As it turns out, our guts are the key to good health! And one way to support that system is with fermented foods. Some of the tastiest foods we enjoy are fermented: chocolate, cheese, yoghurt, soy sauce, miso, tempeh, beer, wine, olives, bread, etc. Most famously, sauerkraut and kimchi are loaded with the right kind of bacteria for good gut health. And both are easy to make at home!

All you need to ferment your own foods are some clean ceramic or glass containers (hello, mason jars!) salt (sea salt recommended) and your produce of choice. You can ferment as much or as little as you like, from a pint to gallons, so if you’re new to fermenting, you can start slow.

Cabbage is in your box this week, perfect for kraut and the best recipe for newbies to start with. Hot pepper sauce is also easy to make and will last for months in the fridge. That one calls for an airlock lid, but using a weight (read the kraut recipe first) to submerge the peppers under the brine will work just fine. More complex is kimchi, but well worth the effort!

Happy fermenting!

When I was a kid, parsley was the frilly restaurant garnish. My Grandma once ate the sad, wilty garnish before my horrified eyes, saying it was good for fresh breath. It wasn’t until grad school that I was introduced to Italian flat leaf parsley and creeping up on middle age before chimichurri entered my vocabulary.

Parsley breath notwithstanding, Grandma was adding vitamins A, C, K, potassium and folate to her diet, protecting her eyesight and reducing her risk for a whole host of diseases. Still, there are better ways to introduce parsley to your diet.

One easy way is to make a parsley bouquet and keep it on your counter for adding to dishes you are cooking or for a sprinkle of chopped herb on top. Chimichurri was a revelation, an oil based green sauce from Argentina and Uruguay, drizzled on steak and just about everything else! I often make a big batch to freeze in ice cube trays for adding to soups during the winter. Parsley pesto is also a thing, a green sauce, but thicker with nuts and cheese.

Here’s to your fresh breath!

Green beans (plus yellow and purple!) are coming on and it looks to be a good year! Super versatile, green beans shine in everything from salads to casseroles, with a variety of flavor profiles.

Green beans are also incredible roasted (what isn’t though, really?) In the oven or on the stovetop, roasted beans hit that savory, umami, comfort food spot, and it’s hard to test just one or two for doneness 😋 A super fast and easy side dish to try!

At Urban Futures Farm, tomatoes are the stars of the show. 🍅 They are just coming on now and we’ve got a few special ways we enjoy them.

For slicers, there is nothing more decadently satisfying than a thick slab of a tomato open-faced on a toasted cheese bagel with cream cheese. Can’t do it with anything other than a home grown tomato and it’s a treat we look forward to all year.

For cherries, nothing can beat the ease of what we call Tik Tok Pasta (though no one has an account – promise). Feta cheese and cherry tomatoes baked to jammy goodness then folded into hot pasta is so hands off, it’s practically fast food! On the menu for this week, matter of fact!

Also for cherries, we test-drove a new recipe for the hospitality room for musicians at FarmFest: whipped feta and cottage cheese pulsed with salt and pepper and topped with chopped cherry tomatoes, basil, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper. The Facebook video is lacking in amounts, so play around until the proportions seem right.

What’s your favorite way with tomatoes?

Summer is for camping! And whether you’re getting out to a lake, hitting the trails or going to a music festival 😉, chances are, you’re going to be eating at some point. And why not bring along food that makes you feel good rather than something processed (as convenient as that might be)! We spend a little time prepping before a getaway so we have minimal prep and cleanup to deal with while we’re having fun.

Our friend Dan clued us in to breakfast burritos which we make ahead of time and freeze. Pull what you need it out to thaw the night before. Come morning, place on a hot skillet to get brown and crunchy.

Lunch and dinner tend to be salads made ahead, the splurge of store-bought fried chicken, and often a pressed sandwich. Salads include potato (no mayo!), broccoli (TJ’s fav from Trisha Yearwood), tabouli to which we add feta and olives, green bean, and pasta salad (so many choices!), or something that features what we have on hand. We pack the salads in quart yoghurt containers and share right out of the container or if we’re feeling fancy, actually put it on a plate.

Have fun camping or festivaling, or wherever this summer takes you!

$15 a pound. Call or text the Farmer at 360.338.8654 for pickup.

“Eat your collards! They’re good for you!” – Someone’s Mom, somewhere.

Shockingly, Mom is right. Collard greens are low in calories (35 calories in half a cup of cooked greens) and rich in folate, calcium, dietary fiber, and vitamins E, A, K, and C. Thanks to their many nutrients, collard greens have been associated with cancer prevention, detox support, anti-inflammatory properties, heart health, and digestive support. And bonus, they are in your boxes this week! For more health details and simple recipe. And a not so healthy but delicious recipe.

Broccoli is bringing it these days in the field. One of the easiest ways to prepare it is pan roasted on the stove top. We’ve test-driven two recipes recently, both delicious. The first Easy Pan Fried Broccoli is a basic method, the second Sauteed Broccoli goes great with rice. 

$15 a pound. Text the Farmer at 360.338.8654

Now that the small trickle of harvest has turned into a fire hose, the topic turns to putting food by. We’ve not yet broken out the canner, but each week some kind of produce goes into the freezer, to become something savory in the long dark months. It may be that you’ve got a side garden, it may be you’ve got more in your box than you can eat right now. Don’t let it moulder – give it a quick spin in a hot oven, let cool and pop in the freezer.

You’ll thank yourself later.