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Cascadian Farms Frozen Cut Green Beans

Seward Co-op is issuing a voluntary recall of Cascadian Farms Frozen Cut Green Beans (16 oz.; retail $3.39) due to the possible presence of Listeria monocytogenes. No illnesses have been reported in connection with this product. We have pulled the product from our shelves.

The affected product’s UPC code is UPC: 000219085014 with a Best by Date of 6/29/2017. The product would have been sold between July 6, 2015 and October 4, 2015. If you have purchased the product and are in doubt, do not consume the product. Recalled products will be fully refunded at our Franklin store Customer Service desk.

Recipe: Seward-Made Sausage Meets Seasonal Produce

This aromatic cabbage, sauerkraut, sausage stew hails from central Europe and is Poland’s national dish. It brings together some of our favorite seasonal items that also happen to be on sale at Seward Co-op through Oct. 16. Seward-made Nürnberger sausage is $2 off per pound for everyone and organic gala apples from Hoch Orchard in La Crescent, Minnesota, are $1.50 off per pound for co-op owners. Visit our specials page for more ways to save.

Sausage and Cabbage Stew
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola oil
12 ounces Seward-made Nürnberger sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 pound smoked ham, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 large yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces mushrooms, cut in 1/2-inch slices
1/2 pound green cabbage, shredded
1/2 pound sauerkraut, drained
1 apple, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation
In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the canola oil over medium heat. Brown the pieces of sausage and smoked ham. Add the onions and garlic and sauté for several minutes until the onion starts to soften. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Lower the heat, cover and continue to cook for 45 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes or so to prevent sticking.

Serving Suggestion
Traditionally, this stew is served with potatoes and rye bread, and is often made a day ahead of time, allowing the flavors to mingle overnight. Deviled eggs or creamed herring are served as an appetizer with this dish. For a lighter meal, add a fresh green salad, or lightly-steamed broccoli, carrots, or green beans.

Recipe courtesy of National Co-op Grocers.

Autumn Salad in a Jar

This recipe makes four jar salads—perfect for packing with lunches—or two large salads. The kale is sturdy enough to keep, so this recipe is great for Sunday night meal prep.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sweet potato, diced
• 2 Tbsp. olive or coconut oil
• 1 bunch green kale, shredded
• ¼ cup Salad Girl Crisp Apple Maple Organic Vinaigrette salad dressing
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• Handful green beans, chopped
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 medium beet, shredded
• 1 small apple, diced or shredded
• Four clean 12- or 16-oz. glass jars

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add sweet potato and a few dashes of salt and cover, stirring occasionally, until tender. Cool. Meanwhile, shred kale into bite-sized pieces, wash, dry and place in a large bowl. Add Salad Girl dressing and massage until the kale begins to wilt. Set aside. While kale sits and sweet potato cooks, prepare the rest of the vegetables. Once the sweet potato is mostly cooled, divide and nestle in the bottom of four jars, followed by layers of the rest of the vegetables and apple, and top with the kale.

Produce at Its Peak: Apricots and an Adios

It has not been truly hot so far this year, and for that I am grateful.

Where I grew up in central Kansas, you could count on the mercury hitting 100 by the first week of July and staying that way for two months. We adapted our cooking to fit the season — that is, we ate a lot of salads, grilled things, and we used a toaster oven installed on the screened in porch for any baking projects. Even though it’s been so pleasant there are a couple of low-fuss, low-heat dishes that I’ve been eating night after night simply because they are delicious.

Salad Nicoise

Salad Nicoise is a composed salad – -that is, vegetables and proteins arranged prettily on a nice dish and dressed with a vinaigrette. Traditionally, the proteins are quartered hard-boiled eggs and tuna. In Nice, I have read, it is always canned tuna, not fresh (note coupon pictured on this page, available now! — Editor, 7/15/14). The usual vegetables are all things that we carry from local farms at this moment. From Wisconsin Growers, new red potatoes with skins so thin they can almost be rubbed off. Tomato King cherry tomatoes, so full of flavor and sweetness. Wisconsin Growers green (or purple, or yellow) beans, Featherstone butter lettuce or HeartBeet salanova and pearly Keewaydin green top onions (sliced thin). And then a few capers and olives top off the whole arrangement.

What I have described is traditional. But we Americans are an independent and innovative lot, and there are lots of options. Substitute arugula or romaine for butter lettuce. Bela Sardines, available in cute little tins in the grocery aisle, are great in this salad. Vegetarians could use cubed cheese or marinated chickpeas instead of fish. And as far as vegetables-almost anything goes. Red pepper strips, sliced radishes, tender white turnips, cucumbers, small roasted beets — you name it.

It has been my custom to prepare a salad dressing for the week on one of my days off, and, lately, it’s been a lemony vinaigrette with shallots and tarragon or basil, which goes great on Salad Nicoise. It’s also helpful to steam the green beans, boil potatoes and eggs for use throughout the week, and to wash whatever greens you choose ahead of time. It is a gift to your future self to do this rather pleasant task when time allows, so that later, when you’re hungry and busy, you can have something delicious without a lot of work.

Baked Apricots

The other dish I have been working on perfecting is baked apricots.

In the last week we have finally received the first shipment of Robada apricots, a large variety with a deep red blush and juicy flesh. Many customers and staff members have been eagerly awaiting their arrival. The other day I had three not-quite ripe apricots at home. I cut them in half, removed the pits and nestled them together in a small baking dish. The seed cavities I filled with honey and then the dish went into the toaster oven for 15 minutes at 320 degrees, which is one of five options my particular oven allows. They became soft and mellow, and the honey became one with the apricot. After they had cooled, I sprinkled a few drops of rose water on them, and served them with a little sweetened ricotta and chopped pistachio nuts. The same dish made a nice breakfast the next morning.

One thing that I like about apricots and plums is the slight bitterness that the peel contributes. The contrast with the sweetness of the juice enlivens the palette. In that vein, it is bittersweet to say that this will be my last Produce at Its Peak. I have so enjoyed writing this column over the last year, and serving the Seward Co-op community over the last six. I’m leaving to go to graduate school, but I will always be grateful for the opportunities to learn and to teach that this store and its owners have given me. Thank you!

Know Our Grower: Wisconsin Growers Cooperative

Wisconsin Growers Co-op was founded in 2006 to help 20 families maintain ownership of their farms. Its members are dedicated to the idea that if farmers take “good care of the soil, the soil will pay back with high-quality produce.” This mindset has proven effective; Wisconsin Growers often brings us produce all year long, from greenhouse radishes at the first sight of spring clear around the calendar to over-wintered parsnips. The key to the longevity of their growing season are labor-intensive, fossil fuel-free farming methods. On nearly 40 acres of the co-op’s land, these farmers plant, tend, and harvest crops exclusively using horses, horse machinery, and hand tools. In addition to more popular produce items such as potatoes, onions, and radishes, the Wisconsin Growers Co-op offers unique heirloom squash varieties, such as Queensland blue and Long Island cheese. WI Growers was the featured Know Our Grower Oct. 2 – 15. Meet the Grower: Sunday, Oct. 5.


Sales & delivery staff: Al Weinrich

How do you describe the Wisconsin Growers Cooperative?
Wisconsin Growers is a group of 30 small family farms that came together to help each other market their produce. Some farmers have only a small garden plot and others have several acres of produce. All of the farmers are Amish at this time. Farms are located in west/central Wisconsin near the towns of Black River Falls, Mondovi and Taylor. Labor is traded on the farms if someone needs help with just about anything such as weeding, planting and harvesting. Farmers/growers take turns on the growers board (a 3-person board of directors) helping to manage everything from planning what type of produce each grower will grow, to making sure the produce truck gets loaded on time as well as assisting the sales manager, as needed.

Wisconsin Growers products are either labeled organic or “sustainably grown.” When they are labeled “sustainably grown” can you describe the approach to farming?
When our produce is labeled as “sustainably grown” our growers are to follow the same requirements as the certified organic growers. The only difference being they don’t pay a certifier, which may be a financial hardship if they are a small grower. Soil building practices and amendment applications on both organic and sustainably farmed fields of Wisconsin Grower farms all follow the same National Organic Program standards.

What distinguishes your products from other local produce?
Our produce is checked both at the farm and as it is aggregated at the loading dock which ensures consistent good quality. Also, horses are used to cultivate the produce.

What is your favorite way to enjoy your own produce?
I most enjoy tasting the fresh raw produce while picking it up from the farms or as it is delivered. Especially green beans, tomatoes, and of course watermelon and muskmelon.

Deli Hot Lunch Menu

Kung Pao Chicken
Thai Chicken
Green Beans with Almonds
Nem Nuong Turkey Meatballs
Egg Rolls

Know Our Grower: Just Local / Keewaydin Farms

Just Local, owned by Rufus Haucke of Keewaydin Farms, sources products from many small-scale organic vegetable farms in the Viroqua, Wis., area and distributes them in the Twin Cities under the Just Local label. Just Local / Keewaydin Farms was the featured Know Our Grower, May 22 – June 4. Demo: Saturday, June 1.


Grower: Rufus Haucke

1. When did you begin farming and what inspired you to pursue farming as a profession?
I grew up on my family’s dairy farm and always loved growing and eating fresh garden veggies. I left the farm for a time and went out to explore the world. As I was working in Colorado as a ski bum, I realized how much I missed being able to grow my own food, the farm, as well as the Driftless region. I returned to the family farm in 2004 to get back to the land and back to the fresh food that I love.

2. Why did you decide to establish Just Local and what criteria do you use to determine whether a farm can become a part of Just Local?
I established Keewaydin Organics and Just Local Foods in 2005. Working with other small farmers in the community helped me meet the demand from the bank of customers I was working with when I got back into farming in 2004. Keewaydin Farm was not able to produce enough on its own, so by partnering with other farms I along with a few others were able to grow and harvest enough volume to keep orders filled for our customers. Keewaydin Organics and Just Local now has grown to a pool of more than 100 farms that we work with throughout the season. For partner farms we look for small family farms that are certified organic and/or farm using sustainable agricultural practices. We also like to feature unique items that many larger distributors don’t carry, such as a wider variety of specialty hot peppers, herbs, and even wild-crafted items.

3. What distinguishes your products from other local produce (i.e., signature products)?
The most unique fact about our product is the freshness and the timely turn-around from the field to the customer. All of our orders are custom picked to order and is on the shelf 24-48 hours later. We also now have our Fresh-Cut local line that is a relatively new concept in the produce world.

4. What is your favorite way to enjoy your own produce?
My favorite produce would have to be in the spring with the greens and salad mixes that come around this time of year. I love to be able to just go outside and pick a salad for lunch or dinner right from the field. I also like to try anything and everything that is growing. . .picking a spear of asparagus and eating as I walk through the field, or a handful of fresh green beans or snap peas. . .even sunchokes dug right out of the ground!