A gardening writer finds gems in the soil

When the garden is put to bed but four persevering plants continue toward their production goal, I stand in awe of their insistence in fulfilling their purpose. I planted broccoli, brusel sprouts and bok choi in late August. Because of shading from the Tulip Poplar trees in the back yard, the plants grew slowly until late October when the trees dropped their leaves. I feared our early frosts would kill them. 

Until Sunday. Jim decided to till the garden so I could put the winter coat of cardboard, manure and straw on the garden in preparation for trying lasagna gardening next year.  Before he tilled them under, I wanted to check the remaining plants. The broccoli looked healthy and happy so I asked him to till around them. The weather report said we would be having a week of unseasonably warm temperatures; maybe we would still get some nice, round broccoli to enjoy.  

All four plants have small broccoli heads. The largest is presently the size of an apple. It rained last night and we’re expecting more rain today, so we’ll have at least some to harvest. Now I have an unexpected morning gardening task, to check on their progress.

Just when I thought the gardening was over, a gem delights me.

As I begin a new writing routine this week to devote more time and energy to my fiction writing, I’m also mindful of the lesson the plants teach me. Don’t give up. Maybe, like them, I just need longer than usual to grow into my potential as a fiction writer.

I also have a blooming African violet on my desk to remind me of the importance of persistence. After years of African violet failures, I finally learned to water it from the bottom. Sometimes reaching a goal requires both time and a new approach. 

Then there’s last year’s poinsettia, which is transforming from green to red. Yes, you can nurse them throughout the year and they’ll come back red. By Christmas time? I’m not sure but I’ll let you know. Maybe we’ll have a red poinsettia on our table along with fresh broccoli salad to eat as we give thanks for the lessons the garden continues to teach us.

Satisfying a meat lover during vegetable season

This is the time of year when I could be happily vegetarian. Give me that good squash, beets, greens, corn, tomatoes and beans and I can sauté, roast or grill my way to a wonderful meal.

But I live with a meat-lover—the kind of man who would be happy with a steak as big as his plate, a slice of bread and potatoes of any kind. That’s not my idea of an appealing or healthy meal. So, the past few weeks have been challenge time. Can I actually prepare dishes that are so good that they don’t leave Jim asking for that plate of steak?

He tells me I’ve been doing well. I’m even on a streak of preparing dishes he rates a “10.” So, here are a few of the things I’ve been cooking with our garden vegetables:
Broccoli and cheese soup—it’s an Emeril recipe that includes butter; you can’t go wrong on flavor with that.
Zucchini soup—a favorite I became familiar with in Mexico. You sauté, add broth and boil until soft, puree then add a little cream. It works with any vegetable.
Yellow squash casserole—I like the recipe from The Joy of Cooking. Jim even said it tastes like his grandmother’s.
Swiss chard and ricotta pie—adapted from The Moosewood Cookbook, I turned one of my favorites into one of Jim’s by adding leftover, shredded chicken.
Blackberry cobbler—made with wild berries, which Jim insists tastes better.

None of the recipes are complicated; the leftovers are good. None of them have unique ingredients. But I made them all with freshly harvested, locally grown vegetables and fruits. That adds flavor you can’t buy, flavor that will please even a meat and potatoes man.

Timing the garden

Our spring came later than usual this year in central Kentucky. The beginning of the month was as dry as August and filled with encouraging sunshine. But it only takes a day for clouds, rain and cool winds to reappear and remind us it’s not summer yet. That’s what we have this week.

Gardeners pay attention to the weather because it’s important. The vegetables I have in the ground now are thriving because this is when they like to grow. Lettuce, spinach, arugula, onions, potatoes, beets, peas, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage are all happily opening their arms to the drizzle and the cool nights. The weather will make them sweet, crisp and filled with flavor. This is their season.

Just last week the warm weather dangled temptation in front of many gardeners, including my husband. “When are you going to plant your tomatoes?” he asked as he eyed the healthy plants I grew from seed. He encouraged me to go ahead and put a few of them in the ground. I declined. In Kentucky it’s never a good idea to put summer crops in the ground until some time in May.

If you’re new to gardening and unsure about the timing of setting our your plants, check with your local agricultural extension office. When I first started gardening, a friend gave me a gardening guide from the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service that included earliest and latest safe planting dates. Just last year I picked up an updated version. It’s invaluable, especially on those tempting days of spring.

Using frozen vegetables

A few years ago I began to read that if fresh vegetables were not available, frozen was the next best choice, nutritionally speaking. If frozen soon after harvest, then a vegetable will retain its nutritional properties. As opposed to canned vegetables, the frozen ones aren’t cooked and treated with additional salt and other ingredients that can add calories and alter taste.

The frozen vegetables, of course, cook up much differently than fresh. I find them to be most useful in soups, casseroles, stir fries and quiche. So yesterday I pulled out some frozen broccoli, re-hydrated tomatoes and made a broccoli quiche.

I became a quiche fan in the mid-1980s when I was living in New York City on a small salary and working for a magazine located in a skyscraper at 44th and Broadway. Many of the surrounding restaurants were too expensive for my budget, but there was a small place around the corner that offered quiche with soup or a sandwich. So I developed a taste for this filling dish. When I moved to another job at 23rd and Park Ave., I said goodbye to my favorite lunch spot and learned to make the quiche myself.

Here’s the basic recipe I use. It results in a hearty quiche rather than an airy, eggy dish. Keep in mind you can alter the types of vegetables and cheeses to your taste. Yesterday, instead of using all feta I cleaned out the cheese drawer and used a combination of feta, asiago and mozzarella.

Broccoli Quiche

Partially baked pie crust
Dijon mustard
½ C chopped onions
1 garlic clove
2 TBSP butter
2 C broccoli, thawed
½ C re-hydrated sun-dried tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of nutmeg
¾ C cottage cheese
¾ C feta or other cheese
3 eggs
¼ C milk

Bake the pie crust for about 10 minutes. Brush with Dijon.

Sautee onions in butter, add garlic and broccoli. Season with salt and pepper. Add nutmeg. Stir in re-hydrated tomatoes. Remove from heat.

In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add cheeses and milk (can use heavy whipping cream instead). Add cheese mixture to vegetables. Pour into pie shell and top with cheese and small pats of butter. Bake about 25 minutes.

What’s your favorite quiche filling?

This week’s mealtime garden goodness: potatoes, broccoli and cabbage

I haven’t had much reason to cook recently since we’ve been out of the house so often during meal time. Last night, however, we invited a friend to join us and I drew from our store of garden goodies for the meal.

Our main course was braised paprika chicken with broccoli, prepared with one of our frozen bags of broccoli. Braising a meat helps to keep it moist and flavorful which definitely was the case with this recipe.

The side dishes were a potato cake made from a combination of our red and white potatoes and cole slaw, which I had made this summer and frozen. The only vegetable for the meal that I had bought at the store was onions.

The taste? The veggies were all great, although the chicken dish was a little over-salted, which Jim must have commented on at least three times. He’s usually the one adding salt to the meal. The next time if I dredge the chicken in a mixture that contains salt, I’ll be sure to also use a low-sodium broth so it doesn’t overpower us.

Christmas blessings to you all!

Broccoli, broccoli and more broccoli

I harvested broccoli far into the summer this year, a first for me since it usually gets too bitter soon after spring. But our weather was different and I liked the idea of having bags of it in the freezer for winter so I kept harvesting.

Health Note: Broccoli is another one of those great cancer-fighting vegetables. As a breast cancer survivor, I try to get cruciferous vegetables and tomatoes into my diet daily, along with a “rainbow colored” diet that will provide the variety of nutrients that I need. Cruciferous vegetables are an important part of a cancer-prevention diet because they provide a cancer-fighting compound, indole-3-carbinole, as well as good dietary fiber and nutrients. Other vegetables in the cruciferous family are cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale, etc.

One way I like to use any preserved vegetable is in soup. Because of freezing or canning, vegetables lose their initial crispness. That makes them perfect for soups in which they are supposed to be soft. So last night I made broccoli and cheese soup with croutons. I used broccoli from the freezer and leftover, homemade bread. From the store, I bought: chicken broth, butter, cheddar cheese, onion. Mix all of that with some seasoning, and a tasty supper, along with your daily dose of cruciferous cancer-fighters, is served.