Fall Vegetable Hash and Quinoa with Poached Eggs

Here is another seasonal recipe to add to your repertoire.  It is a fantastic combination of pumpkin, root vegetables, leeks, beet greens, and quinoa. I like to think of quinoa as a miracle food.  Though quinoa is grain, it is also a complete protein!  A complete protein is a protein that contains all the essential amino acids, and it is truly amazing to be able to get this from a non-animal source.  Of course, in this recipe, you also get a complete protein from the egg.  In other words, this is a great meal for vegetarians....and anyone else who is trying to reduce meat consumption.  Besides that, it is truly delicious! Enjoy!

Fall Vegetable and Quinoa Hash with Poached Eggs

1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 small pie pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 small or 1 medium turnip (larger turnips tend to be woodier, so look for small ones), peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 beets, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (rinse and reserve beet greens)
2 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper
1 (additional) Tbs olive oil
2 leeks (white and pale green parts only), halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch half-moons, then rinsed well
3/4 tsp fresh thyme, chopped (or 1/4 tsp dried)
1 Tbs white vinegar
4 large eggs

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil.  Stir in quinoa, cover, reduce heat and cook for 12 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed.  When cooked, fluff with fork and set aside.

Meanwhile, coat the turnips, pumpkin, and beets with the 2 Tbs olive oil.  Spread out on two baking sheets and season with salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven for about 30-40 minutes, stirring the vegetables and rotating the pans halfway, or until all the vegetables are tender.  [Note: I noticed that the beets took longer to cook, so you could put the beets on a separate sheet from the pumpkin and turnips, so that they could stay in the oven a little longer, if needed.  I simply cooked mine longer.  The pumpkin was over-soft, but it tasted great, anyway!]

While the vegetables are roasting, thinly slice the reserved beet greens.  Heat the other 1 Tbs oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the beet greens and the leeks and season with about 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Cook until tender, approximately 8-10 minutes.  Stir in the cooked quinoa, the thyme, and the roasted vegetables.  Cook 2 minutes or until all ingredients are warm.  Turn the burner off, but leave the skillet on the burner to keep warm while you cook the eggs.

In a large saucepan, heat a couple inches of water until almost boiling. [If you don't know where almost boiling is on your stovetop, just bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat until it stops.]  Add the vinegar to the water.  Crack an egg into a small bowl or teacup.  Lower the bowl until it is slightly in the water and slide the egg, very gently, into the water.  Use a spoon  to push the whites back toward the yolk if the the egg separates too much.  Repeat with the rest of the eggs.  Cook for about 3 minutes, until the whites are cooked, but the yolk is still runny.  Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon.  Divide the vegetable mixture onto 4 plates and and top each with a poached egg!

*Though I changed this recipe significantly, it was originally a Martha Stewart recipe on wholeliving.com

Broiled Broccoli and Chickpeas Over Pasta

Regular broccoli, substitute for broccoli rabe, made for a tamer, but still delightfully flavorful, meal.

 

Broccoli, broccolini, and broccoli rabe, though similar in appearance, are very different vegetables.  They are not even in the same family, believe it or not!  But, when my local stores did not have one single bunch of broccoli rabe, and only a few pitifully brown bunches of broccolini, I very reluctantly decided to use regular broccoli in my recipe.  I was a little afraid that the dish would end up being bland, as broccoli rabe is a pungently flavorful member of the turnip family, while regular broccoli is a member of the much tamer cauliflower family.  However, much to my surprise, the dish ended up being delightful....though I have every intention of trying it, again, with the first broccoli rabe I find!

 

Broiled Broccoli and Chickpeas Over Pasta

(The recipe is the same for broccoli rabe.  Simply substitute a bunch or two of broccoli rabe for the head of broccoli.)

 

1 package of pasta, any type

1 large head of broccoli, washed and cut into 1/4 inch slices

1 15oz. can of chickpeas, drained

2 cloves (or more) of garlic, thinly sliced

3 Tbs olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Salt

1 cup ricotta

Crushed red pepper flakes

2 Tbs lemon juice

 

Prepare pasta according to package directions.

 

Meanwhile, heat broiler on high.  Toss the broccoli, chickpeas, and garlic with the olive oil.  Spread mixture on two baking sheets and season with salt.  [Broil in two batches, if both baking sheets won't fit in the oven at the same time]  Broil for approximately 5 minutes, or until broccoli begins to brown. Flip the broccoli over and broil for another 5 minutes, or until the broccoli is slightly browned on both sides.

 

Serve the broccoli mixture over the pasta.  Top with the ricotta, a drizzle of olive oil, lemon juice and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.

 

*This recipe is adapted from a recipe on wholeliving.com

Egg-cellent Pizza!

This unique pizza can easily be customized to accommodate your tastes or the ingredients you have on hand.

 

Egg-cellent Pizza!

 

1 unbaked store-bought or homemade pizza crust (see recipe, below, for homemade)

4 eggs

1 cup mozzarella cheese (adjust the amount of cheese to suit your taste and the size of your pizza)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Scallions, chopped

Chives, minced

For drizzling: white pizza sauce or olive oil

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 

Stretch pizza crust to cover a lightly greased, non-stick baking sheet, rolling the edges slightly to make a lip.  Top crust with mozzarella and parmesan [I also added some thinly sliced poblano peppers from the garden.  Feel free to use any ingredients you have on hand].  Crack eggs onto pizza crust.  Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the crust is crispy and browned and the eggs are cooked through.  Take the pizza out of the oven and top with a sprinkle of parmesan, the scallions, chives, and any additional herbs that you like.  Drizzle with white pizza sauce or olive oil and serve!

 

*This recipe was adapted from a recipe on smittenkitchen.com

 

Easy Homemade Pizza Crust

 

1 (.25 ounce) package active yeast

1 tsp white sugar

1 cup warm water (110 degrees)

2 1/2 cups bread flour

2 Tbs olive oil

1 tsp salt

 

In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

 

Stir in flour, salt and oil.  Beat until smooth.  Let rest for 5 minutes.

 

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round.  Transfer crust to a lightly greased pan and top with ingredients.

 

*This recipe is from allrecipes.com



Good Fences and Tidy Gardens

The very untidy side yard garden.

 

Widely accepted is the notion that good fences make good neighbors.  So, too, I reluctantly concede, must tidy gardens. 

 

For as long as we have lived on Townville Street, the house next door has been uninhabited.  In reality, "uninhabited" is not an unpleasant enough word to describe the falling down, gutted wreck (and home to vermin) that this house truly was.  Now, seven years later, the house has been rebuilt and brand new neighbors have moved in.  The house, lovely in its newly-reconstructed pristineness (I may have just made that word up), abuts my side yard garden. This side garden was my original garden site and, though too shady for most crops, provided a modest supplement to my family's diet, mostly in the form of tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce.  However, when growing healthy, organic food became a priority for me, my garden grew significantly and the side yard beds, no longer used for annual crops, became home to some perennial edibles that embraced the moderate shade as a welcome respite from the heat of South Carolina summers: asparagus, rhubarb, artichoke, and a few miscellaneous herbs.   Now, while the neighboring house was lying in ruination, I developed the very bad habit of never worrying too much about the state of my side yard garden. This disinterest only worsened as my focus shifted to newer beds and annual crops that required more regular attention.  The culmination, this December, is a very, very untidy side yard.  The new neighbors must find the view from their kitchen window dreer, indeed. 

 

Because I desire to be, as well as to have, a good neighbor, I came to the conclusion that, though I would usually leave the onerous task of garden clean-up until Spring, the side yard garden needed immediate attention, and, as it did not rain today, it was decided that today was the day.  With much grumbling and sighing, I got under way, but was truly surprised at how drastically my perception of the chore changed as I began my work.  Cutting back the rampant asparagus that I have been babying for the past three years (and that will be ready for some serious harvesting, come Spring), I thought back to the few precious spears that I allowed myself and my step-daughter to harvest this year.  None of them ever made it into the house.  We stood in the garden, dirt on our hands and under our nails from weeding or planting, savoring the delightfully green taste of the raw spears.  As I stood among the dried, dead fronds, I found myself looking forward to the first spears this coming Spring, and wondering if any of them will make it inside.  As I worked, raking and weeding, I thought about dividing rhubarb and artichoke plants, of laying fresh mulch on the paths, and of planting new crops.  As I cleaned the herb garden, I spied the crowns of the horseradish just below the earth and carefully covered them with soil, thinking of recipes I've been wanting to try.  Licorice-scented air enveloped me as I trimmed the dead fronds from the fennel, and the mingling scents of sage and rosemary brought to mind the first meals eaten out on our back porch, under a bower of roses and twinkling lights, as the weather warmed in Springtime.  This is how I found myself, after days of rain and fog and mist, truly enjoying time spent in the garden, despite the fact that it is the middle of  December.  And though the job is not completely finished, as I sit here with my clothes smelling of rosemary, I have a feeling of satisfaction and contentment that I rarely feel at this time of year.  A contentment that only comes with dirt under your nails and on your boots, an ache in your back, the heady scent of herbs on the breeze...and with knowing that the neighbors, surely, will appreciate the improvement in their view.

Spinach Quiche

Today, there is no news from the garden, here on Townville Street....but a delightful bit of news wafts from the kitchen!  And I can happily report that this beautiful Spinach Quiche is made, almost entirely, of organic ingredients!  Organic free-range eggs, fresh organic spinach, organic onion, organic garlic, organic cream...even the olive oil was organic!! The only ingredient that was not organic was the Parmesan.  Well, that and (I sheepishly admit) the store-bought crust. I like to make the majority of my meals from scratch, but I was tired and was not in the mood to make a crust from scratch!  The truth is, I have gotten so used to (spoiled, even) making food from garden-fresh ingredients that, when I burned myself getting the quiche into the oven and decided that I was now too grumpy to make the fresh-from-the-garden roasted carrots (that had to be scrubbed and trimmed and sliced and buttered and cooked) I had planned for a side, I just could not (as my husband suggested) bring myself to make a canned vegetable for a side dish! So, instead, we had fresh-from-the-garden radishes, simply cleaned and sliced (and for my step-daughter, lightly dressed), as our side dish.  Quiche and radishes may sound a strange combination, but it was mighty delicious...and easy on the tired, grumpy, freshly charred cook!

Spinach Quiche

1 store-bought deep dish pie crust!!!
2 Tbs olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated or shredded Parmesan
approximately 5 oz fresh spinach
Salt and pepper

First, bake your pie crust according to the directions on the package for a baked-crust pie.  Mine baked for about 12 minutes at 400 degrees.  Don't forget to prick the sides and bottom with a fork before baking!

Then, while the pie crust is cooling, reduce the oven temp to 375 degrees and prepare the filling.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and saute until soft and slightly browned, about 10 minutes, add the garlic and saute for 1 minute longer.  Stir in the spinach and saute until wilted, about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and cream. Add about 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and the Parmesan. Whisk to combine.  Stir in the spinach mixture and pour into the pie crust.  Bake for about 40 minutes or until the center is just set.

Home[made] for the Holidays

Scraps of fabric, torn into strips, were used to cover unattractive ornaments and to make bows for the Christmas tree.  Clay hearts that were part of an old, unused garland were turned into ornaments, as well.

First, I would like to thank all of you who have stopped by to check out my blog and those of you who have "liked" our Facebook page!  Both are still very new and I appreciate your support.  This time of year, my many obligations keep me from being able to post as often as I would like.  Very soon, though, I will be gearing up for the Spring garden, so there will be many more posts about planning, planting, and caring for your garden.  There may also be a few projects, as well.  I am really looking forward to sharing my exploits with you!  Though the pickings are slim right now, I hope to fill out both the blog and the Facebook page in the very near future.  So, please, stick around!

Now...on to the post.  Though the garden is the central focus of this blog, I also want to share with you many other elements of our organic lifestyle.  Here on Townville Street, we strive to do better, not only for ourselves and our own health, but also for the environment and its health. I will endeavor to share the things that I feel are important for a simpler, kinder, more natural, and more self-sufficient life.  Some of the things that you will find here include vegetarian recipes (as you may well have noticed), tips on ridding your house of chemicals (better for you and the environment), searching for better options in the grocery store (finding organic and non-GMO products and stretching your "organic" dollar), preserving your harvest (and that of your local farmers)...and also, recycling items in your home.  It absolutely amazed me how much less our household sent to the landfill when I really started recycling in earnest.  I had always recycled the few things that the city will pick up, curbside...glass and plastic bottles, mainly.  I decided, though, that this was not enough.  I researched what my county will accept at the recycling center and, though it means a trip to the dump instead of a quick walk to the curb, began recycling everything I could.  Now, instead of having to take a full trash can to the curb every week, it can ususally go for a month without completely filling up!  As I continued my quest to reduce what we were sending to the landfill, I started finding new ways to reuse items in the house, as well.  I wanted to share some photos with you of some of the Christmas decorations here on Townville Street that utilize recycled materials...some from our own home, some sourced from thrift shops and salvage shops, and even a few from the side of the road!  I hope you enjoy this tour of Christmas on Townville and I hope that it inspires you to look around for items that you can use to decorate your house this holiday season!  Have fun!

Here, scraps of fabric were used to create "trees."  The "trunks" are crepe myrtle trimmings from the yard and the base of each tree is made from old spindles found at a local salvage store.

 

Discarded doors, found on the side of the road, were used to make this room divider (adorned with a "vintage" Santa).  Two handmade Santas sit primly in a salvaged child's chair.

 

These two handmade Santas were made from vintage fabrics found in a thrift store.

 

Even the kitchen's tree (obviously not recycled) got a trimming of vintage family silverware instead of store-bought ornaments!

 

Seed Catalog

 

It has arrived!  It has arrived far too early. I am in holiday mode.  The Christmas tree is just up and I haven't wrapped a single Christmas present.  But, nevertheless, it has arrived.  The Spring catalog.  And I have already looked through it!  I can't help it.  I am obsessed.  I have looked through it and have confirmed that I will never, ever be able to decide what crops to grow this coming year.  There are far too many choices, as there always are, and even after I have made my final selections and placed my order, I won't really, truly have made up my mind.  I'll probably order some more, later in the season, and try to squeeze just a few more plants into the beds.  It has always been a challenge for me to make a garden plan and stick with it.  I always end up modifying it.  Because I know that I can fit just one more variety in...except when I can't.  I always end up with multiple unopened packets of seeds.  Its like having eyes to big for my stomach, except they're too big for my garden!  I tend to crowd just as much in as the beds will hold, and because I use mostly raised beds, it somehow, miraculously, always seems to work out.

 

 And so...it has arrived, and I will start my obsessing.  Before Christmas and long before there is even a chance of snow, I will start obsessing over my Spring garden.  And I will love every minute of it!! 



Vegetarian Nicoise Salad

Weighed down by rich holiday food?  Try this tangy, refreshing alternative.

 

Heavy, rich foods are one of the delights and miseries of the holiday season.  While I revel, as much as then next person, in the decadency of it all, sometimes it leaves me feeling more than a little sluggish and weighed down.  One of my favorite remedies is this vegetarian take on the classic Nicoise Salad.  Now, this particular version happens to be my own favorite combination of flavors, but you can easily change up the ingredients to suit your own palate.  The homemade dressing is what really makes this salad special, so don't substitute bottled!  It won't compare, plus you'll be getting all those nasty additives they put into bottled dressings to make them shelf-stable.  Don't forget to use organic ingredients whenever possible, especially the spinach and potatoes in this recipe.  Salad greens, like lettuce and spinach, and potatoes can harbor some of the highest levels of pesticide residue! 

 

 

Vegetarian Nicoise Salad

(Serves 3 to 4, depending on how hungry you are!)

 

For the Salad:

 

3 medium or 4 small red potatoes, washed and cubed

Approximately 8 oz young fresh green beans (haricot verts), washed and trimmed

1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained

Approximately 8 to 10 oz roasted red bell pepper strips (from a jar), drained

1 can black olives, drained

1 can navy beans, rinsed and drained

3 to 4 hard boiled eggs, thinly sliced

Fresh spinach

Note: regular green beans will work, but would probably be better if blanched first, as they are not as tender

 

For the Dressing:

 

1/4 cup lemon juice, plus a little more if you like your dressing tangy!

1 Tbs or more Dijon mustard

1 shallot or 2 scallions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped (or 1 Tbs already prepared basil)

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

 

First, boil the potatoes in salted water for approximately 10 minutes, until soft, then drain and set aside to cool.

 

To make the dressing, whisk the first 5 ingredients together in a bowl.  Slowly drizzle the oil into the mixture, whisking constantly.  Set aside.

 

To assemble the salads you may simply combine all the ingredients, dividing them evenly between 3 or 4 bowls, but I like to arrange them so that certain flavors are enjoyed together.  This is my technique:  Place the green beans in the bowl, to one side.  Make a pile of artichoke hearts next to the green beans.  Beside the artichokes, make a small pile of red pepper strips and then, beside that, a fairly substantial pile of fresh spinach.  These ingredients should now cover the bottom of your bowl.  Top the red pepper strips with cooked potatoes and top the spinach with navy beans.  On the very top of the salad, I place the olives and the hard boiled egg slices.  Dress and serve!

 

 

*The salad is mostly my own conglomeration of ingredients.  The dressing is adapted from a recipe in the cookbook, Power Foods.

 

 

 

 



Roasted Baby Red Dragon Carrots

Baby Red Dragon carrots from the garden.

 

Whether you're a carrot lover or not, it makes no difference.  You will adore these roasted roots and wish you'd made more!  I am just thankful that this year's carrot crops have been abundant and I will get to have this dish several more more times (including tonight) before I run out of carrots!

 

 

Roasted Red Dragon Carrots with Cream Sauce

(You can use any variety, but I would recommend using young carrots-- actual young carrots, not the "baby carrots" that come in bags for snacking.  Those are just mature carrots that have been ground down. Usually, young carrots are sold in bunches with the greens still attached.)

 

For the carrots:

 

1 or 2 bunches of young carrots

1 Tbs butter

1 tsp olive oil

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Wash carrots (I don't peel these, just give them a good scrub), then cut in half, lengthwise (I like to leave a little of the greens attached.  They get crispy when roasted and add a wonderful texture and flavor).  Melt the butter and stir in the olive oil.  Put carrots into a bowl and coat with the butter mixture.  Spread the carrots on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.  Bake in the oven approximately 20 minutes, or until they can easily be pierced with a knife.  Larger carrots will require a longer baking time. 

 

For the cream sauce:

 

Drippings from the carrots

1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream (depending on the amount of carrots you made)

Cayenne pepper to taste

 

Remove carrots from pan and set aside.  Scrape drippings into a skillet and heat over medium-high heat.  When hot, add the heavy whipping cream.  Add a pinch or two of cayenne pepper and cook, stirring constantly, until the cream has thickened slightly.  Pour over carrots and serve.

 

Here is the finished product.  There are never enough!

 

Salad on the Menu

Rougette de Montpellier

 



Salad is officially on the menu on Townville Street!  Gardening duties tend to get slightly neglected at this time of year.  Daily trips to the garden become weekly trips.  While I was busy readying things for Thanksgiving, the lettuces were busy growing and growing.  These gorgeous varieties amaze me with their beauty every time I take a trip to the garden, but today I was amazed for a different reason.  They are huge and many of the heads are ready for harvest. I can't wait!  In the meantime, I thought I'd share a few photos.  If you're in this area, come check them out for yourself.  Hurry, though!  They'll not be around for long!

 



Red Romaine

 

Yugoslavian Butterhead

 

Mizuna Mustard

 

Belated Thanksgiving Wishes

Radishes, fresh from the garden, made a delicious addition to the Thanksgiving hors d'oeuvres.

 

 

Belatedly, I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!  As the holidays arrive here on Townville Street, my life becomes one chaotic blur and things fall by the wayside; things like blogging and gardening, among others!  This year, Thanksgiving, for my family, took place on Townville Street, which made things even more hectic than usual.  Hosting Thanksgiving, while monumentally exhausting for me, is infinitely rewarding, and as I ponder the myriad things in my life that I have to be thankful for, I find a surprising one.  As some of you already know, I struggle daily with fibromyalgia and a "mystery" auto-immune disorder.  As a result, even the most mundane activities can be painful and exhausting, and I am more and more frequently unable to participate in my favorite activities.  I may not have it in me to host many more holiday meals, and, therefore, treasure every opportunity.  The surprising thing for me, though, was realizing all of the ways my life has changed for the better since becoming ill.  In the beginning, when I first was diagnosed, I was convinced that my problems were genetic, as there has been a trend of auto-immune disease in my mother's family.  However, the more I researched the subject (not just fibromyalgia and auto-immune disease, but disease trends in general), the more convinced I became that the food we eat is contributing greatly to an increase in every type of disease.  And I came to the conclusion that all of the hormones, steroids, antibiotics, chemicals, and genetically modified organisms found in our foods today could not be good for anyone.  This revelation led to a complete revolution... in my eating and shopping habits, my methods for cleaning my house, my clothes, and myself, and took my organic garden from a mere 64 square foot afterthought, to the amazing urban "farm" that it is today!  Now, junk food never even makes it through the front door, "organic" is my default purchase in grocery stores, I clean my house with vinegar and baking soda (did you know that when you clean your house with chemicals, they are in every organ in your body in under 30 seconds?), I have eliminated parabens, sulfates, and other harmful ingredients in all of my health care products, and I have a nearly year-round source of organic produce from my garden.  In addition, becoming more educated about my food supply has also opened my eyes to the unbelievably inhumane practices in the meat industry and has turned me vegetarian for life.  That, in itself, has had a huge impact on my life.  As I became more and more ill, I also became less and less active....unable to hike, jog, work out, or, ultimately, do my job as a police officer.  As you can imagine, I'm sure, less activity led to more weight. I grew heavier and heavier.  Amazingly, after becoming a vegetarian, I quickly shed all of that extra weight!  So, at this time of year, when our thoughts turn to the blessings in our lives, let's look for blessings in unexpected places.  I am so happy that I did!

 

 Have a wonderful holiday season and a very, very Merry Christmas!

Wilted Spinach Pasta

 

Wilted Spinach Pasta topped with ricotta cheese makes another delightfully easy and healthful meal.  Plus, the addition of a little lemon ensures that the nutrients in the spinach are more readily absorbed by the body!

 

Wilted Spinach Pasta with Ricotta Cheese

Serves  4

 

16 oz fettuccine pasta

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 lemon (organic, preferably, because you will be using the rind)

olive oil

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 or more cups fresh spinach (remember, spinach wilts down to a mere fraction of the "fresh" volume)

 

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.

 

Meanwhile, grate zest of lemon, measure one teaspoon. Squeeze 1 tablespoon of juice and set aside.  Mix zest with ricotta and salt and pepper to taste.  Set ricotta mixture aside.

 

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper and saute 2 minutes. Add garlic, pine nuts, and 1/2 tsp salt and saute 2 more minutes. Stir in 1 Tbs oil and lemon juice. Add pasta, reserved water and spinach and cook until spinach is wilted. Top with ricotta mixture and serve.

 

 

*This recipe was adapted from a Cooking Light recipe

 

 



Now on Facebook!

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Dinner: Quick, Easy and Healthy

Ingredients for this meal include eggplant, sun- dried tomatoes and pistachios.

 

A "quick" meal doesn't have to mean processed or unhealthy food. This recipe is about as easy as they come and uses fresh eggplant, "sun" dried tomatoes (dried in a dehydrator) from the garden, garlic, pistachios, and roasted red bell peppers.  The peppers are the only ingredient that came from a jar!  If you wanted to take the time, you could easily roast your own, but for this quick version I used half of a jar from the grocery store.  The eggplant cutlets were served with whole wheat couscous, which only takes 5 minutes to make, and topped with a jar of homemade spaghetti sauce (from the garden, too!).

 

Eggplant Cutlets

 

1 large or 2 medium eggplants, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices

8 oz sun-dried tomatoes (if you do not have our own, you can use a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained)

8 oz roasted red bell peppers

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 cup shelled pistachios



 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 

Place pistachios in food processor and pulse until finely chopped, set aside.  Place tomatoes, red peppers, and garlic into food processor (if you use your own tomatoes, add 1 tsp of olive oil to the mixture) and puree until smooth.

 

Brush or spray a cookie sheet with olive oil.  Brush one side of each eggplant slice with olive oil and place oiled side down on cookie sheet. Divide tomato mixture between slices and spread evenly over the top.  Sprinkle with chopped pistachios.  Place into oven and cook 20 minutes or until eggplant is softened. 

 

To make couscous, boil 1 1/4 cup water in saucepan. stir in 1 cup of couscous. Remove from heat and cover. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

 

Serve eggplant slices on couscous and top with your favorite tomato sauce (your own, preferably!).

 

The finished product!  Enjoy!

Root Vegetable Harvest

A bountiful harvest: Paris Market carrots, parsnips, and radishes!

 

 

Today was a good day for harvesting root vegetables.  After yesterday's rain, the ground was nicely softened, allowing these beauties to come out of the earth without damage.  Most of my earlier crop of Paris Market carrots and parsnips came out, as did a few of the new radishes that were beginning to crowd.  The rest of the radishes will be left to fully mature.  

Morning in the Garden

Dew bejewels the collards.

Good morning!  I just thought I would share some pictures from the Garden on Townville.  This morning was so beautiful, after yesterday's rain, that I couldn't resist snapping a few photos.  Hope you are enjoying this gorgeous day!

The morning sun transforms the lettuce into glowing stained glass.

 

Some of the radishes are nearly ready for harvest.

 

A little holiday cheer (red Lolla Rosa lettuce and green Mizuna mustard)!



A Quick Bite

Served with a salad, these sandwiches make the perfect too-tired-to-make-a-big-meal dinner.  They fill you up without wearing you out!

After an unanticipated (and exhausting) Christmas shopping excursion, my Pistachio-Crusted Eggplant Cutlets were scrapped for something quick and easy.  One of my favorite "fussless" meals is a Quorn Garlic & Herb Chick'n Cutlet sandwich.  As the shopping excursion also included a stop at Panera Bread for lunch, I ended up with some Asiago bagels, my favorite sandwich bun!  These sandwiches are so super-easy, my aching body hardly noticed the prep. Simply heat up the Quorn cutlet (20 minutes in the oven), toast your favorite sandwich bun (if you haven't tried Panera's Asiago bagel, I suggest you do, forthwith!), top with a fancy mayo (I use a roasted red pepper & chipotle mayo), sharp cheddar, sweet pickles (try Wickles brand for a pickle with a kick), and fresh spinach.  Voila!  Your tried, Christmas-shopping-ravaged body will thank you...and your tummy, too!

These sandwiches are also fabulous topped with grilled red onions...when you're not so tired!  Slice the red onion into 1/2 inch slices, spray or brush with olive oil, and grill until softened.

Note:  For those of you wary of trying meat substitutes, these cutlets are amazing!  You will not miss the meat and the flavor and texture are perfect...nothing "offputting" about them.  Also, for anyone concerned with consuming too much soy or worried about GMO soybeans, these guys are soy-free.  They are made from mycoprotein (from mushrooms).  Once again, I don't recommend eating these processed foods too often.  However, in a crunch, they make a great meatless meal.

Stay tuned for the Pistachio-Crusted Eggplant Cutlets.  They're still on the menu.

Pumpkin and Wild Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients for this meal include pumpkin, onion, and dried porcini mushrooms.

Pumpkin and Wild Mushroom Risotto

2 Tbs olive oil
1 to 2 onions, diced
2 to 3 cups pie pumpkin, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 cups Arborio rice
3 Tbs white wine
6 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp dried rosemary (or one sprig fresh)
1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms, broken into pieces
2 Tbs butter
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Salt an pepper to taste

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Saute onion until soft. Add pumpkin and cook until softened (about 10 minutes), stirring often.  Add rice, stirring to coat with oil. Add wine and stir to combine.  Add 3 cups of chicken broth, rosemary, and mushrooms and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, approximately 18 minutes.  As the broth is absorbed, add more, 1/2 cup at a time (you may not need to use all six cups).  Cook until most of the broth is absorbed and the rice is tender, but still al dente.  Add the butter and Parmesan cheese and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with a sprinkle of Parmesan.

A simple, healthy seasonal dinner that even finicky eaters will enjoy.  For a super-easy side, serve with a wedge salad.  But, skip the Iceberg and use a more nutritious lettuce like this hydroponically grown butter lettuce.

Stuffed Portobellos

The filling for the portobellos combines beans, onion, and tomato with homemade pesto.

 

 

Stuffed Portobellos

2 cans canellini beans (white kidney beans), rinsed and drained
1 small red onion, finely chopped
4 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 to 1/3 cup pesto, to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
6 large portobello caps, stems and gills removed
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put one can of canellini beans into a large mixing bowl and smash with a fork or potato masher.  Add the other can of beans and the next 5 ingredients, mix well.

brush or spray the mushroom caps with olive oil and place on a baking sheet.  Overfill each mushroom cap with bean mixture, pressing it to make sure it fills caps completely.  Top with the Parmesan cheese and cover loosely with foil.  Bake for 15 minutes, uncover, and bake a additional 15 minutes.  If you like your cheese browned, place under the broiler for a minute or two. 

Note: I used homemade pesto in this recipe, but you can easily substitute store-bought.

Sweet Basil Pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Roughly chop basil leaves. Place basil, pine nuts and garlic in food processor and pulse to combine. Slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream while the food processor is on, scraping down the sides if necessary. Add the grated cheese and pulse until well blended.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Note:  Extra pesto keeps well in the freezer. Store in an airtight container.

Here, the mushrooms are ready to go into the oven.

 

The finished product!  Delicious!

On the Menu

Beautiful, isn't it? The sight of fresh produce, piled on a counter or kitchen table, awaiting transformation always inspires me.  On Townville Street, it is the kitchen window seat that becomes home to these colorful, impromptu vignettes.  At this time of year, the most common sights are stacks of pumpkins, winter squash, and eggplant.  This week, pumpkins join wild mushrooms in a seasonal risotto, eggplants cutlets get a topping of "sun" dried tomato and a crust of crushed pistachios, and Portobello mushrooms get a Tuscan makeover with a filling that incorporates homemade sweet basil pesto.  Stay tuned for the recipes and the results!

A Little Fall Heat

Awaiting drying in the dehydrator: jalapenos and, in the foreground, poblano peppers.  Two green bell peppers were also harvested (left foreground), but won't be dried.

 

 

There is a definite chill in the air.  That's good news for the cool weather crops, but with nighttime temperatures nearing freezing, the last remaining summer crops need to be harvested before any damage occurs.  Yesterday was harvest day on Townville Street.  This is probably the last crop of peppers I will get this year and I want to be able to put them to good use, but as I don't have any meals planned that call for poblano peppers or massive amounts of  jalapenos, I will be dehydrating these.  In that way, some of those chilly winter days will be warmed  by a little fiery heat from the garden.  The freezer is already stocked with delectable garden delights such as homemade spaghetti sauce, zucchini bread, blackberry-lime jam, strawberry-rhubarb jam, "sun"dried tomatoes, frozen rhubarb, blueberries,  green beans, and previous batches of dehydrated peppers.  In addition, the cabinets and counter tops are overflowing with preserves, chutneys, jams, jellies, and pickles.  These peppers will be added to the stockpile!

 

Halved, with stems removed, the peppers go onto the drying racks.  I leave the seeds in for extra heat, but they can also be removed, along with the ribs, for a little less intensity.

 

The poblano peppers are also being dehydrated.  They have been quartered and the seeds and ribs have been removed.

 

The finished product will have much less volume than the fresh peppers.  It's important to remember that even though the dried peppers are much smaller, they still retain all their heat, so keep that in mind when calculating how much to use in a recipe.







Southern Comfort

Here, the penultimate batch of this year's tomatoes makes a statement as the ultimate burger topping, and jalapenos, fresh from the garden, spice up the homemade pimento cheese.

Sweet Southern Comfort...food, that is!  It doesn't get any better, or more Southern, than this dish.  A delicious burger topped with homemade pimento cheese and fried green tomatoes.  It's definitely not health food, though the fact that there's a veggie burger under all that ooey, gooey goodness, takes the guilt down a notch.  Now, every Southerner knows a good recipe for pimento cheese and, most definitely, knows how to fry up a mean green tomato, but for the rest of you, I'll provide a little help.

Spicy Pimento Cheese
(Prepare ahead of time)

2 cups grated sharp cheddar
8oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp or more Cayenne pepper
1 or more jalapeno peppers, minced
4oz pimento peppers, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and beat, with a mixer, until well combined. This recipe makes a lot of cheese, so expect to have quite a bit left over.  Try it spread on a Doctor Kracker Pumpkin Seed Cheddar crispbread, for an afternoon snack...or just adjust the recipe to make less. But, that's no fun, now is it?

Fried Green Tomatoes

2 to 3 green tomatoes
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corm meal
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying

Heat a shallow layer of oil in a skillet, over medium to medium-high heat.  Slice the tomatoes into approximately 1/2 inch slices (I like mine on the thick side).  Pour the milk into a shallow dish, and in another shallow dish, combine the flour and corn meal and season with salt and pepper.  Dip both sides of each slice of tomato into the milk, then dredge in the flour mixture.  Place into the hot oil, being careful not to overcrowd the slices (cook in batches, if necessary). Fry each slice, flipping halfway through, until golden brown on both sides.  Keep warm in the oven until needed.
Note: if your tomatoes are large, or you just choose to make more, and the milk and/or flour mixture runs low, simply add more.  Just keep the flour to corn meal ratio 1:1.

For the pictured burgers, warm 4 whole wheat hamburger buns (wrapped in foil) in the oven, while preparing the burgers and tomatoes.  Heat the burgers (I used Amy's brand California Burgers, but use whatever brand you prefer) in a skillet over medium heat, flipping occasionally, until heated through.  Meanwhile, fry the tomatoes.  When all the elements are ready, spread the hamburger buns with mayonnaise and add the veggie burger.  Top each burger with a dollop of cheese and 2-3 green tomato slices.  Enjoy...oh, and have a napkin handy!

The Dirty Dozen

All produce grown in the Garden on Townville is completely organic. No chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides are used on any of the plants, including this Georgia Southern Collard.

 

 

Care should aways be taken when selecting produce at your supermarket.  Due to the disturbing trend of using genetically modified food crops (which is worrisome enough, in itself), ever increasing amounts of toxic chemicals are being applied our food.  In fact, in the case of Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" seeds (corn, soybean, and canola, among others), crops can be literally doused with application after application of the potent herbicide.  Growing your own food is an excellent way to avoid chemicals in your food supply, as is choosing organic options. However, not everyone is able to grow a garden, and the higher cost of some organic items can make buying only organic an unrealistic goal.  Knowing when to splurge on the organic option can help to stretch you grocery dollars.  Termed "The Dirty Dozen," the following produce items are likely to harvest the heaviest pesticide residues: apples, celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, imported nectarines and grapes, bell peppers, potatoes, blueberries, lettuce, and kale/collard greens*.  Whenever possible, buy an organic alternative when purchasing these items.  And, if you have a little extra to spend on groceries, you might just want to give your diet an organic overhaul.  Not only will you be avoiding these harmful chemicals, but also GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), as certified organic products cannot contain GMOs!

 

*According to the latest report from the Environmental Working Group.

Planting Tips

 

Not only have the lettuces survived, they are thriving.  In the foreground, the Yugoslavian Red Butterhead lettuce is beginning to crowd.

 

Happily, there was only one casualty, a little Red Romaine, of the windstorm.  Though a few others have not yet fully recovered, it  does appear that they will survive.  Some of the lettuces, indeed, are doing extremely well. The Yugoslavian Red Butterhead lettuces are beginning to crowd one another.  All the lettuces are actually planted at half-distance, and because of this, they will crowd each other as they grow.  Once the young lettuces begin to overcrowd, I will harvest every other plant, leaving the rest to grow to maturity.  This way, I get nearly twice the yield out of the space.  If you're still wondering what I mean when I say "half-distance," let me explain.  Each seed package will give you two distances: plant spacing and row width.  Now, when you're growing in a raised bed, as I am, you need not concern yourself with row spacing, as long as you are able to reach to the center of your bed from each side.  Row spacing measurements are there to ensure that the gardener has room to maneuver in the rows between the plants, which is something a raised bed gardener does not need to do.  In fact, when constructing your raised bed, you need to ensure that you are able to reach to the center to avoid having to step into the beds at all.  This will help you avoid soil compaction. Now, when you discard the row spacing measurement, you are left only with plant spacing.  In my lettuce bed, I did plant rows, but the rows are spaced only the plant spacing distance apart (for this bed, 10 inches).  In the rows, I spaced each plant 5 inches apart.  When I remove every other immature plant, that will leave all of my plants spaced at 10 inch intervals, creating a 10 inch grid over the entire bed.  I could also have spaced the rows 5 inches apart, and just removed more plants when they got crowded, but I chose this method, for simplicity's sake (and because I was short on time when I did the planting).  After you've figured out the spacing for your plants, there are two ways that you can go about planting your rows.  After you measure the distance and know where your rows are going to be, you can either sow an entire row of seeds and later thin them to the 5 inch intervals, or you can measure the 5 inch intervals at the time of planting and drop a few seeds at each location.  The second method is how I planted this garden.  The reason I use this technique is to conserve seeds.  If you sow an entire row of seeds, that's a lot of little seedlings that you have to thin out and throw away. I prefer to only have to pull out a couple extras at each location.  Plus, if you planted this way, your plants are already properly spaced!

 

Note:   In a raised bed, it is possible to crowd your plants a little, to get maximum yield from your plot, but you still need to allow the plants sufficient room to grow, or you will end up with stunted, unproductive plants. So, feel free to shorten the distance slightly, if you are going to be providing ample nutrients, but don't overdo it.

 

 

The radishes are also coming along quite well.  Grow, little radishes, grow!



Pumpkin Dinner

Amazing!  To the left is the "dessert" pumpkin.

Stuffed Pumpkins

Jack-o-lanterns?  Nope.  These pumpkins are dinner! They are soon to be stuffed with a unbelievably delicious concoction and baked until tender.  Miraculously, this part of the process was completed without a trip to the emergency room!

 

 

Some of the ingredients for the stuffing: a grocery store tomato (bleh!), the last tiny tomato and two jalapenos from the garden, onion, and thyme.  Other ingredients include: kale, collard greens, evaporated milk and freshly ground nutmeg.

 

For this recipe a chopped onion, chopped tomato, minced jalapenos, minced galic and fresh thyme get sauteed in butter until softened.  Then, one bunch of fresh kale and one bunch of fresh collard greens, chopped, with ribs removed, are added to the hot skillet with 4 chopped scallions.  Once the greens are softened, a cup  of evaporated milk, 2 tablespoons of butter, and ground nutmeg are added, and the mixture brought to a boil.  Then, 1 1/2 cups of shredded white cheddar and 2 tablespoons of panko are added, and the mixture is cooked until slightly thickened.  The mixture is then placed into the pumpkin(s).  The top of the pumpkins are sprinkled with panko and Parmesan. The pumpkins are then placed into a 9X13 baking dish and an inch of water is poured into the pan.  The pan is covered by foil and baked for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes at 375 degrees, uncovered and cooked 30 more minutes, then cooled for 5 minutes.  The pumpkin flesh should be scraped out and served with greens.

 

Note:  the reason this recipe say "pumpkin(s)" is that the original recipe called for two small, 2 lb. pumpkins.  Mine were bigger and the filling only filled one.  The other pumpkin got sprayed with olive oil, sprinkled with cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, brown sugar, with a couple pats of butter in the bottom.  It cooked right along with the other pumpkin.  Dinner and dessert, side-by-side!

 

 



BLTs on Townville

 

This sandwich is made with Morningstar veggie bacon strips (found in the freezer section of your supermarket), fresh spinach, and sharp cheddar, but you could use any combination of toppings.  When your garden has fresh tomatoes, make it a real BLT!

 

Lunch on Townville, today, was a vegetarian BLT.  Well, technically, it should be referred to as a vBSC, a veggie Bacon, Spinach, and Cheese...but let's just stick with BLT.  Now, you very well may be skeptical about veggie bacon.  The first time I heard of it, I was significantly more than skeptical.  However, it is perfectly delicious, tasting nearly identical to its dead-animal counterpart.  You also might be more willing to give it a try when you learn that it contains no artery-clogging cholesterol and about half of the calories of bacon (Not to mention the fact that pigs are now being genetically modified with human genes!  But that's a topic for another post).  Morningstar brand veggie bacon is a delicious substitute.  I cannot vouch for other brands, but that is only because I haven't tried any others.  I'm sure there are lots of tasty options.  Now, I do not endorse frequently consuming these meat substitutes, as they are processed foods and, thus, contain some of those "mystery ingredients" that no one can pronounce and can be found in all processed foods.  They also have the potential to contain GMOs.  However, this applies to every processed food in your supermarket, from potato chips, cookies, and cereals to sodas and soups.  Even the products marked "natural" can contain GMOs.  So, use fresh, whole ingredients and organic products (a product that is marked with the USDA organic seal has to have 95% or more organinc content and can contain no GMOs) whenever possible and only sparingly partake of these processed items...like when you have a hankering for bacon that won't be denied!