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Onions

Farmer Kyle with a ton of curing onions.

What’s Below:

About Onions

Cooking & Storage

Recipes

ABOUT Onions

Onions are a root vegetable in the Allium family alongside its plant cousins garlic and leeks, and has origins in Central Asia where it’s been cultivated for over 7,500 years. It’s a vegetable that’s been valued for its medicinal and flavor enhancing properties for centuries, as well as for its symbol for eternal life and veneration for the dead in African traditions such as those in Egypt. Over several centuries, onions have been bred or developed in the wild to create quite a wide variety of types. 

The type most people are familiar with are the large bulbing onions, but there are also your milder torpedo-shaped ones, small round ones, and bunching onions (aka scallions). All have the power to add savory and sweet complexity to salads, soups, stews, braises, and marinades among other culinary applications.

Here at the farm we grow yellow, white, red, and tropea onions. Tropea onions are of particular interest due to their origins in the Tropea area of Calabria Italy where they’ve been cultivated for about 2,000 years. This particular variety is sweeter than most onions (except maybe Vidalia from U.S. Georgia) and traditionally included in antipasto spreads either raw or cooked.

COOKING & STORAGE

  • Edible parts: Root (Note: The stems, skin, and leaves are good for stock and broth making both for their vitamin and flavor concentration)

  • Medicine and Nutrients: Onions are packed with Vitamin C, manganese, potassium, water, and fiber. They can improve your digestion due their naturally occurring probiotics, and are also great for maintaining your heart, eye, and joint health. Alongside all of this they’ve long been recognized for their medicinal properties to clean wounds and strengthen your immune system.

  • Storage: Whole onions are best stored in a cool, dry, dark and well-ventilated area. Peeled onions can be stored in the fridge for 10–14 days, while sliced or cut onions can be refrigerated for 7–10 days.

Ways to Prepare 

  • RAW: When prepared for raw salads or slaws, onions need to be thinly sliced or minced finely.

  • COOKED: Onions can be roasted, baked, caramelized, braised, fried, stir-fried, and pickled.

RECIPES

Authored and compiled by Maya Marie of Deep Routes and Ayllen Kocher

Parsnip

What’s Below:

About Parsnips

Cooking & Storage

Recipes

ABOUT PARSNIPS

Parsnip is a root vegetable that’s plant cousins with carrots, dill, and parsley. It has a texture that’s similar to turnips, slightly sweeter than a carrot, and sometimes has a hint of spice like a radish. These creamy colored roots have origins in the Mediterranean where they’ve been foraged for in the wild and cultivated for thousands of years, with the exact date being unknown. Although parsnip tops can be eaten, they have a small level of toxicity that mostly irritates the skin when touched, therefore they’re best eaten cooked and typically don’t come with their tops.

COOKING & STORAGE

  • Edible parts: Roots (and the leaves if handled properly)

  • Medicine and Nutrients: Parsnips offer a rich source of vitamins C and B6, as well as potassium, iron, magnesium, and fiber.

  • Storing and Shelf Stability: Parsnips will stay firm and fresh for about 2-3 weeks if kept in a cool, moist area of the fridge like the crisper or in plastic bag.

Ways to Prepare 

  • RAW: Parsnips can be eaten raw in salads tossed with your other favorite fruits and vegetables, they’re best when shredded thin or cut small.

  • COOKED: Parsnip roots are excellent roasted, sauteed, or stir-fried with other vegetables, and also are a great addition to your favorite soups and stews.

RECIPES

Authored and compiled by Maya Marie of Deep Routes.

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Fennel

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Photo Source: FoodPrint.org

What’s Below:

About Fennel

Cooking & Storage

Recipes

ABOUT FENNEL

Fennel is a completely edible bulb vegetable that is in season from early July to early fall here in the Northeast. It has origins in the Mediterranean, specifically Greece where its grown wild and been cultivated for centuries. There are lots of Southern European and Western Asian superstitions about fennel’s protective energies, and it’s believed that hanging them over a door or placing fronds in a key hole can prevent malignant spirits from entering and causing harm. The plant is also believed to be connected with the Greek town Marathon (Μαραθών or “place of fennel”) where fennel has grown prolifically for centuries, and became associated with the area that is the origin of the concept of marathons. These days the plant is used throughout several cuisines, but is especially loved in Greek and Italian cuisines.

COOKING & STORAGE

  • Edible parts: Bulb, stems, leaves/fronds, and seeds

  • Medicine and Nutrients: Fennel is a great source of fiber, potassium and vitamin C. The fronds or seeds can be made into a tea that can support with any digestion issues.

  • Storing and Shelf Stability: To store fennel, trim the fronds to two or three inches above the bulb (if not already done). Wrap loosely in a plastic bag and store in the fridge for 5 days or 10 days. 

Ways to Prepare 

  • RAW: When eaten raw fennel is crisp like onion and has a slightly sweet taste that is refreshing either shredded or sliced. The fronds are great to eat as a tasty little breath freshener or to season salads or as a garnish.

  • COOKED: When fennel is cooked, the flavor becomes more delicate and the texture softens. The bulbs taste great roasted or grilled either alone or alongside other vegetables, and also tastes excellent in soups and stews. It can also be sauteed, braised, and pan-fried. The fronds can be used as an herb to marinate meats or season other vegetables.

RECIPES

Authored and compiled by Maya Marie of Deep Routes, Ayllen Kocher, and Amara Ullauri

Hot Peppers

Hot peppers .jpg

What’s Below:

About Hot Peppers/Chilis

Cooking & Storage

Recipes

ABOUT Hot Peppers/Chilis

Hot Peppers (or Chilis) are fruits in the same family as tomatoes and tobacco, and are distinct from sweet peppers in that rather than being herbaceous/sweet tasting, they have some heat to them that is typically rated 3 or higher on the Scoville scale. Their heat is loved by many and can be used in a variety of ways in the kitchen. On the Northeast they peak from June - October, but in warmer climates they can grow almost year round.

Chili Peppers have their origins across South and Central America where they’ve been cultivated for at least 8,000 years and were first cultivated by Indigenous Peruvian and Bolivian people. From South and Central America they’ve spread to the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia due to the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade as well as Indigenous peoples’ own trading routes, and dispersal by animals and the elements. Hot peppers have thus become widely important in the spice mixes, marinades, curries, stews, sauces, and stir-fries of Black and brown people across the globe.

Here at Rock Steady, we grow a lovely variety of hot peppers. Please look out for them in your CSA share throughout the summer and early fall. Hannah, our CSA Coordinator, gave a pepper lesson last season and I thought it would be great to include here! Thanks Hannah! 

In the picture above, from left to right: 

  • Shishito: A sweet Japanese pepper with loads of flavor - some of them have a little kick, but they’re not very hot. The kick is mostly in the seeds. 

  • Poblano: A mild chile pepper, with an earthy flavor. Not too spicy. 

  • Islander: A mild, slightly sweet bell pepper (no spice). 

  • Jimmy Nardello: These are mild, sweet and almost fruity in flavor. Very snackable. They have kind of a bumpy texture, which is how you’ll know them apart from their very hot look alike, next to them! 

  • Cayenne: Long, red and smooth. They are hot, hot, hot! You can dry them and make them into red pepper flakes, or make your own hot sauce if that’s your thing.

COOKING & STORAGE

  • Edible parts: Fruits (and seeds if you want that heat!)

  • Medicine and Nutrients: Peppers are an incredible source of potassium, vitamin C, iron, and fiber.

  • Storing and Shelf Stability: Store these peppers in your crisper drawer for up to a week or more. For longer term storage, you can freeze them whole.

Ways to Prepare 

  • RAW: Hot peppers can be eaten raw if you like heat, but not a lot is needed. Add the flesh and/or seeds to salsas, vinaigrettes/dressings, salads, or drinks for an added kick. They can also be fermented to make hot sauces.

  • COOKED: Hot peppers can be sauteed, roasted, grilled, pickled, braised, and broiled.

RECIPES

Authored and compiled by Maya Marie of Deep Routes, Ayllen Kocher, and Amara Ullauri

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Scallions/Green Onions

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What’s Below:

About Scallions

Cooking & Storage

Recipes

ABOUT Scallions

Scallions (or green onions) are flavorful plants from the Allium family alongside garlic and bulbing onions. They have origins across Central and South West Asia where they’ve been cultivated for over 5,000 years and valued for both their culinary and medicinal uses. Scallions have long been used in cuisines across the Asian diaspora in dishes like phở and cong you bing (scallion pancakes).

Scallions are in season from late spring through the fall. Scallions smell and taste like onions, but have a milder taste than pearl or red bulb onions. The white and green parts are both meant for cooking. The green tops are sweet and the white ends are on the crunchier side.

COOKING & STORAGE

  • Edible parts: Bulb and stems

  • Medicine and Nutrients: Chinese herbalists were one of the first to record the medicinal uses of scallions, and they can be ground up to make a poultice for cleaning wounds or eaten regularly to support a healthy urinary and immune system. They’re also a source of vitamin C, iron, and potassium.

  • Storing and Shelf Stability: You can store them in a plastic bag in the high humidity drawer of your fridge.

Ways to Prepare 

  • RAW: Chopped scallions can be used as flavorful garnish for salads, soups, meats, and sandwiches. 

  • COOKED: Scallions can be braised, roasted, sauteed, grilled, and stir fried.

RECIPES

Authored and compiled by Maya Marie of Deep Routes, Ayllen Kocher, and Amara Ullauri

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Beets

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Beets.jpg

What’s Below:

About Beets

Cooking & Storage

Recipes

ABOUT BEETS

Beets are a cool weather, root crop with origins in Greece, Egypt, and Iraq where they’ve been cultivated and cooked for at least 4,000 years. In its early years of cultivation, people mostly ate beets for the leaves and wouldn’t get into the roots until later. Beets are most popularly cooked in Eastern Asian and European cuisines, where they’ve traditionally been made into soups, roasted, or used as medicine for digestive issues. In Greek mythology, red beets were considered an aphrodisiac, and there was a rumor that Aphrodite ate beets to keep herself beautiful. 

Being a sturdy root vegetable, beets can handle lots of flavor infusion and after boiling or roasting them they pair well with fragrant herbs like dill and mint, punchy acidic foods like capers, balsamic or sherry vinegar, and fermented foods like goat cheese and sour cream zested with lemons.

COOKING & STORAGE

  • Edible parts: Roots and Leaves

  • Medicine and Nutrients: Beets are an incredible source of potassium, vitamin c and fiber, which support healthy digestion, skin, and blood regulation among many other benefits.

  • Storing and Shelf Stability: Cut off the tops before putting beets in storage. They draw moisture from the root and make the veggie soft and mushy faster. If you plan on using the greens, store them separately. Fresh beets last for about a month if you refrigerate them without the greens. Beet greens washed, dried and stored between paper towels and in a plastic bag or container should last about two weeks in the refrigerator.  

Ways to Prepare 

  • RAW: Raw beets can be juiced or added to smoothies, and can also be shredded to make a slaw. They can also be sliced thinly and eaten in a salad, or pickled with a vinegar or salt brine.

  • COOKED: Beets can be sauteed, roasted, or boiled.

RECIPES

Authored and compiled by Maya Marie of Deep Routes, Ayllen Kocher, and Amara Ullauri

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