Week 21

THE GUEST CORNER
When you look at the “Who Grew This?” section of the newsletter you may wonder who some of these people are. This week we asked Mark Nakata of M & K, the grower of the Satusuma and Navel oranges we have been enjoying the last few weeks, to tell us a little about himself. As it turns out Mark goes far beyond being an organic farmer.
Mark writes: I am a principal in Beyond Organix. Beyond Organix (BYO), is a grower service organization that provides interested growers with the advice and information necessary to grow nutrient dense fruit. One of our principals, Dr. Arden Anderson, is one of the world’s leading authorities on the relationship between plant health, and human health. He has written several books on the subject, and spends several months of the year traveling the globe, speaking about nutrient density. What we at BYO do is bring to the growers the technical knowledge of how to do nutrient density. We will also publish a nutrient density standard this year. We are currently undergoing, “third party” testing to verify that our fruit meets or exceeds the levels we expect to establish as the standard. By growing nutrient dense fruit, we will be able to provide to our customers the flavorful, life-enriching, nutrient packed fruit our grandparents told us about.
As you can see Mark is one of the farmers that take seriously the nutritional quality of the fruit he grows and provides to other families. One of the founders of BYO, Mr. Stanley Kadota, has written an article which is titled “What is the BYO Seamless Growing Approach?” The last sentence of the article pretty much says it all. “Consumer satisfaction will reward the farmer’s extraordinary efforts.” The efforts of organic farmers are indeed extraordinary, and they do it with us in mind.

RAW MILK
We are happy to announce that you can now purchase not only raw milk, but many other products offered by Organic Pastures as an add-on to your weekly subscription. This will include whole and skim raw milk, raw cheddar cheese, and raw butter. Organic Pastures also offers truly raw almonds which we will carry in 1 and 5 pound weights. If you are not familiar with how to order add-ons we are sure you will find it to be a simple process. Once you have logged in you will see your Subscription Dashboard. Locate the bar “EDIT THIS WEEK/ADDONS”. When you select that bar you will be taken to a new window where you will see the list of add-ons that are available. Simply enter the quantity you want of any given item. The deadline to order is Monday at 9:00 am and you will be charged at the time you are charged for your box.

TELL A FRIEND
In case you haven’t noticed it there is now a “Tell A Friend About Us” button on the lower right hand side of the screen when you are on line. This is a great way to let a friend, or five, know about Abundant Harvest Organics. If you are logged in all you have to do is enter your friends email address. We have prepared an email message that contains a link to the subscriber sign up page and you may send it just as it is, or you have the option to enter a personal message. Just click on SEND EMAIL TO YOUR FRIEND and you are done. You can “Tell A Friend About Us” without even logging in, but when you are not logged in you will have to enter your zip code and personal email address. Still simple, just a couple of extra steps.
We hope, if you are loving your produce, that you will help spread the word about Abundant Harvest Organics. This is just a tool to help you do so.

RECIPES
It is obvious that some of you are having a great time finding new ways to prepare old favorites, or learning what to do with brand new favorites. Thank you to those of you who have shared recipes that you have found. Perhaps you will see them in the newsletter, but for sure on the website. Recipes on the website are categorized by the fruits and vegetables that are ingredients in the recipe. So if you are looking for something to do with cabbage, for instance, select Recipes from the menu at the top of your page and look for “Cabbage”. There will be a list of the recipes you can access that contain cabbage. All of the recipes that have been on newsletters are now on the site, in addition to a few others. We will continue to build this “Recipe Book” and hope you will find it to be useful .

RECIPE BOOK
Speaking of recipe books, we have a recommendation for you. It’s a great fruit and vegetable recipe book. The title is “Simply In Season” World Community Cookbook by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert. It is published by Herald Press. It is available on Amazon.com for $11.19 new. The book is divided by season, gives information about various fruits and vegetables, and recipes by season. If you enjoy knowing about what you are eating, and like cookbooks we think you will appreciate this book.

“It’s the kiss of frost that puts the flavor in root vegetables.”
Tom Willey

WHO GREW THIS?
Here is what you will find in this week’s box.
-Navel Oranges
-Satsuma Mandarin Oranges
M & K, Caruthers
-Butternut Squash
-Shallots
John Tobias, Hollister
-Yams
Doreva Produce, Livingston
-Red Oakleaf Lettuce*
-Yukon Gold Potatoes*
-Nantes Carrots
-Red Butterhead Lettuce*
-Red Beets
-Escarole
-Parsnips
-Bloomsdale Spinach
T & D Willey, Madera
*Denotes Abundant Box Only
Contents may vary due to availability on date of delivery.

SHALLOTS
Shallots do not give bad breath like garlic and onion and are more easily digestible
Roast shallots in their skins until soft and serve as a side dish or puree to use in sauces or soups

Recipe
Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Shallots
Preheat Oven to 400º
6 Tbsp minced shallots 2 Tbsp olive oil
½ cup low fat, low sodium chicken broth Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp fresh minced thyme (dried may be substituted)
Place all ingredients in a small casserole, cover and put in the oven to roast for approximately 40 minutes.
Clean 3-4 Yukon Gold potatoes and cut into 2” chunks boil for 20 minutes or until soft. Drain potatoes and put back in the pot, over low heat to dry.
Heat ½ cup evaporated skim milk over medium low heat, add the potatoes and beat with a mixer. Add the roasted shallots from the oven and beat again until potatoes are smooth.

Recipe
Rich Chocolate Beet Muffins
Preheat Oven to 350º
2 ½ cups beets, pureed ½ cup water or reserved beet juice
1 ½ cups sugar 3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa powder 1 ½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt ¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
¼ cup nuts (optional)
Quarter or halve beets depending on size, steam, rub peels off, slice and puree. Line muffin tins with paper or grease them. In a large bowl, combine beet puree, beets juice or water, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add the beet mixture, chocolate chips and nuts to the flour mixture. The batter will be maroon in color but the cooked product will be dark fudgey brown. Fill muffin tins ¾ full and bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. You may use 2 loaf pans as an alternative and make sweet bread instead of muffins.