Taking Advantage of Summer's Bounty
Ah, summer - that magical time in Minnesota when we can enjoy fresh-picked local fruit and vegetables...
This year, Eric and I decided to try our luck planting a vegetable garden, and the yields are starting to really come in. We've been harvesting Bibb lettuce and "Musclin" garden greens in small bits for salads since early June, but both crops have really taken off recently - to the point of becoming overgrown - especially the arugula and mizuna.
Sadly, the overgrown lettuce came under attack by slugs, beetles, and grasshoppers, so it looks a bit rough. That's going to a friend who owns a bunny rabbit, since the bun isn't a snob about leaves that have been partly gnawed. Another friend gave us a recipe for a natural pest deterrent, so we'll give that a shot to protect the second planting of lettuce and greens that's coming up right now.
For the overgrown arugula, we found out that it can be harvested (leaves, stems, flowers and all), and turned into a really nice pesto, according to a recipe I found online. We ended up adding spinach, using sesame seeds instead of pine nuts (because that's what we had on hand), and we really piled on the garlic (because we're garlic fiends). It was delicious with pasta, and we had enough left over to freeze some for the future.
The mizuna doesn't keep too well, but I found a good recipe for a noodle salad that I could make in a big batch for this week's lunches:
I found fresh blueberries and cantaloupe on sale to compliment my salad. The cantaloupe is at the height of sweetness right now, and those blueberries were a perfect balance of tart and sweet combined. I admit, I liked packing up two fruits of complimentary colors - yeah, I'm an art geek.
The rest of the mizuna went into salads and cooked pastas over the course of the week.
Noodle Salad with Mizuna
2 cups Mizuna leaves, cleaned, stemmed and torn into bite-sized pieces
3-4 carrots, sliced thin
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup radishes, sliced thin
2 cups cooked noodles, rinsed in cold water*
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. minced garlic
sesame seeds (optional)
1. Combine Mizuna, carrots, onions, radishes, and noodles in large bowl
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, Worcestershire sauce, ginger and garlic
3. Toss with noddles and veggies, top with sesame seeds
* I used lo mein noodles, broken into 2-3" bits before cooking. Ultimately, the dish could have probably used more noodles, so I might try it with 3 cups worth of cooked noodles next time.
After the harvest, I tilled the area and planted some more rows of greens last weekend. It's been five days, and I'm already seeing sprouts. That stuff grows fast! And now, the rest of the garden's taking off too: the tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, carrots, and bell peppers all shot up in the past week. Jack might get jealous of our beanstalks, and the cucumbers are starting to invade the walking space. We should also see a ridiculous number of tomatoes - which will result in trying something else that's new: canning tomato sauce and maybe pickles for the winter. For someone who was never particularly domestic in the past, I'm really enjoying this gardening thing. Eric still has to mow the lawn, though.
This year, Eric and I decided to try our luck planting a vegetable garden, and the yields are starting to really come in. We've been harvesting Bibb lettuce and "Musclin" garden greens in small bits for salads since early June, but both crops have really taken off recently - to the point of becoming overgrown - especially the arugula and mizuna.
Sadly, the overgrown lettuce came under attack by slugs, beetles, and grasshoppers, so it looks a bit rough. That's going to a friend who owns a bunny rabbit, since the bun isn't a snob about leaves that have been partly gnawed. Another friend gave us a recipe for a natural pest deterrent, so we'll give that a shot to protect the second planting of lettuce and greens that's coming up right now.
For the overgrown arugula, we found out that it can be harvested (leaves, stems, flowers and all), and turned into a really nice pesto, according to a recipe I found online. We ended up adding spinach, using sesame seeds instead of pine nuts (because that's what we had on hand), and we really piled on the garlic (because we're garlic fiends). It was delicious with pasta, and we had enough left over to freeze some for the future.
The mizuna doesn't keep too well, but I found a good recipe for a noodle salad that I could make in a big batch for this week's lunches:
I found fresh blueberries and cantaloupe on sale to compliment my salad. The cantaloupe is at the height of sweetness right now, and those blueberries were a perfect balance of tart and sweet combined. I admit, I liked packing up two fruits of complimentary colors - yeah, I'm an art geek.
The rest of the mizuna went into salads and cooked pastas over the course of the week.
Noodle Salad with Mizuna
2 cups Mizuna leaves, cleaned, stemmed and torn into bite-sized pieces
3-4 carrots, sliced thin
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup radishes, sliced thin
2 cups cooked noodles, rinsed in cold water*
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. minced garlic
sesame seeds (optional)
1. Combine Mizuna, carrots, onions, radishes, and noodles in large bowl
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, Worcestershire sauce, ginger and garlic
3. Toss with noddles and veggies, top with sesame seeds
* I used lo mein noodles, broken into 2-3" bits before cooking. Ultimately, the dish could have probably used more noodles, so I might try it with 3 cups worth of cooked noodles next time.
After the harvest, I tilled the area and planted some more rows of greens last weekend. It's been five days, and I'm already seeing sprouts. That stuff grows fast! And now, the rest of the garden's taking off too: the tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, carrots, and bell peppers all shot up in the past week. Jack might get jealous of our beanstalks, and the cucumbers are starting to invade the walking space. We should also see a ridiculous number of tomatoes - which will result in trying something else that's new: canning tomato sauce and maybe pickles for the winter. For someone who was never particularly domestic in the past, I'm really enjoying this gardening thing. Eric still has to mow the lawn, though.