November CSA starts this Thursday!

The store and the regular season CSA are done for 2016, but we still have the November CSA to look forward to, and it is shaping up nicely! There are 5 more spots available for the November CSA, so if you've been mulling it over, there is still a little bit of time to sign up! Just send an email to Melissa at melissa@barrettsmillfarm.com. The November CSA will work similarly to our regular season CSA - you will fill a bag with the veggies of your choice - but you will get even more items to take home outside the bag as well. We'll also provide a handy chart with storage tips in addition to recipe ideas.

This morning we walked the fields to get an idea of what will be available and compiled the following list. Many of the items will be available for all 3 pick-ups, but some may only be available for one or two - we will note which ones in parentheses.

Likely November CSA contents:

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A sampling of the variety of vegetables in the November CSA.

• Butternut squash
• Brussels sprouts
• Garlic
• Lettuce
• Carrots
• Beets
• Leeks
• Cabbage
• Kale
• Collards
• Turnips
• Celeriac
• Watermelon radish
• Daikon radish
• Parsley
• Romanesco cauliflower (1st week, possibly later depending on weather)
• Celery (1st week, possibly later depending on weather)
• Fennel (1st week, possibly later depending on weather)
• Escarole (1st week)
• Spinach (likely 2nd week)
• Shallots (2nd week)
• Potatoes from Hutchins Farm (2nd and 3rd week)
• Salanova (likely 3rd week)
• Dried hot peppers (3rd week)

Roasted Carrot Ginger Soup

from The Mediterranean Dish

• 3 lb carrots, peeled
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 5½ cups vegetable broth, divided
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1½ cup heavy cream (or fat-free half and half, for a lighter version)
• Fresh mint for garnish

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Arrange the carrots on a large lightly oiled baking sheet. Season the carrots lightly with salt and pepper and drizzle generously with olive oil. Roast in the 425 degrees F heated-oven for 45 minutes, turn over mid-way through. When carrots are fork tender and nicely caramelized, remove them from the oven and set aside briefly.

Once cool enough to touch, cut the carrots into chunks and place them in a large food processor with the garlic, ginger and 3 cups of the broth. Puree until the mixture is smooth.

Transfer the carrot puree into a heavy cooking pot. Add the remaining broth, corridor and allspice. Place the pot on medium heat and watch carefully as the soup will bubble. Stir occasionally.

Turn the heat to medium-low and stir in the heavy cream. Once heated through, remove from the stove.

Transfer to serving bowls and garnish with fresh mint leaves. Serve with your favorite rustic bread.

Butternut Squash Pie

by Kay Rentschler on cooking.nytimes.com

For the crust:

• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening, chilled
• 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, in 5 pieces
• 4 teaspoons beaten egg from 1 large egg

For the filling:

• 2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 ½ cups roasted squash purée, packed (see recipe)
• 1 ¼ cups heavy cream
• Candied squash and ginger relish, for garnish (optional; see recipe)
• Whipped cream, for garnish (optional)

For the crust: Combine flour and salt in food processor bowl, and pulse. Remove lid, scatter vegetable shortening and butter over surface, and pulse 5 or 6 times.

Combine beaten egg and 3 tablespoons ice water. Pulse liquid into dry ingredients, continuing until mixture is evenly moist and dough looks curdy, 10 seconds. Turn onto work surface, and press firmly into disc, adding drops of water if dough feels dry. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Roll dough into 15-inch round on lightly floured surface, and fit into shallow 9-inch pie pan. Trim and crimp edges. Refrigerate 1 hour. Meanwhile place large pizza stone on lowest rack in oven, and heat at 425 degrees for 1 hour.

Line chilled pie pan with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake until crust dries out and crimped edges begin to color, 3 to 5 minutes. Lower heat to 300.

While crust bakes, prepare filling: combine eggs, vanilla, sugars, salt and spices in food processor, and process until smooth. Add squash purée, and process until smooth. With machine running, pour in heavy cream, and process to combine. Scrape filling into hot prebaked shell, and bake on pizza stone until filling is set 2/3 in from perimeter and center still jiggles, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool to room temperature on rack. Garnish with whipped cream and the candied squash and ginger relish if desired.

Farm store open this week

Farm Store Hours:

Tuesdays & Thursdays 11am - 6pm

Wednesdays and Fridays 2pm - 6pm

Saturdays 10am - 3pm

It is the last week for the farm store this season! We'd like to thank all of our farm store customers for helping to support the farm.  Thank you for your enthusiasm for the farm, your great recipe ideas, and the financial boost your dedication to our farm store provides. We hope that you will use this last week to enjoy your last Barrett's Mill Farm salad dishes for the season as well as stock up on some winter staples such as butternut squash, garlic, cabbage and carrots! If you would like bulk quantities of storage vegetables, we have pick-ups availablefor pre-ordered vegetables this Saturday October 29th or Thursday November 17th. To place an order, please fill out an order form (available in the farm store and on our website) two days in advance. In addition to bulk orders,  a few spots in our November CSA Extension are still available. All bulk orders and November CSA memberships will include information for best storage practices.   Barrett's Bucks Members, this is the last week to use your 2016 balances. However, you may use your balance for bulk orders if placed by October 29th. 

Sign-ups for next season are now available including 2017 Barrett's Bucks, Vegetable CSA, Pick-your-own Flower CSA.  The farm store will re-open in mid May when the asparagus harvest begins!

In the farm store this week:

Romanesco cauliflower

• Lettuce
• Carrots
• Watermelon radish
• Daikon radish
• Fennel
• Turnips
• Spinach
• Beets
• Salanova lettuce mix
• Scallions
• Leeks
• Brussels sprouts
• Celery
• Romanesco cauliflower
• Kale
• Cabbage
• Collards
• Escarole
• Mustard greens
• Red Russian Kale
• Parsley, cilantro, dill
• Shallots
• Garlic
• Tomatoes
• Winter Squash
• Pie pumpkins
• Dried Flowers
• Eggs from Pete and Jen's Backyard Birds (Codman Farm)
• Jack-o-lantern pumpkins from Kenney Farm (Concord, MA)

The CSA: The CSA has finished for the season. However, there are few spots for the November CSA Extension available and we are already accepting new and returning members for the 2017 CSA. We hope you will join us!

No-Mayo Coleslaw

Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

·      2 tbsp Dijon mustard

·      2 tbsp sherry vinegar

·      1 clove garlic

·      1 tbsp minced hot pepper (optional)

·      ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

·      6 cups cored and shredded cabbage

·     2 medium grated carrots

·      1/3 cup chopped scallions

·      salt and freshly ground black pepper

·      ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro leaves

To make the dressing, whisk together mustard, vinegar, garlic and hot peppers in a small bowl. Add the oil gradually, whisking the whole time. Combine the cabbage, bell pepper and scallion and toss with the dressing. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to serve (it’s good to let the slaw rest for about an hour). Before serving toss with the parsley.

Balsamic-Roasted Brussels Sprouts

from Barefoot Contessa Foolproof by Ina Garten

1½ pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half through the core
4 ounces pancetta, sliced ¼ inch thick
¼ cup good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon syrupy balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the Brussels sprouts on a sheet pan, including some of the loose leaves, which get crispy when they’re roasted. Cut the pancetta into 1/2-inch dice and add to the pan. Add the olive oil, 1½ teaspoons salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and toss with your hands. Spread out the mixture in a single layer. Roast the Brussels sprouts for 20 to 30 minutes, until they’re tender and nicely browned and the pancetta is cooked. Toss once during roasting. Remove from the oven, drizzle immediately with the balsamic vinegar, and toss again. Taste for seasonings and serve hot.

CSA Week 20 - last week for the Main Season CSA! Store open until October 29th

This is the last week for the Main Season CSA, and it is always a little bittersweet for us. We feel a sense of relief that we made it through the busiest part of the season and soon have two-day weekends to look forward to, but we are also sad that we won't see as much of all our wonderful members until next June! This year in particular we feel so much gratitude to our CSA and Barrett's Bucks members for their early commitment to the farm. We can't emphasize enough how you all made it possible for us to weather a challenging season. As farmers we are at the mercy of nature, and that means there is an element of unpredictability to every season. Farm memberships bring stability and a little more predictability to our business. They are essential to our ability to increase our growing acreage, expand the amount of hours we are open, hire more people and invest in the infrastructure needed to make this farm resilient and financially viable in the long term. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this farm's growth!

I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, though - after the Main Season CSA ends on October 22nd, we still have another week of the store being open, and we also have our new November CSA to look forward to! In addition, we will once again be offering everyone the option to pre-order certain crops for pick-up on Saturday, October 29th or Thursday, November 17th (crops available for pre-order will be a more limited selection than what is available in the November CSA). The last store day will be Saturday, October 29th, which is also the last day to use up any remaining Barrett's Bucks (Barrett's Bucks members may use remaining Bucks balances toward the bulk order as long as the order is placed by the 29th).

In the CSA:

• Purple and green storage cabbage
• Brussels sprouts
• Shallots or onions
• Daikon radish - This radish is spicy - great for kimchi or for pickling with carrots!
• Watermelon radish- Great grated or thinly sliced in salads.
• Tomatoes- these were picked before a recent frost. Some are still green, but those are perfect for making fried green tomatoes!
• Potatoes
• Pie pumpkins, buttercup or acorn squash
• Butternut squash
• Fennel
• Leeks
• Garlic
• Celery
• Celeriac
• Turnips
• Beets
• Carrots
• Kale
• Arugula or Red russian Kale
• Lettuce

CSA PYO:

Most of our warmer weather crops succumbed to our fourth frost last Friday night. We still have some herbs avilable for picking, though: parsley, cilantro and dill!

In the store: Everything available in the CSA will also be available in the store. In addition, we will have scallions, collards, spinach, escarole, romanesco cauliflower, eggplant, eggs from Pete and Jen's Backyard Birds, and mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm. We also have jack-o-lanterns from Kenney Farm right here here in Concord!

Farm store hours:

• Tuesdays & Thursdays 11am - 6pm*
• Wednesdays and Fridays 2pm - 6pm
• Saturdays 10am - 3pm*

*Hours in bold with an asterix are also CSA pick-up hours. The last day for CSA pick-ups will be October 22nd. 

Vietnamese Pickled Daikon Radish and Carrots

from whiteonricecouple.com

• 1/2 lb. carrots- julienned or cut into thin match-like strips
• 1/2 lb. daikon radish, cut same as carrots
• 4 cups water, slightly warm enough to dissolve the salt and sugar
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 6 tablespoons distilled or rice vinegar

In large pitcher or large bowl, mix water, vinegar, sugar and salt till everything is dissolved and combined well. Place carrots and daikon in a clean, sterile jar and fill vinegar till jar is full. Cover jars and set in the refrigerator to pickle for about 3 days. Pickles can last for about 3 weeks in the fridge.

Red Cabbage Glazed With Maple Syrup

by Marialisa Calta from NY Times Cooking

• 5 strips bacon, minced
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 medium firm, tart apple, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 pound red cabbage (about 1/2 head), cored, outer leaves removed and remainder shredded
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ cup maple syrup
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In an oven-proof saucepan or a flame-proof casserole large enough to hold all the ingredients, saute the bacon until crisp. Add the onion and saute until translucent. Add the remaining ingredients, cover and bake in the oven for 1/2 hour.

Brussels Sprouts and Roasted Winter Squash Hash

By Martha Rose Shulman at cooking.nytimes.com

• 1 ½ pounds winter squash, halved, seeds and membranes scraped away
• 1 pound Brussels sprouts, preferably small ones
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced thin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste, dissolved in 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup cooked black rice
• Poached eggs for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil, and lightly oil the foil. Brush the cut sides of the squash with olive oil, and set on the baking sheet with the cut sides down. Bake 30 to 40 minutes until easily pierced with a paring knife. Remove from the heat, allow to cool until it can be handled, and peel and dice.

While the squash is in the oven, trim away the bottoms of the Brussels sprouts and cut into quarters. Heat the oil over medium-high in a large, heavy skillet. Add the Brussels sprouts. Cook, stirring often or tossing in the pan, until just tender and the edges are seared light brown, about five minutes. Add salt to taste, and stir in the scallions and garlic. Stir together for a few minutes until the scallions and garlic are fragrant. Stir in the squash. Cook, stirring often, until the squash has caramelized lightly, about 10 minutes. It’s fine if the squash falls apart in the pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir in the dissolved tomato paste. Continue to cook, stirring, until the tomato paste has caramelized, about five minutes. The tomato paste mixture will no longer be visible, but there should be rusty-colored traces on the bottom of your skillet. Stir in the black rice. Heat through, taste and adjust seasonings, and serve, topped with a poached egg if desired.

Seasonal changes and CSA Week 19 of 20

There are just two weeks left of the 2016 CSA season and three weeks left for regular farm store hours. We appreciate the end of the season because it means that we have completed what we set out to do for the year. We also enjoy mid-October cooking! With the sun setting a little earlier, we find ourselves at the stove in the evening, taking the time to appreciate all the vegetables we've grown.  However, while we do enjoy the culinary advantages of the season, we know that in a few short weeks we will miss the vibrancy and activity that the CSA and Barrett's Bucks members and farm store customers bring to the farm.  The close of the 2016 season will also mean the end of the season for our two full time assistant growers, Ethan and Wyatt, who have been an integral part of the farm this season. They have planted, weeded and harvested thousands of row feet of produce, washed countless bins, buckets and crates, and fixed endless leaks in the irrigation lines.  They played major roles in building our new greenhouse and made valuable contributions to the farm every week in the form of field work as well as entertaining conversation! We will enjoy a few more weeks as a farm crew together before Ethan and Wyatt each move on to their next adventures in November and we hope that they will both be back to visit!

Ethan and Wyatt bringing in the last of the garlic harvest this July.

In the CSA:

Watermelon radishes

Brussels sprouts. We break off the leaves and harvest the whole stalk by clipping it at the base.

• Watermelon radish- Great grated or thinly sliced in salads.
• Celeriac- This funny looking vegetable tastes like celery but has the consistency of a root vegetable which makes it the perfect addition to soups, roasted vegetable dishes, and mashed potatoes.
• Brussels sprouts
• Carola Potatoes-  These have a yellow flesh that is great for roasting. Our potato crop was not as large as we would like so we have purchased certified organic potatoes from Hutchins Farm for our CSA members for this week. Next week we will be distributing our own Elba storage potatoes in the CSA.
• Pie pumpkins
• Butternut squash
• Fennel
• Yellow storage onions - These should not be kept in the refrigerator as there is too much moisture. Keep them on your kitchen counter out of the sun, or in a cool and dry pantry.
• Leeks
• Garlic
• Celery
• Turnips
• Cabbage
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes- The last of the tomatoes were picked just before the frost and will be distributed this week.
• Beets
• Carrots

CSA PYO:

The frost tonight will likely be the end of most of the pick-your-own however, some herbs may still be available.

In the store: Everything available in the CSA will also be available in the store. In addition, we will have chard, scallions, collards, spinach, salanova, escarole, eggs from Pete and Jen's Backyard Birds, and mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm. We will have our own potatoes for sale in the store, a storage variety called Elba. We also have jack-o-lanterns from Kenney Farm right here here in Concord!

Farm store hours:

• Tuesdays & Thursdays 11am - 6pm*
• Wednesdays and Fridays 2pm - 6pm
• Saturdays 10am - 3pm*

*Hours in bold with an asterix are also CSA pick-up hours. The last day for CSA pick-ups will be October 22nd. 

This recipe is tried and true favorite use of butternut squash from a friend who makes it regularly every winter. Now I do the same!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Penne Pasta
From the Whole Foods Market Cookbook by Steve Petusevsky and Whole Foods Market Team Members

1 medium butternut squash
1 ½ cups diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 ½ teaspoons)
½ teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt

1 pound penne pasta

½ cup minced parley
½ cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375F

Peel the butternut squash (a vegetable peeler works best). Using a heavy knife, cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds, and discard them. Dice the squash into 1 inch cubes (you should have about 4 cups). Place the squash cubes into a large mixing bowl, and add the onion, garlic, red chili flakes, olive oil, lemon juice and 2 teaspoons salt. Toss the ingredients to mix well.

Place the mixture in a large roasting pan, and roast for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. The squash should be firm-tender, not mushy.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until it is al dente. Darin the pasta, and place it in a large serving bow. Mix in the cooked squash mixture, parsley, Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper.

Growing and adapting, and CSA Week 18

A healthy stand of Austrian winter peas and triticale cover crop in the new parcel we are leasing across the street.

These days, aside from the daily harvest, most of our thoughts and energy are focused on preparing for next season. In the field, that energy goes into removing plastic mulch, trellising and irrigation, as well as seeding cover crop to improve organic matter. Beyond the fields, we are thinking about how we can improve soil health, increase yields, boost our labor efficiency, continue to make strides toward a healthy work-life balance for ourselves, and create the best possible experience for our customers.

We'll hash out a lot of the details of how to achieve our 2017 goals during the winter months, but we have already had a lot of discussions during our field walks and lengthy leek and carrot harvesting sessions about our general strategy for a successful 2017 season. One thing that became abundantly clear to us this season was how crucial our CSA and Barrett's Bucks members are to the financial viability of the farm.

Though we managed to have pretty good yields on most of our crops in spite of the drought, we still have to be able to reliably sell those crops for the season to truly be a success! Farm stand sales can be unpredictable, and this year, in part due to road work creating difficult traffic patterns and oppressively hot temperatures driving people to shop in more air-conditioned spaces, our cash sales were lower than anticipated. The lower sales coupled with higher labor costs (we needed more help to deal with the drought as well as to staff our increased farm store hours!) made for a slightly more financially challenging season than expected.

We did a bit of extra legwork to sell crops to restaurants (thank you especially to 80 Thoreau!) and other farms, but we are particularly grateful to all our CSA and Barrett's Bucks members who provided us with an important cushion to make it through the summer and fall. As such, a big part of our plans for next year include increasing our CSA and Bucks membership, as well as offering add-ons like our new November CSA while continuing to expand and improve our PYO Flower CSA. We're also brainstorming ways to continue to draw in store customers through the summer vacation months, as well as how to most effectively and efficiently use our limited labor resources. It's a challenge, but one we genuinely enjoy tackling. The opportunity to change and adapt after every season (along with the unbeatable work environment) keeps our job truly satisfying!

In the CSA:

• Pie pumpkins - Also known as sugar pumpkins, these are perfect for making pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread from scratch. Instead of using canned pumpkin, cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and lay the pieces cut-side down on a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Rub canola oil all over the skin and bake until fork-tender, about 1 hour. After the pumpkin cools, scoop out the innards and puree in a food processor.
• Butternut squash - We had a really good butternut harvest this year, so we should be enjoying these for the rest of the main season CSA (plus storage quantities in the November CSA!)
• Gourds - These are purely decorative, but we thought they'd be a fun addition to the CSA this week!
• Fennel - We grew a planting of fennel early in the season but took a break in the hot summer months. The bulbs are small but pack a lot of flavor!
• Yellow storage onions - After we had difficulty our first season on this property with onion root maggots, we took a break from growing storage onions last season to concentrate on fresh onions and leeks, but this year we decided to give it another go and we had much more success this time around. These aren't the largest onions due to the drought, but they pack good flavor! These should not be kept in the refrigerator as there is too much moisture. Keep them on your kitchen counter out of the sun, or in a cool and dry pantry.
• Leeks
• Garlic
• Celery
• Turnips
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Kale
• Baby Bok Choi
• Arugula
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes- peak tomato season has definitely passed, but we're still harvesting a small amount of tomatoes this week
• Eggplant
• Peppers
• Beets
• Carrots

CSA PYO:

• Cherry tomatoes
• Tomatillos
• Husk Cherries
• Hot peppers - jalapeno, serrano, cayenne, ancho, habanero
• Parsley
• Cilantro
• Dill

In the store: Everything available in the CSA will also be available in the store. In addition, we will have chard, scallions, collards, spinach, salanova, escarole, eggs from Pete and Jen's Backyard Birds, and mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm. We also now have jack-o-lanterns from Kenney Farm right here here in Concord!

Farm store hours:

• Tuesdays & Thursdays 11am - 6pm*
• Wednesdays and Fridays 2pm - 6pm
• Saturdays 10am - 3pm*

*Hours in bold with an asterix are also CSA pick-up hours.

Fresh pumpkin Bread

by Stacia Hayes on food.com

• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup cooked pumpkin, mashed
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄2 cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 1⁄4 cup water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1⁄4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350°F Spray standard size loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine sugars, pumpkin, oil, vanilla extract, water, and eggs. Sift together dry ingredients. Slowly add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Pour into prepared baking dish. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour 15 minutes.

MUFFINS: Recipe makes 18 muffins. Reduce baking time to 35 minutes. Freezable for a quick, healthy alternative for dessert.

Winter Squash Curry

adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

You can use any type of winter squash for this recipe. You can add other veggies to the curry. My favorites are potatoes, broccoli, romanesco cauliflower or spinach.

• 2 tablespoons neutral oil (grapeseed, corn or canola)
• 1 onion, chopped (or you can use leeks!)
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 lb winter squash, peeled and roughly chopped
• chopped broccoli, potatoes, cauliflower and/or spinach (optional)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Chopped fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

Put the oil in a pot or deep skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onion (or leek) and cook for a few minutes until softened. Add the curry and ginger and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the squash (and potatoes,  broccoli or cauliflower) and coconut milk and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and turn the heat down to low. Cook, stirring once or twice, until the squash is tender (about 20 minutes). If you're adding spinach, add this toward the end of cooking. If the squash is done and there is still a lot of liquid, remove the lid and turn the heat up to medium high until it's thicker than stew. Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice or quinoa.