CSA Veggie Identification #3: Mchicha!

If your CSA farmer is from Burundi, chances are you've been getting some of this vegetable in your bag. You probably have no idea what it is, or how tasty it can be! In the US, we call it Amaranth (or pigweed). The Swahili word for it is Mchicha. Our friends from Burundi eat it all the time, cooked in many different ways. Check out a blog post from last year here about how to cook Mchicha.

Also, Zawadi will be teaching a brief Mchicha cooking class next Wednesday, June 30th at 6pm. Space is limited to 5 folks, so if you want to join us, RSVP to me at rbonar@ccsks.org

Today at Overland Park.

Photos, Part II.

Some photos from our friend, Maylnda Eshelman. She took these a few weeks ago, and I can't believe how much things have grown in just a little bit of time!

Thank you rain and sun!

Photo Op.

We've had some great photographers out at the farm lately. These are from the Breaking Through Concrete guys.

CSA Veggie Identification #2: Kale

Kale is a brassica, just like Collard Greens. There are many varities of Kale out there that are grown all over the world for lots of different purposes. This year, New Roots farmers are growing two kinds, Red Russian and Curly Leaf. Kale has thick, tasty leaves that are great for you.

Curly Leaf Kale

Red Russian Kale

From Wikipedia: Kale is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties; kale is considered to be anti-inflammatory. Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. Because of its high vitamin K content, patients taking anti-coagulants such as warfarin are encouraged to avoid this food since it increases the vitamin K concentration in the blood, which is what the drugs are often attempting to lower.

MMMM! More Kale, please.

A few yummy kale recipes to try:

Kale Cole Slaw

Raw Kale Salad

CSA Veggie Identification #1: Collard Greens

New Roots CSA pickups started last week. Maybe you have been a part of our CSA for 3 years and are familiar with all of the greens that late spring and early summer time brings. You might be one of our new CSA members, excited to start down the path of eating seasonally, yet looking in your bag saying, "what the heck is this?!"

Even though all of our farmers grow different things, there are many common veggies that find their way into all of our CSA bags. Today, we're going to talk about Collard Greens.

Collards are brassicas, part of the family that includes broccoli and cabbages. Collards are most popular in the southern United States, and are a staple of soul food dishes. Widely considered to be healthy foods, collards are good sources of vitamin C (only when eaten raw, because heat destroys vitamin C) and soluble fiber and contain multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties. Roughly a quarter pound of cooked collards contains 46 calories.

Here are a few new recipes to try (click on the name for a link to another website):

Collards Stuffed with Red Beans and Rice

Smoky Collard Greens (no meat)

A visit from Lewis Lewis.

On Friday, New Roots recieved a visit from Breaking Through Concrete, a project documenting the urban farm movement in the United States. The BTC crew has been traveling around in a bus running on veggie oil named Lewis Lewis (after a friend that passed away) for the past few weeks. They are writing a book and documenting through film photographs and words.

Check out their take on New Roots here.