Welcome to the first Rootabaga of spring 2023!
This time of year is so exciting for so many reasons, but one of the biggest ones for us at Uprooted is the beginnings of the year’s fresh crops! The first few veggies to come into season are greenhouse grown. This week we have jalapeño peppers from Stokdijk Greenhouses in Beaver Brook, NS. Soon greenhouse bell peppers and cherry tomatoes will follow, and as soon as there’s enough supply we will be delighted to share them with our Rootabaga subscribers! To celebrate the fresh flavours of spring, this week I’m sharing a recipe for Greek Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki, they are fresh, flavourful, and sure to be a fun way to welcome spring to your kitchen tables.
In the small share this week we have:
English Cucumber – Den Haan Greenhouses, conventionally-grown
Jalapeño – Stokdijk Greenhouse, conventionally-grown
Bramble Hill Microgreens – Bramble Hill Farms, conventionally-grown
Red Cabbage – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown
Gala Apples – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown
Russet Potatoes – Elmridge Farm, spray-free
Turnip – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown
Hot House Tomatoes – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown
The large share has everything above, as well as:
2 jalapeño’s instead of 1 in the small share
3lbs of turnip instead of 1½lbs
3lbs of russet potatoes instead of 2lbs
3lbs of gala apples instead of 2lbs
3lbs of red cabbage instead of 2lbs
Sweet Potatoes – Elmridge Farm, spray-free
Onions – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown
This week the season inspired the recipe! The promise of weather warming up had me craving a summer favourite – Greek Salad. And one of my favourite ways to make greek salad for a meal is in a gyro. In case you’re unfamiliar, a gyro is a greek style of pita, often made with meat from a skit or marinated chicken, cucumber, tomato, and lots of fresh tzatziki sauce. Tzatziki is made with grated cucumber, garlic, and greek yogurt and is such a delicious and healthy condiment, once you’ve made it yourself you’ll be looking for places to use it everywhere. In this recipe the gyros come together easily with just 3 main elements: preparing the tzatziki sauce, marinating and cooking the chicken, and chopping veggies for greek salad. I’ve made a few substitutions, but the original recipe is found here: https://www.modernhoney.com/greek-chicken-gyros-with-tzatziki-sauce/. These can also be made vegetarian by marinating tofu instead of chicken, instructions below.
- Chicken Marinade:
- 2 lbs. Cogmagun chicken breast, cut into pieces
- ¼ cup greek yogurt
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- Tzatziki Sauce:
- 1 ½ cups greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill, or 1 teaspoon dried
- 3-4 garlic cloves (depending how garlicky you like it), finely diced
- 1 cucumber, grated and the juice squeezed out through a sieve
- Greek Salad:
- 3 tomatoes, diced
- 2 cucumbers, peeled and diced
- ¼ medium red onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons fresh italian parsley, or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Ran-Cher’s Acre Goat Feta
- Pitted kalamata olives (optional)
- Method:
- Marinate the chicken: place chicken, yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and oregano in a bag and let marinate for at least 30 minutes, preferably 2-4 hours. The ideal time is 24 hours.
- Make the tzatziki sauce: stir together yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, dill, and garlic. Stir in grated cucumber and taste for seasonings.
- Make the greek salad by mixing all the salad ingredients in a bowl. Stir to coat. Season to taste.
- The chicken can be cooked on a grill or in a skillet. To cook on a grill, place chicken on kabobs and heat the grill to medium heat. Cook for 5-7 minutes per side or until chicken is fully cooked. To cook chicken on a skillet, heat a skillet to medium high heat. Sprinkle with oil. Add chicken and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked and golden brown.
- Assemble the gyros: microwave the pita bread briefly if desired to make them more pliable, then place chicken on the pita bread, top with salad, and lots of tzatziki sauce.
To make the gyros vegetarian, substitute 1 block of Acadiana Extra-Firm tofu for the chicken breast. Slice the tofu into ½ centimeter slices and marinate. Fry the tofu slices in olive oil over medium heat until both sides are golden brown and starting to crisp. I found that this recipe made more salad than needed for the pitas, but the greek salad stores well for leftovers the next day. This meal can also be made gluten-free by making the meal into a bowl with Speerville Brown Rice instead of pita bread, or with roasted potatoes. This meal is so delicious and is such a fun preview of all the spring food offerings yet to come!
This week we also have jalapeño’s in the produce subscriptions, the first of greenhouse peppers- very exciting! Jalapeño’s can be eaten raw or cooked. Remove the seeds from the peppers before using them, unless you want some extra spice. They can be finely diced and added to a fresh salsa for some heat or are great flavour builders in soups, curries, or chilis. I really enjoy finely diced jalapeño in a mushroom and cheese omellete.
If you’re searching for recipes for your turnip this week, it may be helpful to note that what we call turnip in Nova Scotia is called rutabaga in much of the world. While elsewhere, turnip refers specifically to white, purple, or salad turnips. The 2 can be used somewhat interchangeably, though cooking times may vary, and turnip/rutabaga is definitely best cooked, not raw like you could eat a salad turnip. Personally, I highly recommend roasting it! It completely removes any of the bitter flavour turnip sometimes has and instead brings out the gentle sweet notes. I have been loving adding roasted turnip to soups, curries, and stir-fries. Or, try one of our past recipes for turnip, Turnip Fries here: https://www.uprootedmarketcafe.ca/2023/03/02/rootabaga-march-3-stewed-lentils-with-beets-recipe/.
Or, Turnip Souffle: https://www.uprootedmarketcafe.ca/2022/11/30/turnip-souffle-recipe/
Thank you for joining us for another week of Rootabaga! As always, your support really is appreciated and we look forward to filling your subscriptions with all the spring treats yet to come.
Take care folks!
Robin
