Tomatoes from the farm

Agua Linda Farm Dinner – August 24
This sounds like a lovely event, a SLLOEW dinner with live music at Agua Linda Farm in Amado. The SLLOEW is in the spirit of Slow Food prepared by proprietors, Stewart & Laurel Loew. The 4 to 5-course set menu will be prepared on site and will feature fresh vegetables harvested that day plus will incorporate grass fed beef and other local foods.   The final decisions on the menu will be decided after the harvest, but the star of the show will definitely be Agua Linda’s farm fresh tomatoes.  Refreshing non-alcoholic beverages will be provided but feel free to BYOB as well.
Live Latin/Cubano music will start during the rise of the moon in the night sky.
The cost is $40/per person by prepaid reservation only.
It all sounds like to be a one-of-kind evening filled with the freshest of food, great music, and  masterful nature. Click here for more details.

The Loew family has Hollywood connections. Read more…

Tucson CSA Shares for Autumn
If you have been reading my column for awhile, you know I have subscribed to Tucson Community Supported Agriculture for the past year. It’s been a joy to experiment with farm-fresh pesticide-free vegetables many of which I never considered purchasing at the grocery store. I have grown to love greens and rutabagas. The experience has made me a more experimental cook plus have a healthier diet. I cannot say that I never met a vegetable that I didn’t like, but I did experiment with most even the scary black Spanish rose.
A CSA works like this: You pay it forward.  At a designated time (4 to 7 p.m.) and day of the week (Tuesday or Wednesday), you go to the Historic Y located on University Avenue, a short block from the Epic Café, and pick up your share. There you can mingle with others and sometimes sample delicious recipes or grind your own wheat berries or opt to buy extras like grass fed meat and eggs. If you cannot do it weekly, you can pay for an every-other-weekly share like I did.

I’m going to skip the Fall session but most likely start back again in the Winter. Learn more about Tucson CSA – the pros and cons and delights of eating locally produced food (from a Glendale, Ariz. farm).

Tucson community supported agriculture

CSA stands for community supported agriculture. Here in Tucson, we’re fortunate to have a well tuned source. The Tucson CSA offers three-month subscriptions, or “shares,” of local organic produce. A share consist of a weekly bag of fresh, local, naturally-grown produce, straight from the field to your table.

My share is every other week as opposed to weekly so instead of 13 weeks, I can choose 6 or 7 weeks. Pickups are on Tuesdays or Wednesdays from 4 to 7  p.m. in the courtyard of The Historic Y.
10 reasons to sign up for the summer Tucson CSA

1. Eat freshly picked pesticide free vegetables
2. Boost your healthy quotient
3. Support local sustainable farming (from Glendale, AZ)
4. Be part of a community of like minded people
5. Experiment with new recipes and cook creatively
6. Learn to like vegetables you never ate before
7. Learn to love new vegetables you never heard of before (tatsoi, anyone?)
8. Have the  opportunity to buy a limited supply of locally sourced grass fed pork, goat cheese, eggs
9. Be kinder to your environment
10. Have fun and break your eating routine

To be realistic, there are some “cons”.  They are:

• Every week or every other week, you have to drive to the Historic Y to pick up your share. (I personally don’t find it as a negative because it gets me out of the house and sometimes I meet friends on 4th Avenue for drinks or dinner.)
• A big con is if you’re a picky eater or you live with a picky eater who says, “Yech, what’s this?” then the CSA concept is not for you.

Tucson CSA is now accepting new members for the summer session. They also need volunteers to help on pick up days.

Any questions?

(Photo: This was my pickup for May 19 – 2 grapefruit, choice of a bag of Yukon gold potatoes or red LaSoda potatoes; Grand Canyon sweet onions, summer squash, wheat berries (I look forward to experimenting), winter bore kale, choice of baby artichokes or green onions, and salad mix).

Big Black Radish

I’m still mulling through my Tucson CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share from Jan. 15.  I try my best not to let food go to waste.

Tonight I decided to try  the black Spanish radish (see photo).

I don’t know what it is but black food is not my first color of choice. I like black beans and some forbidden rice but should food be black? Food shouldn’t be black just like it shouldn’t be gray.

According to Tucson CSA newsletter, the black Spanish radish is nearly a forgotten vegetable. Its skin is dark and its flesh is white, pungent, and dry, with a pure, luminescent quality. The black Spanish radish can be eaten grated or sliced, eaten raw or cooked.

The black Spanish radish has been around since the time of the pharoahs. The French call it Gros Noir d’Hiver or the Big Black of Winter. In ancient times it was used as a cough remedy. This radish has a tonic effect on the respiratory system, activates liver cells, maintains a healthy gallbladder, aids digestion, is antibacterial and has a diuretic effect.

I’m not that fond of red radishes but I will have to give the black Spanish radish a try. After all, how could I not want my liver cells activated?

I did grate some on my salad tonight which added pungent white puffs of crunch. I may just dice and throw in soup.

Here are some intriguing recipes using black Spanish radish.