Followup from Share Week #1, by Angela

The rainwater tanks are officially full! Torrential waterfalls spewed from the overflow spouts this past Friday during the persistent rainfall (notably, there was no waterfall in the entryway due to our new gutters, though still much flooding from the sheer quantity of liquid dropping from the sky).

Washed clean from a long winter, the rain has opened a new season on the farm in much the same way the spring-greens-filled shares may nourish your bodies with a transitioning shift. Green foods, as a whole, are purifying and promote renewal. Through the many explanations of nutrition and science that I don't fully understand, humans thrive on the consumption of chlorophyll ("the blood and green-coloring principle of plant life").

Week #1's beautiful share of garlic scapes, Tokyo bekana,
kale, romaine lettuce (huge!), & spinach!

As your body applauds the kales, lettuces, Asian greens, etcetera; may you be renewed with your return to the farm, just as the farm leaps with delight in the presence of community within the fence line. Membership is still available for your friends or family to join us this season. Please email redhillfarm@osfphila.org or call (610) 558-6799 for a registration form or more information about membership. (New membership registrations will be prorated for pickup dates that have already passed.)

Toyko Bekana, by Melinda

Tokyo Bekana is a wonderfully sweet, tender, Asian green.  It's light greenish in color and can be used instead of lettuce in a salad or in place of cabbage in a slaw.  As the folks at "The Funny Farm" blog describe it, "So. Tokyo Bekana. Looks like lettuce. It has a nice sweet flavor with the crunchy crisp texture of lettuce. It is a type of mustard (Brassica juncea) so has lots of antioxidants and other nutrients. It is easy to grow. It is prolific. It has withstood 15 degree cold. Supposedly it will grow in summer [here in Atlanta, GA]. I will find out this year about that. It is an open-pollinated heirloom variety, so the seeds can be saved and replanted."

Tokyo Bekana (source)

I have to say that it's one of my favorite greens. Just a couple general suggestions about Tokyo Bekana. As noted above, it's terrific raw, torn up in salads; you can slice it and make it into slaw with some sort of mayo-like dressing; you can saute it with other greens like kale and spinach and use it as a layer in a lasagna dish; it's good in stir fries; and I would imagine (I plan to try this) that it would be lovely in a delicately flavored miso soup, perhaps along with some chopped tofu, mushrooms, and/or edamame (green soy beans, called "sweet beans" in the South).  OK, a couple recipes.

Tokyo Bekana Salad with Crunchies

The Greens

• One head or bunch of Tokyo Bekana [this salad can also be made with Bok Choi or Napa cabbage, but Tokyo Bekana is tenderer]
• Cilantro to taste
• Green onions (scallions) to taste

The Dressing

• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 1/2 tsp agave syrup or honey

The Crunchies

• 1 tsp canola or other mild oil
• 1 bag ramen noodles (use only the noodles, not the flavor packet)
• 1/3 cup slivered almonds

To prepare greens, cut the very end of the stems off the Tokyo Bekana stalks. Coarsely chop remaining leaves & stems into 1/2-inch pieces. Chop up the scallions and cilantro and add to the Tokyo Bekana (use as much or little scallion and cilantro as suits your taste).

Mix together all the dressing ingredients in a jar or bottle and shake it up really well (shake again before using).

To prepare the crunchies, lay the unopened bag of ramen noodles on the counter and whack them with something heavy (rolling pin? mallet? can of soup?) until they're fully crushed.  Sounds like something your kids might enjoy!  But do try not to pop the bag & have the noodles scatter over the floor where the dog will eat them. Heat a skillet over medium-low heat and add 1 tsp canola oil. When hot, pour in the noodles (discarding flavor packet) and the almonds. Stirring occasionally, cook till the noodles are golden brown.

Combine everything in salad bowl, toss, & enjoy!  (Click here for recipe source, the "From Scratch Club")

Hot Poppin' Tokyo Bekana (Gluten-Free)

• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 small pieces chopped fresh ginger
• mounds of Tokyo Bekana
• 2 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce
• 1 tbsp brown rice vinegar

In a wok or large skillet, warm sesame oil on medium heat. Add sesame seeds and stir till you're overwhelmed with the nutty fragrance, the seeds darken a bit, and you wish you had a spring roll. [Melinda loves the way this woman writes!]  Add the garlic & ginger, but watch out! (The sesame seeds freaked out and flew out of the pan in all directions when I added the garlic and ginger. This was quite a surprise to me, but I persevered through the stings, and I stirred, yelped, and danced in front of the stove....) After a minute, add greens by the handful, cooking them down. In 3-5 minutes, they'll still be a beautiful, light, spring green, and the stems should still be crunchy. Serve the greens with plain quinoa. The nutty taste complements the Asian flavor of the greens. Drizzle with leftover saute sauce.  (Recipe source, Gluten-Free Cat!)

Hot Poppin' Tokyo Bekana (source)

I'll end by saying it's very difficult to find recipes for Tokyo Bekana. Not even many CSAs grow it, so we're lucky to have it!

Oriental Greens, by Melinda

Tokyo Bekana leaves

We're getting three types of wonderful Oriental greens from our hoophouses this Friday the 25th, though you may or may not be familiar with them already, depending on whether you tried them this past summer. (My, how long ago that heat seems on a frigid day like today!)  But they are *delicious*!  The first one is Tokyo Bekana (see left) a mild-tasting member of the mustard family (as many Oriental greens are); it's related to Chinese bok choi but is even more tender.  In fact, it's so tender that it's quite suitable in salads, yet it also can be used in quick stir-fries or chopped into soups, stews, and so forth.  When Tokyo Bekana is mature, it looks something like a head of celery, with stalks and leaves, but when it's "baby," you get primarily the super-tender leaves.  Yum!

Komatsuna

Like its cousin, Tokyo Bekana, our second green, Komatsuna (aka Japanese Mustard Spinach) is also related to mustard (but milder) as well as to the common turnip. It can be used in salads and smoothies, or sauteed, stir-fried, steamed, boiled or pickled.  It too has both stems and leaves at maturity, but more leaf than stem when young.

Yukina Savoy

The third of our greens, Yukina Savoy, shares all these traits, though it looks more like a Tat Soi with a savoyed (crinkled) leaf.  (It becomes more crinkly as it matures--don't we all??!!)  It too can be eaten in salads or in all of the other ways listed above.

All three of these greens are cold-weather growers and don't do well in summer heat.  So hooray for the hoophouse!  There are all kinds of recipes for these greens, savory or sweet, raw or cooked, vegan, vegetarian, or carnivorous.  Also some gluten-free recipes.  Devorah was right:  Google Search is your best friend when it comes to finding such recipes.  Meanwhile, here are a few that exemplify different treatments for the various greens.

Hot Poppin' Tokyo Bekana--vegan and gluten-free (source)

• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 small pieces chopped fresh ginger
• a mound (or mounds) of Tokyo Bekana [you can supplement with other greens if you wish]
• 2 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce
• 1 tbsp brown rice vinegar [or regular rice vinegar]

In a wok, warm sesame oil on medium heat. Add sesame seeds & stir till you're overwhelmed w/ the nutty fragrance & the seeds darken [but don't burn!]. Add garlic & ginger, but be careful of the popping, shooting sesame seeds when you add the moist ingredients. After a minute, add the greens by the handful, cooking them down. In 3-5 min. they will still be beautiful, light spring green.  Serve warm.   For more greens recipes, including Tokyo Bekana, click here.

Komatsuna Smoothie--vegan and gluten-free (source)

• 1 banana
• 1 pear, cubed
• small handful flatleaf parsley
• handful of Komatsuna leaves
• 8 ice cubes
• 1 tbsp flax meal
• hemp milk to cover

Put all ingredients in blender and whiz till smooth.   For more Komatsuna and other Asian-greens recipes, click here.  If you're an omnivore, check out this recipe for a Komatsuna Souffled Omelet.

Moroccan Yukina Savoy Red Quinoa Skillet--serves 6; vegan and gluten-free (source)

• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 1/2 cups carrots, chopped
• 2 cans white cannellini beans, drained & rinsed (or equivalent of dry beans, cooked)
• 2 bunches Yukina Savoy or 4 cups of another green (kale, spinach, bok choi)
• 1 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1 cup red quinoa
• 3 cups gluten-free veggie stock
• 1 handful chopped parsley

Put red quinoa in a bowl of water and soak while preparing the next four steps.  1) Combine paprika, cumin, salt, & pepper in small bowl; set aside.  2) Zest the lemon, juice it, and set them aside separately.  3) Chop Yukina Savoy and set aside separately, along w/ chopped onion and carrots.  4) Heat olive oil in a large skillet or wok on medium heat & saute minced garlic till it's lightly browned. Add onions, lemon zest, & apricots & cook till onions are soft. Drain & rinse the red quinoa & add it to the skillet. Then add lemon juice, carrots, beans, spices, and stock. Raise heat & bring mix to a boil; stir for 3-5 min. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 min. or till the liquid is absorbed. Add chopped Yukina Savoy (or green of your choice), stir to combine, and cover for 5 min. or till the greens have softened. Keep covered, remove from heat, and let it sit for 5 min. Gently stir and serve; garnish with parsley if desired. For two more Yukina Savoy recipes, one vegetarian and one for the carnivores, see here.  For the steak-based recipe of the two, you can also see here.