In the December 21 Twenty Bag: Salad mix of arugula, lettuce, baby spinach, rainbow carrots, Brussels sprouts, beets, sweet potatoes, sage, parsley, thyme, South Georgia Mandarin oranges, celery.

What a gift—thank you Harleston Towles and Rooting Down Farms!

Merry Christmas!

I’m spending Christmas day cooking some of my favorite things. For me, chilling out in my kitchen—chopping, prepping, stirring, roasting—is a day well spent. I can still picture my grandmother doing the same when the whole family converged on her New York home for the holidays—nearly twenty of us, counting my cousins.

I love a tangy salad with a big crunch factor to contrast with all the rich dishes and desserts we’ll be consuming the next week or so. Harleston’s provided the perfect greens to add to the radicchio in this colorful persimmon salad with pomegranate and walnuts.

The salad requires a bit of prep work, so I’m keeping it simple with the vegetable course and sheet pan roasting the Brussels sprouts after halving them and tossing in good olive oil, Kosher salt and fresh pepper.

For more ideas, a quick search of sweetgrass + grits will take you to plenty more recipes—all curated with an eye toward the weekly Twenty Bag harvest

Harleston’s storage tips: If greens of any kind begin to wilt at any point or at pick up, put them in a big bowl of ice water for 20-30 minutes. Almost all produce is washed and should go in the refrigerator. Remove carrot and beet tops upon receiving bag.  Store roots in a plastic bag for months.  Carrot tops can be used in pestos.  Beet tops can be sauteed.  Salad mix is washed and should stay in it's bag.  Brussels, beet greens, herbs, mandarins, and celery should go in a plastic bag of sorts.  Sweet potatoes on the counter.