in the garden: corn

Summer corn, is there anything better? My family loves it best cut off the cob, then lightly sauteed in some butter with salt and chives. Delicious.

In the season, when it is plentiful and it is 6 for $1 at the farmer's market, you can only eat it sauteed so many times. I found this soup recipe, a great way to enjoy corn and very easy to freeze for those January days when you dream of farmer's markets and corn.

Late Summer Corn Chowder by The Family Table

in the garden: radish redux

We planted two types of radishes this year: cherry belle and pink beauty.  They were both delicious, the cherry belle a bit spicier.  I pickled them, just as good as the recipe from last year.  But as I was researching radishes and recipes,  I came across a recipe for roasting them that sounded intriguing.  So last week, with some ladies from Women out Walking, we roasted them, and sauteed them with their greens and lemon juice.  OUTSTANDING.  I do not think I have been as excited for a recipe in a long time.  Please try it before radishes are no longer at their peak....

Roasted Radishes and their Greens

in the garden: mustard greens

Mustard Greens have exploded at the YWCA Urban Garden.  They are the easiest thing to grow: very prolific, very fast.  The classic way to cook them is a long slow cook with onion, garlic, ham hocks or smoked turkey wings.  In more modern methods (where you don't cook things to death and omit meat when possible) they are great sauteed in a pan with olive oil and some diced onion or shallot.  They are great then thrown into a white bean salad, into a veggie soup or put on top of a flatbread. They can be added to a green smoothie and are also great mixed with lettuce in a salad.

Mustard Greens are the third healthiest green after kale and collards.  They lower cholesterol and are very high in vitamins K and A, great for an anti-inflammatory diet. 

Here are some recipes I have been experimenting with.  The first two are delicious and I hope to try the third one before my greens start to bolt! Enjoy.



Mustard Greens with Chorizo and White Beans


Vinegar Braised Chicken with Greens 


Spicy Mustard Greens with Asian Noodles

in the garden: spinach

The spinach came up in droves this year.  The beds were covered with cold frames and underneath the mountains of snow was spinach, hibernating, readying itself for a great spring arrival.  One of the coldest winters in the Chicagoland area, it was a huge surprise to see such beautiful plants emmerging.

We have a mixture of spinaches: bordeaux, a red veined type; a flat leaf spinach; and bloomsbury, a ruffled variety.  All of them taste great as a salad or sauteed simply and quickly in olive oil with salt and pepper (sauteed shallots or onions and fresh lemon juice can also add a lot).  The spinach is magic as the more you pick, the more it grows.

I have been cooking it weekly at Mary Lou's place.  Some tasty recipes are linked below.

Lemon Couscous Salad with Spinach and Dill:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lemon-Couscous-Salad-with-Spinach-Scallions-and-Dill-11838

Spinach Quiche
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/09/spinach-quiche-revisited/

Wilted Spinach Salad with a Burst Tomato Vinaigrette
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/wilted-spinach-salad-burst-tomato-vinaigrette.aspx

Asparagus, Tofu and Spinach Stirfry
I add many other vegetables to this, delicious, my go to healthy dinner recipe.  A crowd pleaser
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/asparagus-stirfry-recipe.html

in the garden: radishes

"Brassicaceae", "Cruciferae", names of the cabbage family of vegetables.  I was surprised that arugula was one of those members, along with bok choy, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale, radishes, rutabagas, turnips, watercress to name a few.  They are all powerhouses of vitamins, fiber and are great for an anti inflammatory diet.

Radishes are rich in folic acid, ascorbic acid, potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, magnesium and calcium.

I have tried and tried to like radishes the french way: eaten with butter and salt.  It just does not do it for me.  This spring, we grew them in the YWCA urban garden and they came up so faithfully.  In only a few weeks they were plump and sitting on the soil, letting you know they were ready.  We sliced them and ate them along with our fresh lettuce greens tossed with a simple vinaigrette.  We also threw in some cooked french green lentils (great protein and fiber source) and some shaved carrots.

Vinaigrettes are easily made and stored in canning jars.  The simplest one starts with 1/3 part acid: lemon juice or any favorite vinegar (balsamic, sherry, cider, raspberry).  Then, eyeballing it, add 2/3 part olive oil.  Add salt, pepper, any chopped fresh herbs you have on hand (chives, garlic scapes, tarragon, parsley).  Shake vigorously so that you emulsify the dressing.  Drizzle on and toss well.  We leave our salad dressing out of the refridgerator for days...just give it a shake and you are ready.
 

With this crop, I tried pickling radishes, thanks to a suggestion of Courtney's.  They are so good! Good for fish tacos, good to put out with cheeses, good to eat alone to get the appetite going.  These are "refridgerator pickles" so they will not last forever like hot water canning jars, they need to stay in the fridge.  I guarantee they won't last long... we went through our jar in an evening.

Pickled Radishes by The Family Table

I leave you with a couple recipes I found, that I plan to try next batch of radishes: a roasted moroccan mint and brassica salad and a radish and orange chopped salad. 

Here is the lovely summer garden crew for the YWCA.  Amy, working in the shelter, Kim, tending the garden and the volunteers.  They are great.

spring session: braised chicken thighs with swiss chard and balsamic vinegar

Spring and the swiss chard is stretching out in the garden...

A really delicious and nutritious dish is Braised Chicken with Swiss Chard and Balsamic Vinegar.  You sear the chicken, saute the colorful stems along with onions and garlic, and then deglaze the pan with balsamic vinegar and diced tomatoes. 

This is cooked in the crock pot or a dutch oven and you have a meltingly yummy dinner for less than $3.00 per person (with free range chicken thighs). 

Braised Chicken and Swiss Chard by The Family Table

To accompany the chicken, we made an Israeli Couscous Salad with Dried Cranberries, Arugula, Pine Nuts with an Orange dressing.  I started with the recipe from the blog, "the Kitchn" but subbed in dried cranberries for the dried cherries, pine nuts for the walnuts and we mixed in orange zest as well.  It is a really tasty salad, one that I will go back to over the summer.  It was nice with the juices from the chicken.

in the garden...sage and green tomatoes

We had a plethora of sage this late fall.  With two cuisinarts going, making 40 batches of sage pesto was fairly fast.  We put them into kerr canning jars, half pint size.  They are great as gifts or can be frozen until needed.  I wish I had had some ice cube trays as I would have loved to have had sage pesto ice cubes to pop into soups or stews or on pasta.  The sage pesto is fantastic on top of cheese on a toast, or mixed in with roasted vegetables.  After wondering what to do with so much sage this year, I will never question it again.

 

Sage Pesto by The Family Table

Green tomatoes over running your garden?  Of course fried green tomatoes are a must: simply slice the tomatoes about half an inch thick, then coat them on both sides with cornmeal.  Heat up some olive oil (or bacon fat if you are feeling super indulgent) and then saute them over medium high heat until both sides are brown and they soften.  Salt and pepper them, eat immediately.

Green tomato pickles or green tomato chutney are some more ideas to "put up" with your abundance.  They are great alongside a cheese display, or with a simple sandwich, or a beef brisket panini sandwich, or a grilled fontina and spinach quesadilla.

Pickled Green Tomatoes by The Family Table

Green Tomato Chutney by The Family Table

in the garden...canning tomatoes

Last week, with the help of Laura Bougher of The Glass Rooster, we canned 24 quarts of tomatoes fresh from the YWCA's Urban Garden (supplemented by some beefsteak tomatoes from Ed, the generous farmer from Gast Farms-great sausages-at the Evanston Farmer's market).

Laura is a fantastic teacher, demystifying the process, making you feel equipped to tackle it on your own.  Actually, I have gathered some neighbors and we are putting up our own tomatoes tomorrow afternoon.  Fresh garden grown tomatoes, ready to pop into winter stews and soups, I am so excited.

Here is my summary of the canning process:

Clean your jars, wide mouth quart jars are great for tomatoes.  Either sterilize in boiling water, or put through your dishwasher on the sanitizing wash.

Fill your canner half full with water and start boiling (this part is very easy to underestimate and you can be watching a pot for a long time).  Place your cleaned tops and lids in boiling water to sterilize.

Prepare your tomatoes by cleaning them and then blanching them to remove their skins.  Get another big pot of boiling water, and a big bowl of ice water ready.  When the water is boiling, drop the tomatoes into the water for less than a minute, you just want the skins to loosen or crack a bit.  Then, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and put immediately into the ice water.  You should be able to peel the skins right off.

At this point, you can either leave the tomatoes whole, or halve or quarter the tomatoes.  I prefer mine quartered as since you are going through all the mess now, better to have them ready to pop in stews and soups later.  Once quartered, pop them into a stainless steel saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Using a masher, mash some to get a good amount of juices.  Let them boil gently for 5 minutes.

If your tomatoes are ripe, you should use citric acid (a natural preservative) or bottled lemon juice to ensure their acidity level is safe for canning preservation. The bacteria that can produce botulism thrives on low-acid foods in an airless environment.  Tomatoes sit on the borderline of low and high acid foods, so adding acidification will make them safe.   For a quart of tomatoes, use 1/2 tsp of citric acid or 2 Tbl. of lemon juice, either works, depends on your personal taste.  Put the acidic ingredient in the jar before adding the tomatoes.

Using a canning funnel (wide enough to allow solids to pass through), fill your clean sterilized cans with your peeled and chopped tomatoes, leaving a 1/2 inch head space.  Using a butter knife or a chop stick, poke around in the can to eliminate any air bubbles,  topping off with tomato liquid to fill.  Clean the jar rims with a damp cloth.  Place a sterile lid on the jar and then screw on a band until it just gives but not too tight (finger tip tight).

Place the sealed jars in the canning rack and then slowly lower into the boiling water (letting the jars acclimate to the hot water temperature).  The cans should be covered by about an inch.  Bring the water back to a boil, cover, and continue boiling for 45 minutes for tomatoes.  Remove the pot lid, wait about 5 minutes, then remove the cans, let cool on dishtowels.

Once the jars have cooled (about 8 hours), check the lids: if it is concave and does not give when you press it, it is sealed.  You should have heard the cans popping as they sealed.  Wipe clean the jars and rims and store.

Some good books to further your canning knowledge: 

"Complete Book of Home Preserving" by Ball;

"Tart and Sweet:101 Canning and Pickling Recipes for the Modern Kitchen" 

"The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and 

Aigre-doux" by Paul Virant. 

in the garden...beets.

Pulling a beet from the ground does not inspire an immediate appetite.  It has long red or green stems, you grab hold, yank, and a dirty spade shape emerges.  I used to avoid cooking them as the whole peeling thing seemed like too much work.  That changed for me when I discovered roasting: wash and dry the beets, put them in a baking pan or pyrex pan, toss them in olive oil, dust them with kosher salt, cover the pan tightly with tin foil and bake in a 375 oven for about 45 minutes or until a knife can pierce the beet effortlessly.  Take them out of the oven, let them cool a bit and then use a knife to peel off the skin, they should slip off easily.  Your beets are ready.  My favorite preparations at this point are to eat them warm with butter and a squeeze of lemon or to cut them in chunks and drizzle with a simple vinaigrette.

Beets contain a wealth of health benefits.  They are high in potassium, magnesium, fiber, phosphorous, iron, vitamins A, B and C, beta carotene and folic acid.  Beets contain betaine, a substance used in some treatments for depression.  They also containe trytophan, which relaxes the mind, creating a sense of happiness, much like chocolate.  No wonder there is a cult following for red velvet cake, the original version was made with grated beets, imagine the double dose of happiness in each bite.  Beets are high in sugar (natural, pure sugar) but low in calories, so great for a boost of energy. 

Over the summer, I invested in a juicer, a small breville juicer, under $100.  It is just perfect for my home concoctions, usually concentrated around beets.  I am pretty much in a slump.  I juice beets, carrots, ginger, apple or pears and kale.  It is absolutely delicious and always comes out perfectly.  I cannot brag enough.

Here are a few beet recipes:

Beet and Quinoa Pilaf
I would omit the cherry tomatoes here.

Roasted Beet and Blood Orange Salad

Warm Beet Salad with a Parmesan Dressing

in the garden...tomatoes

We can now get tomatoes all year round.  Even in January, bright red tomatoes are prominently displayed in grocery stores.  But, try and make a caprese salad with one of these tomatoes, not so tasty.

Nurturing tomatoes in a garden takes time and attention.  They shoot up, they sprawl, they need constant tying and staking, they need lots of water.  When you bite into that juicy, ripe, home grown tomato, you are rewarded for all of that coddling.
 Mid-August to late September is tomato time.  Farmer's markets are brimming with all shapes, all sizes, all colors.  I like trying different ones like Purple Cherokee, Green Zebra, Sungold, Brandywine, the list goes on.  My favorite way to eat a tomato: cut one up into chunks (chunks seem juicier than slices), drizzle with a decent olive oil, grind some pepper on top and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Amazing.  I could eat tomatoes every day of their season like this.  Mozzarella, Basil and Balsamic Vinegar are fine additions, but not necessary.  A B.L.T. (Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich) is another delicacy.  Toast some bread, crisp up some bacon, whip up some mayo (or open the Hellman's/Best Food's, slice some colorful ripe tomatoes and layer them in a sandwich with some garden fresh lettuce.

If you want to get fancy with your tomato, I recommend this lovely tomato tart.  It gets oohs and aahs at a buffet and is equally delicious.  You can slow roast your tomatoes to bring out the flavor and use them in braises and soups, and you can can your tomatoes, more on this in late summer.

Tomatoes are excellent sources of dietary fiber, minerals and Vitamins A, B and C.  They are also rich in Potassium that helps control heart rate and blood pressure. The lycopene, an antioxidant concentrated in red tomatoes, provides protection from skin cancer.  Additional antioxidants in tomatoes protect against colon, prostate, breast endometrial, lung and pancreatic cancers. 

in the garden...zucchini

-->

Growing up, my family had a small vegetable garden.  I don’t really remember anything about it, except for the ZUCCHINI, which was prolific those summers.  My mother would slice it and put it in a pot with some water and chopped onion.  It would simmer away on the stove top until it was pale green, mushy and pretty void of any flavor (sorry Mom).  Often, it would get the classic 70’s garnish of Lawry’s seasoning salt.  

It was not a top childhood memory.

Now, some 30 plus years later, I love zucchini.  In my opinion, the best way to cook it is to chop it up, making it bite size (about an inch or so).  I then take a sauté pan and heat up a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  Once that is hot, I add a tablespoon of butter and then toss in the chopped squash.  Stir or shake it around to get all the pieces glistening in the fats. Over medium high heat, let it brown and then stir it so that other sides get the golden look as well.  Honestly, I just use kosher salt (my salt of choice) and fresh pepper to season it and it is delicious.  Even my picky-ish kids and boiled-mush-loving mother like it.  If you want to jazz it up a bit, I think adding a squeeze of lemon, minced garlic, some chopped basil or chives would be nice additions.  Maybe a dusting of parmesan? Fine Cooking Magazine has a recipe where they roast it and add in paprika and manchego cheese (I think you could easily just saute the squash instead of roasting).  Nine times out of ten, I stick with the simple sauté.

Zucchini is very versatile.  It can be eaten raw, steamed, grilled, stuffed, fried, boiled, turned into bread, and the flowers can be stuffed and baked.  Although it is mostly prepared as a vegetable, botanically it is a fruit.  Each plant has male and female flowers: the male flowers best for stuffing as they are larger and more dramatic, the female flowers bearing the fruit.  Often, I have tried to grow zucchini, gotten a lot of blooms that then sadly drop off the vine.  A friend recently told me that some plants are under served by bees and need help pollinating.  Ehow’s link is very clear on how to do this.  I have high hopes for this year’s crop. 

Here are some simple recipes that I have tried this season and enjoyed very much:

smitten kitchen's zucchini bread, use the olive oil for the cake, much healthier, moist and yummy

my recipe for "soupe au pistou" a classic provencal soup, made only when it is the height of summer vegetables (like now)

a zucchini tart that would be great for a summer buffet, along with grilled chicken, some sliced tomatoes and a green salad

and then, a raw, shaved zucchini preparation by heidi swanson.  so light, so delicious:

shaved fennel salad

in the garden...beans

Beans are bursting on the vine right now...bush beans, pole beans.  Beans are rich in dietary fiber and they are a complex carbohydrate so they get processed slower, allowing you to feel fuller.  They are rich in vitamins A and C.   Beans can be simply prepared by putting them in a pot of salted boiling water until they are al dente.  Purists like to then fish out the beans with a slotted spoon, plunging them into an ice bath of water so they maintain their vibrant green color.  If you are lazy (like me), draining them in a colander and then dousing them with cold water also works.  At that point, drizzling them with melted butter and lemon juice, or throwing them in with some fresh salad greens makes a delicious and easy way to eat them.  Roasting them is another easy option: place the beans on a baking pan, toss them in olive oil and salt and pepper and put into a 450 degree oven for about 7 minutes, shaking them so they don't burn.  I recently made the following green bean recipes which were delicious. Perfect to serve with some simply grilled fish or chicken.  Green Bean and Israeli Couscous Salad and Green Beans with Parsley and Sesame Tahini Sauce

in the garden...the beginning