olive oil

On the day his restaurant St. Boni Bistro opened in a converted auto body shop, Bob Dobihal knew right away that something was up across the street – or, more precisely, being torn up. “They started the rock crusher, removing the rails and ties,” he said, recalling the activity along the old railbed nearby. “We figured something was going to happen.” That something was the start of construction transforming a portion of the former Great Northern Railway line into the Dakota Rail Regional Trail, a 13-mile paved pedestrian and bike path between Wayzata and St. Bonifacius, Minnesota, the bistro’s namesake locale.

I love vegetables. My family and friends make fun of me, but when I look at their kaleidoscope of colors and shapes, they delight my senses in ways I can’t explain. So imagine my joy when I opened my CSA box yesterday and pulled out this Romanesco cauliflower!

Now I’m a registered dietitian and have been touting the benefits of eating your veggies for years, but I had never seen anything like this fluorescent green head of swirling spirals. I actually squealed with surprise when I pulled it out of the box. My husband and daughter came running to see what all the excitement was about. They both burst out laughing when they saw the thrilled look on my face, although you’d think they would be used to my exclamations by now.

Lenny Russo photo by Kate SommersLenny Russo has been considered one of the top chefs in the Twin Cities for more than a decade. He’s served as Executive Chef at W.A. Frost; General Manager/Chef at the New French Café; Food and Beverage Director/Chef at the Loring Café; and Executive Chef at Faegre's. In 2006, four years after he and his wife Mega had opened Heartland Restaurant in St. Paul, Chef Russo was contracted by Bon Appétit Management Company to helm the kitchens of the restaurants in the new Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, including Cue—a post he left in 2007.

Adam Anderson, former chef at Lucia's (currently at Whole Foods), creates Simple, Good, and Tasty recipes using the ingredients from our Harmony Valley Farm CSA boxes each week.

This recipe was provided by chef Adam Anderson, formerly of Lucia's restaurant in Minneapolis. It uses local, seasonal ingredients - many of which are found in this week's farm shares across Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Roasted Carrots, Golden Beets and Green Beans with Crispy Chard and Fresh Chevre

Serves 4-5

Ingredients:

I'm a lucky guy, and I know it.

This recipe came to me from my new friend Michelle O’Kelley. She says it originally came from Bon Appetit in August 2000, and was recently delivered with her CSA box. According to Michelle, "it’s so simple and I happen to have all the ingredients on hand (except the Pernod)." We're getting tons of fennel from our farmshare this month, so a new recipe for it is welcome in my house. Here goes:

Fresh Fennel Vichyssoise

Before last week, I didn’t know what garlic scapes were. I’d never seen them, smelled them, or touched them, and I most certainly did not know where they came from. But our Harmony Valley farm share delivered local, organic scapes to Minneapolis last week - and oh, how far my family has come in one short week.

According to Mother Earth News:

I've been a CSA member for a whole entire week now. Here's what I've learned: