Aloha Oahu Freshies, and welcome to the last bag of summer!  This week’s bag will have Maunawili Greens lettuce, Nalo Farms baby arugula, Ho Farms tomatoes, Pit Farms mint, Poamoho Organic Produce avocados, and Aloun Farms canteloupe.  There will also be either zucchini or long squash from Pit Farms.

A few suggestions on how to use your produce this week:

Canteloupe Salad with Lime, Mint, & Ginger

Thai Shrimp and Squash Soup This recipe calls for butternut squash but long squash works so well in soup it’s worth changing the recipe.

Squash Griddle Cakes

Long Squash Chicken Soup Very few ingredients in this recipe, so you can make it as is, or get creative!

Baby Arugula Salad with Lemon Dijon Dressing

Baby Arugula Pesto A pesto with capers instead of pine nuts!

Six Great Recipes for Zucchini:  zucchini oven chips, grilled zucchini and summer squash salad, zucchini bread, layered zucchini, chocolate zucchini cake, and stuffed zucchini with potatoes and peas!

Sweet Potato Fries with Avocado Dip

Enjoy the produce and please let us know if you try something really tasty-we’d be happy to put it up on the site!

Please remember to provide your previous week’s bag when your order is delivered each week.  You can leave the bag on a door or desk if you are not present when the delivery occurs.

Avocados!  The avocado in your bag is an organic one from Poamoho Organic Produce.  Al Santoro, owner and farmer, told us that normally avocados will ripen in 5-7days after coming off the tree.  This variety however has been consistently ripening within 2-4 days.  Your avo should be ready to eat this weekend-enjoy!  Al says that this variety was called Butterball by the person who gave it to him, although many avos are referred to that way.  Al’s not sure exactly what variety it is but he’s been eating them on BLTs for several days!  Thanks Al!

aloha and bon appetit!

Aloha fresh local foodies!  We have another great bag this week:  Yummy apple bananas, chinese parsley,and white radishes from Pit Farm, tatsoi from Nalo Farms, Ho Farms tomatoes, fresh lettuce from Maunawili Greens, and organic tangerines from Poamoho Organic Produce!  I can’t wait for some tangerines and bananas in my morning yogurt!

Aloha Oahu Fresh clients!  Just a note:  our farmer at Pit Farm was not able to get enough Maui Onion for this week’s delivery, so he supplied a variety of produce.  We hope to provide you with some great Maui Onion soon, and hope you liked your substitute!  Thank you for trying local produce!!

For anyone who hasn’t had tatsoi before, it’s an Asian green similar to spinach.  It’s very good in salads, or steamed or wilted with meat, fish, or pasta.  If you search tatsoi on this website you will find several dishes to try in addition to the ones listed here.

Easy Sauteed Tatsoi and Gingery Sauteed Tatsoi with Tofu Steaks

Tatsoi with Garam Masala tatsoi with Indian flavor!

Tumeric Rubbed  Branzino with Tatsoi and Peanuts You don’t need to follow this exactly but the recipe gives you a great feel for what you can serve with your fresh veggies and the pictures are fantastic.

Hawaiian Grilled Tuna with Maui Onion Slaw Everyone probably has most of the ingredients for this already …just pick up the tuna and wine!

Carmelized Maui Onion Dip just in time for Labor Day picnics

Goat Cheese and Maui Onion Tart from the Hali`imaile General Store Cookbook

Yogurt with White Radish another Indian recipe that will use the white radish and chinese parsley (Cilantro)

Savory Slaw with Mint and Cilantro another great recipe that will use the chinese parsley and daikon

We have a great bag this week and hope you will enjoy the varied produce as much as we enjoyed putting it together.  This week’s bag will contain:  organic red and white potatoes from Poamoho Produce, organic spicy greens mix from Kolea Farm, Meyer lemon from Hoalike Farm, beets from Nalo Farms, lettuce from Maunawili Greens, Hauula tomatoes from Green Growers, and green peppers and cilantro from Pit Farm.  You may notice there are two new farms on the list:  Kolea Farm and Hoalike Farm.  We’ve actually had lemons and avocados from Hoalike Farm once before; Hoalike is run by Andrea Davis.  One of Andrea’s neighbors is Bill Howe who owns Kolea Farm, a certified organic farm.  Bill specializes in many types of greens and we hope to work with him and Andrea more in the future.

For suggestions on how to use the items in this week’s bag, we hope you’ll enjoy trying a traditional Irish favorite called colcannon.  Colcannon is believed to derive  from Gaelic and means “white cabbage” although “cannon” may also refer to an Irish word referring to garlic or onion. Either way colcannon is delicious and simple to prepare, as it’s basically potatoes mashed with cabbage or kale, with onions, leeks, or shallots added, and plenty of butter or cream.

Colcannon from County Mayo

Colcannon with soy milk

A few other Irish dishes to use your potatoes in:

Shepherd’s Pie (30m!)

Shepherd’s Pie (pictures of every step are included in this one)

Irish Potato Onion Soup

Guinness Beef Stew

Any of these recipes would be great for dinner with a salad of Maunawili Greens lettuce and sliced Hauula tomatoes, and or some spicy greens mix from Kolea Farm.   And don’t forget a pint of Guinness!

You can also make a great potato and pepper dish using the green peppers from Pit Farm.  Wash your potatoes and peppers and cut your potatoes into chunks.  Slice the peppers into medium sized strips and add an onion as well, sliced, if you have one.  In a bowl toss the potatoes and peppers with olive oil, salt, pepper, onion, and any additional spices you like (red pepper, curry, rosemary) and roast on the grill or in the oven until the potatoes are done.  You may want to pre-cook the potato in the microwave first–it’s not necessary but your peppers may cook faster than the potatoes, so pre-cooking will even the time out.

Beets are a wonderful root vegetable that many people say they don’t like.  Beets are very tasty when roasted–and it’s easy.  You can peel them first or after, however be aware that you will probably have stained fingers for a while!  Also it’s much easier to peel them whole than once they are cut.  Cut the tops off if necessary, peel if you like now, and then toss the beets in olive oil and salt and pepper.  If you have peeled them prior to cooking, you may also want to cut them into chunks now if they are large.  Roast them on a baking sheet or in a baking dish until fork tender, turning them as necessary to roast all sides evenly.  When done, remove and let cool.  If you haven’t peeled them, do so after they are completely cool, then cut them into chunks or slices.  These are wonderful added to a salad with mandarin orange or tangerine slices or tossed by themselves with goat/feta cheese.

For a date worthy recipe, try Baby Beets with Watercress and Pan Seared Ahi Tuna with Ginger Vinaigrette.  YUM!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Oahu Fresh–enjoy responsibly!!

Slainte!

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