Fresh from Wellspring Charitable Gardens - February 15, 2024
Fresh Today… Cabbage, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Parsnips, Carrots, Red & Green Leaf Lettuce, Swiss Chard, Green Onions, Rosemary, Cilantro, Pink & White Grapefruit, & Blood Oranges
Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno.
I’ve been looking for new Bok choy recipes and found this soup. It will make for a warm meal on an upcoming rainy day. I often see photos of baby Bok choy recipes with beautiful shots of half heads carefully presented but I find it incredibly difficult to eat Bok choy when it is served this way. I prefer to have it cut ahead of time. This recipe is written with vegetable broth, but you could use chicken broth. Another vegetarian option would be to use miso paste and mix it with water. I would also encourage you to add tofu or cooked chicken if you want to add protein to this hearty meal.
Bok Choy Soup with Ginger
1 bunch Bok choy, ends trimmed,
chopped (about 7-8 cups)
1 tablespoon oil, divided
2 large shallots or ½ cup onion,
finely chopped
2 green onions, sliced, divided
8 ounces shiitake mushrooms,
stems removed, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 thumb-size piece ginger root,
peeled and grated
4 cups vegetable broth
4 cups water
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
1 star anise
8 ounces rice noodles
Salt and pepper
* Optional sesame seeds for garnish
** Preheat a large soup pot over medium heat and add 1 teaspoon of oil. Cook the Bok choy for about 2 minutes, until bright green. Season with salt. Transfer Bok choy to a plate and set aside. Add the remaining oil to the pot. Sauté the shallots, mushrooms, and half of the green onion until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic to the pot, and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add the water, broth, soy sauce, and star anise, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the noodles to the pot and cook until tender, according to package directions. When the noodles are almost done, return the Bok choy to the pot so it can heat through. Remove the star anise before serving. Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds.
“No! No! GMO We Don’t Grow!”
We share your concern and taste. You expect your produce to be fresh, healthy, tasty, and natural, so that is what we plant, cultivate, and deliver to you, our subscribers. We do not defer to the powers that be but bow before the Power Who Is and grow by design naturally. Seeds we plant come from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, one of nine original signers of the Safe Seed Pledge: “Agriculture and seeds provide the basis upon which our lives depend. We must protect this foundation as a safe and genetically stable source for future generations. For the benefit of all farmers, gardeners, and consumers who want an alternative, we pledge that we do not knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered seeds or plants….” We trust you enjoy the fresh produce you receive and hope you will spread the good word about Wellspring Charitable Gardens and Wellspring Counseling Ministries.
Cooking Cabbage…
I love roasting our cruciferous vegetables, and I don’t leave cabbage out because of its leafy presentation. When you cut the wedges, turn the head of cabbage upside down so that you are looking at the core, that way you can ensure that the leaves will stay together when cooking.
Roasted Cabbage Wedges with Onion Dijon Sauce
(Adapted from anoregoncottage.com)
1 medium green cabbage
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons minced fresh onion
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 large, minced garlic clove
Pinch of salt and pepper
* Optional: chopped chives or parsley for serving
** Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat. Cut cabbage into 6-8 equal wedges and set on lined baking sheet. Use a pastry brush to coat both cut sides of each wedge with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the baking sheet in the oven and cook for 10-12 minutes. Flip the wedges and roast until nicely browned, 8-10 minutes more. Meanwhile, make the sauce by adding all the sauce ingredients to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the butter is completely melted. To serve, place the wedges on a plate and drizzle with the sauce. Sprinkle with chives or parsley, if desired.
Metaphors of Soil & Soul…
Boundaries by Design
by Ronda May Melendez & Keith F Martin
Quince is blooming now, and how beautiful are its blossoms! I wish I could move nearer and fully embrace its beauty, but “embracing” isn’t something one does with quince, which wields long, sharp thorns. There is good purpose for those thorns. They protect the quince from predators and pests that would harm its blossoms and fruit. Yet, for all of quince’s prickliness, when we respect its sharp boundaries, we can fully enjoy its beauty and delight in its flowering and fruiting.
These wonderous hedge shrubs provide a lovely model for boundary setting that recalls God’s original design of creation. Boundaries have been from the beginning: Light from Dark, Day from Night, Morning from Evening, Water from Land, “Shall” from “Shall Not.” Boundaries are not a consequence of the Fall, but they are now sharper and more severe because of it. Life is sacred and must be protected. Quince’s thorns are God-given and purpose driven. Painful to careless or aggressive trespassers, the thorns protect its life-sustaining, fruit bearing energies, but they aren’t means designed to control others. That responsibility remains with them. The quince isn’t discouraging any who would enjoy getting acquainted; it welcomes engagement and shares its beauty and bounty freely. When you approach it with care and respect, you may safely harvest its blossoms for table decoration and its fruit for jam. If you ignore or disregard its boundaries, you proceed and touch to your own detriment. There is pain to reap in every sharp reminder that it guards its life and beauty earnestly. Quince is unapologetic for enforcing its sharp boundaries and remains steadfast in its purpose and faithful to its design.
We can learn much about our design by closely observing God’s creation. Let us, like quince, confidently maintain boundaries that in no way control others yet still protect the beauty and fruit formed and growing in our lives. That has been the LORD God’s design from the beginning and will be until the end.
“Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever’ — therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.” Genesis 3:22-24
