What's Fresh Now - September 22, 2010

Fresh Picks
Harvest festivals are yours for the picking throughout Puget Sound – get out of town with one of these "free-range" farm adventures and celebrate the beauty of the season and bounty of our agricultural heritage.

King County Harvest Celebration
Saturday September 25 - Snoqualmie Valley
Sunday September 26 - Vashon Island

Stanwood Harvest Jubliee
Saturday, September 25

Pierce County HarvestFEST
Saturday October 2

Bainbridge Island Harvest Fair
Sunday, September 26

More Fresh Picks!

Tuesday, September 28
Cooks & Books Jam Making Demonstration with Rachel Saunders
Join master jam artisan and founder of San Francisco’s wildly popular Blue Chair Fruit Company for a jam making class and discussion of her new book, "The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook."

Thursday, September 30
7th Annual Eat Local Now!
Dinner, exhibitors, speakers and live music raises funds for promoting and educating about our local food systems – served up with wonderfully prepared local food at Herban Feast’s classy Sodo Park event venue.

FEATURED RECIPE: Green Been Pesto from Jubilee Biodynamic Farm

This recipe is perfect for green beans that have been waiting in the fridge to take their turn at the table.

This pesto gets some moisture from the beans, so it doesn’t need a lot of olive oil. Serve with pasta or on warm toasted bread as bruschetta. You can also use frozen peas, shelled edamame, Romano beans, white beans, etc.

Ingredients

½ pound green beans - cleaned and cut into ½ inch pieces

2 cloves garlic - smashed and coarsely chopped

½ cup loosely packed basil

¼ cup loosely packed parsley / cilantro (optional)

¼ cup walnuts / pine nuts / any other nuts of your choice to give the pesto more texture (optional)

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

salt/ pepper to taste

1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional - but it helps to keep the pesto from turning brown)

Blanch green beans for 1 minute in boiling water. Steam them if you want more texture to your pesto.

Place in food processor with rest of the ingredients and pulse to process.

Give it a taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed. The pesto will be very thick and creamy, and will still have small bits of green bean. If you desire a smoother pesto, add more olive oil, 2 tablespoons plain yogurt or tahini to smooth it out.

About Jubilee Biodynamic Farm

Farmers Erick and Wendy Haakenson serve the greater Seattle community by providing wholesome, delicious food—from organic fruit and vegetables to grass fed beef—grown on the land where they live in Carnation.

Jubilee Farm conducts fall, winter, early spring and late spring CSA sessions - you can sign up for any or all four of the sessions.

As Farmer Erick Haakenson says – "You’re going to be buying food to eat anyway. Why not support a local farm?" For more about life on the farm, visit Erick’s blog, The Growing Revolution.