National Blueberry Month

The market has been feeling very fruity lately.  We've had cherries, strawberries, and raspberries, and now are pleased to announce it is finally blueberry season at City Greens! It just so happens that July is National Blueberry Month!  To celebrate, here's a favorite way to use these tiny blue treasures along with a few other in-season City Greens Market items:

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten (available at City Greens)
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 2 cups shredded zucchini (available at City Greens)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (available at City Greens)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pint fresh blueberries

Preparation 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans (or one big loaf pan - this will extend baking time).
2. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar.  Fold in the zucchini.  Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.  Gently fold in the blueberries.  Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans. 
3. Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean (this will be longer with a bigger loaf pan)  Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely. 
4. ENJOY! 

Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com

Image courtesy of AllRecipesMedia

Bean There, Done That

City Greeners who have been coming to the market regularly know that this week was the first week of green beans!  With such great quantities, we wanted to give you one of the easiest tutorials on how to make pickled green beans - what some affectionately refer to as Dilly Beans.

Crisp Pickled Green Beans

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds fresh green beans (available at City Greens!)
• 2 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1 clove garlic, peeled (available at City Greens!)
• 1 bunch fresh dill weed
• 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions

1. Sterilize 6 (1/2 pint) jars with rings and lids and keep hot.  Trim green beans to 1/4 inch shorter than your jars.
2. In a large saucepan, stir together the vinegar, water and salt.  Add garlic and bring to a rolling boil over high heat.  In each jar, place 1 sprig of dill and 1/8 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.  Pack green beans into the jars so they are standing on their ends.
3. Ladle the boiling brine into the jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the tops.  Discard garlic.  Seal jars with lids and rings.  Place in a hot water bath so they are covered by 1 inch of water.  Simmer but do not boil for 10 minutes to process.  Cool to room temperature.  Test jars for a good seal by pressing the center of the lid.  It should not move.  Refrigerate any jars that do not seal properly.  Let pickles ferment for 2 to 3 weeks before eating. 
4. ENJOY! 

Recipe courtesy of AllRecipes.com
Images: blog.mainefoodandlifestyle.com

CG Favorite in the News

City Greeners, it's no secret that Windcrest Yogurt is one of our favorite local products.  St. Louis' own Fox 2 News featured these dairy dreamers last Friday on their morning show.  Check it out!



Find more pictures from their feature here!

Preserving the Berry Great Harvest

City Greeners, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. 

Strawberries have arrived.

These juicy jewels are only around for a snippet of the growing season, so get them while you can (but don’t worry if you can’t seem to fill up on these berry tiny treasures– after strawberries come blackberries, then blueberries and raspberries)!! If you’re looking for ways to stock up and extend the strawberry season, look no further.  Here are a few tips:

Tray Freezing: Gently wash your berries, dump them on a cloth towel to slightly dry, cut off the greens and a small bit of the shoulder (which you can compost!), and arrange the berries cut-side-down on a baking sheet.  Set the sheet inside the freezer for 12 to 24 hours, then transfer the frozen berries into freezer bags.  Volia – strawberries ready for winter!

Packed in Sugar: Again, gently wash the berries, then slightly dry them, and cut off the greens and a small bit of the shoulder.  Cut the berries into smaller chunks and put them in a bowl.  Sprinkle a little sugar onto the berries as you go, and mix them until you get a light coating on all the little berry pieces. Use anywhere from 1/4 to 3/4 cup sugar for each quart of berries.  Leave the coated berry chunks to sit in the fridge for about an hour before packing into freezer containers.  Thaw and use in desserts like strawberry shortcake!

Strawberry Sauce:

                Ingredients

                2 quarts strawberries

                1 cup sugar

                1 cup water

                1 medium lemon, juiced

                Preparation

                - Boil sugar and water together for 5 

                minutes; cool.

                - Wash and hull berries, then puree 

                 in a blender.

                - Combine berries with sugar, water, 

                and lemon juice.

                - Pour into a container and freeze. 

               Great stirred into yogurt or as 

               an ice cream topping!

There are certainly other ways to make your strawberries last the longest - like drying and making preserves/jam.  Try them all out to find your favorite, and ENJOY! 

Images:

Strawberry Basket - M. Erhard

Freezing Berries 

Sugar Sprinkled 

Saucy 

Supa' Fresh is Supa' Ready

City Greeners, the Supa’ Fresh Veggie Mobile is gearing up to hit the streets.  As City Greens Market as a whole expands its hours, our mobile market will be going out two days a week. Be sure to follow us on Twitter to get any last-minute updates (or specials!) about the Mobile. If you’re interested in helping out at our morning stops (or at City Greens as a whole!) contact us.  

If you’re unfamiliar with the Supa’ Fresh Veggie Mobile, no worries! Our friends at Cooking Light featured our own mobile market in their August 2012 issue in an article focusing on Healthier Food Trucks.  Check out the Supa’ Fresh Veggie Mobile and the nation’s other most nutritious food on wheels here. 

See you at the market - or on the road!! 

Extended Hours Coming Soon!

"When will City Greens extend its hours?!"

This is the million-dollar question we've been hearing at the market.  Well ask no more, City Greeners - starting the first week in June, we will be open for business Tuesday through Friday!

City Greens will still be at 1202 S Boyle - for now !  We're still working on raising $30,000 for our matching grant and have reached over $15,000 (!!!) thanks to generous donations from our shoppers and supporters. (If you haven't donated, you can do so here or when you're shopping at the market.)  We will be sure to get the word out when we're re-locating so our shoppers can continue to get the highest quality, most affordable food in the city.

Until June 4th City Greens will continue to be open at 1202 S Boyle on Fridays from 10 until 5.

See you at the market! 

KEEP VOTING!

City Greeners we still need your help!!!

Vote for City Greens Market through THIS Sunday (5/19)! Here's how:

Here’s what to do:

Go to the Grow St. Louis Facebook page: http://growstl.pcrea.ch/

“Like” the page

Click where it says “Vote Here” on the right side of the screen

Accept when it asks to learn your likes and friends

Search for City Greens

Vote for us! J

Please share this on your Facebook page and tell your friends and family - we need their votes, too! 

As mentioned above, you may vote by mail if you choose.  The mail-in application is found here -http://www.monsanto.com/stlouis/Documents/GrowSTLVoteForm.pdf.  To fill it out, just write in the following:

Organizatoin: Catholic Charities Midtown Center

Category: Health, Fitness, & Nutrition 

Project Title: City Greens Market

Then just add your name, the date, and your email address, then mail it in to:

Monsanto Grow St. Louis

c/o Paradowski Creative

349 Marshall Ave., Suite 200

St. Louis, MO 63119.

Mail-in entries must be postmarked and received by the end of the contest on Sunday, May 19.  You can mail them in one per day that the contest is going on, but they only accept one vote slip per envelope. 

Thanks for your help in GROWING CITY GREENS!!!!