Foraging My Garden

Last Friday, I looked in the fridge before I left for work. Besides some cream and lunchmeat, there wasn't much there. Crap. I really didn't feel like braving the grocery store at 5 p.m. on a Friday after a long day of work. And then I remembered - Hey! I have a veggie garden! There's not much in it (yet), but there's definitely enough for a fresh spring meal.

When I got home from work, I set about selecting the ingredients from the garden. There were garlic scapes...

Baby arugula...

Broccolini...

Radishes...

And fresh herbs. I even managed to find a cooked chicken breast in the back of the fridge that was still good.

I chopped up an onion (one thing I did have in my fridge), and sauteed it with a little bit of jalepeno that was in my freezer from last year's garden. Then in went the scapes for a few minutes.

I cooked up some pasta, and toasted the broccolini (kinda like kale chips). Once the pasta was finished, I drained it, then threw in the arugula to soften and mixed in the onions and scapes. A dash of cream, a pinch of salt, topped with the toasted broccolini and fresh basil, and I went from having "nothing to eat" to having a feast for two!

Pan-Fried Cod Stuffed with Feta and Spinach over a bed of Asparagus and Rice

Happy Spring! I can't tell you how happy I am that it's finally arrived. In honor of the season, here's a spring green meal.

I don't really have a recipe for this one. It's steamed rice, plunked on a plate. Asparagus, cooked on a grill pan and slathered with butter. Cod, sliced down the middle and stuffed with carmelized onions, spinach, and goat cheese, then salted and peppered and pan-fried. Topped with pesto (which it could have done without), and bacon bits, which were absolutely essential.

Have I mentioned I've been on an asparagus kick lately?

Getting Ready for the Season

I saw these dead sunflowers on an early morning walk last weekend. Most likely, they were left for the birds to munch on after the harvest. They're lovely as they are - like stars. But let's face it, I'm ready for real live flowers, right there in the garden, blooming their hearts out.

Last weekend, I finally put my soil blocker to use. I'm doing a combination of starting seeds indoors (tender lettuces, onions, marigolds, and peppers) and directly sowing seeds into the ground. I want to see if I can go a whole season without buying a plant (not likely), so I'm starting as much from seed as I can.

Before getting down to work, I had to map out my plan. To leaf through seed packets, and hold myself back from buying more than I have space to accommodate. And to figure out the layout of the garden.

There's a lot to consider. Crop rotation, to avoid buildup of diseases in the soil. Interplanting, to aid in symbiotic growth and to thwart pests. Working with the spaces I already have, and inching  out into the yard.  There's the almighty average last frost date, the garlic that will be taking up precious real estate until June, and on it goes.

With all that to do, maybe it's not surprising that I didn't manage to do it all last weekend. This weekend will hopefully be more of the same, digging in the dirt with my bare hands, taking a moment to admire the earthworms, and getting ready for another growing season.

By the Way...

If you're wondering whether I'd dropped off the radar a bit, I did. I had the blog running on autopilot a bit, and also...got married, went on a honeymoon to Italy, had Thanksgiving with my family in Virginia, and then made my way back to Salt Lake City! Whew!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, and I have so much to write about. Hopefully I get to even a third of it. There were wedding DIY projects, parties after parties, all gluten-free, gluten-free restaurants, and sightseeing, and more. I came back from Italy wanting to make everything I couldn't eat there gluten-free, and I'm currently swimming in Italian cookbooks working to make that happen. Plus, I'm happy as a clam playing with every single new kitchen toy we got as wedding presents. Now I realize why newlyweds always complain about gaining weight!

Despite all the fun new toys and growing list of dishes to try, after all our eating in Italy and again at Thanksgiving, I'm ready for some lighter fare. Since winter is quickly approaching, that doesn't necessarily mean salads, although we are enjoying some with our meals. Right now, lighter fare means smaller portions and more vegetables. So here's a simple roasted cauliflower recipe:

Wash a head of cauliflower, then remove leaves and stem. Slice the head into 1/2 inch slices, then cut each slice into smaller pieces at the base of the stems. Spread evenly in a single layer on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, then pop into a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. Turn the cauliflower pieces over, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt again, and roast another 10 minutes. You can cook them a little shorter or longer, depending on how browned you like them.

Makes an excellent veggie side, or you can let the roasted cauliflower cool, then pulverize it in a food processor to make "rice." OR you could use the pulverized cauliflower for a pizza or quiche crust - just mix in an egg, then spread in the bottom of a pan and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until the crust is firm. I find this works better than the recipe I've seen floating around Pinterest, since roasting takes care of some of the excess moisture and brings out all those delicious sugars!

Creamy Mushroom and Roasted Garlic Soup

This soup may not look like much, but boy, is it delicious. Hot, creamy, and filling, it's the perfect thing for a fall evening. Pair with some crusty gluten-free toast, and you have yourself a tasty meal.

I highly recommend roasting several heads of garlic ahead of time. They store forever, and taste great with everything - spread on toast, added to soups as I do here, or just for a subtle garlic flavor in other dishes. Not sure how to roast garlic? Check out this great tutorial.

Creamy Mushroom and Roasted Garlic Soup

Serves 4

Happy Desk Salad - Arugula Salad with Proscuitto, Basil, and Goat Cheese

Maybe you've heard of Sad Desk Salad. I'm reading it now. Luckily, I don't work (or blog) in such a charged environment, but the concept of being stuck at your desk for lunch definitely resonates. Also in the news of eating lunch at your desk, you should only do it if you make the conscious decision to do so. 

If you find yourself at your desk for lunch, one way or the other, a great salad can go a long way in making the experience a decent one. It's just as easy (if not easier) than walking across the street to the bodega for a  limp salad - just throw some great tasting greens in a container, roll the meat into some plastic wrap, and put the dressing in a separate container. Mix it all together at your desk, and voila - a happy desk salad. It's crisp, satisfying, and totally free from despair.

This salad just so happens to have some kale and chive sprouts from my garden - a lucky coincidence of needing to thin out veggies. But it would be equally delicious with just the arugula and mesclun mix.

Arugula Salad with Prosciutto, Basil and Goat Cheese 

 

Last Bell Peppers

These are my last bell peppers this season. I ended up with far more than I expected - I've never had much luck with peppers before - and hopefully I won't have to buy any over the winter.

The best of them went into the oven at about 450 degrees to be roasted and peeled. The high temperature makes their skins blister, and the meat of the pepper slides right out of the skin.

Creamy Corn Chowder

The days are getting shorter. Too short, if you ask me. And it's getting cold. Windy and cold.

All of this means that it's soup season. Not the light, thin soups of summer, but the hearty and rib-sticking stews of fall and winter. Like corn chowder.  Depending on how you make it, it can be light and delicate in flavor or thick, creamy, and oh-so-filling. I like it the second way, and topped with crispy bacon.

I love eating out on the porch, although the days we have left to do that are numbered. But with a piping hot bowl of corn chowder, it's possible to extend those days just the tiniest bit.

Creamy Corn Chowder

Stuffed Bell Peppers Over Dirty Rice

Continuing in the theme of things that happened over a month ago, I thought I'd share this recipe.  When I made it, I still had a glut of garden tomatoes and peppers from my garden. (That basil was a last-minute addition, and came from a plant on my windowsill.) There's still a trickle of fresh tomatoes and peppers, either ripening in the shed or picked up from the farmer's market from a grower witty enough to outsmart the frost. This recipe is quick to put together - most of the work occurs in the oven and the ricepot.

Last(ish) Caprese

When I made this caprese, I was sure it would be the last of the season. It's the last of the season with tomatoes from my garden, to be sure, although I did find some tomatoes at the farmer's market.

Like so many gardeners do, I say goodbye to tomato season with mixed feelings. I'm glad that the time to be overwhelmed with tomatoes waiting to be canned, frozen, or eaten is drawing to a close. I have plenty of tomatoes canned or tucked into the freezer to get me through the winter, but I sure will miss fresh tomatoes since I absolutely refuse to buy tomatoes from the grocery store in the winter.

Okra Fritter and Goat Cheese Salad

 Remember my Jail Kale Stew? It was made with kale grown as a part of a program for inmates at the local jail. On a later trip to the farmer's market, I picked up some okra at the jail's produce stand. Okra's not something that's easy to find out here, so I jumped at the chance to get some. And of course, it has to be fried.

I made these fritters (using gluten-free flour, of course), and they came out wonderfully. I may or may not have eaten a couple right out of the pan. But just to be sort-of healthy and offset the deep-fried okra, I made a salad with extra goat cheese for good measure. Eaten out on the porch, it was just the right combination of hot and cool, greasy and leafy. Yum!

Race to the Start

It's a race against the clock. Days are getting shorter, nights are getting colder, and the down comforter has replaced the light summer blanket on the bed. We walk around the house in slippers and flannel.

Winter is coming.

The garden--right before I ripped everything out

You can see it in the garden. Out came the sunflowers and cucumbers to make way for the garlic, getting ready to sleep through the winter under their blankets of mulch.

First Frost

Just like that, we're down to green tomatoes that may never ripen...

Jail Kale Stew

Last weekend I tried out a different farmer's market. I was downtown for work, so I walked down the street to check out the Downtown Salt Lake City Farmer's Market at Pioneer Park.  Despite the rain clouds, it was a hopping place. 

The County Jail runs a three acre garden - inmates grow the crops and even get to sell the produce at the farmer's market, under supervision.  They use all heirloom seeds and no chemicals. It's such a great idea to give inmates opportunities to be productive, that I just had to support the program by picking up some kale.  It was some of the best kale I've had in a while-tender with just the right amount of crunch. 

Also in this soup are some of my garden tomatoes and peppers, as well as some purple pole beans I picked up at the farmer's market.   

Enjoy!

"Jail Kale" Vegetable and Sausage Soup

1/4 cup olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 bunch kale, torn into small pieces 

1 bunch green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces (about a cup)

1 large tomato, chopped

2 links hot Italian sausage

4 cups chicken broth

5-7 basil leaves, chiffonaded

Dash of thyme 

Dash of dried chipotle

Salt and pepper

Fruiting

What do you get when you pick a pepper, a cucumber, and cherry tomatoes from your garden?  

Lunch. 

I worried all spring that I wouldn't have a garden. It went in a month late, and our growing season is fairly short here. 

But the zinnias are blooming, the sunflowers are getting tall and starting to bloom, the tomatoes and peppers are beginning to ripen, and above you can see my very first cucumber of the year. 

I diced up the cucumber, tomato, an pepper, then mixed them with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. Delicious. 

Scape-Basil Pesto

If you're at all like me, you obsess over finding seasonal goodies at the farmer's market. Scapes are one of those things for me. Their crazy stalks look to strange to have come from this planet, and their delicious flavor fills my dreams all winter long. 

Scapes have one of the shortest seasons of all, so when you see them, you'd better snap them up if you're at all interested. There are so many simple ways to prepare them, but with this one, you can extend the season just a little bit.

Simply take your scapes, chop them up, and throw them in a blender with some basil, salt, and plenty of olive oil.

The result? A delicious scape pesto you can freeze for when the scapes start to take over your dreams again.

Work with it like you'd work with any pesto - on sandwiches, over pasta, with meat - the sky's the limit!

Spring Green Pasta

Scapes are finally here! I know they've been popping up for other folks, but this climate is a bit on the chilly side, delaying our seasons by a few weeks. 

So when I stopped by the farmer's market last weekend, I was thrilled to see garlic scapes, the flower stalk of hardneck garlic. They have the texture of asparagus, but a mild garlic flavor. Pure bliss, if you ask me.

Scapes have such a short season, it's best to snap them up whenever you see them. And you won't find these crazy veggies at the grocery store. You've got to go to the farmer's market.

When it comes to cooking them, simplicity is key. A little oil and some heat are really all you need. This dish came together in less than twenty minutes. It's not really a recipe, so go on instict - are you cooking for one, or ten? Just make sure you have the right amount of pasta, and as much of the other ingredients as feels right to you.

Spring Green Pasta

Trim and chop scapes to about one inch long each. Add to pan with some olive oil and caramelized onions* and saute over medium heat.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add your noodles of choice, and cook until al dente.

When the pasta is almost done, toss a handful or two of fresh shelled peas in with the onions and scapes. Pour in a tablespoon or two of heavy cream, let it come up to a simmer, then turn off the heat.

Strain the pasta, then add it to the pan with the vegetables and cream. Toss, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then plate and enjoy!

*I keep them in the fridge for just such an occasion, but you could also use raw chopped onions here

Radish Avocado Toast

Have some radishes you don't know what to do with? Roast them. Then slather them on some crusty (gluten-free) bread, top with avocado slices and sea salt, and you're in for a treat.

Best eaten on a shady porch, although a spot by the window will do as well.

Roasted Radishes

I didn't think much of radishes until I decided to grow them a few years back. Why I decided to grow something I didn't like, I can't remember. (I do think it's a great strategy for trying new foods - the emotional investment in getting a vegetable to grow makes it taste that much better.)

Anyways, as the radishes started to come in I had to figure out what to do with them all. I'm not a huge fan of them raw - I can never slice them thin enough, and they're really just too peppery for me.

But roast them, and I'm in heaven. It's easy, can be done while you're cooking something else in the oven, and keeps pretty darn well.

Did you know radish leaves are also edible? I'm not a huge fan unless they're so young that the radishes haven't formed. I usually compost the leaves, but one of these days I'll try a pesto. Or better yet, I'll see what happens when I roast them. Radish leaf chips, anyone?

Radishes straight out of the dirt are best, of course, but the grocery store radishes work just as well. That's what I've been using, since I haven't had the garden space to grow radishes lately.

Roasted Radishes

The onion and garlic are optional here, but I love the way the flavors all meld together, so I usually use them. 

1 bunch radishes, washed, stems and leaves removed
1 small onion, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, smashed
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Slice the radishes to about 1/2 inch thick. Layer the radishes and onion in a baking dish. Tuck in the garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then drizzle with olive oil. Roast for about an hour, stirring everything around once or twice during cooking.

Great as a side dish, or over toast.

Easy Peasy

My in-laws-to-be gave me an Earth Box for Christmas. Of course I wanted to plant it right away, but there wasn't the space in our tiny apartment, and it was way too cold outside.

I finally got around to planting it a few weeks ago with some pea starts. They've finally caught on, and are blooming. I can't wait for fresh peas from my own backyard!