"No one wants advice—only corroboration."

-John Steinbeck 

Here at Valley Roots we know the power of word of mouth. Most of our customers find us through recommendations from friends and it makes our hearts burst with joy! As our Chief Fungi constantly reminds us this business is all about relationships.

To celebrate, for the month of March we are declaring as "Refer a Friend" month. 

HOW: Throughout the whole month of March, when you refer a friend to us and after they register and place their first order, we will give YOU a 15% discount on your next order. Simply email ally.valleyroots@gmail.com their name and we will send you the discount code after we see their order come through! 

Fall / Winter Vegetable Salad 

Ingredients

• 1 cup barley, whole grain couscous, or quinoa
• 1 medium bulb fennel
• 1 bunch hearty greens, such as kale, chard, collard greens or beet greens
• 1 small beet
• 1 medium firm apple
• 1 clove garlic
• ½ cup nuts or seeds, such as pecans, almonds, or walnuts
• 1 medium lemon
• ¼ cup cider vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ¼ cup canola oil
• . ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Optional Ingredients

• 2 ounces cheese, such as blue, goat, or Cheddar cheese
• Rinse Quinoa thoroughly and cook grains following package directions. Transfer to a large bowl. Prepare rest of salad while you let grains cool completely. Rinse fennel, greens, beet and apple. Cut off any long stalks and fronds of fennel. Quarter fennel and cut out core. Slice thinly.Remove stems from greens. Stack leaves together, roll into a thick log, and slice thinly. Peel and cut beet into ¼-inch cubes. Cut apple into ¼ cubes.

• Peel and mince garlic.
• If using, crumble cheese or cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• In a small skillet over medium-low heat, add nuts or seeds. Cook until fragrant, 3-5 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl to cool.
• Rinse and cut lemon in half. In a small bowl, squeeze juice. Discard any seeds.
• Add vinegar, minced garlic and mustard to lemon juice. Whisk with a fork to combine. While whisking, slowly drizzle in oil. Season with salt and pepper.
• When grains are cool, add fennel, greens, beet and apple. Drizzle with dressing and toss to combine. Sprinkle with the toasted nuts and cheese, if using.

Chef’s Notes

• Vary the vegetables according to what you have on hand and what’s in season. Carrots, cabbage, pears, celery and dried fruit work nicely.
• Add leftover cooked chicken, roast beef, or beans for added protein. Serve as a 4-person entrée.
• Use any apples you like, such as Granny Smith, Pink Lady, or Fuji.
• If your fennel comes with the feathery “fronds” still on it, you can finely chop and add some to salad to give it an extra punch of flavor.
• Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

"To grow mature is to separate more distinctly, to connect more closely."

-Hugo Von Hofmannsthal

In celebration of CSA Week, pre-orders are launching February 21st for the 2022 Summer Fresh Box season!

New to CSA aka Community Supported Agriculture? Here are our top 5 reasons for committing to this journey with us this season:
1) Enjoy quality, local produce that will inspire you and your family to eat healthier.
2) Challenge yourself to think outside the box when it comes to vegetables & get adventurous in the kitchen with our weekly recipe inspiration.
3) The taste & freshness is superior, as our farmers and producers harvest Wednesdays, boxes are packed Thursdays, and they come to you Fridays!
4) Support your local food economy. For every $1 spent at a local business, $.45 is reinvested locally. For every $1 spent at a corporate chain, only $.15 is reinvested locally.
5) Our weekly newsletter highlights the who & where behind each item in your box. Get to know the faces and stories behind the food on your plate!

Shares are $450 for 13 weeks starting late June through September. 

2022 Season: June 24th-September 16th

Shares $450
Valued at $35/week

Optional add-ons:
Egg and or Beef Share

Potato Mushroom Egg Breakfast

• 5 potatoes diced into bite size pieces
• 1/2 Lb of mushrooms quartered
• 1/2 large onion -diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced 
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup of bacon ( or sub tempeh bacon or vegetarian option)

1. Prep ingredients for the dish.
2. In a large oiled skillet over medium heat, sauté the diced onions until they soften and begin to turn golden brown.
3. Next, add in the diced mushrooms to the skillet and cook them until they turn golden brown.
4. Add cubed potatoes and garlic to the skillet and season them with salt. Every few minutes, stir the ingredients so all sides of the potatoes get a nice golden crust.
5. Once potatoes are cooked through, add in the bacon crisps and stir to combine.  
6. Serve warm! Great to put along side a slice of delicious grainy bread and fresh eggs prepared as you prefer (scrambled, over easy/ medium, or poached)

Good Intentions

Be patient
with the seed
inside,

Awaiting its
spring to grow

Love
but
do not hover.

For good intentions
mean little

If in effect
they block
the light. 

-Douglass Decandia

Raised to perfection, at just shy of 8000 ft. in elevation, in the beautiful San Luis Valley Colorado Catch has been sustainably rearing Hybrid Striped Bass since 1992.  A second generation family owned and operated facility. Our family along with our farm technicians pride ourselves on producing Hybrid Striped Bass of the highest quality. 

We raise our fish in circular tanks with cement floors. Within these tanks there is a current of water that continually flows allowing the fish to school and swim naturally. This technique produces a fillet that is firm and tastes clean creating a product that is second to none!

After the water is circulated throughout our farm, the nutrients that are available in the water are then utilized to grow small grains and alfalfa.

100% Farm Raised

Whole, Un-gutted, on ice

Sizes:
Small, 1-1.49 lb
Medium, 1.5-1.99 lb
Large, 2-2.49 lb
Extra Large, 2.5-2.9 lb

Price by the lb

Located in the town of Saguache in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, the land upon which Frontier Trout Ranch sits served as a trout hatchery as early as the 1940s and by the 1960s was raising more the 500,000 trout annually. Similarly, the same deep artesian well that supplies the water for Frontier Trout Ranch and is an essential part of our ability to raise clean, healthy fish within a sustainable environment also proved valuable for the early fish farmers of the 1940s.

Because of the single-source, closed water system whose design allows for optimum control of the quality of the ecosystem, Frontier Trout Ranch is able to produce clean, naturally-tasting trout with no muddy flavor. Our trout are hand-harvested and farm fresh, offering a premium product to the market with no chemicals, hormones, artificial coloring, or antibiotics.

Frontier Trout Ranch hatches tens of thousands of eggs per week, raising each fish for 18 months before harvesting. The state-of-the-art facility provides a native environment for the trout, including free range raceways and ponds. This allows for the production of market-ready fish raised in an ecosystem full of natural food sources such as crawfish, shrimp, salamanders, minnows, and snails. This native environment free of pollutants provides the trout with a firmness and a true trout flavor via their symbiotic relationship with the other species with which they share the water.

At any given time there are hundreds of thousands of trout of all ages, sizes, and species within the closed water system. Radical advances in technology over the past decades have also greatly enhanced the quality, production, and recycling efficiency of fish farming in general. Specialized water monitoring and natural-based feed and medicinal treatments help create a healthier, higher quality trout.

We continue to make strides within the operations of the ranch by focusing on increased production efficiencies, including increasing rearing densities, improving recirculation technologies, developing superior strains of fish for improved growth, controlling maturation and gender, improving diets, and reducing phosphorus concentrations of effluents.

When it’s time to eat, do you know where your fish came from? When you’re eating clean, farm-to-fork trout from Frontier Trout Ranch, you can be sure that your fish were not bred in polluted oceans, lakes, and streams full of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, radiation, and other waste.

Our all-natural, Colorado-raised trout set the standard because of the pristine nature of the water in which they live and the careful design of the ecosystem in which they are raised. Our fish are delivered to our distributor the day they are harvested and are never frozen. They are antibiotic-free, hormone-free, gluten-free, and are locally grown and naturally fed.

Our water source provides up to 3.4 million gallons of pure Colorado water every day. Mountain rainfall has been filtered for millennia through thousands of feet of deep sand and soil to reach the sealed, confined aquifer several thousand feet deep. If that’s not enough, we’ve strategically placed censors throughout the fishery to monitor the water quality, measuring oxygen saturation, phosphorous, nitrogen, and ammonia levels. In addition, water flow and temperature sensors help optimize oxygen, phosphorous, and nitrogen levels allowing for a maximum feed conversion ratio.

These safeguards, along with our numerous ranch-raised advantages, allow Frontier Trout Ranch to grow natural, healthy Colorado trout for the health-conscious consumer.

There is no denying the fact that you can literally taste difference in the quality of the water in which fish were raised. One bite of our farm fresh trout and you will notice the clean, fresh taste. Frontier Trout Ranch also has the advantage of year-round 60-degree water from our aquifer, an optimal temperature for raising trout. The cold water gives the trout a true cold-water flavor, the way trout are supposed to taste.

Our healthier, higher quality trout provide premium protein to your dinner table with no artificial pigment supplements, no hormones or antibiotics, and no chemicals or pesticides introduced into the growing environment. This leads to a true, hearty flavor that your customers will both enjoy and appreciate.

Spiced Beet Dip
Eye-swoon.com

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds beets (roughly 3 medium beets)
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup tahini
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon za’atar
• 2 tablespoons crumbled feta
• Pita, for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Peel the beets and cut into quarters. In a small bowl, toss with the garlic and 2 tablespoons olive oil and place in a baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and roast for 30 minutes. The beets will be very tender when a small knife is inserted in the middle (be sure to test out a few larger pieces); if beets are not easily pierced, roast for an additional 10 to 15 minutes and test again.
2. Once the beets and garlic cool slightly, place them in a food processor and process until combined. Add the tahini, lemon juice, and salt and blend again, scraping any bits off the sides. Process again, pouring the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil in a slow stream into the food processor while the mixture is blending. Once all the ingredients are added, process for 3 minutes or until the mixture is very smooth. Transfer to a plate for serving or into a container and refrigerate.
3. To serve, sprinkle za’atar over the dip, add the crumbled feta cheese on top, and finish with a hefty splash of extra-virgin olive oil. Serve with pita for dipping. 

“Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones."

-Phillips Brooks

Last Pears of the season, get them while you can!

Certified Organic

3 lb bags
34 lb case

• Lamb with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes & Carrots
• All ingredients & recipe included to prepare a local dinner for 2!

• Includes health & beauty items, build your own charcuterie, breakfast & desert!

Lentil Soup with Lemon
AUTHOR: Adam and Joanne Gallagher

2 cups finely chopped onion (1 medium onion)

1 1/2 cups chopped carrot (2 large carrots)

2 teaspoons minced garlic (3 cloves)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 cups (12 ounces) lentils, picked and rinsed

8 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 heaping cups shredded kale or spinach

1 to 2 lemons

1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs like parsley or dill, optional

Fine sea salt, to taste

Directions:
Heat the oil in a large pot (like a Dutch oven) over medium heat. Add the onions, carrot, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring occasionally until they are softened and starting to smell sweet, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cumin, coriander, black pepper, and turmeric and cook for 30 seconds.

Stir in the lentils and broth. Increase the heat to high and bring just to a boil. Taste then adjust with salt (we add between 1/2 and 1 teaspoon depending on how well seasoned the broth is). Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the lentils are tender, 35 to 40 minutes.

Uncover the pot and stir in the kale (or spinach) and cook, uncovered, another 5 minutes. Take the soup off of the heat, and then stir in the juice of half a lemon and the fresh herbs. Taste the soup, and then season with additional salt and/or lemon juice. (I like quite a bit of lemon.)

Serve or if you prefer the soup to be blended, use an immersion blender to blend until your desired consistency. Alternatively, you can use a stand blender to blend all or part of the soup. For even more lemon flavor, serve with a few lemon slices.

The soup will keep stored in the refrigerator up to four days and in the freezer for several months. If when reheating the soup, it seems too thick or dry, add a splash of extra broth or water.

“Trees are earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven."

-Rabindranath Tagore 

Certified Organic

3 lb bags
20 lb case

• Lamb with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes & Carrots
• All ingredients & recipe included to prepare a local dinner for 2!

• Includes health & beauty items, build your own charcuterie, breakfast & desert!

Local Apple Oatmeal Cookies

*Local Ingredient

Makes 3 dozen

¾ Cup of butter*

3/4 cup sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs* 

1 ¾ cups of Mountain Mama whole wheat pastry flour*

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

2 cups of Mountain Mama Whole Oats or Heartland Mills Rolled Oats*

1 or 2 medium apples = 1 Cup (Locally sourced) peeled, chopped or shredded*

1. Pre Heat oven to 375 degrees

2. Line baking sheet with parchment or spray sheet with cooking spray

3. In large bowl beat butter, sugars with electric mixer until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs, scraping sides until blended,

4. In medium bowl mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually beat flour mixture into wet mixture. 

5. Stir in oats and apple.

6. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes. 

7. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.

8. Bake about 12 -14 minutes or until light golden brown on edges.

9. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes and remove to cooling rack to completely cool for 15 minutes.

10. Enjoy!