Posts Tagged ‘vegetables’

My husband, Rob, enjoys gardening. He grows lots of flowers and some vegetables and fruit each year. Nearly every year he tries planting something new just for the fun of it. Often these fun, new crops can create a dilemma. Shortly after we were married he planted six Italian eggplant plants. We ended up with nearly 100 eggplants that summer. To be truthful, I didn't want to face another eggplant for several years.

One summer the new crop was tomatillas. They are a small vegetable sort of like a little green tomato in a husk. You can find them at many markets today, especially those with a Hispanic foods section. The first summer he planted them we had a bumper crop and I had no clue what to do with them. I eventually discovered a tomatillo salsa recipe and an enchilada recipe that we all enjoyed. I found I could freeze the salsa and this was one way we could utilize our crop. Rob has tried planting them again in our garden here at this house but we have never had a good crop.

One summer the day before we were leaving on an eight week mission trip he planted butternut squash in our garden. When we returned home we had about 25 squash and the vines had taken over part of the back yard and gone through the fence across our little neighbor lady's driveway. Fortunately she did not drive and did not have a car!

Last summer's new vegetable was Asian Long Beans. We had eaten these at Chinese restaurants here and we had them the two summers that we were in China and really enjoyed eating them. I saw some seeds at an Asian market here in town and Rob planted them. He discovered that they do well here in our climate (the area of China where we were had soil every bit as red as we have here in SC!). This summer he planted them a little too close together so it is a little difficult to get between the rows to find them all. Here's a picture of some of the bushes:

Rob planted two varieties of the long beans this summer: red seeded and black seeded. They both are doing well and we have been enjoying them. I just cut them into bite size lengths and then stir fry them in a little oil with garlic and maybe some sesame oil to season them. They also freeze well.

Here's a picture of some of the beans:

The longest one pictured was 27". Some get even longer than that.

If you are an adventurous gardener you will have to consider planting them next spring. Have you ever grown anything unusual or had a bumper crop of something?

Becka

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Do you like beets? I never cared for them when I was a child. My mother would cook them plain with salt, pepper, and butter and she would also make Pickled Beets and add some hard cooked eggs. When I was in college my grandmother prepared Harvard Beets while I was visiting her and I discovered I did like them after all. Now I like them just about any way I have tried them.

In France you can buy them already cooked in a vacuum sealed bag in the produce department. I have had many a delicious beet salad over there made with those precooked beets. The beets are usually shredded or diced and have a vinaigrette dressing, perhaps with a little mayonnaise. They are sometimes combined with apples and walnuts or other nuts. I have seen the precooked beets locally at Ingles.

I regret to say that none of my children have become fond of beets. Rob and I do like them though. I especially like the pickled beets on a salad. One of my favorite combinations is romaine lettuce, peas, chopped hard cooked egg, and sliced or diced pickled beets topped with Ranch dressing. Here's a picture:

I have never tried roasting fresh beets, but I have often seen it done on cooking shows. It's supposed to bring out the sweetness of the beets.

On a totally unrelated thought I want to post a picture of this lovely plant that my friend Sonia gave me this week. I wanted to post it while it is still alive and well!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Becka

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Have you ever tried spaghetti squash? I had never tried it until recently. Both Rob and I really like it and it is very easy to prepare. I can find it here in town at the Farmer's Market.

Here is how you can cook it:

Wash the squash and then cut it in half – this is probably the hardest part of cooking the squash.

Remove the seeds from the squash and discard.

Place the squash cut side up in a baking dish, add 1/4 cup water, and tent loosely with plastic wrap.

Place in the microwave and cook on high for about eight minutes or until you can insert a knife into the squash easily.

When the squash is tender rake across it with a fork and it will separate into strands.

We ate ours tonight topped with some spaghetti sauce with some chopped up leftover roast beef and some cheese. It was really good, so don't be afraid to try it.

Becka

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We had a few new items on the menu for lunch today.

I had made an appetizer for New Year's Eve and had more of the ingredients on hand so I made another batch for today. They are called Broiled Stuffed Pepper Wedges and I found the recipe at Tammy's Recipes.

Here they are before broiling:

Here they are ready to eat:

The next new recipe was from this book that I got from my friend, Marge, for Christmas.

It is basically a stir fry of asparagus, snow peas, frozen peas, and green onions with a sauce. The sauce was OK, but the next time I plan to just season the vegetables with soy sauce and sesame oil after a quick stir fry. I thought the combination was really pretty and tasted good.

Here's a picture of the finished stir-fry:

The final new recipe was from this book that I got for Christmas from my friend, Sandy.

Sandy knows that Rob and I both have read a number of the Cat Who... mysteries by Lilian Jackson Braun. The beauty of this particular recipe was that it used up the half can of leftover jellied cranberry sauce that I had in the refrigerator left from my DSIL's recent visit. You just make a box of jello with one cup of boiling water, 1 cup of sour cream and one cup of the cranberry sauce, let it thicken slightly and pour into a baked pie shell. I did have to run the mixture through the blender because the cranberry sauce wouldn't blend in with a whisk.

We had all these new dishes with an old family favorite - Pizza Rolls. I will have to post that recipe on another day.

Becka

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