Going green

We had a ton of tomatillos to harvest. This super simple/straightforward recipe filled my need to get these cute little lanterns out of our garden and onto the table and/or into the freezer.  

My Texas houseguest remarked that what follows was the best Salsa Verde she's ever tasted.  YESSSS!!! TWO THUMBS UP! 

NOTE:  For those who live locally, bypass Draegers and go directly to a local Spanish Food Market for tomatillos.  Draegers: 1 pound almost $4.  WHAT!!!?  Versus what used to be Key Market on Fifth and El Camino: 2 pounds $88 cents!!!  Crazy.  Totally Insane.  Also, this same Spanish Market/will find name/has a fantastic fast food bar with terrific tostadas, quesadillas, burritos etc.

Here's the recipe that was such a hit with family and friends.  It's from the most recent New York Times Magazine article entitled, "Cooking with Dexter."

SALSA VERDE

• 1 pound tomatillos, husked
• 1 jalapeño
• 1 small or 1/2 large red onion, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped cilantro
• canola or olive oil, for the grill

When grill is hot, cook the tomatillos, jalapeño and onion slices, taking them off the heat when they are soft and charred.

Remove skin and seeds from the jalapeño and roughly puree it with the tomatillos in a blender or food processor.  Transfer to a serving bowl. Chop onion slices and stir them into the salsa verde with the cilantro. Season well with salt.  

His salsa verde was was served with grilled fish.  Mine was used it as a spread.  An odd mix of what I happened to have on hand: Rye Crisp crackers topped with this salsa and marinated shrimp from Costco.  A DIY appetizer.

Obviously, it would be excellent used in the traditional corn chip sort of way.  And as Dexter recommended, over fish.  

Foraging for food

Purple beans with green interiors!!!  How unbelievably cool is that?  While they ultimately turned green when heated, the slicing/dicing was so much fun.  And the resulting flavor, superb. 

Fresh mixed greens from the garden.  Red spinach with far more vitamin C than the common green variety, rainbow chard, marigolds, tomatillos, tomatoes, nasturtiums, romaine, pansies and violas.  Freshly transplanted sunflowers and a crow hoping for a handout.  I had our old rocking chairs painted to blend with the bocce balls.  And the other more muted vegetable colors.

Dinners these days could not be easier/something basic (fish, grass-fed beef, chicken) on top of the mix of greens.  Get those gardens growing, friends.  In a box or a bag.  A wagon or wheelbarrow.  You won't be sorry.

   

Going to make my garden grow

“Their catalog is an encyclopedic romp through enough plant history to keep a garden geek awake at night well into planting season…”  The Houston Chronicle.

I had recently heard about Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  And as luck would have it, we passed through Petaluma this past weekend. 

A visit is nice but what you really want is their awesome seed catalog/free at the store/a small charge for mailing one to you: RARESEEDS.COM

Click on arrow below for music your might remember:

Great ideas and and every imaginable seed for growing whatever/wherever you happen to live.  Paging through the pictures is, in itself, an experience.  Planting the packets would take it to another level. 

And if you’re in the area, stop by Risibisi for lunch.  The best minestrone soup either of us have ever had.

154 Petaluma Blvd. North
Petaluma, CA 94952
Call: 707-766-7600
Fax: 707-766-7610

Given the extraordinarily flavorful salads we've gathered from our garden this week, I could quite easily imagine becoming a full-fledged vegetarian. 

This is an Astounding Shift.  Truly a fresh perspective.  One worth considering. 

You might also enjoy: 

gardening with kids

wheel it anywhere gardens

launching a new look in the garden



Quite a day

Quite a wonderful day. 

And I think we’re on to something.  After Judi, Jan and Susan left, I began experimenting with leftovers from our time together.  Spreadable goat cheese, purple basil, miscellaneous edible flowers.  

Then, for some reason, all my pictures disappeared.  Last time that I "delete originals" after importing them.  Not good.

It was a spontaneous “Come at 4:30 to brainstorm ideas for Father’s Day and beyond.”

We began picking and eating fresh things from the boxes and mixing them with what little I had on hand (Bolani, goat cheese, a few ready-made sauces). 

Judi rolled a piece of arugula around the goat cheese.  And it went from there. 

Not only were the ideas that were generated ones that I definitely/ultimately want to implement (go horizontal with fabric to define an intimate eating space) but sharing time together laughing in the newly formed, not quite completed, garden, was simply terrific.   Thank you, good friends.

Let’s do that again.  And again.  Soon, OK? 

Next time, I’ll give advance warning so that perhaps you, too, will join us! 

And, Anne, I loved our time together both walking this morning and tonight after your Big Tournament. 

Much love and safe travels to you, wonderful person/mom/soon-to-be grandmother.

WIA garden update

OK, I know some of you were a little skeptical about my wheel-it-anywhere, moveable feast.  But take a look now.  Little yellow squashes almost ready to harvest/much farther along than those planted earlier in our beds.  Bees buzzing around the licorice basil.  Nasturtiums nodding in the wind.  Exceedingly happy marigolds/a fun addition to salads or beverages/see below.

It's not too late to enjoy this edible/educational/green and growing concept.  And, more importantly, to share it with your child and/or grandchild.  Or simply with yourself.

Just pick up a bag or two of potting soil.  Position plants into holes that you've poked in the plastic.  Plant strawberries down one side.  Herbs down the other.  A tomato on top and a squash of some sort.  Basil to compliment the tomatoes.  Nasturtiums to accent the dish. 

Here's to you, amazing miniature garden on a wagon. 

Trust me, this little garden is well worth the small amount of effort it takes to construct it. 

You'll be delighted you did.

Update on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 7:16AM by Lois

BEFORE.  Just a few weeks ago! 

Eating on the edge

As the weather warmed, our arugula began to bolt.  Rather than tossing it in the trash/adding it to the compost/chucking it in the chicken coop, I stripped off all the incredibly minuscule leaves.  Why I chose to tackle that tedious task remains a mystery.  But my work was later rewarded when everyone inhaled the exceptional, flavor-filled salad. 

The flowered stalks still seemed happy so I placed a bunch in my favorite vase where they stayed fresh for a several more days. 

Don’t you love it when life takes these surprising and tasty turns?

The same was true of edible pansies/violas/johnny jump ups that we planted in the vegetable garden for use in salads.  Rather than compost what had begun to mildew, I recycled a bunch in a bowl filled with water.  

Hmmmmm.  I'm beginning to wonder what else might be rescued from Death's Doorstep.

Off to forage.

Transferring their spirit to our space

Sitting outside at the end of the day soaking up some D with my good friend, Buddy. Rocking in what obviously needs some sanding.

 

Bud is wondering what we are doing here.  After all, we picked and ate peas/isn't it time for dinner?

I'm sipping some wine.  He's sitting on wood chips, sniffing the air/I wonder what's on his radar.  As part Chihuahua, he's a Sun Seeker/pretty happy soaking up the end-of-the-day rays.

Here hoping to channel Aunt Lil and Uncle Mont.  Impossible to duplicate the acres and acres they were so dedicated to tend. 

Still, wondering what they would do with this substantially smaller space. 

Intensive flowers and vegetables, espaliered fruit trees on the fence? 

Some berries for sure.

Love.  Laughter.  Games. 

Bringing bocce ball into the mix. 

A long table to share food with friends. 

All in a space originally dedicated to hardscape.

Now Come to Life as a beautiful place to be by myself, with family and friends and, of course, the dogs. 

How great is that?  Hard to describe.