Fresh herbs add flavor to your meals. Experiment with various flavor combinations, and discover something new! Herbs also help our bodies digest food better, and are full of essential vitamins and minerals.

Cooking tips:
• Add fresh herbs to a glass of water.
• Tear herbs into small pieces and eat in your salads.
• Use when juicing drinks or add into your morning smoothie.
• Snip off pieces using a kitchen shears to add to stirfrys and other dishes.

Recipe & Video:

Marinade-Lemon Herb

This wonderful, all purpose marinade uses lemon, garlic, and olive oil for its base. It is perfect for marinating any type of seafood, or use it on chicken or pork to brighten up the flavors while grilling.

Marinade Recipe:
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, parsley or tarragon
1 lemon
1/8 cup white wine, optional
3/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic puree or 1 clove minced garlic

1) Roughly chop the cilantro and carefully remove the zest (outer yellow peel from the lemon). The zest adds a lot of flavor to this marinade.
2) Next, cut the lemon in half and add lemon juice to a mixing bowl. Add the wine, chopped cilantro and lemon zest, followed by the garlic.
3) Slowly pour the olive oil into the marinade and whisk quickly until it starts to thicken. This is called an emulsion.
4) When the marinade has thickened, let it sit about 30 minutes and then pour it over your meat.

There are many great food blogs out there, and Farmgirl Fare is one of them. Farmgirl Susan offers several ways to eat chard. Be inspired for dinner tonight!

• Swiss Chard Cabbage Salad Recipe with Garbanzo Beans, Broccoli Stems, & Cottage Cheese
http://www.farmgirlfare.com/2008/07/fresh-lowfat-twist-on-cole-slaw-swiss.html

A fresh, low-fat twist on coleslaw.

• Swiss Chard and Artichoke White Pizza Recipe
http://www.farmgirlfare.com/2009/01/swiss-chard-and-artichoke-white-pizza.html

Pizza is always a favorite, right?

• Simple & Healthy Swiss Chard Artichoke Soup
http://www.farmgirlfare.com/2008/12/crossover-foods-simple-and-healthy.html

A healthy, hearty, low fat and high flavor soup.

• Healthy Swiss Chard Tuna Salad Recipe with Scallions & Kalamata Olives
http://www.farmgirlfare.com/2008/06/more-fast-farm-food-healthy-swiss-chard.html

Tuna salad goes green.

• Farmgirl Susan's Hot Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip Recipe
http://inmykitchengarden.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-to-do-with-swiss-chard-hot-swiss.html

This addictive stuff goes well with practically anything: crackers, tortilla chips, toasted or untoasted sourdough baguette slices, fresh veggies, pita chips, even pretzels.

Bring a salad to work, and enjoy your fresh CSA vegetables! Kathy Patalsky of a Healthy Happy

Life http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2012/06/vegan-salad-in-jar-make-ahead-bliss.html recently wrote a blog post with recipes and instructions on how to create your own make-ahead salads. Here's what she said:

Here are the four jars I assembled. But REALLY, you don't need a recipe. Just follow this method, loosely:

Layering Salad Jars:

1) BOTTOM - dressing/liquid
2) Heavy ingredients that hold up well when submerged in dressing - beans, cucumbers, radishes, onion..
3) Heavy items that you may not want directly touching the dressing when stored.
4) Leafy greens/light ingredients that take up a lot of space - spinach, kale, chard, arugula..
5) A small amount of heavy accent items - nuts, seeds, dried fruit, croutons, accent spices
6) TOP - colorful ingredients to perk up your taste buds when you pop open the jar - fruit, edible flowers, herbs..

Other: grains and pasta are nice add ins. I like to put these on top of the plentiful salad so that it doesn't get soggy in the dressing but helps to weigh the greens down a bit so I can fit more yummy stuff in each jar.

There are no exact "rules" and that is the fun part. Let creativity take over.

My recipes...

* I made some spicy Cajun quinoa (quinoa + dried Cajun spice blend) for these jars and used fresh farmer's market produce and nuts.

* I used balsamic + EVOO + peppercorn spice blend for the dressing in all of my jars. You can try oil/lemon, creamy dressings, tahini/lemon/oil, citrus and more as your liquid infusion.

#1 Green Garden
EVOO/Balsamic/Peppercorn spices dressing
diced persian cucumbers
diced tomato
arugula + baby spinach
raw pistachios
edible flowers
diced dried apricots

#2 Butter Bean Bliss
EVOO/Balsamic/Peppercorn spices dressing
sweet Maui onion, diced
butter beans
arugula + baby chard
raw walnuts
Cajun Spiced Quinoa
diced dried apricots

#3 Sunny Kale Kruncher
EVOO/Balsamic/Peppercorn spices dressing
radish, diced
sweet Maui onion, diced
walnuts
kale + shredded carrots + cabbage, chopped
seedless tangerine segments

#4 Quinoa Oasis
EVOO/Balsamic/Peppercorn spices dressing
red onion
Cajun Spiced Quinoa
kale + carrots
walnuts
edible flowers

Feeling overwhelmed by the many varieties of greens in your CSA box? Turn them into a green smoothie! Or, transform them into a delicious juice drink.

HOW TO VIDEO

How to Make a Green Smoothie
http://youtu.be/eXr8-jru1KE

Radishes are popular across the globe, from Japan (where it accounts for 15% of vegetable production) to the U.S. where 400 million pounds are purchased annually. The roots and greens are tasty and can be used in your cooking.

Did you know?
• Fresh Radishes are rich in vitamin C; provide about 15 mg or 25% of DRI of vitamin C per 100 g.
• Radishes are very low calorie root vegetables; contains only 16 calories per 100 g. However they are very good source of anti-oxidants, minerals, vitamins and dietary fiber.

Storage:
Store radishes for up to two weeks in a plastic bag or damp cloth in the refrigerator. Store greens separately, wrapped in a damp towel in the crisper drawer - use greens asap.

How to Use:
Give the skins a good scrub, there is no need to peel. Enjoy them raw - whole, sliced, grated or sliced into matchsticks. Great dipped in ranch dressing. They are peppery, so to tone down the bite, steam for 8-12 minutes until tender but not mushy. Roll in butter and add salt and pepper.

Radishes are great garnishes for Latin food. Slice and add to tacos, quesadillas or guacamole.

Use in soups and stews instead of turnips or add to mixed vegetable stir fries. Or make a grandma sandwich which is thinly sliced radishes on buttered French or sourdough bread, with a sprinkle of salt. Also tasty if you add spinach and cheese to the sandwich.

Recipe:

Radish and Sour Cream Salad
From Eat More Vegetables: Making the Most of Your Seasonal Produce by Tricia Cornell

Serves 4

1 bunch radishes
1 c. sour cream
1 small bunch chives, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)

Slice radishes lengthwise into 6 or 8 wedges, depending on size. Mix with sour cream and chives and serve immediately — the radishes start to ive off their liquid and the whole thing gets rather unpleasantly runny in about an hour.

Try out a new dressing this week when you whip together a fresh salad.

Dressings from Eat More Vegetables: Making the Most of your Seasonal Produce by Tricia Cornell

Honey-Lemon Vinaigrette

2 T honey
2 T freshley squeezed lemon juice
2 T olive oil
1 clove garlic, grated on a microplane or pressed through a garlic press
1/4 t. salt
plenty of freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small jar. Shake well and toss with hearty greens like radish or turnip tops. Makes 3/8 cup.

Basic Creamy Dressing
2 T. mayonaise
3 T. buttermilk
1/8 t. sugar
2 T. minced fresh basil
1 t. lemon juice
1 t. freshly ground black pepper

Mix mayonnaise and buttermilk in a small bowl, mashing well with a fork to fully incorporate. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Let sit about half an hour or so for the flavors to develop. Makes 1/2 cup.

Peppercorn Parmesan Dressing
1 T. pink peppercorns
3 egg yolks
3 T. white vinegar
1/2 t. kosher salt
1/4 c. half-and-half
1/4 c. Parmesean, grated on a microplane (1 ounce)

Pulse peppercorns quickly in a coffee grinder or grind with a motar and pestle. (You can also put peppercorns in a plastic bag, and whack them with a rolling pin.) Whisk egg yolks, vinegar, and salt with peppercorns in a glass bowl. Over a pot of water kept just at a simmer, place glass bowl (you can also use a double boiler) and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened like cream, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in half-and-half. Stir in parmesan. Makes 3/4 cup.