SUMMER CSA // WEEK 4

  “We’re a team. Together we are building a new food system. Such a change requires a new way of thinking –– a new infrastructure to make our people and our land healthier.  To impact our food system takes courage.  To reshape its very foundation takes even more courage. You must believe in your voice and move us toward a future that most people don’t see.”                  Nicolas Jammet, letter to young farmer

PRODUCER SPOTLIGHT: The Chip Peddler // Durango, CO

Neil Hannum // The Chip Peddler 
Durango Snack Werks, home of the Chip Peddler, was started on the first day of 2010 with the simple idea that great snacks don’t have to come from large factories and made with ingredients that you can’t pronounce.
Here are some of our founding principles that we keep in mind during every decision we make:
-Keep the dollars as local as possible
-Use fair trade practices
-Strive to implement environmentally responsible production policies
-Give back to two wheeled sports.

Our process starts by purchasing each ingredient from single origin sources. This allows us to build personal relationships with our independent producers, creating a direct connection between the people, the land and the chips we make.  Every dollar spent on a local business goes to paying local taxes, hiring local employees & other ways of giving back which in essence help build a stronger community.

Tortillas:  We could buy our corn on the open market where it might have traveled thousands of miles across the globe to get here.  However, we choose to buy ours from the Ute Mountain Ute, Farm & Ranch located in Southwestern Colorado.  Each pallet of their Non-GMO white corn that we purchase has been labeled telling us where it was grown and what variety it is.

Oil: Our chips are then cooked in oil that comes from Colorado Mills, located in Lamar, Colorado. They use only Non-GMO high oleic sunflower seeds providing a healthy cooking oil with zero transfats.  Each batch is mechanically cold pressed to preserve the healthy antioxidants while never using any chemicals during the process.

Salt:  The salt we use comes from Redmond Trading Co., where they mine Real Salt® brand sea salt from a single source in Redmond, Utah.  Millions of years ago an ancient sea covered and uncovered the area leaving a bed of unpolluted salt containing more than 60 trace minerals. Real Salt brand sea salt is unrefined and comes to you in its natural form, never bleached, kiln dried, heated or altered with chemicals, pollutants or additives.

WEEK 4 // WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

• Cherries, Bing, Conner Orchards, Hotchkiss                                                                   1.5 lbs    
• Baby Sweet Lettuce, COG, Ring a Ding Farms, Howard                                                 0.5 lbs
• Baby Arugula, COG, Ring a Ding Farms, Howard                                                          1 lb    
• Baby Chioggia Beets, White Mountain Farm, Mosca                                                        1 bunch
• Radish, Watermelon, White Mountain Farm, Mosca                                                        1 bunch
• Radish, Black, White Mountain Farm, Mosca                                                                 1 bunch    
• Potatoes, Mixed Fingerlings, White Rock Specialties, Mosca                                             2 lbs
• Bolita Beans, Dove Creek Bean Company, Dove Creek, CO OR Tierra Sana, Alamosa, CO    1 lb bag    
• Red Chile Cheddar Tortilla Chips, Chip Peddler, Durango, CO                                         6.4 oz​

RECIPES

"Spanish settlers to the northern New Mexican region initially presented the Bolita Bean to North America. The bean was incorporated into much of the American Indian food traditions in the Four Corners region. With its high protein content and its general ease on the stomach, the Bolita Bean became an important crop, quickly becoming extensively cultivated throughout the American southwest. The beans are deep, pinkish-beige almost salmon in color and boast a taste richer in flavor than the Pinto bean, to which it is often compared.”

The Bolita Beans from SLV is of particular importance to our local food systems. Over the generations, farmers in SLV selected the beans that did well in this arid climate of high altitude and replanted again and again. As a result, we have very special beans that are not much available outside of the Valley.  On a few occasions traveling in the US, I was asked by some people with family ties in SLV if we can still get THE BEANS. Obviously, Bolita is a soul food for the people with an ancestral connection to the SLV… it is our roots!

Cooking Bolita Beans
1 - 1&1/2 cup dry beans
2 garlic cloves (finally chopped or crushed)
1 small onion chopped
salt
pepper
1/4 cup oil
chili powder (optional)
thyme (optional)
oregano (optional)
vinegar (optional)


1) Wash and soak the beans in water over night.
2) Boil the beans 2 times changing the water each time.
3) On the 3rd time around, add beans, hot water, chopped garlic, chopped onions, salt & pepper, vinegar, spices, and oil.
4) Cook until soft (with pressure cooker, it takes about 10 minutes.)
5) Taste and adjust the taste.

It is very handy to have cooked beans in the refrigerator for quick quesadilla, burrito, or Huevos Rancheros.


Radish-based Pico de Gallo
Finely chop the radish and simply mix with cilantro, chopped tomatoes, onions, lime juice, salt and pepper 


Beet / Potato Roast
1) Peel and slice (or cut in half if the beets are small)
2) Coat with oil, season with salt
3) Roast on cookie sheet at 400ish for about 45min

The beets will get caramelized and sweet, and can be eaten with salad too.
At the same time, you can roast fingerling potatoes with rosemary

1) Clean the potatoes thoroughly
2) Coat with oil. Season with salt and rosemary
3) Roast on cookie sheet at 400ish for about 45min


Warm Potato Salad with Arugula 
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, scrubbed
3 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoons grainy mustard
2 1/4 teaspoons sherry vinegar
1/2 small sweet onion, thinly sliced (1 cup)
2 1/2 ounces baby arugula (4 cups)

Preheat the oven to 425°. Cut the potatoes into 1/2-inch wedges. Scatter the potato wedges on 1 large rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil and toss until coated. Season with salt and pepper and roast for about 25 minutes, until browned and crisp.
In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the mustard and vinegar and season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with the onion and arugula. Top with the dressing, toss again and serve right away


Smoked Cherry Turnovers
2 1/2 Cups cherries, pitted and halved
1/4 Cup dark brown sugar
1/4 Cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tsp. smoked sea salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla paste
2 Tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Package puff pastry sheets, defrosted to room temperature
1 Egg
2 Tbsp. water
3 Tbsp. Turbinado sugar
Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix the sugar and cornstarch then combine with cherries, brown sugar, salt, vanilla and lemon juice in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-8 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the sauce pan and cool on a clean cookie sheet.  Remove the puff pastry from the package and open 1 sheet onto a cutting board or counter. Cut into four equal pieces, arranged to fold in half corner to corner. Mix egg and water to make an egg wash then brush puff pastry. Fill with 1 1/2 Tbsp. of cherry filling, fold pastry and seal the edges. Brush the outside with egg wash and top with Turbinado sugar. Place the turnovers on a cookie sheet or pizza stone and bake at 375°F for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Remove and allow to fully cool before eating