Stir Fried - Baby Bok Choy

Cabbage-Family Vegetables May Reduce Cancer Risk

Including Chinese stir-fries in your family's diet could help reduce their risk for cancer.

"Vegetables in the cabbage family like Chinese bok choy contain protective phytochemicals called glucosinolates that help the body eliminate carcinogens," said Dr. Janice Stuff, an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine and a CNRC nutrition scientist.

According to Stuff, the traditional Asian diet is rich in cabbage-family vegetables, also called cruciferous vegetables, and contains nearly three times the level of protective glucosinolates as the typical American diet.

Did you know? Chopping cruciferous vegetables like broccoli increases the activity of protective glucosinolates, while prolonged cooking decreases glucosinolate levels. Stir-frying and light steaming have little effect on the compound's concentrations.

"Research suggests that consuming just two servings a day of cruciferous vegetables could cut the risk for certain types of cancer, including prostate and esophageal cancers, by nearly 50 percent," she said. Other cruciferous vegetables include broccoli and broccoli sprouts, Brussels sprouts, horseradish, mustard greens, collard greens, cauliflower, cabbage, horseradish, kohlrabi, rutabaga, watercress, and Japanese wasabi. 

Information By Rhonda Parkinson, About.com

Our Recipe:

Baby Bok Choy and regular Bok Choy contain the same nutrients and delicious flavors. Baby Bok Choy is often more tender. Try stir-fried Bok Choy solo in a side dish, or combined with other stir-fried veggies in a medley.

Ingredients:

    * several bunches pesticide-free Beasley baby bok choy (basically, 1 bunch per person)

    * 2 tablespoons soy sauce

    * 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

    * 1/4 cup water, vegetable broth or chicken broth

    * OPTIONAL: A few drops sesame oil

    * 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil for stir-frying

Preparation:

Wash the baby bok choy and drain. Slice bok choy, cutting leaves into bite sized pieces.

Heat pan and add oil. When oil is ready, add the bok choy. Stir in other ingredients except liquid, and stir-fry on high heat for 1 minute.

Add the liquid, cover the wok and simmer for about 2 minutes. 

Optional: Stir in the sesame oil and serve. 

Note: try adding chicken strips, scallions, red onions, squash, or broccoli.

Eggnog Pound Cake

At our annual Cookie Exchange, the Florida Stampers shared several wonderful recipes. Here is one which was a big hit, and enjoyed by everyone!

Kim Davenport’s eggnog pound cake:

Ingredients

1 (16-oz.) package pound cake mix 

1 1/4 cups eggnog

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat all ingredients together at low speed with an electric mixer until blended. Increase speed to medium, and beat 2 minutes. Pour into a lightly greased (Kim used veg spray) 9- x 5-inch loaf pan.

2. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

3. Once completely cool, sift some powered sugar on top.

Kim’s Note:  I would bake for 40 minutes and check.  Insert toothpick and it needs to come out clean.  If needed, bake another 10 minutes and recheck.  Then every 5 minutes...  Do not over cook as the sides will taste burnt even if they don't get real dark.

Tasty & Healthy December 8, 2011

Thanks for visiting us last week, here on the blog, and at our various locations. We have a new location!

But first... take a look at these gorgeous bok choy plants!

They are delicious, too! Less bitter than collards, and a more tender texture, Bok Choy is an easy way of introducing Greens into your meals. We combined some field peas when cooking them, and then added sliced yellow squash at the last minute! YUM!

 Collards are in! 

We are delighted to offer these terrific greens to you throughout the holiday season. Thanks for allowing us to be a part of your holiday meal traditions with our flavorful, versatile greens! This year we've added many more varieties of greens, too! Please phone ahead to reserve greens when purchasing at one of our satellite locations. Because greens are so forgiving, they are easily frozen for future use. Soups and stews with greens added as one of the ingredients can easily be frozen and used later as needed.

All the special dates for December may be seen on our Calendar (click the tab above).

Monday - we will be at the Cloverleaf location. If you would like any of the pesticide-free greens, please phone to reserve them, so that we know to bring them with us.

Friday - Rolo will be at the Spring Hill location. If you would like any of the pesticide-free greens, please phone to reserve them, so that we know to bring them with him.

Saturday - Rolo and Joann will be at the Hernando County Farmers Market on Hwy 19 with nearly 80 other vendors! Come browse, shop, and visit with your neighbors - it's an all 'round enjoyable time. You'll also be supporting local businesses by visiting their booths. If you would like any of the pesticide-free greens, please phone to reserve them, so that we know to bring them with us.

Saturday - Gran'ma Angie and Nana Phyllis will be at the Produce Barn until 6PM. Fresh Cut Pesticide-free Greens will be eagerly awaiting you in their little wading pool.

**New**New**New**

Sunday - Rolo will be at the Hernando County Fair Grounds Flea Market from 8AM - 2PM. This is located in south Brooksville on the east side of Broad Street/Highway 41. We are searching for a new Brooksville location to meet our neighbors' needs. Let us know what you think about this location. It should be a fun place to shop and spend the morning since we are joining many other vendors.

For our Calendar of Locations, and special times and dates for December, please click here, or click on the Calendar Tab at the top of this page.

Because we are growing a large variety of Greens this winter, we will be harvesting Greens in a rotational manner. We will do our best to keep you informed of which Greens are being harvested, but if you need special orders, please phone the farm. We will do everything possible to accommodate your requests when special orders are made. 


Where else can you phone to have freshly harvested produce made available? 

This week's pesticide-free greens include:

• Turnips with Greens ($2 a basket)
• Mustards  ($4.00)
• Collards ($4.50)
• Bok Choy (prices vary depending on size of bunch - $2  - $2.50 range)

It is our greatest pleasure serving you, and bringing you the freshest, healthiest produce possible at the best prices, for your family's dining enjoyment. Thanks for always being supportive and encouraging.

Available this week:

Red and Green Bell Peppers 

Poblano Peppers 

Jalapeno Peppers

Eggplant

Purple and Green Cabbage **recipe below**

Carrots

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Romaine Lettuce

Sweet Potatoes AND super large Sweets for Sweet Potato Pie (the giants are $1.25 each)

Bakers

Red Potatoes

Red and Yellow Onions
Lovely Scallions with lots of firm, green tips

Butternut and Acorn Squash

Yellow squash

Zucchini

Sweet Corn on the Cob

Avocados (aka alligator pears!)

Bananas (how about banana muffins or bread to share with neighbors and friends?)

Lemons **recipe below**

Limes

Navel Oranges

Fuji Apples **recipe below**

For your convenience, a few of our uploaded recipes. Just click on them below (or in the right column under the word LABELS).

Not just another pretty face, this side dish adds a sweet, nutritious serving of fruits and veggies to holiday meals. It may be cooked in advance, and makes great left overs.

Want the recipe? Just click here.

Instead of plain sugar cookies, how about adding freshly squeezed lemons and lemon zest to your recipe? Enjoy a little nutrition and crispness to clean the palette.

The recipe for these delicious cookies may be found here.

There are more recipes located in the right column under LABELS. Slowly the recipes are being moved from our Yahoo Group. We hope you are enjoying them.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement. Gran'ma Angie, Rolo, Joann, Nana Phyllis and I love our customers, and appreciate you very much. Thank you for making our farm possible.

Veggie Hugs,

Peppermint Sugar Cookies - Easy Recipe

This yummy seasonal cookie recipe came from Susan' Daily Dose. How about trying it with your favorite Sugar Cookie mix or recipe? It makes beautiful cookies!

Tasty and Healthy Newsletter

Thanks for visiting us last week, here on the blog, and at our various locations. Did you shop til you dropped last week-end? We hope you enjoyed your celebration. (Do you like the gentle snow-fall on our pages to help bring on the Christmasy feel?) 

I LOVE this photo of Joann. She had just harvested an amazing bunch of Bok Choy. How gorgeous these plants are, and so wonderfully nutritious and versatile!

More recipes for Bok Choy are this coming week. Our "After Thanksgiving" turkey soup was especially delicious after adding chopped Bok Choy! Tomorrow we're making a new recipe for "Bok Choy Soup" (did you try our Collard soup recipe?)

We have some special treats for you this week: an assortment of Pesticide-Free Greens and lots of goodies! Are you a baker? Do you make Sweet Potato Pie? We have the best ever super large sweet potatoes for you! If you haven't made a sweet potato pie before, try this recipe at All Recipes.com. The huge Sweets are $1.25 each.

Please scroll down to see other recipes we've added this week.

This is what we brought home today (YUMMMMMM):

All the special dates for December may be seen on our Calendar (click the tab above).

Monday - we will be at the Cloverleaf location a little later than usual. If you would like any of the pesticide-free greens, please phone to reserve them, so that we know to bring them with us.

Friday - Rolo will be at the Spring Hill location. If you would like any of the pesticide-free greens, please phone to reserve them, so that we know to bring them with us.

Saturday - Rolo and Joann will be at the Hernando County Farmers Market on Hwy 19 with nearly 80 other vendors! Come browse, shop, and visit with your neighbors - it's an all 'round enjoyable time. You'll also be supporting local businesses by visiting their booths. If you would like any of the pesticide-free greens, please phone to reserve them, so that we know to bring them with us.

Saturday - Gran'ma Angie and Nana Phyllis will be at the Produce Barn until 6PM. Fresh Cut Pesticide-free Greens will be eagerly awaiting you in their little wading pool.

For our Calendar of Locations, and special times and dates for December, please click here, or click on the Calendar Tab at the top of this page.

Because we are growing a large variety of Greens this winter, we will be harvesting Greens in a rotational manner. We will do our best to keep you informed of which Greens are being harvested, but if you need special orders, please phone the farm. We will do everything possible to accommodate your requests when special orders are made. 

This week's greens include:

• Turnips with Greens ($2.25)
• Mustards  ($4.00)
• Collards ($4.50)

It is our greatest pleasure serving you, and bringing you the freshest, healthiest produce possible at the best prices, for your family's dining enjoyment. Thanks for always being supportive and encouraging.

Available this week:

Large Red and Green Bell Peppers (perfect for stuffing!)

Very Big Poblano Peppers (one of my favorites!)

Jalapeno Peppers

Eggplant

Purple and Green Cabbage **Pick up some cabbage and try the recipes listed below**

Carrots

Broccoli

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Romaine Lettuce

Sweet Potatoes AND super large Sweets for Sweet Potato Pie (the giants are $1.25 each)

Bakers

Red Potatoes

Red and Yellow Onions

Butternut and Acorn Squash

BEAUTIFUL yellow squash

Zucchini

Sweet Corn on the Cob

Avocados (aka alligator pears!)

Bananas (how about banana muffins or bread to share with neighbors and friends?)

Lemons

Limes

Navel Oranges

Fuji Apples

For your convenience, a few of our uploaded recipes. Just click on them below (or in the right column under the word LABELS).

 Stuffed Cabbage Leaves - Mexican Style!

 Sauteed Cabbage

 Cole Slaw

 Cabbage Soup

 For an inexpensive change, how about Braised Chicken with Vegetables?

There are more recipes located in the right column under LABELS. Slowly the recipes are being moved from our Yahoo Group. We hope you are enjoying them.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement. Gran'ma Angie, Rolo, Joann, Nana Phyllis and I love our customers, and appreciate you very much. Thank you for making our farm possible.

Veggie Hugs,

Purple Cabbage and Apple side dish

Purple Cabbage and Apple side dish

adapted from Melissa d'Arabian

photo from Jack’s kitchen

This recipe is super delicious and easy to make!

Ingredients:

1 small Purple Cabbage, shredded or finely chopped

1 Granny Smith Apple, cored and peeled, sliced thinly and cut in half

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp fennel seeds

Salt & Pepper to taste

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Method:

In a large saute pan, warm olive oil over medium heat. Add the cabbage, apples, fennel and salt and pepper, to taste, and saute until the cabbage softens and wilts about 20 minutes. Add vinegar, stir, and place in serving bowl.

NOTE: Melissa’s original recipe calls for deglazing with red wine and then stir in a splash of cider vinegar. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

NOTE: We substituted olive oil for butter.