Baby Peaches

The peach blossoms are beginning to fall off revealing the baby peaches. In a few weeks we will start thinning out some of the fruit which will allow the peaches to be larger and sweeter.

Raising New Beds and Adding Compost

This week we finished raising 60 new beds and started adding compost to them. We will be planting our spring crops (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, basil, cucumbers, melons, beans, and sweet potatoes) in these beds.

Spring/Summer CSA Week 1

Spring/Summer CSA Week 1: mixed baby beets, red leaf lettuce, broccoli, green curly kale, baby spinach, purple spring onions, minneola tangelos.

This Week's Abbey Kitchen Recipe: Beet and Quinoa Salad

This golden beet quinoa salad is light and refreshing, and we feel that the bright colors and smooth beet finish radiate the energy of our weekend. The golden beets are tender, and the red onion and apple slices add a crisp crunch to the salad and they tie in the easy apple cider vinaigrette. The quinoa and pecans add protein to the dish while the salad greens and salad toppings deliver nourishing vitamins and minerals. To feel light and bright, make this salad in your kitchen and get some of that new-baby glow.

TO MAKE:
GOLDEN BEET QUINOA SALAD
Serves: 2-3
Quinoa:
½ cup quinoa uncooked
1 cup water
Beets:
3 golden beets
Olive oil
Pepper
Foil
Salad:
3 cup arugula
3 cup spinach
1 gala apple chopped small
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
1/4 cup crushed pecans

EASY VINAIGRETTE
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp honey
Salt
Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cook the quinoa according to package directions. We cooked ours in our rice cooker, using 1 part quinoa and 2 parts water. We poured 1/2 cup quinoa in and then added 1 cup water.
3. Turn rice cooker on and let quinoa cook. When cooking is done, fluff up the quinoa with a fork.
4. Let quinoa cool. You can place in the fridge to let it cool for the salad.
5. Wash the beets gently and cut off their greens. Grab a baking pan and three pieces of foil to wrap each beet.
6. Place the beets on their foil sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper. Enclose them in the foil loosely and place them on the baking pan.
7. Place in the oven and let them cook for about 35-45 minutes, checking every 20 minutes or so to see how they’re cooking. They are done when a fork or knife goes easily in the middle of the beet.
8. Let the beets cool and then remove their skin with your hands or a paper towel, the skin should come off pretty easily if they have cooked properly.
9. In a salad bowl, add the arugula, spinach, apple, red onion, and pecans.
10. When the quinoa has cooled, sprinkle the quinoa on salad.
11. Once beets have cooled and their skins have been removed, cut into half circles and place on salad.
12. In a small bowl, whisk up the vinaigrette ingredients. Taste to see if you would like more salt/pepper or honey.
13. Drizzle the salad with as much dressing as you desire, and toss!
14. Enjoy!
NOTES: the beets and the quinoa can be made ahead of time (hours or a couple of days!); store beets in the fridge sliced of whole for about 1 week; you can store any leftover vinaigrette in an airtight container in the fridge and use on future salads.

http://abbeykitchen.com/