Market Basket 101

Hello All

Last night we picked up the first of 20 market baskets from Stoneybrook Farm located in Hillsboro, VA. I love surprises, and purchasing our share this season, means I get one every Wednesday for 20 weeks!

This week's produce included: Swiss Chard, Garlic Scapes (don't worry-I didn't know what they were either), Red Leaf Lettuce, Nappa Cabbage, Zuchini, Summer Squash, Kale and Collard Greens.

It was so exciting to open up the box and see all that fresh produce and try and figure out what we were going to make with all of it. After cleaning all the leafy veggies and storing them in the fridge I focused on dinner, of course! The Swiss Chard was colorful and so hearty I knew we should have that as a side. The Garlic Scapes were new to me, in how they looked (somewhat like they could have been the snakes plucked from Medusa's head) with a subtle fragrance of garlic. I immediately Googled them to see how to use them. I had Bill (my husband and best friend) pick up a choice of fresh fish on his way home - in the door he came with a gorgeous red, skin on, piece of Salmon.

I removed the stalks from the chard (chopped and reserved for another evening) and just julienned in about 1 inch slices the leafy parts. In a saute pan I put olive oil, a dash of hot pepper flakes and a smidge of butter and let it melt over medium heat. I chopped 2 of the Garlic Scapes finely and added them as well, allowing them to cook about a minute or so, covered. Throwing in the chard and a dash of salt I covered and continued to cook for 4 minutes on med-low heat. Giving the greens a good stir I added a couple of tablespoons of water covering immediately to provide some steaming qualities in tenderizing the greens. About 3-4 min later I stirred again and added just a pat of butter and tasted for seasoning and tenderness. Happy, I left the lid on and set the pan aside, off the heat, till serving. The only thing I would have done differently was to have used bacon fat instead of olive oil.

Bill grilled the salmon on a cedar plank with salt and pepper and lime zest - to perfection I might add. We made a quick lime butter sauce. Serving was simply the salmon on a bed of the chard topped with the sauce and a couple slices of cantaloupe - and a glass of Barboursville Chardonnay (Virginia Wine). We really enjoyed the meal and are looking forward to what we'll pull together with our other veggies standing by!