We're in the Swiss Chard, We're in the Swiss Chard

Guess what we're drowning in these days– yep you got it swiss chard. I've been so busy counting my acorn squash, tomatoes and harvesting lettuce, spinach, beans, kale and collard greens that I totally ignored the chard – until today. I think it grew to great proportions over night. SERIOUSLY, I AM NOT KIDDING!

We'll be heading out on vacation in the coming weeks so I'm in a no grocery shopping and we need to eat this mode. Sometimes it's a good thing and sometimes not so much. After bringing in a small fraction of the chard harvest and picking yet another 5 very large tomatoes I knew what we were having for dinner.

I first discovered Swiss chard when Dan and I were at a B&B in Sparta,

Wisconsin. Our host made a delicious omelet, which contained onions, mushrooms and Swiss chard – I was hooked.  I continue to search for recipes that contain chard but not cheese – let me tell you it's not easy. For some reason the world thinks chard should be in a gratin with 5 kinds of cheese (I know my comment is an exaggeration) but we live in a cheese centric world, or so it seems to me.

My favorite chard recipe is one of my own making with all of my favorite ingredients.

I start by sautéing one large finely diced onion until just about translucent. To that add the finely chopped stems of a large bunch of Swiss chard and continue to sauté until crisp tender. Add the mushrooms, 3 cloves of garlic, some shredded ginger and a shake or two of crushed red pepper flakes and cook until the stems are soft. Add washed and shredded chard leaves, 1 can of drained beans (either black or chickpeas) and cover and steam until leaves are wilted. 

And now you are wondering about those 5 large tomatoes. We've been picking tomatoes for a couple weeks my favorite way to eat them is in a toasted tomato and mayo sandwich. Start with a nice crusty, grainy bread lightly toasted, add mayo and top with thick slices of tomato, a little salt and some pepper – pure heaven.

I wasn't thinking about sandwiches tho, I wanted something fresh. I decided on a very simple; thinly sliced tomatoes topped with a little crumbled feta and some balsamic vinegar. 

It was a simple and my favorite kind of delicious supper. Thanks for stopping by.

Avocado - Creamy Deliciousness!

A friend of mine once said, "I'll order something from a menu with ingredients that I'm not crazy about if the dish has avocado." I kind of feel like that too – avocado is one of my favorite foods. I especially love when Dan makes egg wraps with sliced fresh avocado and salsa – it's the best.

A couple weekends ago I took a trip up to Fargo to visit my dad. We had a nice afternoon; we sat on his patio and talked, went out to lunch and then just hung out. My favorite part of the conversation was when we talked about our first car.

My first car was a red convertible – it was totally smashed on one side but the top worked and the motor was sound – that's all I cared about. My parents purchased the car for me but I was responsible for keeping it running – lots of good life learning lessons.

These days our garden is over flowing with lettuce, spinach, kale, collard greens, herbs and radishes. I hate that my carrots did not come up but at last count I had 5 acorn squash which are about 6 inches and growing. We've harvested 2 heads of broccoli, and a gallon bag of green beans (which we will be eating this week). 

Our tomato plants are loaded and we've been eating cherry tomatoes in our salads for a few weeks now. The red, yellow and green peppers are coming along nicely and I noticed just today that the thai chili peppers are going crazy. I'm excited about this year's harvest (ok I'm excited about every harvest what can I say).

But I digress, on Sunday night Dan and I did a joint cooking. He had a Greek bruschetta recipe from the Blue Zone, which he wanted to try and I was hungry for portabella mushrooms on the grill.

The bruschetta was delicious; the bread was perfectly grilled and topped with fresh tomatoes, kalamata olives, garlic, and olive oil – yum definitely high marks on that one.

The mushrooms turned out as well. I started by marinating 3 large caps in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, cumin, garlic, paprika and black pepper for about 20 minutes, turning them occasionally to evenly coat them.

While the mushrooms were marinating I made an avocado chimichurri sauce with fresh parsley from the garden, olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon juice and avocado. This was a definite do again recipe. I loved the combination of zesty balsamic flavor with the creamy avocado – so delicious.

If you are not familiar with the Blue Zone you can check out their website here:

https://www.bluezones.com/

And the recipe is here:

https://www.bluezones.com/recipe/easy-bruschetta/

To get the full recipe for the mushrooms hop over to The Minimalist Bakers site here:

http://minimalistbaker.com/portobello-steaks-avocado-chimichurri/

I'd love to hear from my gardening friends - if you have some favorite foods that you've been cooking up and would like to guest blog on A Vegetarian for One Year drop me a note!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Bevy of Veggies

If you are on this side of the pond I hope you enjoyed a lovely 4^th of July holiday. My co-workers in the UK let me know that they celebrated Thanksgiving on that same day – I think they were messing with me – but that's ok I still like them.

Dan and I had a wonderful long weekend – a little work, a little play and some delicious food. We tried to sprinkle a little of each into every day.

We started on Friday by attending the Guthrie production of South Pacific it was awesome. For those of you who remember the Stillwater High School choir production – you're probably tapping your toes and washing that man right out of your hair as I speak. I sang along with every song and Dan nudged me a few times but I ignored him and kept on singing.

We started our Saturday with a trip to the Minneapolis Farmers Market – so many beautiful vegetables! We loaded up the car and then headed home to work in the garden. We weeded, dug, put down grass seed, mulched and planted - we accomplished a lot.

We ended the day with a delicious roasted veggie dish from our market trip; green beans, sugar snap peas, asparagus, carrots, sweet potatoes, bok choy and onions seasoned with basil, sage and oregano from our garden – I love that I can walk out on the deck, grab some herbs and toss them in. The preparation was a simple, wash, peel and slice/dice. They toss with olive oil and sea salt and roast at 400 until done. 

By the time Sunday rolled around we were a bit sore but Dan had a vision – he wanted to transform the space where the peony plants are (in the front of the yard) into something with a bit more curb appeal – so we set our course for project "curb."

He dug out grass, tilled the dirt, added healthy soil, laid brick, and planted – the result was perfect. What did I do you ask? I shopped for plants, sifted dirt, helped spread mulch and provided the moral and beverage support– it was a team effort.

We still had alot of leftovers and we were tired so on Sunday we heated up the leftovers and added some mexican cups with refried beans seasoned with chili powder. To that I added chopped onion, red and orange pepper, black olives and some seasonings and then topped with vegan cheese and baked in a 350 degree oven until the tortilla were crisp. 

On the 4^th, we needed a work break – we spent the afternoon seeing Finding Dory – if you loved Finding Nemo, get yourself to the theatre – if not all I can say is "What's wrong with you ?" Then we had a nice dinner at a local tex mex restaurant – I  know, I know not very American but I no longer do hotdogs.

We ended the weekend watching fireworks from the neighbors deck and catching up with them. Overall I'd say it was a successful  weekend retreat.

Thanks for stopping by.