Live with nature

As I sat writing on my porch this morning I noticed an insect with a hard-shell lying on his back and flailing to right himself. I was absorbed in the story I was writing and went back to it. A few paragraphs later I glanced down to see if his determination had paid off. He had rocked himself close to one of our old metal chairs and looked as if he were about to succeed to when a spider dropped from her home. At first, it was a battle as the larger insect continued to struggle and the spider slowly dropped closer. Then the spider reached the insect. He fell lifeless instantly. I assumed she ended it with her venom.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of the drama. She worked until she had him in the right spot then quickly pulled him up into her web, hungry for a meal I imagine because her belly was clearly filled with babies soon to be born. If someone comes to join me on the porch I’ll have to tell them not to sit in that chair for I will not be the one to destroy the home of such a resolute creature.

My recent interview with Jeannie Kirkhope of the Appalachian Catholic Worker Farm in West Virignia reminded me of how much more magical life is when we truly live with nature. It’s one thing to tend the garden but it’s quite another to remember to look for the same sort of life and death cycle on my front porch, my outside summer office.

Vegetarian night makes for colorful plates

Everyone who pays attention to food these days is talking about the new food guidelines in the U.S. that trade in the visual image of a pyramid for a plate with proper proportions of each food group. When I look at a plate I’m less likely to see food groups and more likely to see colors. Eating a rainbow of foods means you’re getting an array of nutrients that your body needs.

My eye was quite pleased when we had vegetarian night, thanks to the bounty from the garden. On the menu: Roasted Vegetables with Penne and Spinach Crostata.

I had been wanting to try the Spinach Crostata recipe since I watched Lidia make it on Lidia’s Italy a few weeks ago. She makes cooking look so effortless! When I read the recipe it didn’t appear as quick and easy as it had seemed on television, but it still wasn’t difficult.
For the Roasted Vegetables with Penne I adapted a recipe from Giada de Laurentis. I tend to add more vegetables than some more traditional pasta recipes call for and since I’m cooking for only two of us, I almost always have to cut down the amounts. With credit to Giada for starting me off on this idea, here’s what I did.

Roasted Vegetables with Penne
4 cups seasonal vegetables
1 chopped and sautéed Portobello mushroom
½ pound whole wheat penne pasta
½ cup olive oil
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/3 cup rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped almonds

Cut the vegetables to bite-size, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on salt. Roast in 400 degree oven until tender. I used butternut squash (left from last season) and asparagus and they were ready in about 20 minutes. Be sure to stir them a couple of times so one side doesn’t burn. In the meantime, toast the chopped almonds, sautée the mushroom and re-hydrate the tomatoes.

Cook pasta in salted water. Remove pasta with large pasta dipper and place in warm bowl. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and mix. Mix in olive oil to coat the pasta with oil and crumbs. Toss in vegetables and almonds. Salt and pepper if needed. Enjoy!

Compost surprises

As I walk through my garden looking for weeds and where I might need to water, I notice the squash plant beginning to reach out from beneath the green, potato leaves. Amidst the asparagus patch there are at least three tomato plants stretching for sun. And throughout the kale and spinach is cilantro, cilantro and more cilantro. What surprises a garden can offer!

This year we spread what had decomposed in our compost bin over much of the garden. It took me awhile to realize that must be where all of these volunteer plants came from. And if they were able to survive the heat of that jumble of persistently life-giving decay, who am I to pluck them out?

Volunteer plants that return from the previous garden season, regardless of how they arrived, seem to have such a strong will that I can rarely pull them up. They often turn out to be the best producers.

In the meantime I look at the growing beans that have also been diligent in their quest to greet me. After our monsoon-like spring rains we now haven’t had rain for 10 days or so but the beans don’t seem to mind. I love the way my garden not only nourishes my body but also provides me with lessons in tenacity that I can use every day.

Don’t miss out on salad season

Spring is such a wonderful time for salads. Garden leaf lettuces are tender and sweet, an entirely different eating experience than the head lettuce I grew up eating. There are also plenty of other garden goodies to add to your salad. And if it’s a hot day, you can combine these ingredients for a wonderful meal without ever turning on the stove.

Here’s one way to think about creating a spring salad.

Step 1: Choose lettuce, spinach, arugula or a combination. If cutting from your own garden, remember it’s best to cut it in the morning. I sometimes water mine the day before cutting to add to its goodness. When the summer sun begins beating down on it, the lettuce will get bitter so cut it all or cover it.

Step 2: Choose a fruit. I’ve been adding strawberries since they’re in season. Later I’ll try blueberries, apples, peaches, whatever I can find.

Step 3: Add something acidic. I like throwing on Kalamata olives. You might also try capers.

Step 4: Add cheese. This can add another texture to tempt your tongue. I typically use cheddar, Parmesan, feta or goat cheese. I was thrilled to find the delicious Bluegrass Chevre at Marksbury Farm Market.

Step 5: Add more protein. The cheese will give you some protein and staying power, but you can also add tuna, chicken, bacon, whatever you like. I oftentimes only add walnuts or almonds to make it more filling.

Step 6: Top with croutons or another grain if you like. I often skip this step.

Step 7: Finish with your favorite dressing. You can easily make your own or squirt on something you already have.

For this salad, I used a variety of leaf lettuces, strawberries, Colby cheese, walnuts, Kalamata olives and Italian dressing. It was the perfect lunch for a warm day.

Squash islands and the land as our soul

My squash hills look like islands in my garden at this moment. We’ve had nearly three times as much rain as usual this year. Yes, three times. The sweet peas are ready to pick, if you don’t mind walking through the mud.

People have brought up global climate change to me multiple times today. I’m trying to retrain myself to use that term rather than calling it global warming as that really is a misnomer. Some of the “change” seems to be resulting in more extreme weather patterns. This morning my husband wondered aloud if we in Kentucky are transforming into a tropical climate.

With that on my mind I interviewed someone today who started a solo Catholic Worker movement in West Virginia. She spoke about how she sees God in the land. She also shared the insights she’s gained in becoming part of the “family” that inhabits the holler where she lives. “The land is their soul,” she said, explaining that for generations their families have clung to that ancestral place regardless of the difficulties inherent in living in a rugged, somewhat isolated place.

That discussion connects with the work she does to raise awareness about the problem of mountaintop removal. Although a coal company owner would, no doubt, bristle as my use of the word “problem” (it is a solution to his quest to make his company profitable), I’ve heard too many stories about the polluted streams, the cracked foundations, the family graveyards that have been buried beneath what was formerly the top of a mountain. It’s all part of a quest for profit and for electricity. We all participate when we turn on our computer or read by the light of a lamp in the dark.

Perhaps my island squash hills are one result of how we’ve lost touch with the way we must care for the earth so it can continue to sustain us. As I make asparagus and goat cheese pasta for supper tonight, I’ll be thanking our little piece of earth for nourishing that asparagus. I’ll also be considering what my personal role is in ensuring that future generations have the same luxury.

Easy lunches from the garden

This summer I’ll be doing a session at the Field to Fork Festival in July on packing a garden lunch. I’m beginning to experiment with recipes I can share and here is the first one I’m calling a success.
But first, to gather the main ingredient for my sandwich I took advantage of a dry, sunny morning to cut greens. All of the spring rain has made the spinach and kale grow especially well. I cut and cut, rejoicing in the seemingly endless sprigs of cilantro that willingly returned this year. It always such a fun surprise to see plants return from the previous year. And enjoying the sunshine on a perfect morning made everything even grander.

Amidst my joy I brought in a pile of greens to wash then went back to my computer. About an hour later I realized it felt like I had a piece of mud hanging on my neck so I instinctively reached up and pulled it off only to see a bloody tic in my hand. No, do not simply pull out a tick because you’re unlikely to get the entire beast. (You can burn them off or, I’m told, covering them with Vaseline will dislodge them.) Sure enough, I could see a small black spec still in my skin and I had to go to the doctor to have the rest scraped out. A reminder to all my gardening friends: after being in the garden, always check for tics. Especially in a year with abundant rain, as we’ve had, they seem to be prolific.
Nonetheless, I did have spinach to use for my lunch. Here’s the sandwich I enjoyed.

Spring Spinach Surprise

Ingredients:
Half a pita or a flat bread to fold in half
Spreadable blue cheese or goat cheese
Handful of spinach
Banana or strawberries sliced
Fruit chutney
Walnuts

Spread cheese on bread. Stuff pita with spinach. Top with sliced fruit. Top with walnuts and chutney. Enjoy!

Do you have an easy garden lunch that I could share during my session? Post it in the comment section so we can all read it or e-mail it to me.

When’s the last time you enjoyed a tea?

I recently planned a Saturday tea for the women in my prayer group and my mom, who was visiting. What fun it was! Planning a tea gives me a chance to play with ideas for little bites of food prepared from seasonal food and served on pretty china. How could that not make for a grand afternoon?
This time around I planned easy-to-prepare foods that I could make on Saturday morning. I knew I had asparagus and rhubarb from the garden to take advantage of. Since my kale wasn’t quite ready, I also bought some locally-grown red kale to incorporate. And there was still a jar of last year’s apply chutney to add a fruity bite. I tossed around a variety of ideas for using those ingredients and this is what I decided on:
Prosciutto wrapped roasted asparagus
Kale and caramelized onion tartlets
Apple chutney open-faced sandwiches
Rhubarb cake
Oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
Lady Grey Tea
Orange Spice Tea

For the tartlets, I found the kale (which I sautéed) a little bit bitter, even with the sweetness of the caramelized onions, so I added a little agave nectar to tame the taste. Other possibilities for adding dimensions to kale are to add hot pepper then top with roasted nuts and dried cranberries. The combination of textures is a good touch.
I also added soft, blue cheese in the bottom of the tartlets before filling with the kale mixture and popping them in the oven for five minutes. Although I heard no complaints about anything I served, these tartlets were the hit of the day.
When my resources transform to tomatoes, potatoes and raspberries, perhaps I’ll take on the challenge again.