Salad Night

When the temps are supposed to rise to 96 in Minnesota I get up early and get my garden chores done. I watered, killed a few Asian Beetles (I left their bodies on the ground as a sign of things to come for others who might think defoliating my plants is a good idea), and then watched the bees fly from squash flower to squash flower it was inspiring. Oh, I picked the first Sweet 100 cherry tomato and let Dan eat it because tomatoes are his favorite. 

This week I will most likely pull the garlic and sugar snap peas and plant another round of carrots or beans or chard - not sure yet. In August I will plant some spinach and other cold crops. Speaking of sugar snaps - I’ve been talking to my community garden friends and they are all disappointed with this year's crop - they are not tasty; except mine are. Mine do get some shade and my Master Gardener friends are attributing the bad flavor/texture to the 100-degree days we had a while back but not sure - every year produces different results even if you think you are doing the exact same thing.

I thought about going out to dinner but when I look in the fridge I see 4 zucchini, @1.5 lbs. of sugar snap peas, and a massive amount of greens all that needs to be used before they expire. I was not in favor of turning on the stove or burners for that matter so I defaulted to - Salad Night! Three salads, two plates, and 2 hearty appetites. 

The first salad - Seafood Salad - is not a vegetarian dish but it’s super easy to make. The second - Sugar snap pea and edamame salad is vegetarian and has only 7 ingredients. The last - Dressed greens with blueberries, peaches, and feta - super easy.

Seafood Salad

Ingredients

1 pkg mock crab

2 stalks of celery - chopped

3 scallions - chopped 

fresh dill 

mayo

Instructions:

Finely chop celery and scallions and add them to a bowl. Add shredded mock crab and then chopped dill. Mix all with mayo and add salt and pepper to taste

Sugar Snap Pea and Edamame Salad

Dressing Ingredients:

2 green onions - finely diced

2T olive oil

2T fresh lemon juice

1t - maple syrup

Salt and pepper to taste

Veggies:

@ 1lb sugar snap peas - cleaned and trimmed

10 oz frozen edamame - thawed

Instructions:

Combine dressing ingredients and set aside. Steam edamame and sugar snap peas until crisp-tender. Toss peas with dressing - serve hot or cold. 

Dress Greens with Blueberries, Peaches, and Feta

Ingredients:

Leaf lettuce

Kale

Swiss chard

Collard greens 

1/2 cup blueberries

1 peach - peeled and sliced 

Feta cheese - to taste

Salt 

Pepper

Dressing:

2T - olive oil

1T - balsamic vinegar

1t - maple syrup

Instructions:

Mix dressing ingredients and set aside. Clean, wash and tear greens. Add blueberries, peaches, and crumble feta. Toss with dressing and serve.

After dinner, we headed to Frio Frio a local haunt that serves hand-crafted popsicles (I am sure they call them something else). I had a raspberry hibiscus and Dan had a blueberry & greek yogurt - a nice end to a simple and lovely meal.

Thanks for stopping by!

Zucchini, Sugar Snaps, and Chard

I know I know sometimes I don’t blog for a month and now 2 times in the same week; I can hear you saying - what’s up with her anyway? Remember I said I wanted to blog more in retirement but then I thought I was too busy? Let’s say I’m making up for lost time. 

If you saw my post last night you know we’ve got this thing going on with Mother Nature - she doesn’t want us to eat out on our deck for some unknown reason. The past 2 nights we get the table set and the food out and within 10 minutes some random cloud goes over and we have to make a mad dash back inside - yikes. 

Last night we had a delicious dinner from the garden (partially outside and finished inside); a chard salad with beets and a balsamic dressing, soba noodles and stir-fried zucchini, sugar snaps, and carrots (the carrots were not from the garden). It was simple but so delicious.

Swiss chard is one of my favorite greens - for Dan not so much. He’ll eat them sautéed with onions, lots of garlic, and white beans. My chard is going crazy and we’ve got beets in the refrigerator so I put the two together and made a dressing and - salad, done. 

Our sugar snap peas are coming along nicely. The past couple of days I’ve picked quite a few. I’ve also picked a couple of zucchini (trying to catch them when they are smaller this year). I chopped and cleaned the veggies and then tasked Dan with doing the stir fry. He added onions of course and the result hit the spot. 

Salad ingredients:

4 cups shredded swiss chard

2 large (or 3 small) beets

sunflower seeds

Dressing ingredients: 

1T olive oil

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

1/8 cup fresh orange juice

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Make dressing and set aside. Shred and chop chard and beets. Toss mixture with dressing, sprinkle with sunflower seeds, and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Stir fry ingredients:

1 1/2 zucchini - sliced into rounds 

1 onion - peeled and cut into large pieces 

2 carrots, peeled and cut into rounds 

2 hand full sugar snap peas - cleaned 

Sauce:

1T olive oil

1T sesame oil

1/2 T chili oil

1T soy sauce

2 cloves garlic minced 

1 knob ginger minced 

1T corn starch 

Instructions:

Prepare sauce by mixing all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. 

Prepare all vegetables. 

In a medium pan add 1 T olive oil and saute onions until translucent, add carrots and saute an addition 2 - 3 minutes, add zucchini and peas and saute another minute or two. 

Add sauce and stir fry until thickened. 

We served the vegetables over soba noodles and there are leftovers for dinner. 

Thanks for stopping by!

A Vegan Summer Broccoli Salad

Garden season is in full swing. I’ve picked a few zucchini, sugar snap peas are blooming and ready to harvest, and the garlic leaves are starting to brown (so it won’t be long to harvest). The winter squash (honey nut, delicata & acorn) are climbing the fence and I’ve counted @20 squash (between all 3 types). 

Some of the other crops are still a bit behind - the Spring weather certainly has had an impact. The tomatoes are now fruiting and with the warmer temps this week they may start to ripen. My cucumber is still trying to decide if it wants to be a plant but I have 3 hills of Minnesota Midget Melons that are flowering and the melons are coming - I am so excited!

My ground cherries are looking good and my black turtle beans have SO MANY FLOWERS. My only disappointment is the green beans, which if you know me you know is my signature crop. I plant at least 3 rounds of beans and then make coconut green beans and freeze them for the long winter months, The bean seeds I purchased were bush beans but it is obvious that they are pole beans. As the saying goes “shit happens.” 

I had an excellent volunteering weekend. On Saturday I spent the afternoon at one of the Master Gardener Learning gardens and then on Sunday I was in a booth at a local farmers market -both fun events. 

This morning I combed through my own garden and harvested food and removed pests and then headed over to the local community garden and did it all again. I am grateful I have not yet found any Japanese beetles - I hate those things. 

Last night we ordered dinner from a new Indian restaurant near us so tonight was leftover night but I had a head of broccoli that needed to get used and my cilantro was starting to bolt so I needed to do something with that. I found a recipe for a vegan broccoli salad and adapted it to what was in the pantry - the result was quite delicious and tomorrow’s lunch is ready and waiting. 

Salad Ingredients:

1 head of broccoli - finely chopped

1 cup shredded carrots

1 15-ounce can of chickpeas

1/4 cup sunflower seeds 

1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds 

1/2 dried cranberries 

1 bunch of green onions 

3/4 cup chopped cilantro

Dressing Ingredients:

2T toasted sesame oil

2T olive oil

2T reduced-sodium soy sauce

2-3T rice wine vinegar

1.5T pure maple syrup

2 cloves garlic - finely minced

1T freshly grated ginger

1T peanut butter 

Instructions:

Make the dressing by adding all ingredients to a measuring cup, whisk to combine, and set aside. 

Chop all vegetables and place in a large bowl, pour dressing over salad, and stir to combine.

Keep gardening and stay cool - thanks for stopping by!

The Salad Bar

It’s a beautiful July morning. I’m sitting on the deck, enjoying a cup of coffee and watering the garden. Later today we’ll head to the Guthrie to see Emma, which I’ve heard is lovely. 

The garden is coming along nicely, we’ve been harvesting lots of greens and I can see zucchini, summer squash, and winter squash are on their way. I’d say we will be eating zucchini next week. The green beans seem to be in a love fest with the garlic (see pics) and I’m not sure how I’ll get the scapes cut off and untangled - that is a project for later today. I may have to cut them and leave them where they are, we’ll see. 

My experiments; black turtle beans, ground cherries, and Minnesota midget melons are all doing well and with luck, the crops will be successful - fingers crossed. I noticed last night that the turtle beans are flowering - good things are on the way. 

Our friend Paith stopped by last weekend and wanted a tour of the garden - she dubbed the bed with all the greens in it “the salad bar” so we’re going with that. 

After a day of volunteering at our favorite female-owned STEM bookstore (The Thinking Spot), we came home and put together a quick dinner of mussels, garlic bread, and a salad - with greens from the salad bar. It was light, tasty, and exactly what I was hungry for. 

There isn’t really a recipe for the salad but it was filled with lots of greens (lettuce, swiss chard, kale, mizuna, collard greens, bok choy, mustard greens, and cilantro. I added tomatoes, radishes, peppers, cucumber, raisins, and olives, and topped it with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, a squeeze of spicy brown mustard, and a bit of maple syrup.

Dan did the garlic bread honors - he sautéed the garlic in olive oil, brushed the mixture on the grain bread, and then toasted it under the broiler until it had the perfect crunch. I enjoyed it with a crisp glass of Sauvignon Blanc. 

I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend and makes time to spend it with family and friends. Thanks for stopping by!

Simple is Good

If you live in my neck of the woods you’ve probably been spending a lot of time with your air conditioning - the temps have been brutal but hey there is no such thing as climate change right? 😀

One of my goals in retirement is to do one “useful” thing every day. Today I did many; I took our used and abused electronics to be recycled, got groceries, cleaned the upstairs, watered and weeded the garden, and turned the last of the shredded zucchini into bread -I’d say it was a productive day. I also went for a walk and did 30 minutes of yoga. 

After all that work, I decided that dinner needed to be simple. I had a head of cauliflower, mushrooms, and tomatoes in the fridge and combined it with some leftover rice. I toasted a small baguette of whole wheat bread and added some Muhhamara (roasted red peppers and walnuts) from Costco to round out the meal. It was a warm-weather delight. 

Ingredients:

2/3 head of cauliflower -broken into florets

1 package of baby portobello mushrooms - cleaned and quartered

1 container of grape tomatoes

2 - 3 cloves garlic - minced

olive oil

Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Chop all vegetables as indicated above and place them in a large bowl. Add olive oil, and spices; stir to combine. Put all vegetables on a sheet pan and roast for 25 - 30 minutes or until cauliflower is crisp-tender. 

Serve with rice, and bread, and enjoy!

Retirement is the Life

Wow - it’s been way too long since I last blogged. When I retired I thought one of the things I would have more time for is cooking and blogging - that is definitely not the case; at least in the warmer weather months. 

I’ve been volunteering at a community garden, participating in a garden research project, I am on the education committee, doing an occasional stint at the Arboretum, and tending my own yard/gardens. Before I retired my father-in-law told me I would be busier in retirement than I was when working - he was spot on.

We have also been getting out and seeing friends again. There is nothing like Minnesota patio dining be it on your own deck or at a restaurant, they are both fun. Last weekend we had the fab 6 over for a Mediterranean-themed dinner; salmon with pesto, sun-dried tomatoes (from my garden last year), artichokes, and olives. Accompanied by Briam (zucchini/potato/onion/tomato) dish and a chickpea salad. Ellen brought a lovely fruit plate and Ann a to-die-for rhubarb tart.

Briam takes roasted vegetables to a whole new level of deliciousness. You need a few simple pantry ingredients: potatoes, zucchini, red onions, and tomatoes. The key is the spices; fresh garlic, parsley, and a generous drizzle of EVOO. On the bright side this dish is vegan, low carb, and gluten-free.

Ingredients:

1 ¼ lb gold potatoes (about 3 medium-size potatoes), thinly sliced into rounds (about ⅛-inch thick)

1 ¼ lb (2 to 3 zucchini), thinly sliced into rounds (about

¼-inch thick)

Salt and pepper

2 tsp dried oregano

scant 1 tsp fresh rosemary 

½ cup chopped fresh parsley

4 garlic cloves, minced

Extra virgin olive oil

1 28-oz canned diced tomatoes with juice 

1 large red onion or 2 smaller red onions, thinly sliced into rounds (if large, you'll want to cut the onion in half first, and then slice).

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Place sliced potatoes and zucchini in a large mixing bowl. Season with kosher salt, pepper, oregano, and rosemary. Add fresh parsley, garlic, and a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Toss to make sure the vegetables are well coated.

Grab a large round pan or skillet (I used the Pampered Chef Roc Crok everyday pan) pan. Pour ½ of the canned diced tomatoes in and spread to cover the bottom of the pan.

Arrange the seasoned potatoes, zucchini, and sliced onions in the pan in rows (simply going around the shape of the pan and alternating.) If you have any of the extra virgin olive oil and garlic mixture left in the mixing bowl, pour that all over the veggies, then top with the remaining diced tomatoes from your can.

Cover the pan with foil (tent foil a bit so it is not touching the veggies). Bake in 400 degrees F heated oven for 45 minutes. Take the pan out briefly to carefully remove the foil, then place it back in the oven,  uncovered, and roast for another 30-40 minutes or until the veggies are soft and charred and most of the liquid has evaporated.

Remove from oven. Serve warm or at room temperature with an added generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

A Delicious Cabbage Soup

Hello hello - it’s been a while since I’ve posted - life has been full and busy. I’ve been spending time teaching herb classes, doing some organizing, spending time with good friends, and thinking about this year's garden.

Spring is definitely taking its time getting here and I’ve been restless. I was looking at photos from last year at this time and we were wearing lighter clothes, the sun was shining and our early bulbs were blooming. Our crocus have finally come up and the tulips and allium are starting to peek their heads out - so there is hope. 

For those of you who are anxious to clean up your yard - please wait until the temps are a consistent 50 degrees for a week or so. Our bees and pollinators are still sleeping - we need them in our gardens. 

If you’ve been following my blog, you know that we have new neighbors and last fall they built a 6-foot fence so we’re in the process of revamping our gardens. As luck would have it our 2 beds closest to the fence were rotting, which means we were planning to replace them anyway and now we can move them to the north side of the far beds - basically full sun - so a bonus!

Tonight we’re sitting in the living room with a roaring fire enjoying a hearty cabbage soup and cornbread - it’s delicious!

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic - minced

6 cups veggie broth

2 carrots - diced 

2 stalks of celery - diced

1/2 head cabbage - chopped 

2 cans diced tomatoes 14 oz each 

2 cans of white beans 

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a large stockpot add the olive oil, onions, carrot, and celery saute for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and spices - saute for 1 minute. Add the cabbage and sweat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. 

Add the broth, tomatoes, and beans, bring to a boil, and then simmer until the cabbage is tender. 

We served with cornbread - it was delicious!