The garden revives

This year, I was determined to have a nice fall garden. I kept the weeds down in the patches that will continue to produce until frost and I did some late plantings—four kinds of greens, cucumbers, Roma green beans, squash and potatoes. I was looking forward to spending time in the garden until Mother Nature told me to rest for the winter.

Then the heat arrived, the rain left, the weeds starting taking over, and, you can guess what happened to my determination. Only about three potato plants sprouted. The cucumbers and squash that began to grow died in the dry heat. Only a sprinkling of lettuce and another green came up (I can’t yet tell what it is). The beans, however, grew. Their vines got longer and longer, winding up the trellis then down the other side. If Jack were here, he certainly would have tried some climbing. They looked wonderfully healthy but I didn’t see any flowers, until last week.

Earlier this week, I went out to cut Swiss chard and stopped at the beans on my way. There, much to my surprise, was a small cluster of fully grown beans, next to some babies that were just forming. I picked a small bunch that I’ve now added to and will cook them this weekend, just as the rains return. I think I’ll be spending some of my fall in the garden after all.

Canned and frozen vegetables combine for good flavors

We harvested our first rhubarb this weekend. I made pie, which was delicious, but I plan to experiment with some savory rhubarb dishes as well. In the meantime, here's what else we've been eating . . .

I still have a few vegetables in the freezer and more on the shelves, so I’ve been trying to use more of them recently to accompany our meals. It’s fun to create new combinations of flavors and see which we like the best. Here are two that worked well for us.

Brown Garden Gumbo
1 quart jar canned green beans
1 quart jar canned tomatoes
½ bag frozen okra
Salt, pepper and red pepper

Cook together until the okra is cooked. Season to your taste.

Brown Garden Peas and Carrots
1 onion
1 pint jar carrots
1 bag frozen snow peas
Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Slice onion thinly. Carmelize by cooking slowing with a little salt in olive oil for 20 minutes or so. Add carrots and peas. Season with salt, pepper and garlic or garlic powder to taste.

West African Sweet Potato Stew

One of the things I love about having a kitchen filled with last year’s vegetables is that I have the ingredients I need for many dishes without a trip to the grocery store. That was the case yesterday when I tried a recipe a customer of my husband’s sent home with him. While he was working on renovations in her home she was cooking soup and making a copy of the recipe for me. It turns out to be a good one.

Kathleen sent over a recipe for West African Sweet Potato Stew. I can always use another way to utilize those nutritious sweet potatoes, so I immediately scanned the ingredient list and was surprised at the variety of vegetables it uses – cabbage, green beans, tomatoes, tomato juice and onions. I had everything I needed from our garden except the onions. I slightly adapted the recipe to use fresh sweet potatoes instead of canned, so I had to cook it a little longer to be sure they were soft all the way through.

Add to that a little ginger and red pepper flakes plus half-a-cup of peanut butter and you have a rich, vitamin-packed stew. I ate it as a soup yesterday but I have a feeling that after that red pepper has had time in the refrigerator to further infuse throughout the soup, I might need to eat it over rice to cut the spice. It will definitely warm me up on another gray winter day.

Cooking made easy with Ellie Krieger

I so enjoy cooking nearly everything we eat from scratch that I sometimes forget how quickly a meal can be put together. One of my Christmas gifts was a new cookbook—So Easy by Ellie Krieger. Krieger is one of my favorite Food Network cooks because she’s also a nutritionist who pays attention to healthy food. This cookbook includes, healthy, easy recipes that don’t take an enormous amount of time or effort to prepare.

Last night I tried two recipes—prosciutto-wrapped cod and pesto potatoes and green beans. Although the potatoes took longer to steam than the recipe called for, the results, paired with our home canned green beans, were spectacular. I’m not a huge fish fan but Jim is and he was thrilled that I prepared a fish other than salmon. I was thrilled to find a way to prepare fish without frying that he actually liked.

Here are our ratings for the recipes.

Cod
Jim: 8.5
Beth: 8

Potatoes and beans
Jim: 9.5
Beth: 10

Eat Fish

It was back to the grocery store for me yesterday after more than a week away. We traveled to see my family in Indiana then took a trip to Helena, Montana for a friend’s wedding. It was cold out there but the snow and mountains made a beautiful scene. We also ate some good food.

I was surprised at some of what I tasted because a portion of the wedding party is vegan. I’ve never given much thought to being vegan since I’m a cheese-lover and have no problem with animal products, as long as the animals are treated humanely. But the muffins were so fluffy and light that I am now curious to learn more about vegan cooking. Maybe that will be a lesson for later this year.

Yesterday, however, the task was to restock the refrigerator with supplies for some healthy meals. I spent more time than usual in the seafood section of the grocery because Jim has been asking for something other than the wild-caught Alaskan salmon that I enjoy. I have a list of fish that is good for specific health concerns but I’ve heard much concern recently about toxins in fish and over-fishing. So I went to a respected source to discover what fish is best to eat—The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch. It lists the best and next best fish to consume.

So tonight I’ll be trying a recipe for cod with potatoes and green beans. Yes, we still have plenty of potatoes and beans, although I think I’ve used all of my pesto, which is the recommended seasoning for the veggies. Excuse me while I go search through the freezer to see if I can find one last container.