Kitchen Garden Day

table of goodies

Today we had a few people over to celebrate home-grown food. The food was really good! Afterwards we walked around the garden and discussed all the things we're growing. If you're not growing your own food, you should! So many reasons:

- Fun
- Thrift
- Grow varieties you can't get in the store
- Know where your food came from
- Food is fresher and maybe even more nutritious (if you grow organically)
- Connection to nature
- Totally egalitarian (everyone eats)
- Great exercise
- Satisfying and fulfilling

Not that I would want to be responsible for growing everything we eat - nor do I think we could do so, on just 2/3 of an acre - but I love being able to step out the back door to pick ingredients for dinner!

Soba with squash & green beans

Soba with squash

Tonight I made soba noodles with squash and green beans from my garden, adapting a recipe from Whole Foods. It turned out okay, but not great. Not sure what it lacked, but it seemed oddly flat. Pretty, though!

1 (8.8-ounce) package uncooked soba noodles
1 T canola oil
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 large onion, sliced
1 T ginger paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T Better Than Bouillon mushroom base
4 summer squash
3 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1 T rice vinegar
1 bunch green beans
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 bunch basil leaves, chopped
1 block baked tofu, diced
1 t rice flour (optional)

Method

Prepare soba noodles according to package instructions and drain well. Toss with a little sesame oil and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add carrots, onions, ginger, and garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add squash, mushroom base, soy sauce, water, and vinegar and cook for 3 minutes more. Stir in green beans, tofu, cilantro, and basil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until green beans are bright green. Add cooked noodles and toss gently to combine. Add rice flour if desired to thicken sauce.

Cherry pie ice cream

The cherry pie ice cream we made last night (using the Wheeler del Torro recipe) turned out amazing. I probably wouldn't put that much cinnamon in there next time, but otherwise it was fantastic. I can't wait to make more of the recipes in there!

Non-dairy ice creams

This afternoon, we went into town for a Boston Veg. Society event featuring Wheeler del Torro of Wheeler's Frozen Desserts. He gave out samples of a couple of different kinds of vegan ice cream - a chocolate cherry and a mint chocolate chip - both were fantastic! We picked up a copy of his book, The Vegan Scoop, which he autographed for us. We're making the Cherry Pie recipe right now, using our own sour cherries from the bushes in our front yard. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Hopefully, this will really help Mark keep on the vegan path - he has a total sweet tooth and is susceptible to the ice cream aisle in the supermarket.

Lentil stew with potatoes, greens, and mint

Made a very hearty and spicy lentil dish for dinner this evening. Used the CSA potatoes, beet greens, and garlic and my own mint.

Time: about 1/2 hour
Serves: 4

Ingredients

* 1 Tolive oil
* 2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1 onion, chopped
* 3 cups water or vegetable broth or no-chicken broth
* 1 cup lentils, rinsed, picked over
* 4-6 red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 1 T lemon juice
* 1 bunch fresh spinach, kale, or beet greens
* 3/4 t cumin
* 3/4 t dried or 1/8 c fresh thyme
* 1/4 t cayenne pepper (optional)
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and stir 30 seconds. Add water/broth and lentils; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add potatoes; cook, covered, until potatoes and lentils are tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

2. Add lemon juice, greens, cumin, thyme, and cayenne. Cover and simmer until greens are done. Mix in mint. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Indian food and sour cherries

We got a half bushel of potatoes in last week's CSA delivery, so I've been looking up good potato recipes. On Friday, I made Aloo Mattar (potatoes and peas). Turned out delicious!

We have a few pounds of sour cherries to process this weekend - bounty from our cherry bushes. Thinking about making a batch of freezer jam and dehydrating a bunch to use in my oatmeal in place of the cranberries I usually use. I've also got some currants I need to use up. Should be a good time!

Seitan burritos

Tonight's dinner was an effort to use up the last of my homemade chicken-style seitan (from this recipe - best chicken-style seitan ever!). I sliced up three seitan pieces into thin strips and sauteed them with 5 scallions (leftover from last week's CSA share). Meanwhile, I topped two whole wheat tortillas with refried black beans, some red-veined Italian chicory leaves from my garden, some fresh cilantro (also from last week's CSA share), and veggie cheese slices. Once the seitan was browned, I put half on each tortilla, folded them up into burrito-like bundles, placed into a small baking dish, and topped each with salsa. Popped the dish into the microwave for a couple of minutes and... done! Quite yummy.

I should note that I'm originally from Texas, so Tex-Mex is one of my favorite cuisines. I'm still getting used to eating it without a lot of cheese, though.

Purpose

[update, 2014] Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to keep this blog updated over the past 4 years, but I hope to get back to it at some point!

[original introduction]
Why start this blog? Mainly because I needed to motivate myself! I enjoyed documenting what I cooked and ate, and hoped this would be a resource for others as well.

I have been vegetarian for many years, and mostly cooked vegan during the time that these posts were written. My wonderful vegan friends have been inspirational, as have the vegan bloggers and podcasters I follow.

I used this blog to keep notes on food, recipes, and related issues. It's mainly for me, but if it helps someone else, all the better!