These slightly waxy potatoes are golden skinned and golden fleshed and are truly all purpose. They are great for boiling, mashing or roasting and are plenty waxy enough to make excellent potato salad. Nicola potatoes have a very special attribute among potatoes - they are low on the glycemic index compared to all other varieties. This means they do not cause blood sugar spike the way that other varieties may, if you are sensitive to blood sugar ups and down then you know this is an issue that can wreak havoc with people with insulin resistance. They also have a yummy slightly nutty flavor.  Store in a cool dry place away from onions.

Related to kale, cabbage, and collard greens, mustard greens are the peppery leafy greens of the mustard plant. This week everyone will receive either Mizuna or Ruby Steaks Mustard. Mizuna is a Japanese mustard green with dandelion-like jagged edge green leaves with a mild, sweet earthy flavor. It has long been culitaved in Japan, but most likely originated in China. Mizuna makes an excellent salad green, and is frequently found in Mesclun. Ruby Streaks Mustard has a delicate texture and mild, sweet yet mildly pungent mustard flavor. Both greens are tender enough to liven up salads, and stout enough to stand on their own in steamed or stir-fried dishes.

These delicate mushrooms are best used within a few days after pick-up. You will receive shiitake or oyster mushrooms. Remove the stems of shiitake mushrooms before cooking. Save the stems for making a stock. Store mushrooms in the refrigerator in a paper bag.

Also know as spider mustard, mizuna is a Japanese mustard green with tender leaves and a pleasant, peppery flavor. You could substitute it, chopped, in a salad calling for arugula. It adds a nice zest to a stir-fry or saute. Store mizuna, unwashed, loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in your crisper drawer.

Pete's Mixed Poatatoes may include Nicola gold potatoes, Purple Viking (pink and purple skin with white flesh) and Adirondack Red (Red skin with pink and white flesh), Adirondack Blue (blue inside and out) and our Russian Banana Fingerlings. All would be great in a potato salad, mashed separately or together or sliced for frying or baking en casserole. To maintain the beautiful colors, scrub these potatoes instead of peeling, if the recipe will allow. Store your potatoes in a cool, dark environment away from onions. Cook's Illustrated goes a step further and recommends storing them with an apple in the bag.  Since they are not treated with an anti-sprouting agent in Spring these potatoes will be preparing to start their next cycle of life and tend to sprout quickly if kept at room temperature.

Our favorite way to cook these all together is roasting until all are soft and creamy delicious. Chop and toss in sunflower oil, salt, pepper and other herbs of your choice. Set oven to 475F and roast for 30-40 minutes.

Your greens may include one or more of the following: kale, arugula, mizuna, mibuna, red giant. These make a salad with a nice bite or you can quick saute them, throw them into soups and/or pastas, etc. As with mesclun, it's a good idea to wrap the greens in a dishtowel inside the plastic bag to absorb any excess moisture. Store in the crisper drawer.

Pete's Mixed Beets are a colorful selection of red (Detroit Red), candy stripe (Chioggia), gold and white beets. The colors stay fairly true while roasting but if boiling together the red color will take over. Roasting beets is also a great way to bring out their sweet flavor.  If trying to preserve color, roast whole beets at 350F until beets are easily pierced with a knife or fork. Cool the beets, remove skins if desired and then dice or slice individual beets. Toss in dressing etc when cool or reheat with a meal. Make sure to keep beets in fridge until you want to use.

As a fermented product, miso will keep in your fridge many years. Please don't let this happen, though! There are so many delicious and interesting ways to eat miso. To make a cup, mix a heaping teaspoon of miso with cold water to make a paste. Then, stir in hot (but not boiling water) to make a hot breakfast beverage, midday pick-me-up or soup base for a meal. As miso is a living food, try not to cook it, rather, stir it in at the end of cooking once the pan is off the heat. For a wealth of miso recipes, check out: TraditionalMiso.com.

Store these greens in your crisper drawer where they will keep for several days. I find they last well if you wrap a small kitchen towel around them in the bag with the greens to soak up any extra moisture plastic bag in the fridge.