A Twist on Traditional Ratatouille

This is my favorite gardening time of year - all of my favorite veggies are producing and I’m constantly presented with new opportunities for finding recipes that I can make without going to the grocery store. 

These days our freezer is full of pesto, we’re using up the last few bags of frozen tomato sauce from last year and we are getting ready to start the 2021 batch. We tried a few new things this year - garlic, which was a great success (54 bulbs), Russian purple fingerling potatoes (so so successful), and 2 new heirloom tomatoes, which are both doing well. 

Did you know that zucchini literally grow overnight? It’s true and I have a counter full of zucchini to prove it. Our eggplant is finally producing and I have a pepperoncini plant that is loaded with peppers but still waiting for them to ripen. One disappointment this year is my poblano pepper plants. One has 2 peppers on it and the other one is loaded with flowers but alas no peppers. Not sure what’s up with that. My green peppers are plentiful and I planted a mini sweet red pepper plant that is producing cute bright red peppers - haven’t tried them yet but soon. 

I love dishes that can come together in a single pot and use as many veggies I have on hand as possible. I found this rift in traditional ratatouille from probably 10 years ago when we belonged to a CSA. I had totally forgotten about it but it fits all the criteria for “using up the harvest”. 

Summer Vegetable Gratin

Ingredients:

1 / 2 lb. new potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 / 4 -in. slices

1 small zucchini, sliced in 1 / 4 -in.-thick rounds

1 summer squash, sliced in 1 / 4 -in.-thick rounds

2 large tomatoes, sliced 1 / 4 -in. thick

2 large sweet onions, sliced 1 / 4 -in. thick

1 small eggplant, cut into 1 / 2 -in. slices

3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 / 4 c. extra-virgin olive oil

10 to 15 kalamata olives, pitted

1 / 4 c. good quality shredded Parmesan cheese (or more to taste)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

 Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on the bottom of an ovenproof glass baking pan.

Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little oil.

Toss the remaining vegetables and garlic with oil to generously coat.

Spread them over the potato layer.

Scatter the olives and cheese (if using) over the vegetables, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake until the vegetables begin to soften about 30 minutes.

Remove the foil and continue baking another 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the vegetables are cooked through, brushing with additional oil as needed.

Sweet/Savory Coconut Green Beans

I just came in from the garden with you guessed it - more. green. beans. I know that many people love to pickle them or can them or freeze them but for me, I like to pick them, steam or saute them and eat them, the sooner the better.

We’ll be heading to the lake soon and cabin 2 will be making an Indian dinner for the thundering herd.  We have a couple vegetarians in the group and one vegan so the cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, and beans in our garden will be put to good use. 

Dan’s favorite cuisine is Indian - so we eat a lot of it. We have a couple local haunts that we frequent but generally, we make our own. I’ve been making Indian spiced green beans with coconut lately (you know to use up all those beans) and we’ve had them with other curries, as an appetizer, and sometimes as a snack. 

After picking 3+ pounds of beans, I decided I would make a large batch to serve as part of the Indian dinner. To the thundering herd - you have been warned. Most coconut green bean recipes use unsweetened coconut but I’ve switched that around. The spicy combination of mustard seeds, red pepper flakes, garlic, and basil combined with a bit of sweetened coconut gives it that sweet/savory flavor that I love. 

Ingredients: 

1/2 lb green beans

1 onion - finely diced

3 - 4 cloves garlic - thinly sliced

4 - 5 basil leaves - thinly sliced

1 - 2 Tablespoons oil

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon tumeric

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup shredded coconut

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

Instructions:

In a large pan, heat oil and add onion, saute until translucent. lower heat and add garlic and mustard seeds, saute until seeds pop. Add turmeric, salt, and red pepper flakes stir until combined. 

Add green beans and saute until crisp-tender, put in basil and coconut, and stir until heated through. 

Enjoy!

Vegan Garlic Scape Pesto

Despite the oppressive heat the garden is doing surprisingly well - of course, the new drip irrigation system is a big help and it saves time. It also keeps the water splash down on the tomatoes, squash, eggplant, and peppers which keeps the plants looking healthy.

Last fall I planted 54 cloves of garlic, today they are about 3.5 feet high and some of the leaves are starting to brown. I’m excited to dig it up and see how things fared. If you recall last year, I forgot to remove the garlic scapes and my garlic was very small and sad. 

So as not to be sad again, I took a class on growing garlic in MN and learned a lot - for example, did you know that there are more than 600 named varieties of garlic? They are divided into 2 types - hard neck and soft neck. I planted 2 varieties of Rocambole, which are nothing to look at but have the best flavor, and Purple Stripe. But what do you do with the garlic scapes? Some people add them to a stir fry or soup, some grill or roast them, and I make pesto out of them. 

This pesto can be frozen and used in the same way as any other pesto my favorite uses are pasta, pizza, and toasted bread with a thick slice of tomato and avocado. 

Ingredients:

10 Garlic Scapes 154g

1/3 C Walnuts 30g

2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast 12g

1/2 Lemon juiced

1/4 tsp Sea Salt

1/8 tsp Ground Black Pepper

1/3 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil 73g

Instructions:

Trim the garlic scapes by cutting just below the bulb. Discard the bulb/tip and cut the scapes into about 1" pieces.

In a food processor, add the scapes, walnuts, yeast, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Process by pulsing until the mixture begins to break down. Scrape the bowl down.

With the processor running, slowly add all the olive oil. Continue to process until all the ingredients are incorporated and broken down, about 30-45 seconds, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed.

Store in a covered container in the fridge and enjoy within a week. Also, you can freeze the pesto in a small container (as shown above) or in an ice-cube tray. Once frozen, in the ice-cube tray, remove and place in a ziplock bag in the freezer.

The weather person says a chance of rain today - fingers crossed!

A Quick and Tasty Pizza

If you're in my neck of the woods chances are you haven’t left the house in the last 7 days - what is up with the 90-degree temps in early June - honestly it feels like mid-July it’s crazy!

I’ve been watering the veggie garden early every morning so that the plants have time to dry and not collect moisture (which happens when you water at night). Today I cut off the scapes from my garlic plants - I see garlic scape pesto in my future. The heat is really taking a toll on the grass, we’re keeping it longer and only watering in selective spots where it is dire. 

When it’s this hot I’m not motivated to cook nor am I really all that hungry. I found a recipe online for a quick naan bread pizza that takes about 12 - 14 minutes in the oven and has some of my favorite ingredients - blueberries, goat cheese, and onions - what could go wrong?

Dan is not usually a fan of sweet things for dinner but I didn't hear any complaints and there are no leftovers - so I'll take that as a win.

Ingredients:

2 - pieces of naan 

1 T olive oil

1 cup thinly sliced red onion 

salt 

a pinch of red pepper flakes 

2 T honey

1/2 cup fets

1/2 cup fig goat cheese 

1 cup blueberries 

A few basil or spinach leaves, thinly sliced

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, place naan on the baking sheet, and brush with a little water. 

Place the olive oil and onions in a small pan and saute for 5 - 7 minutes until translucent. Add honey and stir until combined, Sprinkle a little salt and a pinch of red pepper flakes on the onions, turn off the heat, and set aside. 

Combine goat cheese and feta in a small bowl, use your fingers to mix together. Divide the cheese mixture between the two pieces of naan and spread out. Top with the onion mixture and add 1/2 cup blueberries to each pizza. 

Place the pizzas in the oven and bake for 13 - 14 minutes until the blueberries are just about to burst. Remove from oven and top with shredded basil/spinach. 

Slice and enjoy with a crisp glass of wine. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Grilled Tofu and Veggies

It’s the end of May, the garden is planted and growing well, the weather for the most part is cooperating, and Summer is just around the corner. We are both fully vaccinated and starting to make our way back into the world - still masked when appropriate of course. 

In the past year, I feel like I’ve cooked every single day. As a matter of fact I had lunch with a friend the other day and we agreed as much as I love to cook - I need a cooking break. I’ve added fish (generally salmon) back into my diet and there is the occasional shrimp skewer or sheet pan dinner but other than that I am still a vegetarian. 

I like tofu, I like tempeh better but unless I steam it first, Dan is not a fan. I was in the mood for something on the grill and I had a block of tofu so I decided to make a quick marinade, chopped some veggies (onions, peppers, zucchini, carrots and sugar snaps) and get it ready for Dan to grill. 

Ingredients:

Tofu

1 block of extra firm tofu - pressed

1 T soy sauce

1 T maple syrup

1 T water

1 t smoked paprika

1 t chili powder

1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

chives to top

Veggies:

2 onions - cut into wedges

2 zucchini - sliced into rounds

2 carrots - peeled and chopped 

1 red pepper - cut into wide strips

a handful of sugar snap peas - washed and trimmed 

Instructions:

Press the tofu removing as much moisture as possible. Cut the block of tofu in half and then in wide strips, thread onto wooden skewers. Combine the soy, maple syrup, water, paprika, and chili powder in a small bowl and brush the tofu on all sides. 

Chop the veggies and toss in a little olive oil. 

Grill tofu skewers until done brushing each side with BBQ sauce. Grill veggies until crisp-tender. 

A Vegan Tortilla Soup, Margarita and a Roaring Fire

It’s officially Spring, the days are getting longer, the temps are warming and I planted some of my cold weather crops. This year Dan built me a hoop house for one of my raised beds and I’m excited to be eating spinach, lettuce, and radishes in the next week or so. 

While Fall is my favorite season, Spring is a close 2nd. It’s a time of rebirth - watching the trees and flowers bud gives me hope - and we could all use a little hope these days. 

Over the winter I studied for and finished my Master Gardener core course - now to get those volunteer hours in. I’m looking forward to being at the Arboretum after a year-long hiatus and volunteering in new places and spaces. 

As people get vaccinated and restrictions loosen, it will be great to get back out into the world and see people again. Also can’t wait until we can travel again, my list of places to visit continues to grow. 

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo this year in front of a roaring fire - MN weather is at best unpredictable, sometimes we experience more than one season in a day. I had a ripe mango so I made spicy mango salsa, which we enjoyed with chips and fresh guacamole. I was looking for a tortilla soup that didn’t require a trip to the grocery store and thanks to Vegetarian Gastronomy I found one that fit. The addition of the hot sauce added just the right amount of spice. 

Ingredients:

2 tsp avocado oil, or any cooking oil

1 cup white onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp ground cumin

4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth - I used Better than Boullion 

1/3 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1 can diced tomatoes - if it was summer I’d use fresh but winter tomatoes in MN are tasteless

2/3 cup frozen corn

15 oz black beans, canned, drained and rinsed thoroughly

2/3 cups zucchini or yellow squash, diced into small cubes

1-2 tbsp jalapeno, (optional) finely diced

Instructions:

Heat avocado oil in a large soup pot on medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until tender (~1-2 minutes). Mix in tomato paste and cumin. Add a few drops of hot sauce if using.

Add the vegetable broth, 1/3 cup cilantro, and a dash of salt. Mix and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes, uncovered. Add the tomatoes, beans, zucchini, jalapeno (if using), and corn. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender Season with salt/pepper to taste.

To Serve:

Top with any/all of the following: cilantro, avocado, jalapeños, and fresh fried corn tortilla strips. Add a few drops of your favorite hot sauce for additional spice. Enjoy hot!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos - Oh My!

 First, I can’t believe it’s been a month since my last post. We have been busy; we had our living room, dining room, and hallway walls plastered and repainted a calming blue/gray – I like it a lot. With that, however, we had to remove the books from the shelves and everything off the walls and moved to the center of the room and then the reverse of that when the job was done – that’s what we’ve been up to.

Dan is fully vaccinated, and I have my second shot on April 26^th so we’re getting there. We’ll still do the masking, social distancing, and follow CDC guidelines but it feels good to be moving in the right direction.

We’re starting garden things; the garlic that we planted last fall is up and growing and Dan built a hoop house over one of the beds so that I can get me greens and radishes started. Our garden plan is ready – now all we need is some warmer weather and plants.

One of my favorite vegetables is cauliflower, it’s so flexible. You can steam it, roast it, and eat it raw. It is high in fiber, promotes weight loss and colon health. It can be a great replacement for high-carb foods like rice and a great basis for gluten-free tortillas and pizza crusts.

I’ve tried a few different recipes for buffalo cauliflower but the one my stepdaughter Mary gave me is my favorite.

Ingredients:

Cauliflower

1 medium head of cauliflower – broken into florets

1 cup flour

1 T olive oil

1 cup milk – I use oat milk

Garlic powder

For Buffalo Sauce:

2/3 cup hot sauce – Franks hot is the house favorite

¼ cup cold unsalted butter

1.5 T white vinegar

¼ t Garlic powder

1/8 t cayenne pepper

Salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Cut cauliflower into bite-sized pieces discarding the core. Combine milk, flour, garlic powder, pepper, and olive oil in a large bowl. Add cauliflower and mix until well coated. Pour cauliflower into a large strainer letting any excess batter drip off and put on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes.

 

While cauliflower is baking combine sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until you see boiling at the edges. Remove from heat. Remove cauliflower from oven and toss with buffalo sauce bake an additional 10 minutes until cauliflower is tender-crisp.

 

Serve with tortillas, peppers, cilantro, tomatoes, sliced green onions, and avocado. 

Thanks for stopping by!