes are smooth and bewitching... the turnip didn't stand a chance... and neither did the nutritional well being of the bulk of Europe.
I won't bore you with the details, but essentially modern malnutrition in Europe started the day the potato triumphantly kaboomed on the shores of the Old World... google it, it's fascinating.
And this brings me back to the beginning... my fear that there is no free will. I know that turnips are better for me than potatoes. I know that I like turnips. I've enjoyed turnips prepared a thousand different ways... but put before me, the virtuous turnip or the hell-bound-flaming-skeleton-colon-ravaging-blood-sugar-spiking-devil-tempter potato, I choose the potato every time.
If I always make that choice, a choice that is clearly less good for me, do I really have a choice? I'd like to think yes... but I'm really not sure, and I really hope that you all can help find a path through the unending chaotic mess of potato desire, to a land of balance... a land of the yin and the yang... a land where potatoes and turnips can enjoy a Cialis-style sunset in matching tubs on a beach, together, in harmony, at long last.
Recipes
Roasted Turnips with Parmesan
2 pounds turnips (about 4 medium), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1/2 ounce)
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, combine turnips, cayenne, nutmeg, and oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss well to coat. Sprinkle with Parmesan and toss gently to combine. Arrange turnips in a single layer and roast until golden on both sides, 25 to 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Honey-Glazed Turnips
1 1/2 pounds turnips (about 3 medium), peeled and diced large
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup water
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
In a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, combine turnips, honey, butter, and water. Season with salt and pepper. Bring liquid to a boil over medium-high, then reduce to a rapid simmer. Cover and cook until turnips are just tender, 10 minutes. Uncover, bring liquid back to a boil, and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is almost reduced, 10 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring often, until turnips are barely golden and glazed, 3 minutes more. Season with salt, pepper, and fresh lemon juice.
Salt 'n' Vinegar Roasted Potatoes
1 1/2 pounds small round or fingerling potatoes
Coarse salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup malt vinegar
In a medium pot, bring potatoes to a boil over high in salted water. Reduce heat and cook at a rapid simmer until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, about 20 minutes; drain. Place a folded dish towel on a work surface and place a potato inside. Gently smash potato so that it is flattened but still in one piece (edges will split). Repeat with remaining potatoes.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil. Place potatoes on sheet and brush tops with 1 tablespoon oil. Bake until crisp and golden, 35 minutes, flipping them halfway through. Remove from oven, toss with vinegar, and season with salt.