Tantre Farm CSA Newsletter IMMUNE BOOSTER (Week 62) Share June 5, 2021

Tantre Farm CSA Newsletter  
IMMUNE BOOSTER (Week 62) Share  
June 5, 2021

Hello fellow Locavores,

Welcome to the Immune Booster Week 62 Newsletter and thank you for signing up to this Mediterranean-themed share. We figured since the weather is finally heating up that we should switch gears and offer some light and flavorful, prepared food along with a nice variety of leafy greens, a few tubers and lots of color all around. So sit back and relax as I walk you through how this local share of plenty all came together for you this week.

This week we have plenty of fresh produce to offer you from Tantre Farm because the fields are ripe for picking! We grow food by the ton on several hundred acres and we have quite the spread to choose from. So first up, we walk down the hill to collect some robust Spinach from Tantre Farm. Spinach is packed with calcium that helps prevent osteoporosis, as well as iron that reduces the risk of anemia. Overall, spinach has a wide range of pro-health benefits and is currently in high production at the farm because it thrives in the mild temps of late spring/early summer. Try a crisp and buttery salad, maybe make a spinach dip or incorporate it into a hearty stir fry.

Just a hop and a skip over to the next field row, we have Lettuce from Tantre Farm. Lettuce was first cultivated in Egypt a couple thousand years ago and here we are today planting it in successions every two weeks at the farm. Why lettuce? It’s great for hydration, reduces bad cholesterol, moderates sleep and anxiety and is a great source of antioxidants. So toss some crisp fresh lettuce in with that buttery spinach for a nutrient-rich salad, add some to your sandwiches, tacos or burritos, or make a lettuce wrap with your favorite fillings from the prepared foods yet to come.

Down the road and over the next hill, we have Arugula from Tantre Farm. This arugula is hoop house grown so it is tender with a slight peppery kick, whoo hoo!  Arugula is a superfood green that has many beneficial impacts on our longevity, especially with heart function and keeping our valves clean and pumping. Arugula boasts essential vitamins and minerals, and it is versatile to prepare, cooked or raw. So maybe mix this into the spinach and lettuce mix for a well-rounded salad, toss it on a pizza before it goes in the oven, add it to your favorite wraps and sandwiches, or even try blending into a pesto. So many great ideas to consume this heart healthy green! 

Round the bend and protected from the wind, we step into another hoop house to pick Joi Choi from Tantre Farm. Now some of you may be wondering how we went from the Bok Choy listed in our menu sign-up, to Joi Choi? Let me fill you in… Joi Choi is the bigger, more robust cousin to Bok Choy, with the same flavor and texture. Since it’s a much larger plant, we figured it would serve you better and take you further in your culinary adventures. Joi Choi is packed with vitamin E, beta-carotene and selenium among other immune-boosting properties. Rinse thoroughly and chop up the stems and leaves alike. Then mix in with your stir-fry ingredients or into a soup. You will be amazed how quickly this amount of veg will cook down. A giant head of Joi Choi will amount to maybe a quarter of its original size once it’s cooked. So go ahead and cook the whole head of Joi Choi in one setting, you will be glad you did because it will bring you so much Joi! Pun intended. Ha!

Moving along to the hoop house next door, we come across ‘two-for-one’ tubers – Hakurei Turnips from Tantre Farm. Two-for-one meaning you get a sweet, white, crisp, hakurei turnip along with a sweet, delicate, leafy green top. Both the leaves and the tuber of this beautiful veggie are edible raw or cooked, so steam them up, consume them as a salad, mix them with the other leafy greens or quick pickle the turnip tuber to make it extra sweet. The greens and the tuber are packed with every vitamin and essential nutrient under the sun so rest assured, these tubers and greens are a top-notch immune boosting.

Heading back up to the packing shed, on the north side of the building we come across row upon row of Green Onions from Tantre Farm. These staunch green onions are loaded with a double dose of vitamin K and vitamin C and are delicious raw or cooked. These green onions are versatile and can be cut with scissors over any hot or cold dishes, soups or salads, roasted whole or gently grilled. They pack a decent zest and a nice dash of color to any plated up meal. So get your green onions on, and maybe get a pack of gum while you’re at it, because these fresh-out-of-the-ground onions are the real deal.

Just below the packing shed, Tantre’s cellar is still holding some tasty Tantre Farm Carrots Mix so we thought we would throw some in your share. You may get a bunch of either multi-colored carrots or one uniform color, as it’s a random lottery this week. One thing for certain is that they will be as sweet and crunchy as ever. Carrots pack a rich dose of beta-carotene and fiber and can be consumed raw, steamed, stir-fried or in a myriad of other ways, including carrot cake. Hint hint!

Pivoting away from Tantre Farm we drive less than a mile to Garden Works Organic Farm for some fine Sunflower Shoots. These nutty, stocky, baby plants are packed with all the nutrition your body craves. In some cases, they are three to four times higher in essential vitamins and minerals as the mature sunflower seeds that would be produced by the same plant in late summer. Best consumed raw, these shoots are great to snack on right out of the container, tossed onto salads, burgers or wraps. Enjoy these shoots quickly and give your inner anatomy a huge boost of vital nutrients.

Skipping the traditional loaf of bread that we typically feature each week, and in keeping with this week’s Mediterranean theme, we feature a local Pita Bread from Al-Nour Bakery in Dearborn. These fresh pitas are baked Friday afternoon and are perfect for stuffing some of the fresh produce and prepared foods from this share into them. So load them up and gobble them up. You will be glad you did!

Kicking things off in the prepared food arena for this week’s share, we get things rocking and rolling with a striking magenta Roasted Red Beet Hummus that is vegan and gluten-free from Juicy Kitchen. Not only is this hummus naturally beautiful and tasty, but it is also extremely healthy for you, composed of red roasted beets, chickpeas, lemon, garlic, tahini, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Don’t let this simple mixture of ingredients fool you – This hummus is delicious! Dip in your Tantre Farm carrots, dollop onto those fresh salads or pair with your pita breads, or why not all three?!

The hits just keep on coming on this Mediterranean share and next up we have a four-pack of Stuffed Grape Leaves from Hummus Falafil, making their debut in the Immune Booster CSA Share this week. These tasty stuffed grape leaves are vegan and gluten-free, and composed of grape leaves, rice, chickpeas, parsley, tomatoes, onion, corn oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Steam them for 7-10 minutes or quickly heat them in the microwave if you’re in a hurry. Steaming them nicely melds their flavors together and evenly heats them up. Either way, they are delicious and fit perfectly with the other prepared foods in the share. Enjoy! 

When I think of a staple Mediterranean food, Tabbouleh Salad always comes to mind. So down that road we shall go, with a tabbouleh salad that is vegan and gluten-free from El Harissa. This tabbouleh salad is bold, beautiful and full of flavor and is composed of parsley, quinoa, pickled red onion, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers and a sumac and mint dressing. I had the pleasure of sampling this fine salad earlier this week and I must say it was outstanding and left me wanting more. A perk of offering this salad is that it is a regular staple over at El Harissa and is served there daily, so if you’re hankering for a bit more after you have devoured this share, head on over to El Harissa and tell them Ryan sent you.

Next up and still in keeping with the Mediterranean theme, we have Harvest Kitchen’s Horchata Granola that is gluten-free and contains nuts. The word ‘horchata’ is derived from a Mediterranean tradition of grain-based beverages or syrups. So this granola takes on the syrup based horchata and is composed of oats, puffed rice, almonds, cinnamon, vanilla extract, honey, canola oil and pink Himalayan sea salt. It’s great for adding to cereals, baked goods or right out of the container and into your mouth. Chomp Chomp!

As the Immune Booster week 62 rolls into its last stop, we decided to throw a curveball into the mix with a Michigan Rhubarb Pie from Zingerman’s Bakehouse. Why? Because it’s in season is the reason, and it’s mighty delicious. This super tasty, vegetarian pie is composed of Michigan rhubarb, sugar, organic Michigan wheat flour, butter, water, cornstarch, sea salt, demerara sugar and eggs. This pie would be best served after being reheated in the oven and with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. Mmmm! Or if you just can’t wait, why not eat it right out of your share box on the way home – no judgment! 

So there you have it, another week of amazing local goodness all boxed up and ready for you to explore the fresh produce from local farms and the tasty Mediterranean dishes from local restaurants. We are grateful for your continued support of the Immune Booster Share and on behalf of all the local vendors and farmers that make this wonderful project come to fruition each week, we collectively thank you. We look forward to seeing you this Saturday at the pick-up and we hope this newsletter has informed you of where this food was grown and how it all came together in this box of plenty. For now, eat well, do well and be well. 
Here’s a link to Tantre’s treasure trove of recipes, where you can get some additional ideas for using this week’s share: http://tantrerecipes.blogspot.com  

Follow us on Instagram @immuneboosterbytantrefarm or @tantrefarm to learn more. We are also active on Facebook and Twitter with regular posts of photos and blurbs detailing life on the farm and what is happening in the weekly Immune Booster CSA shares.  

Don’t forget to keep an eye out for our next email on June 6 regarding Tantre Farm’s Immune Booster CSA Share, Week 63 for pick up on June 12.  Please keep in mind the new Chelsea pick up location for the summer will be at the Chelsea Farmers Market.  You should have received the pick up protocol email today giving you details to that location, as well as it is always on our website.  Please mention at both the Ann Arbor and Chelsea locations that you are picking up an Immune Booster box, since we have Summer CSA members picking up at both locations as well starting June 5.

All the best,

Ryan Poe and the Talented Tantre Farm Crew

**We look forward to hearing your weekly feedback on the shares and welcome any suggestions on how to improve. Please understand that we try to give you an accurate listing of the produce in your box each week; however, since this menu is published before we pack the boxes on Fridays, we may sometimes have to substitute some vegetables for others.  Mostly we are able to update you of changes in our Friday newsletter, but sometimes our decisions are made after the newsletter is published.  Please let us know whenever you think you are missing anything, and we will try to find some way to make amends.  Thank you for your patience and understanding, as we try to keep things as smooth as possible. Please contact Ryan with questions or comments at immuneboosterbytantre@gmail.com. 

Please note, if you are receiving a notification of this post, it is because you have subscribed to our newsletters on our website, this newsletter is being posted 2 weeks late. You can unsubscribe from notifications in the settings in the email you received.
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