Dana's Kitchen

Season: Summer

  • CSA Cooking: Salad Pickles (aka Waste Prevention Pickles) – Food in Jars

    Salad Pickles (aka Waste Prevention Pickles)

    Yield: Makes three pints

    Ingredients

    • 2 pounds hardy, leftover vegetables like asparagus, beans, scapes, or stems
    • 2 cups apple cider vinegar
    • 1 cup water
    • 2 tablespoons pickling or fine grain sea salt
    • 6 garlic cloves
    • 3 teaspoons mustard seed
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

    Instructions

    1. Prepare a boiling water bath canner and 3 pint jars.
    2. Wash, trim, and chop the vegetables you’re using (go for similar sizes so that everything pickles at the same rate).
    3. Combine the vinegar, water, and salt in a large saucepan. Set it over high heat and bring it to a boil.
    4. Once the brine is boiling, add all the chopped vegetables. Cook just until the brine returns to a boil and then remove the pot from the heat.
    5. Pull the jars out of the canner. Divide the garlic cloves, mustard seeds, and red pepper flakes between the jars.
    6. Using a slotted spoon, fill the jars with the chopped vegetables, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
    7. Fill the jars with brine, taking care to retain the proper headspace.
    8. Tap the jars gently on the countertop to loosen air bubbles. Use a wooden or plastic chopstick to remove any stubborn ones.
    9. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process the pickles in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.
    10. When time is up, remove jars from the canner and set on a folded kitchen towel to cool.
    11. Sealed jars can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly.
    12. I like to give this pickle at least a week of rest before I crack open a jar.

  • How I keep my fruits and veggies fresh

    Working for the better part of two years with a farm-to-fridge grocery delivery service brought me closer to what it means to have fresh food.

    As soon as a fruit or vegetable is picked, it begins to lose valuable nutrients. Different fruits and vegetables also lose their nutrients at different rates—and of course their storage conditions have an impact too. Researchers at Penn State studied the effects of storage on the nutrient content of fresh spinach, for example. They found that spinach stored at cooler temperatures retained more nutrients than spinach in warmer temperatures. However, even at 39°F, the spinach only retained 53 percent of its folate after eight days. This is why it’s especially beneficial to buy fresh and eat fresh. Or even better yet—grow it and pick it yourself!

    Sometimes it’s not feasible to eat all your fresh food in one day, which means you may need to store your fruits and veggies. One of the more effective ways that I do it in my home is by sealing some vegetables, like carrots, celery, parsnips and others in a container with some FreshPaper by Fenugreen. Different fruits and vegetables, however, prefer different conditions. For instance, I primarily keep my apples in a brown bag in their own crisper, since ethanol off-gassing from apples can ripen other fruit (putting an apple with an unripened avocado on your countertop is actually a great way to ripen the avocado!). But fruits and veggies, like tomatoes and potatoes, never really want to be in the refrigerator, so I keep them in less lit location on my countertop.

    Certain vegetables benefit from being in closed containers with some Fresh Paper. 

    Certain vegetables benefit from being in closed containers with some Fresh Paper.

    Properly storing fruits and vegetables will keep them fresher for longer, but storing any fruit for longer will not necessarily mean it'll retain its nutrients. 

    Properly storing fruits and vegetables will keep them fresher for longer, but storing any fruit for longer will not necessarily mean it’ll retain its nutrients.

    Nutrient sensitivities

    It will benefit you to keep your vegetables and fruits stored properly because you’ll likely be able to retain more nutrients. Here are examples of nutrient sensitivities:

    Sensitive to air, light and heat

    • Vitamin A
    • Vitamin C
    • Vitamin D
    • Folic Acid
    • Carotenes

    Sensitive to light and heat

    • Vitamin B-6
    • Riboflavin

    Sensitive to air and heat

    • Thiamin

    10 tips for fruit and vegetable storage

    • Cut the tops off of root vegetables, like carrots, parsnips, parsley root, turnips, radishes and beets.  The tops can draw moisture from the roots. If you don’t want to waste the tops, then wash them off thoroughly and use them for soup stocks, or in the case of beets, sauté the greens with a little olive oil and salt. Root vegetables can be stored in an open or closed container with some moisture. Wrapping them in a damp cloth or adding a FreshPaper strip will help.
    • Potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, garlic and onions should be stored in a cool, dark place in your kitchen. I like to keep mine shielded from light on my countertop.
    • Eggplant, peppers, and cabbage prefer to be loose in a crisper.
    • Spinach and arugula prefer to be dry and loose in an open container in the crisper.
    • Kale doesn’t mind to be dry and loose in an open container, or in a closed one. If it has a rubber band around it, then remove it. If it’s looking limp, you can stick it’s base in some cool water and let it crisp up again.
    • Asparagus, fennel and celery like to be stored upright in a shallow plate of water, and they don’t need to be refrigerated. Kale, collard, and chard can also be stored this way, although I prefer to refrigerate them.
    • Greens like lettuces and herbs will need to be stored in an airtight container. Bands should be removed and a damp cloth will help keep their freshness.
    • I store my lemons and limes in a separate bowl in the refrigerator and they often last for a month.
    • Bananas I store on the countertop in my fruit bowl. If you buy green bananas, leave them connected on the stem because they’ll ripen faster.
    • If peaches, nectarines and apricots are ripe, then they can be stored in the refrigerator. 🌿

  • Amy’s Tomato Jam

    Yield: Varies depending on the kind of tomato used, pan width and the finished thickness*

    Ingredients

    • 5 pounds tomatoes, finely chopped
    • 3 1/2 cups sugar
    • 8 tablespoons bottled lime juice
    • 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
    • 1 tablespoon salt
    • 1 tablespoon red chili flakes

    Instructions

    1. Combine all ingredients in a large, non-reactive pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce temperature to a simmer. Stirring regularly, cook at a low boil until it reduces to a sticky, jammy mess. This will take between 1 and 1 1/2 hours, depending on how high you keep your heat.
    2. When the jam has cooked down sufficiently, remove from heat and fill jars, leaving 1/4 inch of head space. Wipe rims, apply lids and twist on rings. Process in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes.
    3. When time is up, remove jars from water bath and allow them to cool. When jars are cool enough to handle, test seals. Store jars in a cool, dark place for up to one year.

    Notes

    *The finished yield on this recipe varies depending on the kind of tomato you use, the width of your pan and the finished thickness to which you cook it.