BROCCOLI BREAKFAST QUICHE
1 pie crust
4 eggs *
1 1/2 c milk
1 tsp onion powder (you could use less)
1 c cheddar cheese
1/2 lb sausage, cooked (or ham, bacon, etc.)
2 c broccoli, steamed (asparagus is good too!)
1 Roma tomato, sliced
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place pie crust in 9 inch pie tin. Place cooked sausage in bottom of pie crust and top with steamed broccoli. Beat eggs and milk together until thoroughly combined. Add onion powder, salt & pepper and 1/2 c cheese, to egg mixture and stir well.  Pour egg mixture over sausage and broccoli. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 c cheese over the “pie”. Lay tomato slices over everything. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until egg mixture is set. ENJOY!

*I used 3 egg whites and 1 egg –just to lighten it up a bit.

OTHER RECIPES USING BLACK SHEEP FARMS PRODUCE:
Beet Greens and Garlic Scapes with Pasta
Tom Thumb Lettuce Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette
Baby Bok Choy Pesto

ROASTED BROCCOLI
1 bunch broccoli, chopped
2 T EVOO
salt & pepper
shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Toss broccoli with oil and salt & pepper. Let broccoli cook for 10-15 minutes, turning half way through. ENJOY!

My mom recommends serving with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese –I haven’t tried it this way yet, but I am sure it is delicious. The broccoli picks up a delicious nutty flavor when roasted. I am addicted to roasting almost all my veggies.

Tom Thumb lettuce is a cute little variety of butterhead lettuce. It forms a loose little head. When I got the lettuce home, I trimmed off the roots and spread the leaves out in my kitchen sink filled with cold water. This helped crisp them up and clean off all the dirt. When I was in high school, I worked in the produce department at Hy-Vee, every morning I would take all the leaf lettuces, broccoli, radishes, and green onions off the shelf and give them a good soak in ice cold water to help crisp them up again. These were the days before they had the fancy sprinkler system built into the shelves in the produce section, but I digress. I would recommend waiting to wash and dry your lettuce right before you are going to use it. Once your lettuce is washed, you could always take it for a spin one of those fancy-schmancy salad spinners, or spread the leaves out on a clean kitchen towel to absorb all the water like I did.

Farm fresh lettuce deserves an equally fresh dressing. I paired this cute Tom Thumb lettuce with a fresh strawberry vinaigrette. Tossed on some walnuts and a little feta cheese, and I was in salad heaven.

Thank you to Black Sheep Farms for providing the produce for me to experiment with!

* My kids (ages 3 and 19 months) loved this salad. The next night at dinner Sasha commented that she didn’t see any salad on the table.

STRAWBERRY VINAIGRETTE
1/2 lb fresh Strawberries, hulled
1-1 1/2 T White wine vinegar
1 T sugar (more or less depending on sweetness of the strawberries)

Place hulled strawberries in the freezer for 30 minutes. Place semi-frozen strawberries in food processor, puree until smooth. With food processor on add vinegar and sugar, stir to combine.

TOM THUMB SALAD
this is for one serving
1 head Tom Thumb lettuce
1 T walnuts
1 T feta cheese
2 T Strawberry Vinaigrette

Toss all ingredients together and ENJOY!

This weekend I prepared the baby bok choy two different ways –keeping it raw in a pesto, and softening it by grilling it. Which one do you think was successful? I saw the people over at Burp! Where Food Happens tossed baby bok choy and radishes with a little oil, and grilled it for a warm spring salad. They said the baby bok choy “grew suspiciously tender (and fabulously sweet).” I was intrigued and needed to try it immediately. While the baby bok choy was grilling, I also tossed a few of the heirloom radishes on the grill. I’ve never heard of grilled radishes before, in fact I think the only way I have ever eaten radishes is raw –with plenty of salt.

As I pulled my produce off the grill, I was growing more and more excited to try my grilled spring salad. Once inside I splashed a little Balsamic Vinaigrette over the veggies, sat down with my fork and knife in hand ready to enjoy my first grilled salad.

Half of the baby bok choy was used in my grilled salad, the other half I wanted to use in a different way. Stir-frying it was out of the question, only because that seems to be a typical way bok choy is used, I was looking for an “outside of the box” way to use this veggie. As I was cleaning the baby bok choy for the grilled salad a few leaves feel off and I tried them raw. They were very green tasting and not bitter like I was expecting them to be. The first thing I thought was PESTO! If you do not know this already, I love pesto –and actually I have been known to eat basil pesto with a spoon. After a quick survey of my cupboards I noticed I had some cashews, and thought an Italy meets Asia pesto would make a great experiment. A while back I had made a meatloaf with an Asian twist, instead of meatloaf I formed them into burgers to grill and serve with my baby bok choy pesto.

Two different recipes using baby bok choy as the main ingredient. One recipe I loved, and the other one I think I screwed up on. For me the baby bok choy pesto was the WINNER. The grilled spring salad wasn’t a complete failure.

I learned that I really liked the warm tenderness of the grilled radishes, and hope that you try them that way. The first bite of the grilled baby bok choy was incredibly bitter. The baby bok choy isn’t entirely to blame, I think a lot of the bitterness came from the prepackaged Balsamic Vinaigrette I used. I should have tried the grilled bok choy BEFORE I doused it in the vinaigrette, I would also make my own vinaigrette instead of relying on a premade mixture purchased at Target. Lesson learned. Please don’t let my mistake stop you from trying this salad. Head over to Burp! Where Food Happens to get the recipe and read about how they call this salad “heavenly”.

BABY BOK CHOY PESTO
serve with Asian pork burgers

2 c Baby bok choy, cleaned and chopped
1/2 c raw cashews
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 inch piece of ginger, minced
1/4 c Parmesan cheese, grated
1/3 c Olive Oil
small splash of Toasted Sesame Oil
pinch of salt & pepper

Add all ingredients through Parmesan cheese into blender or food processor. Pulse a few times to chop and combine ingredients. Slowly drizzle in olive oil until everything becomes one. Scrap down sides of container as needed. Add salt & pepper, and small splash of toasted sesame oil (this has a very strong flavor, so only a little is needed) and pulse until combined. Transfer to a serving dish, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to combine. ENJOY!

ASIAN PORK BURGERS
serves 4
1 lb ground pork
1 8 oz can water chestnuts, minced
6 baby carrots, chopped
1/2 c bread crumbs
1 inch piece fresh ginger, minced
2 T soy sauce
1 egg beaten
small splash of toasted sesame oil

In a large bowl combine all ingredients and mix together, being careful not to over mix (you don’t want your meat to get tough). Form into four patties. Grill over medium-high heat, for about 5 minutes each side. You want an internal temp of 180 degrees. Place on bun and top with Bok Choy Pesto. ENJOY!!

Black Sheep Farms is a local CSA here in Omaha. Black Sheep Farms is a chemically-free family farm just outside of Omaha; operated by Brian Smith and his wife Kelly. They grow heirloom vegetables and specialty cut flowers. This year they are running a CSA at their farm. Space is limited to 15 full shares for $500 a piece or a half share for $250, a full-sized share will feed a family of four. The CSA will run from May 20- September 30, that is 20 weeks of fresh produce equal to $25/week for a full share. In addition to the fresh produce offered at that price, you will receive fresh cut flowers, get a Black Sheep Farms T-shirt, and be able to attend two social events held out at the farm –where you can relax on the farm, meet other like-minded folk and (most importantly) enjoy some good food.

Like I said earlier, you will have to make a small time commitment to your CSA, Black Sheep Farms is requiring a 10 hour “family friendly” time commitment for the season. Now I seriously doubt you are going to have to do any backbreaking, grueling, “hard-time” labor out there, but you may have to pick-up a rake. Not a big deal given the fact that you are contributing to the CSA, and the rewarding feeling of connecting to the land, and knowing what is going on your dinner plate.

You will be able to pick up your share at the farm each Wednesday during the season from 10 am- 7 pm. If for some reason you can not pick up your share, you can send some one in your place, or Black Sheep Farms will donate it to Together, Inc. food pantry on your behalf.

Due to high demand Black Sheep Farms will start taking names in March, and fill shares by a lottery system in early April, in the future they will give preference to past participants. May 3rd they will host an orientation meeting for the lucky 15. Head over to Black Sheep Farms, and fill out the form on the right side, declaring your interest.

You can also catch the Black Sheep Farms’ gang at the Village Pointe Farmer’s Market beginning May 2 from 8am-1pm.

Not from the Omaha area, but are still interested in finding a CSA in your neck of the woods? Local Harvest can help you.

Remember BUY FRESH, BUY LOCAL!