In Season
Spring & Fall Storage Tips To keep mushrooms fresh, store them in a breathable brown paper bag or container in the refrigerator. Remove from plastic packaging immediately (unless it has ventilation holes), as plastic traps moisture and causes rapid spoilage. Unwashed whole mushrooms stored in a paper bag can last 5-7 days or longer. Avoid washing mushrooms as they will absorb water and become slimy. For long term storage, dehydrate mushrooms for 3-8 hours depending on moisture content. They’ll be ready when they are brittle and break easy. Culinary Tips When cooking mushrooms, avoid overcrowding the pan to prevent steaming. Cook mushrooms in small batches, in a single layer, until they are thoroughly browned or caramelized. For best flavor, clean mushrooms without soaking. Use a damp towel or brush to remove debris instead of using water. Salting mushrooms too early draws out water, making them rubbery. Salt your mushrooms towards the end of cooking for better texture. Add dehydrated mushrooms to hot broth, water, or cream for 15-20 minutes until soft, making sure to reserve and use the soaking liquid which will be packed with flavor. Recipe Ideas Pan-Fried Oyster Mushrooms Sauteed Oyster Mushrooms with Garlic Mushroom Steaks Over Polenta Spicy Cumin Lion's Mane Mushrooms Sticky Shiitake Mushrooms Mushroom Risotto Creamy Mushroom Soup Balsamic Glazed Mushroom Tart  In Season
late May- October Storage Tips Store in a plastic bag or with the stems submerged in a cup of water in your fridge for up to 1 week. Culinary Tips
Sauteed broccolini with garlic Stir-fried broccolini Grilled broccolini  In Season
Early Spring- May and June Storage Tips Store sorrel in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Use within 1 week. For longer storage, freeze sorrel into herb cubes. Culinary Tips
Recipes Chickpea and Sorrel Salad Sorrel and Spinach Soup Creamy Sorrel Soup How to Freeze Fresh Herbs (whole or as a flavoring blend)
IN SEASON early June-late August STORAGE TIPS up to 2 weeks
CULINARY TIPS
RECIPES Root 5 Farm Simple Seasonal Bites Sour Cream Cucumbers Chinese Cucumber Salad Orzo Salad with Cucumber, Feta & Olives Cucumber Bruschetta
In Season
May-early November Storage Tips up to 1 week Dry greens will store longer. If your greens are damp, spin them dry in a salad spinner before placing in a plastic bag in the fridge. Or place a paper towel in the bag to absorb the moisture. Culinary Tips Generally lettuce is eaten raw. For all lettuce types, you should thoroughly wash and spin the leaves dry to remove any grit. If you eat lettuce often, it's wise to invest in a salad spinner. Simply rinse the leaves and place in the spinner to remove the excess water. Recipe Ideas Root 5 Farm Simple Seasonal Bites Root 5 Farm Green Salad w/ Maple Mustard Dressing Root 5 Farm Vegan Caesar Salad Yogurt Maple Dijon Dressing Balsamic Salad Dressing Stir-Fried Lettuce Braised Lettuce with Peas & Thyme
IN SEASON
June-August “Summer squash” is the umbrella term for a wide variety of lovely, tender squashes, harvested before full maturity to ensure mild flavor and texture. STORAGE TIPS up to 1 week Summer squash dehydrates quickly. Store in a plastic bag or in the hydrator drawer of your fridge for a few days. To freeze: wash, cut off ends, and slice. Blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes, cool immediately, drain, and pack - leaving 1/2 inch headroom. CULINARY TIPS
Root 5 Farm Stuffed Squash Root 5 Farm Summer Squash Risotto Root 5 Farm Vegetable Spiral Tart Zucchini Frittata Squash Ribbon Salad Carrot-Zucchini Pancakes  In Season June-October Storage Tips up to 2 weeks Stored in a refrigerator crisper drawer, fennel can last for two weeks, but it is best to use fennel as soon as possible, since it begins to lose its flavor as it ages (or when blanched and frozen for later use). Culinary Tips All parts of the fennel plant are edible - from seed to flower to frond to bulb. The bulb of the vegetable is commonly baked or served raw in salads, and the feathery tops are used raw as an herb in salads or are cooked in braised dishes, particularly with fish. The bulb itself is a crisp vegetable that can be sautéed, stewed, braised, grilled, or eaten raw. It is used for garnishes and to add flavor to salads. Recipes Fennel and Blood Orange Salad Green Bean Salad with Fried Almonds and Fennel Caramelized Fennel with Goat Cheese Braised Baby Fennel 5 Ways to Use Fennel Stalks and Fronds
In Season June-December Storage Tips Cabbage will store in your fridge for months. If the outer leaves start to wilt or discolor, you can usually peel back a few layers to a fresh interior. Though you might be tempted to clean it up right away, don’t! The outer leaves help keep the inner leaves fresh, so leave them on until you’re ready to use the cabbage. Once cut, store cabbage in a plastic bag. For longer storage, trim off outer leaves and cut out central stem (like you would with a tomato) and chop or shred into whatever size you like - so long as the pieces are uniform. Blanch in boiling water for 1.5 minutes; cool immediately and drain. Pack in containers, leaving 1/2 in. headroom, and freeze. Culinary Tips When preparing green and purple cabbage, start by quartering the head and cutting out the core. While cabbage is best known for its starring role in cole slaw (see some of the links below for creative slaws), it’s actually a very versatile crop. All varieties can be eaten raw or cooked. With its more delicate leaf, Napa works especially well in a fresh, summer salad. Try finely slicing or grating Green or Purple varieties to add a little crunch to any raw dish. When cooked, the Green and Purple varieties hold their shape more than Napa (which, like other greens tends to wilt a little more when heated), which makes them a great addition to any stir fry or sauté. Recipes Root 5 Farm Cabbage Rolls Root 5 Farm Napa Cabbage Slaw Root 5 Farm Wicked Good Pickled Cabbage Cabbage Caraway Chips Green Onion and Cabbage Slaw Cabbage and Mushroom Gallette Asian Style Spicy Coleslaw Quick Kim Chi Napa Cabbage Salad with Buttermilk Dressing Tacos with Winter Vegetables and Purple Cabbage Slaw  In Season July Storage Tips up to 10 days Keep scapes in a plastic bag in your fridge. Culinary Tips Garlic scapes are the soft, lime-green-colored stems and unopened flower buds of hard-neck garlic varieties. Scapes have a mild garlic flavor and a slight sweetness, which makes them a prized addition in the kitchen. Scapes are very versatile in the kitchen. They can be processed into a pungent pesto, placed whole on the grill like asparagus, or diced up and used as an aromatic in a saute. You can substitute scapes for garlic cloves in any recipe, however they are not as pungent in flavor so double or triple the amount of scapes you use compared to cloves. Recipes Root 5 Farm Quinoa with Maple Beets, Garlic Scapes, and Broccoli 7 Things to do with Garlic Scapes Garlic Scape Pesto Pickled Garlic Scapes
In Season
June-July Storage Tips Refrigerated in a plastic bag, they should last at least about a week to ten days. If you won't get around to eating them right away, peas are very easy to freeze. Blanch in boiling water for 1 minute, followed by an ice bath. Drain the and place them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. Culinary Tips Because they are so sweet, peas are great raw and are most often used in salads. Their flavor, texture and color can also all be improved by cooking – most simply steamed, or sautéed in olive oil with a bit of salt and pepper or added to any kind of stir fry. Both Snow Peas and Sugar Snap Peas have edible pods and are delicious to eat whole and raw. Just pop the top off and peal the string down the side. Recipes How to Freeze Peas Perfectly Simple Fresh Buttered Peas Spring Salad with Snow Peas, Cucumbers, and Radishes  In Season
June-September Storage Tips Place the stems of your bunch of basil in a glass of water on your countertop. Don't store your basil in the fridge! This is what causes the leaves to blacken quickly. It's also advisable not to wet the leaves until you are ready to use them. To preserve excess basil, hang the bunch upside down to dry, then crumble into a glass jar. Or try freezing it as a puree – just mix up a 2:1 ratio of oil to chopped basil and spoon into an empty ice cube tray. Once frozen, the cubes can be taken out of the tray and stored in any airtight container. Culinary Tips Most commonly used in pesto, chopped basil also makes a great addition to any salad, pizza or pasta dish. While it is tastiest raw, it can also be cooked down in something like pasta sauce. When making pesto, make sure to coat the top of your container with oil to create a seal limit the oxidation (browning) that occurs when your basil hits the fridge. Recipes Root 5 Farm Basil Pesto Peach, Mozzarella and Basil Salad One Pan Farro with Tomatoes and Basil Naked Tomato Sauce  In Season May-September Storage Tips up to 1 week Store in an open plastic bag in your fridge until ready to use. If you won't use it all right away, simply dry your dill bunch by hanging it upside down in a cool, dark dry part of your kitchen for two weeks, then crumble the leaves into a glass jar for storage. Culinary Tips Fragrant, sweet dill brings a touch of brightness to everything Provides a tangy addition to pickles, fresh salads, salad dressings and fish dishes. Dill pairs wonderfully with radishes, salad turnips, cucumbers, summer squash and more! Recipes How To Freeze and Preserve Fresh Herbs in Olive Oil Smoked Salmon and Dill Quiche Lemon Dill Marinade Dill & Celery Soda Spritz
In Season
Spring, Summer, Fall Storage Tips Store up to 2 weeks Store in the refrigerator in a loose plastic bag. Culinary Tips Prepare by trimming the green tops and cutting the roots off and then rinse thoroughly with cold water. Chop the stalks and bulb to your desired size. The tops of scallions can be substitutes for chives in many recipes. Raw scallions match well with meats, cheese, or fish. Whole scallions can also be steamed, roasted, or grilled and served like asparagus. Recipes Shrimp and Scallion Stir-Fry Batter-Fried Scallions Grilled Scallions
R BIn Season Turnips are cool weather crops. Hakurei Turnips show up early in the spring, take a break for the heat of summer, then show up again in the fall. Purple Top and Scarlet Turnips are very good storage crops, so we keep them through the winter. Storage Tips Store for 3-5 weeks Remove green tops and store roots separately in a plastic bag. Culinary Tips There’s no need to peel the Hakurei. Just trim the ends and wash under cold water. Hakurei are delicious raw, but if you can resist the urge to simply pop them in your mouth, try grating them into salads or slaws along with thinly sliced pears or apples. When cooked, Hakurei develop a buttery flavor and roasting at high temperatures increases their sweetness. Steam 1-inch slices for 12-15 minutes. Bake turnips for 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees F basted with butter. Saute garlic in olive oil, then add thin slices of turnips, when the turnips are almost done, add the turnip greens. Saute until greens are bright green but not mushy. Serve with tamari. Mash turnips like potatoes. Use turnip greens as you would other cooking greens. Turnip greens are tasty when sautéed quickly with garlic in olive oil. Recipes Cucumber and Hakurei Turnip Salad Stir-Fried Hakurei Turnips Balsamic Roasted Turnips with Onion Crispy Turnips with Chive Butter Turnip No-Potato Salad Raw Turnip Salad
In Season
April to June and September to November Storage Tips Store up to 2 weeks Remove the tops and place the radishes in a plastic bag and put them in the refrigerator. Radishes will stay fresh in the refrigerator this way for up to two weeks. Culinary Tips Scrub radishes just before eating. The peppery flavor is most concentrated in the skin, so this can be peeled if the radishes are too pungent. Radishes can be served whole, chopped, or grated. For some added crispness, soak radishes in iced water for an hour before use. Use the radish tops in salads or cook them like other greens. Recipes Root 5 Farm Quick Pickled Radishes Root 5 Farm Radish Recipes Sauteed Radishes with Mint Roasted Radishes with... Radish Cucumber Salad
In Season Spring and Fall Storage Tips Store up to 2 weeks Refrigerate in a plastic bag for up to two weeks Culinary Tips
Recipes Root 5 Farm Sweet Potato & Bok Choy Bowl Root 5 Farm Sauteed Baby Bok Choy Tatsoi Salad Wilted Bok Choy and Tatsoi Baby Bok Choy and Beef Noodle Soup with Warm Spices Bok Choy Salad with Sesame Soy Sauce
In Season
Between June and October Storage Tips Refrigerate in a plastic bag for up to five days. To freeze, wash thoroughly and chop, beautiful stems included! Blanch for 2 minutes in boiling water, cool immediately, and drain. Pack into containers, leaving 1/2 inch headroom, and freeze. Culinary Tips
Recipes Sauteed Swiss Chard Spicy Asian Stir-Fried Swiss Chard Rainbow Chard with Pine Nuts, Parmesan, & Basil Shirred Eggs Over Garlicky Swiss Chard Creamed Swiss Chard Swiss Chard Tzatsiki  In Season
Spring, Summer, and Fall Storage Tips Store up to 1 week Dry greens will store for longer. If arugula is a little bit damp, spin dry in a salad spinner before storing in a plastic bag in your refrigerator. Or you can place a paper towel in the bag to absorb the moisture. For long-term storage, blend into a pesto (see recipe below) and refrigerate or freeze. Culinary Tips Make a simple and tasty arugula salad by adding a soft cheese, dried fruits, grated carrots, and walnuts tossed in your favorite vinaigrette. Add to sandwiches and omelettes for color and taste. Quickly braise or sauté and add to a pasta with grated parmesan. Add cooked arugula to quiche and lasagna. Smaller arugula leaves tend to be milder, while larger leaves tend to have a more aggressive, peppery kick. Recipes Root 5 Farm Pan Fried Eggplant Over Kale and Arugula with Tomato-Basil Confit Arugula Salad with Olive Oil, Lemon, and Parmesan Cheese Egg, Arugula, and Herb Tartine Arugula Pesto Arugula And Crispy Shrimp Pizza Shaved Asparagus and Arugula Salad |
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Root 5 Farm
Danielle Allen & Ben Dana 2340 US Route 5 North Fairlee, Vermont 05045 (802) 923-6339 [email protected] [email protected] |
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