Eggplant


Our eggplant is growing like crazy this summer and the summer school staff are reaping the rewards of our bountiful eggplants.

While eggplant isn’t the most nutritious vegetable, it does give you a decent supply of potassium and fiber. At just 25 calories and less than 1 gram of fat per serving, it’s a pretty guilt-free food — as long as you don’t soak it in oil.

Eggplant has antioxidants like vitamins A and C, which help protect your cells against damage. It’s also high in natural plant chemicals called polyphenols, which may help cells do a better job of processing sugar if you have diabetes.

Eggplants will keep for about a week in the refrigerator. They are sensitive to the cold, and their skins may become pitted after too long under refrigeration.

Eggplant is naturally a little bitter. To prepare, cut it into slices, sprinkle it with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes before cooking. The salt will draw out some of the bitterness. It will also prevent the eggplant from absorbing too much oil and becoming greasy during cooking. Rinse off the salt before you cook it.

What is your favorite way to cook eggplant? We would love to hear from you!

I’ve made this recipe for Baked Eggplant Sandwiches with students and for my family and it’s been a favorite:


Baked Eggplant Sandwiches

Ingredients
  • olive oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste
  • 1 cup dry bread crumbs
  • 8 slices of eggplant, cut 3/8 inch thick
  • 2 slices provolone cheese, cut into quarters
  • 4 thin slices salami
  • finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Beat eggs in a small, shallow bowl. 
  3. Mix flour, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a large shallow dish. 
  4. Pour bread crumbs in another large shallow dish.
  5. Top one slice of eggplant with 1/4 slice provolone cheese, 3 slices salami, and 1/4 slice provolone cheese. Place an equally-sized slice of eggplant on top. Repeat with remaining eggplant slices, cheese, and salami.
  6. Gently press each eggplant sandwich into the seasoned flour to coat; shake off excess.
  7. Dip both sides of each sandwich into beaten egg.
  8. Press the eggplant sandwich into bread crumbs. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
  9. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a circle about 3 inches in diameter onto the foil; place a breaded eggplant sandwich onto the oiled area. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon Parmigiano-Reggiano grated cheese over the sandwich. 
  10. Drizzle the tops of each sandwich with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
  11. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes. Flip the sandwiches and sprinkle 1 teaspoon Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese onto the top.
    Bake until browned and a paring knife inserts easily into the eggplant, 8 to 10 more minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe adapted from – https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/231010/chef-johns-baked-eggplant-sandwiches/?src=VD_Summary

Sources:
https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/eggplant-health-benefits

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/231010/chef-johns-baked-eggplant-sandwiches/?src=VD_Summary
https://extension.umn.edu/vegetables/growing-eggplant#harvest-and-storage-190564

Milkweed


Monarch butterflies were recently reported as endangered. While it’s a big problem there are things we can all do to help support the Monarchs. Monarch butterflies are 100% dependent on a group of plants called milkweeds to support their young. While the adult Monarchs sip nectar from a variety of flowers, their caterpillars can only eat the leaves of milkweeds.

Many species of milkweed are easy to grow from seed. Head outside in the autumn, or even in the early winter, and sprinkle the seeds around the garden. Burying the seeds can reduce germination rates since milkweed seeds need light to germinate. Just drop the seeds in the garden and press them down with your hand. Once you’ve sprinkled the seeds over the soil there’s nothing else to do but wait. In spring, they’ll germinate and begin to grow. Once the seedlings are a few inches tall, you can transplant them to different areas of the garden. Be sure the new plants stay well-watered until they’re established. Milkweeds are hardy plants that will survive with very little care.

The Dexter Farm to School program grows milkweed, collects milkweed seeds and passes seeds out to students in late fall. If you would like some milkweed seeds please contact us and we will send some seeds to you.

Strawberries!

Our strawberries are growing strong! Students rush to the strawberry beds at recess to pick what has ripened overnight. They’ve discovered the best way to eat a strawberry is right off the vine.

Strawberries are easy and rewarding to grow and also have great health benefits.

What’s in a strawberry?          

Vitamin C – One serving of eight medium strawberries provides 160 percent of the recommended daily value.

Potassium- is an important nutrient to balance electrolytes, aid muscle contractions, and maintain a healthy blood pressure. One serving of strawberries provides five percent of the daily value for potassium.

Folate- is one of the B vitamins found in various foods such as strawberries, oranges, green leafy vegetables and beans.

Fiber- Dietary fiber has well-known health benefits such as lowering blood cholesterol and promoting a healthy digestive system. One serving, or eight medium strawberries, provides three grams of fiber.

Antioxidants are important to combat chronic diseases and promote optimum health.

Blueberry-Strawberry Smoothie Bowl

Active Time: 5 Mins
Total Time: 5 Mins
Yield: Serves 1 (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups smoothie plus toppings)

Ingredients
1/3 cup unsweetened blueberry or pomegranate juice
1/3 cup 2% plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 ripe peeled avocado
1 cup ice cubes
1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 tablespoon sliced almonds, toasted

Nutritional Information
Calories 328
Fat 16g
Satfat 3g
Unsatfat 11g
Protein 11g
Carbohydrate 41g
Fiber 10g
Sugars 25g
Added sugars 0g
Sodium 40mg
Calcium 13% DV
Potassium 14% DV

Directions

Step 1
Place juice, yogurt, half of blueberries and avocado in a blender, process until well combined about 15 seconds. Add ice, process until smooth, about 30 seconds

Step 2
Pour smoothie mixture into a bowl; top with remaining half of blueberries, strawberries, and almonds.

Sources:

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/why_strawberries

https://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/blueberry-strawberry-smoothie-bowl

It’s Rhubarb Season!

Rhubarb

It’s rhubarb season!

Rhubarb is known  for its sour taste and thick stalks, and is typically balanced with sweet ingredients. Only the stalks of the rhubarb plant are edible, the leaves are poisonous. Rhubarb can be used in sweet soups, jams, sauces, pies,  tarts, crumbles cocktails, salads, salsas, and chutneys. Rhubarb can also be frozen for continued use throughout the year. 

Rhubarb is a rich source of vitamin K, vitamin C and fiber. Vitamin K is necessary for proper blood clotting and strengthening bones, vitamin C functions as an antioxidant. Rhubarb is also a good source of calcium, potassium, and manganese. Rhubarb can aid in reducing inflammation due to its  high antioxidant levels. Because of rhubarb’s fiber content, it may aid in  relieving constipation and diarrhea. 

Here are two favorite Dexter Farm to School rhubarb recipes (they are also kid tested and approved).

Rhubarb Sauce

Ingredients
6 cups chopped fresh rhubarb
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp water
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Directions

  1. In a saucepan, combine the rhubarb, sugar, water and cinnamon.
  2. Simmer over low-medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until all the sugar has dissolved and the rhubarb has broken down.
  3. Let cool.
  4. Use the Rhubarb Sauce as a topping on vanilla ice cream, pancakes or just eat it with a spoon. It’s so delicious!

Rhubarb Strawberry Crunch

Ingredients

Fruit Mixture
½ cup white sugar
1 ½ Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups sliced fresh strawberries
1 ½ cups diced rhubarb

Crunch
¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup butter
½ cup rolled oats

Prep Work

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  2. Spray baking pan with no stick spray
  3. Wash Rhubarb and cut into 1 inch pieces
  4. Wash strawberries, cut into small pieces
  5. Cut stick of butter into small pieces

Directions

  1. Fruit Mixture: In a large bowl, mix ½ cup white sugar, 1 ½ tablespoons flour, 1 ½ cups strawberries, and 1 ½ cups rhubarb.
    Place the mixture in your baking dish.
  2. Crumble: Mix  ¾ cups flour, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup butter, and ½ cup oats until crumbly.
  3.  Crumble mixture on top of the rhubarb and strawberry mixture.
  4. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp and lightly browned. Enjoy! 🙂

Oats are a great source of fiber, which helps keep you full longer and helps to maintain a normal blood sugar. 

Cherry Tomatoes

This week, we finished up clearing out the old wooden beds in the Creekside gardens and feeling thankful for the cooler late summer days. We also had a fantastic visit from Lori Tucker-Sullivan and Mary Sullivan this week, masked up and socially distanced! We toured the Sullivan Memorial Garden, the late Kevin Sullivan’s legacy. The Sullivan family’s continued generosity and commitment to the program makes a great difference in our goal to bring more fresh fruits and vegetables to our students.

Late summer harvests are now coming in. We continue to see swiss chard, shishito peppers, hot dragon toe peppers, zucchinis and cucumbers. Most excitingly, the cherry tomatoes are ripening and we got our first pound of harvest this week!

Honestly, I used to hate tomatoes in all forms. I thought they were either too tart or too watery, without flavor. The magic happened when I first ate a cherry tomato ripe and straight off the vine. It was delicious, sweet, and flavorful and now I think of cherry tomatoes as garden candy. For the last two summers, I have grown tomatoes or cherry tomatoes in home container gardens. Not only do they save you a lot of money in the long run but tomatoes are so versatile and nutritious.

Cherry tomatoes are rich in vitamin C, A, potassium and iron. 1 cup of cherry tomatoes meets 21% of your vitamin C daily recommended intake! I love roasting cherry tomatoes until they are bursting then adding them to a rice bowl, as a side with eggs and toast or making a fresh pasta.

Weekly Recipe
Baked Eggs on a Bed of Roasted Cherry Tomatoes adapted from Cookie and Kate

Ingredients
2 pints of cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 garlic clove minced
1/4 cup basil chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
4 eggs

Directions
– Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit
– On a baking tray, add the cherry tomatoes, a few cracks of sea salt, black pepper and olive oil. Mix to combine and distribute in an even layer.
– Bake cherry tomatoes for 12 minutes.
– Remove from oven. Crack eggs into the baking sheet and add garlic and parmesan. Return to the oven for another 8 to 10 minutes until the whites are cooked but the yolk is still soft.
– Remove from the oven, sprinkle chopped basil and serve!