Ladybugs are a beneficial bugs, and once they are released – it’s up to them to stay or not. There is no way to really keep them in your garden. However, if you create a nice environment for them to set up shop, they just …
Magnesium (Mg) is a macronutrient that must be replenished during the garden growing season. Plants with a magnesium deficiency are easy to find, just look at the foliage. Magnesium deficiency results in a plant’s leaves turning yellow at the edges, and reduced leaf numbers. Magnesium can be …
Put the basil, garlic, Parmesan, and pine nuts in a food processor. Pulse a couple of times to blend, and start to process while streaming in the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Great naturally sweet salsa with fresh mangoes and pineapple. Using Anaheim chiles, it is a medium hot salsa. If you want it hotter, use a hotter chile.
Make the most of your CSA membership—or your garden harvest—with simple yet bold, inventive yet nourishing meals from acclaimed blogger Linda Ly.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs have connected farms to consumers and made people more in tune with where their food comes from, but still leave many stumped beyond the conventional uses for their produce. How many times has a CSA share arrived with things you’ve never seen before or not known what to do with?
The CSA Cookbook will help you cook your way through a CSA box (or farmers’ market or backyard bounty) with 105 seasonal recipes that utilize every edible part of the plant, from leaves and flowers to stems and seeds. Think of it as a nose-to-tail approach—for vegetables!
With innovative ideas for preparing the lesser-known but no-less-delicious parts of plants, tips for using the odds and ends of vegetables, and easy preservation techniques, Linda Ly helps you get from farm to table without a fuss. Chapters include tomatoes and peppers, leafy greens, peas and beans, bulbs and stems, roots and tubers, melons and gourds, and flowers and herbs. You’ll find globally-inspired, vegetable-focused recipes that turn a single plant into several meals—take squash, for instance. This year-round vegetable brings a variety of tastes and textures to the table: Sicilian Squash Shoot Soup, Squash Blossom and Roasted Poblano Tacos, Autumn Acorn Squash Stuffed with Kale, Cranberries, and Walnuts, and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds. If you grow your own food at home, you might be surprised to learn you can eat the leaves from your pepper plants, or pickle the seed pods from your radishes.
The CSA Cookbook aims to inspire curiosity in the garden and creativity in the kitchen. You’ll look at vegetables in a whole new way and think twice before you discard your kitchen “scraps”!
Growing unique and new veggies is sometimes the same as opening up the latest box from your local CSA (community sponsored agriculture) – you have all this new fresh stuff and can’t figure out what to do with it. She writes:
“I’m sure there has been many a time when you’ve peered inside your weekly CSA box and though, ‘What the hell?’ And maybe you’ve given away your unidentifiable produce or fed it to your rabbits, or simply chucked them in your compost pile. Those days are no more.”
From a person with an affinity to plant random and different stuff in dirt, I can see where Linda Ly is coming from here. And while the author doesn’t go into too crazy of vegetable territory here, she does make use of the unique tasting and most often disposable parts of foods we take in every day into our kitchens: tomato leaves and stems; pepper leaves; fennel fronds; radish seed pods and leaves; sweet potato leaves; herb blossoms; nasturtium pods. And more.
She gives her opinion and her take on organics, the use of salt, and whether or not to peel. She also gives great advice on how to properly store veggies to keep them in their prime. Her everything-but-the-kitchen-sink stock is awesome and something I’ve done since the birth of my first baby on the advice from a fellow cook (thank you Mercedes! I still do this! ). For those who are new to this kind of veggie stock, her chart on all the possibilities to add to keep the stock nice and balanced is helpful.
Ly sections her cookbook by what the topics are: The Basics; Tomatoes and Peppers; Leafy Greens; Peas and Beans; Bulbs and Stems; Roots and Tubers; Melons and Gourds; Flowers and Herbs. Her resources section includes online stores to source out ingredients, some of which have brick and mortar locations to shop at.
All in all, a pretty great book. Not only for the recipes, but I actually learned something here – that often the stuff that you don’t typically eat or prepare from a fresh vegetable can oftentimes be just as good, or in some cases better, than the stuff you keep.
Disclosure: This book was provided by the publisher to me and any opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links for the book, and any purchase helps to keep this garden blog running.
The artichoke is actually a species of thistle and is available year round in different varieties. Perennial types are round and seasonal annual types are conical shaped. The artichoke is edible right before the plant comes into full bloom. The edible parts of the flower bud are the small portions that are on each bract or petal, and the center part is referred to as the heart of the artichoke. Once the artichoke reaches full bloom it becomes a beautiful flower, but tough and inedible.
The artichoke became California’s official vegetable on April 10th, 2013 by Gavin Newsom, Lieutenant Governor. According to the California Advisory Board, 99.99% of all commercially grown artichokes come from California state.
Artichokes are easy to prepare at home. A simple trim is pretty much all it takes to prepare them for cooking.
Choosing and Storing Artichokes Before Cooking
Leaves may be discolored due to frost and frost-bitten leaves are a cosmetic issue only. Look for artichokes that are heavy with a stiff stem. The leaves should be tightly closed and not loose. The stem shouldn’t be soft, limp, or wrinkled. If so, it is an indications of a dried out artichoke.
If purchasing organically grown artichokes, look for hiding insects. Shake upside down to dislodge any that are hiding.
Once purchased and brought home, store in a plastic bag. Artichokes do not need to be pre-rinsed before storing. Keep them in the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator (or an area in the fridge with high humidity); they will keep for about 2 to 3 days before cooking.
Preparing and Trimming Artichokes
Trim the base of the artichoke, but not the entire stem. Once cooked and peeled the stem is a tasty portion of the artichoke.
Remove the bottom outer row of leaves – these are generally all tough and give little meat.
If desired for presentation, trim off about an inch off the top – straight off. The artichokes are ready for cooking.
Boiling Artichokes
Place the artichokes in enough water to cover them, and boil for about 35 to 45 minutes, or until the leaves become a little loose and the meat can be easily removed from the outer leaves. Do not over cook them as the entire head will turn to mush.
Drain before serving by turning them upside down.
Serve warm or cold.
Note: The water can be salted if desired, or flavored with a little lemon. This is optional.
Steaming Artichokes
Place the artichokes in a steamer insert large enough to hold them.
Bring the water to a boil, and add the steamer insert (or place the insert in the pot and add the artichokes after the water has been brought up to a boil).
Steam the artichokes for about 20 minutes until tender.
Drain by turning the artichokes upside down, and serve warm or cold.
Grilling or Smoking Artichokes
Grilling or smoking cooked artichokes gives a nice barbeque flavor that complements many dipping sauces. Prepare the artichokes for grilling or smoking by cooking in one of the two ways above first, and then draining well.
Cut the cooked artichoke in half and remove the soft, fuzzy parts of the artichoke. This is that actual ‘choke’ part and is inedible.
Brush all sides with oil and place it on the heated grill. If grilling, turn once during cooking to mark the sides, and serve.
If smoking, you don’t need to worry about marking the artichoke with grill marks. Just leave it in the smoker long enough to get a smoky flavor. Remove, and serve.
A flavorful sauce made of parsley and cilantro. It makes a great sauce for anything grilled, and also makes a great marinade. Thin out the sauce with more olive oil and red wine vinegar, if desired.