Pumpkin Head
We bought a pumpkin big and round
that lived the summer through
without an eye to look at things …
and now it looks through two.
It used to be all dark inside
when growing on the vine,
but now it has a toothy smile
and face that’s full of shine.
– Aileen Fisher
Last week of pumpkins – in honor of halloween. If you don’t want to eat them both, at least you can carve them!! They will keep for weeks or even months if you don’t carve them, so you can wait until you have your pumpkin craving.
This will also be the last week for peppers. If you have been collecting them, this might be a good time to stuff some. Or just cut them in half and take the seeds out – then freeze them and you can stuff them later. I always freeze peppers for winter because I have a hard time finding organic peppers. It is worth noting that the environmental working group put bell peppers on its list of 12 foods most contaminated with pesticides.
We will have turnips again this week, and kohlrabi, AND last week for cabbage. Typically, I try to put things in the buckets for two weeks in a row so the half shares won’t miss anything!!
If your having trouble eating all your kohlrabi – remember it is a member of the cabbage family of cruciferous vegetables and therefore has a place among the world’s healthiest foods. It contains insoles, sulforaphane and isothiocynates – cancer fighting photochemicals. It’s also a good source of vitamin C and potassium. It’s great raw – as a snack – so no fuss there!!
What’s in the bucket? Turnips, pumpkin, bell peppers, kohlrabi, cabbage, daikon radishes (see link from last week’s blog). We will also throw in some greens this week – turnip or mustard.
We will be having hot pepper jelly again this week – again, so the half shares don’t miss it. It is excellent on a piece of cornbread – or with cream cheese and crackers. Also pretty good on a turkey or cheese sandwich! It will also keep up to a year, so save it for something special if you wish.
Next – a recipe for Vegetable Ceviche. If you don’t have carrots left over from a few weeks ago, substitute peppers. Turnips sliced thin along with the radishes is a nice addition too!
Serves 6-8 as a side dish
For the marinade/ dressing:
3 tblspoon Good Quality Olive Oil
3 tblspoon Cider Vinegar
1 large Garlic Clove
1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds (whole)
1 Large Lemon- Juice only
Ground Black Pepper to taste
For the Salad (you can use the quantities you prefer if you would rather have more radish than carrot etc):
1 large Kohlrabi or two smaller ones (I read that if its larger than a tennis ball then it can be slightly bitter so I’d suggest two smaller ones)
10-12 Radishes/Daikon Radishes
4 Carrots
Handful of seed mix – I used Sunflower seeds, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds
Handful of Carrot leaves as a garnish, or parsley
Mix all of the ingredients for the dressing in a large bowl and put to one side.
Peel the Kohlrabi (I kept peeling untill it no longer had any green on it and was just white) then thinly slice it using a sharp knife. Place the slices of Kohlrabi into the bowl of dressing and mix so it is all coated.
Wash and peel the carrots then thinly slice them. For the thicker part of the carrot I First sliced it into half or quarters lengthways and then continued to slice the carrot. I often don’t peel my carrots but because this dish is quite neat and pretty I think it is necessary.
Wash and thinly slice the Radishes then add them and the carrots into the bowl with the kohlrabi and mix. Leave this in the bowl for around 30 mins.
Take your platter tray or plate and first layer the Kohlrabi slices over lapping them so they create a full base. You can do this in circles on a round plate or in a long line like I have.
Scatter the radishes and carrots over the Kohlrabi so that everything is evenly spread, then add a sprinkle of seeds and a garnish of carrot tops! This will start to build character as you build up all of the ingredients.
Finally drizzle the dressing from the bowl over the platter and then serve!
Happy Eating and thanks for buying local food from Circle S. PS. Don’t despair – next week it will be back to greens and beets….