Week Nine: A Beautiful Day with Choices

Perhaps I am a bit biased or something, but it was an absurdly beautiful day at the farm today.

I mean, look at these!

The tractor looked like candy.

The birds danced with the trees.

And sunshine turned cabbage leaves to stained glass.

Hopefully, this week's share captures something of that loveliness for the members. This week includes several choices, which always makes for a fun (or surprisingly stressful for some indecisive folks!) pick-up. 

Members can expect: Mini Cabbage, Zucchini/Summer Squash, Thai Basil, Scallions, Tomatoes, Head Lettuce, Kale OR Chard, Frisee OR Radicchio, and Purslane OR Brokali OR Fava Beans. 

Usually we try to keep the choices similar, as in kale or chard, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way. This week our small planting of favas is producing nicely, but it isn't quite enough for everyone (and we know from years past that not everyone wants them...) while at the same time our second two varieties of cutting broccoli are just getting started and our purslane patch didn't recover quickly from last week's heavy picking. Members have some real decisions to make :)

So, because I know you'll all be stressed from all that difficult choosing, I made this week's recipe extra simple.

 Halibut with Thai Basil

We were fortunate enough to have some wild caught halibut gifted to us by a generous fisherman who works on a trail crew in Alaska, but this recipe would work equally well with any mild fish, or even chicken.

• 1/2 bunch Kale or Chard, stems removed
• 3 large stems Thai Basil, leaves and flowers only
• One bunch Scallions
• Juice of one Lemon
• One Tablespoon Olive Oil
• About 1 pound Halibut Fillets
• Salt to taste

Finely chop the kale or chard, Thai Basil leaves and flowers, and scallions. Toss them together in a bowl with the lemon juice and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over high heat. While the pan is heating, salt the flesh side of the halibut fillets lightly.

Once the pan is hot, place the fillets flesh side down in the pan. Sear until the surface of the fish is just golden and the fillets begin to release from the pan, about one minute.

Carefully turn the fillets over so they are skin side down in the pan (they are very delicate at this point) and turn the heat to low.

Spoon the basil mixture over the fish, cover the pan and cook over low heat until the flesh is white throughout but still juicy, 10-20 minutes depending on the size of your fillets.