In this Week's Box

When you get this week’s box home, everything goes in the refrigerator. The clamshelled microgreens don’t need a bag, but everything else will benefit from one.

Asparagus – I never get tired of harvesting asparagus, or of eating it, although I might if we kept harvesting it forever. Almost every night, I lay a bunch out on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and cook in the oven under whatever else we’re having for dinner until it’s tender and delicious.

Micro Greens – From our friend Mike and Katie Bollinger at River Root Farm, these little beauties make a nice addition to sandwiches or salads, or make a great salad on their own.

Mini Heads of Oakleaf Lettuce -

Arugula - An aromatic salad green, Arugula has a wonderful, peppery flavor. When grown under cool conditions, the peppery flavor is especially delicious and mild, and the nuttiness shines right through.

Garlic Greens - Looking somewhat like scallions—or maybe more like little leeks—garlic greens are one of my favorite spring vegetables. Well, maybe all of the spring vegetables are my favorite spring vegetables! Their flavor relates to that of mature garlic the way scallions relate to mature onions, and you can use them just as you would scallions. They pair especially nicely with sautéed asparagus.

Peppermint Peppermint is a relatively recent addition to the herb scene, having been first found in a field of spearmint, its much more common cousin, in England in 1696. The leaves of this week’s peppermint may be a little dirty. We usually try to keep the dirt on our farm, where it belongs, but the oil glands on the leaves that hold the peppermint flavor will burst when the leaves are washed, and the flavor components can break down if you wash them too long before using. It makes a nice addition to strawberries and other fruits when chopped finely, and of course makes a nice tea.

Celeriac - Celeriac is the same species as celery, but bred for the swollen root rather than the fleshy stems. A more primitive version of the species, celeriac has contributed almost all of the modern pest resistance to celery varieties. It has the same flavor compounds, but they come through more strongly; the flesh is soggy-firm, and works best in cooked dishes.