Creekside Kitchen and Garden
Sustainable Gardening and Creative Food
Tarragon Brings Unique Flavor
Tarragon Braves Winter Chill in the Garden
When winter wraps its chill arms around the garden many herbs continue to flourish. Among them one that is often overlooked, Tarragon. While it will go dormant for a while during the coldest months, mine doesn’t stop growing until early February.
Many describe this herb as having a liquorish flavor. I also taste a distinct lemon/astringent quality as well.
Tarragon isn’t the easiest herb to grow and it’s one of the few I keep in a pot. I also almost lost it this summer as the heat and lack of rain made watering pots essential — sometimes even twice a day. When I was away for a week, even though my neighbor was watering for me, I had a sad looking plant.
Although it’s often described as “difficult” I think this little trooper herb’s ability to bounce back from cold and drought should earn it respect.
Picking the Right Tarragon
If you want to give tarragon a try, be sure you get French tarragon. Russian tarragon is easier to grow in colder climates but it doesn’t taste as good as French tarragon. French tarragon can’t be grown from seed, only from cuttings or division of an established plant. It has a fairly shallow root system that can spread up to two feet wide so if you’re growing it in a pot, take that into consideration.
Growing Tips
Tarragon, like many herbs, doesn’t need a lot of fertilization. Yea! Less fuss! Once or twice during the growing season is fine. The soil where I live is very acidic. That’s great for blueberries and rhododendrons, but tarragon doesn’t like acidic soil. That’s probably why I failed when I tried to grow it in the ground.
In a pot, it doesn’t reach the size it might in the ground. I haven’t been able to get it to grow more than about a foot tall and as wide in a pot but under the right conditions it can reach almost three feet tall and two feet wide — a small shrub! It dies back in the winter but is a perennial herb and will come back in the spring unless your winters are below 10 degrees.
Tarragon in the Kitchen
Another area tarragon earns respect is in the kitchen. It’s a classic with eggs, chicken and potatoes and, in my humble opinion, is way under used. 😉 Since I rarely eat eggs and it’s been more than 20 years since I’ve had chicken, here is a vegan twist on a classic creamy chicken and tarragon recipe.
Creamy “chicken” with Tarragon
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 10 oz. Vegan chicken
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 3/4 cup cashew half and half (see note below for directions)
- 1 Tbs. Lemon juice
- 1 Tbs. Chopped fresh tarragon plus more for garnish
- 1/2 tsp. Grated lemon zest
Directions
First, heat up a large sauté pan and add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add in the sliced onion and a pinch of salt and sauté until the onion is translucent. That usually takes between five and ten minutes.
I grabbed some garlic that grew in the garden earlier this year and smashed it on the cutting board. Added it to the pan and sautéd until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Then add the second tablespoon of olive oil and the vegan chicken. I used Abbots.
Sauté until slightly browned.
Deglaze pan with 1/4 cup of white wine. (If you don’t have wine or don’t want to use alcohol, use water and 1/2 tsp. Lemon juice). Cook until wine has almost totally evaporated. Add in vegetable stock, bring to simmer and reduce slightly.
Lower heat to warm, add in cashew half and half and chopped tarragon. Heat until just warmed through. Make sure your pan isn’t too hot or the cashew liquid may clump up.
Finish up this creamy dish with a squeeze of lemon juice and top with a bit of chopped tarragon and a sprinkle of lemon zest for a pop of color and added taste.
This goes well served over rice, a pasta like linguine or even mashed potatoes. I served mine over linguini with roasted butternut squash with cranberries and maple syrup and steamed broccoli. The tarragon “chicken” is also good with small peas or fresh asparagus added to the sauce.
Cashew Half and Half
Cashew half and half is made just like Cashew Cream it just has a bit more water. Soak one cup of cashews for six hours or overnight in the refrigerator or soak for 10 minutes in water that has been heated to boiling. (Your consistency and flavor will be a bit better with a cold soak but sometimes we just need to speed things up!). Drain the cashews and add them to a high speed blender. Hit it with a pinch of salt, a half-tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and 2/3 to 3/4 of a cup of water, then blend until smooth. You now have cashew half and half. Store any unused portion in the refrigerator. It will thicken up a bit when stored but can easily be thinned out with a bit more water.
Notes from the Garden
I had planned to have this post up in early January and here it is early March. Time clearly got away from me! While temperatures are starting to warm up, it’s still pretty chilly and the only things going strong in the garden are my perennial herbs, rosemary and sage.
The broccoli I planted in late fall has been kept warm under plastic hoop tunnels during super cold days and is looking pretty good.
The Brussel sprouts look like wonderful cabbage plants and have the tiniest little Brussel sprouts lining the stems.
Arugula and kohlrabi have also made it through the winter protected by plastic. The arugula is a wonderful touch in winter salads with citrus or cranberry to complement its bitterness.
My experiment with trying to start a second crop of peas in the fall did not work out. We had several REALLY cold spells (at least for this part of the country) that did them in. Oh well, at least the frame is up to get them started for spring.
Early signs of spring in the neighborhood include pussy willows budding out and early daffodils blooming.
Spring peepers are being heard and the bluebirds are regaining their deep blue color. The bluebirds make me smile. There are so many bluebird houses in the neighborhood, including in my yard, but they keep trying to build their nests in people’s newspaper slots under their mailboxes. 😂
All of this means that spring is definitely on the way and none too soon for me!
Roasted Tomato Sauce Fresh from the Garden — In October!
Roasting tomatoes brings depth of flavor
It’s October and the garden is still producing tomatoes — enough to make an awesome fresh tomato sauce! Take that sauce to the next level by roasting the tomatoes to bring a depth of flavor that is a step above just dropping tomatoes in a pot. The bits of char from being in the oven, not to mention the roasted garlic that went in with the tomatoes makes this sauce the perfect homage to the last of summer flavors.
Fall has arrived
It’s definitely fall in the garden but the weather is still warm and the nights are just now dropping into the 50s. Four of my tomato plants are still pumping out ripe tomatoes! They look a bit bedraggled here at the end of the season but the fruit is till luscious.
Tomatoes still producing in October!
I planted four different tomato varieties this past Spring: German Lunchbox, Nature’s Riddle, Spoon and Paul Robeson. I also had one volunteer that produced tons of yellow/green tomatoes that never ripened. They remained hard and wouldn’t ripen on the counter, if I left them on the vine they split. ☹️
Two of the varieties I actually planted didn’t do so well. Not really their fault. I was unexpectedly out of the garden for six weeks during peak growing season. The poor plants faced drought and weeds that nearly choked out everything that had been planted. But two varieties kept on going even with all that adversity! Lol.
The winners are….
The champions are Spoon and Paul Robeson. The first are tiny, tiny tomatoes the size of a small blueberry. I’ve been picking them as soon as they show color because left on the vine to ripen, they split open. They fare far better on the kitchen counter and ripen in just a day or two.
The second champ, Paul Robeson, is a large cherry/small standard sized tomato. It is awesome in salads and made a truly memorable roasted tomato sauce.
Lengthening the Tomato Season
I’ve been lucky this year. It is almost the end of October, my tomatoes are still producing and there’s no frost in sight. If you’re facing colder weather soon, there are a number of devices available to lengthen the growing season. Everything from “walls of water” to more traditional cloches to protect from frost. Territorial Seed had some inexpensive season extenders http://www.territorialseed.com and Gardeners Supply also has a number of options as do many other outlets. http://www.Gardeners.com
Another trick I’ve heard of is if you expect frost in a couple of weeks, top your tomato plants. They will put their energy into ripening the tomatoes on the vine instead of flowering and trying to create new fruit.
Tomatoes can also be picked if they have even a hint of color and they’ll ripen on a counter in the kitchen or on a sunny windowsill.
And of course, who hasn’t picked green tomatoes the evening before a frost is expected. Fried Green Tomatoes!!! Yum!
Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce
I used this sauce to top a simple whole wheat pasta. It is tangy and tomatoey and can be used as a simple Marinara Sauce or as a base to add in other ingredients like black olives, vegan sausage or vegan beef crumbles. For this occasion, I added in some sautéed vegan Italian sausage. I like my pasta sauces with a lot of tang, but if you like yours more on the smooth side, I’d add a bit of cashew cream. Check out Peas in the Garden – Pasta Primavera in the Kitchen for directions on how to make cashew cream.
This dish starts with roasting the tomatoes in the oven for about 40 minutes, until they are getting some charred bits on the skin. The last 10 minutes, toss in a couple of crushed garlic cloves. I used two, but if you like garlic add in more.
While the tomatoes were roasting, I sautéed some vegan Italian sausage in a large skillet, then removed it. When the tomatoes were finished roasting they went into the same pan the sausage was sautéed in. Along with the tomatoes went a bit of good red wine, a dash of tamari, rosemary, oregano and basil.
The tomatoes should cook in the pan for about 30 minutes while you’re getting the pasta going. This allows the raw taste of the red wine to mellow and incorporate into the sauce. Add the sauce to a blender and puree to your desired texture. I made mine fully blitzed but if you like bits of tomato in your sauce, just don’t puree it as long.
Pull the pasta just a minute or so before it’s done and drop it into the sauce, reserving the cooking water. Stir it all together and add at least a cup of the pasta water, more if you like a thinner sauce or your sauce has cooked down too much. If you want to add in extra’s, now is the time to do it.
Serve the pasta with some vegan parm and fresh chopped basil. Add a side salad or green veg and dinner is good to go. Some crusty sour dough would also round this off well.
This dinner used tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, basil and oregano from the garden! 🙂
Makes three to four servings
Ingredients
- 1 lb cherry tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil, divided
- 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
- 1 tablespoon chopped basil
- 1/2 tablespoon chopped oregano
- 1 cup or more of pasta water
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 1 tablespoon of tamari or soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 vegan Italian sausages, chopped (I used Tofurkey, Field Roast is good also)
- 4 to 8 ounces of penne pasta, or pasta of choice
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
- Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Drizzle the tomatoes with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Roast the tomatoes in the oven for about 40 minutes, until they are getting some charred bits on the skin. The last 10 minutes, toss in a couple of crushed garlic cloves.
- While the tomatoes are roasting, sauté vegan Italian sausage in a large skillet in a little bit of olive oil. When browned to your liking, remove it to paper towels.
- When they are finished roasting, add the tomatoes to the same large pan along with wine, chopped herbs, tamari or soy sauce and salt.
- Simmer for 30 minutes.
- Bring water for pasta to a boil, salt and cook pasta according to package directions.
- Add tomato sauce to a blender and blend to desired consistency.
- Return to pan and add in pasta to finish cooking.
- Add 1 cup or more of pasta water to pan to bring sauce to the thickness you prefer.
- Add in cooked vegan sausage and heat two or three minutes to warm the sausage through.
- Top with chopped fresh basil and vegan Parmesan cheese. (Optional)
Notes from the Garden
The weather has been spectacular all month. Although the temps are starting to drop at night, daytimes have been mostly in the 70s. Great weather to be in the garden! Only negative is that it has been more than 30 days with no rain and there’s none in the forecast. To keep plants going, I’ve had to run the sprinkler every week.
My experimental peas are up.
Since they like cooler weather, I thought I’d give them a try for fall. They tend to stop fairly early when I plant them in spring as it warms up so quickly. With the warmer winters, I’m hoping I can get a fall crop.
Broccoli and arugula look amazing!
I’ve never had either one look this good in the garden before. The kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts also look pretty good. So I have my fingers crossed.
As I was cutting back a Heavenly Bamboo plant that was overgrowing the side door to the garage, I uncovered this cardinal’s nest.
Such a work of engineering and art. I tried to limit my use of the side door this past Spring as I knew they were nesting there. So cool to see the nest.😎
I hope you are enjoying lovely fall weather and time in the kitchen and garden.
Judith
How to Bring Tomatillos Tangy Goodness to the Kitchen
Tomatillos are for more than Salsa Verde
Tomatillos are a fun plant to grow in the garden and an awesome, tangy addition to dishes from your kitchen! They make way more than just Salsa Verde — although there certainly is nothing wrong with that wonderful green salsa! Some say they are better cooked or charred but I think they are also awesome raw.
Growing Tomatillos
Starting From Seed
Garden centers rarely stock tomatillos so you will probably need to grow them from seed. I start mine indoors under grow lights in January or February. When the days get warmer, they can be moved outdoors to a cold frame or even a warm spot in the garden. Just be sure to bring them indoors in the evening until the nights start warming up. I plant my tomatillo seedlings outdoors in May when night temperatures are reliably over 50 degrees in my area. Don’t expect to pick fruit from the tomatillo until September, though. They take a long time to ripen.
Give Them Room!!
Tomatillos take up a lot of space and to get a bountiful harvest you need two plants that help each other set fruit. You can get fruit with just one but not as much. So set aside an area about four feet by four feet for your plants. Tomatillo vines can be caged like a tomato but since the fruit is held above the ground and the vines put down additional roots where they touch the soil, I don’t stake or cage mine.
Easy to Grow
Tomatoes and tomatillos are related and are grown much the same way. Check out Love Those Mouthwatering Tomatoes! for more info. Tomatillos are also called husk tomatoes and ground cherries are a close cousin. Like tomatoes they need heat to thrive and they are not as susceptible to diseases. Their main pest in my garden is flea beetles. The tiny beetles eat lots of small holes in the leaves but don’t seem to overly stress the plant or the fruit.
They are an attractive plant, covered with small yellow flowers that attract lots of little bees and other pollinators. The flowers hang upside down from the stem and will keep blooming until frost. Of course those late blooms don’t have a chance to grow into a tomatillo but they are still a cheerful sight.
Harvest
When the tomatillo has filled out the papery husk — even to the point where it has split open the papery covering, it’s time to harvest. That is almost always September and October in my garden.
Cooking with Tomatillos
How to save all that green goodness
Tomatillos are easy to freeze. In years where I have a bumper crop, I peel off the husk, rinse the fruit, throw them into a gallon sized freezer bag and put them in the freezer. That way I can enjoy their tart goodness all winter long. When tomatillos have been frozen, they are best used in a cooked preparation. They make an excellent roasted salsa verde and I’ve used them as the base for a creamy sauce for tofu.
Cooked or Raw?
Many sites recommend cooking or charring tomatillos at least slightly to bring out their flavor and there are many wonderful recipes that use them that way but raw is good too. Uncooked tomatillos have a slightly crisp texture, a little like an apple. They are tarter than a tomato and when combined with their softer sweeter cousin bring a nice yin and yang to the party.
This quick and easy dish does just that — combining raw tomatillos and tomatoes as a sauce/salsa for a chili-coated seared tofu.
Green and Red Salsa with Chili Coated Tofu
Ingredients
For the Salsa
- 1/2 cup chopped tomatillos
- 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeño or other hot pepper (optional)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon chili lime seasoning
- Salt to taste
For the Tofu
- 1 block of firm or extra firm tofu
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 1 tablespoon of chili lime seasoning
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 to 2 tablespoons avocado oil
Directions
If you’re not using extra firm tofu, press excess water out of the tofu with a tofu press or sandwich the tofu between two plates and place a weight on top, like a 16 ounce can. Do this first so that the tofu will be ready to cook after you’ve made the salsa. Press the tofu for 20 to 30 minutes. After draining, pat the tofu dry with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. If you’re really short of time, this step can be skipped, your tofu just won’t be quite as crispy.
For the Salsa
Chop the tomatillos and tomatoes in about a half-inch dice. Finely chop the jalapeño or other hot pepper and the cilantro, if using, and combine in a small bowl.
Give it a quick mix then add the olive oil, lime juice, dried oregano and chili lime seasoning.
I used Rancho Gordo Chili Dipping Powder. Rancho Gordo is one of my favorite companies! They have awesome heirloom dried beans and really fresh spices. www.ranchogordo.com.
After your chili seasoning is in, add a pinch of salt to taste. Give the salsa one more mix and set aside.
For the Tofu
Heat the oil in a sauté pan. Mix the cornstarch, chili lime seasoning, oregano and salt on a plate or shallow bowl. Cut the tofu into eight “steaks”.
Dredge the tofu in the corn starch mixture shaking off any extra. You’re looking for a thin coating, not big clumps. Do just one piece at a time and place in the hot pan. By dredging one at a time your coating will stay crisper.
Sear about four to five minutes per side. Tofu is like toast. Some people like it lightly browned, others want a toastier slice. Cook it to your preference.
Cook the tofu to your desired doneness then with a spatula, flip to cook the other side. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to work in batches. You may also need to add a little more oil to the pan.
Plating
Arrange two or three slices of tofu on a plate. Top with salsa. Serve with vegetables of choice. I used green beans from the garden topped with a little olive oil and dried oregano. Broccoli and corn would also work well with this dish.
Notes
I used tomatillos, tomatoes, hot peppers, oregano and green beans all from my garden!! 😀 It’s a simple dish incorporating the last days of summer.
I love this salsa with cilantro. I just didn’t happen to have any the day I was cooking this. I also made it optional because some people can’t stand the taste. So sad! Lol.
This would also be good with chopped onions but my stomach doesn’t love them any more so I omitted them. If you like, go ahead and add them in. I’d do it with a light hand, though, because I think the tomatillos and the chili lime are the star of the dish and you don’t want to overwhelm them.
Finally, if you’re not into plant based eating, this would go well with grilled chicken or shrimp.
Let me know if you tried this and how it went for you!
Garden Notes
As I’m writing this piece, the Equinox was a few days ago and Summer is officially over. 🥲 But we still have heat and the last of the warm season plants are pumping out flowers and fruit as if they know they only have a little more time.
Tomatoes and green beans are still abundant. My peppers didn’t do very well this year but they are trying to finish strong and tomatillos, the late bloomer of the bunch, is just now coming ripe.
In the gaps in the garden where plants are finishing up, I’ve put in some fall/winter veg. Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, chard, beets, arugula and kohlrabi. I’ve never grown kohlrabi before so…fingers crossed. I’ll also start some lettuce and kale from seed this weekend.
The sunflowers in the garden look like drunken sailors. These are volunteers which come back every year and with recent rains their weight is pulling some branches down to the ground. There is only one plant per bed and yet they dominate. Birds are all over them as are bees of all stripes. This guy below is so laden it’s a wonder he can fly!
Quince – An Unusual Beauty
Quince is a fruit that is kin to a pear but more exotic. The tree keeps to a modest size with beautiful pale pink flowers in spring and golden fruit in the fall. But where quince really shines is in the kitchen.
Quince in the Kitchen
Sweet and fragrant quince preserves are just one of the rewards of growing this unique fruit tree. The fruits change in color from palest of yellow to a vibrant magenta when cooked and quince works well in both sweet and savory recipes.
History of Quince
Quince is native to Iran, Turkey and possibly Greece. In this country, in the past, many homesteads had a quince tree somewhere in the garden or yard — but today the fruit has fallen into obscurity. Quince is difficult to find in the store. You can occasionally find it in a supermarket or a farmers market.
My Introduction to Quince
The first time I saw a quince was in a farmers market. After I bought some and took them home, I asked the grower if they would be sure to let me know when they had more. The response was, “Sure. But what do you DO with them!” Apparently, there was a quince tree or two on the property of this farm and they had decided to pick them and bring them to market to see if anyone would buy them but no one from the farm knew what to do with them!
Easy to Grow
Quince is relatively easy to grow and care for. It maintains a small stature which makes the fruit easier to harvest than that of its cousins the pear and apple.
In my creek side garden, trying to harvest fruit without netting the tree is almost impossible — except for quince. (See Growing Fruit can be a Heartbreaker) Uncooked, it is extremely hard. While this makes it difficult to slice in the kitchen, it seems to discourage deer, birds and squirrels from eating the fruit before I have a chance to pick it! Yea!!
I have had some trouble with what I think may be fire blight but have a handle on it using a neem oil spray and cutting out the affected branches and fruit. Last year I applied neem after the leaves had dropped from the tree in early winter, in late winter before it leafed out and again after it had blossomed and set fruit.
Japanese beetles also like quince trees (what don’t they like!). But even with fire blight and beetles, I still got more than 20 pounds of fruit off of my small tree that is just over 5 feet tall.
All fruit trees in bloom are beautiful but the quince holds a special place in my heart for the color and delicacy of the blooms.
Harvest Time
As the summer progresses and moves into fall, it’s time to pick the quince. I picked mine in mid-October. They weren’t yet ripe but I brought them in to ripen on the kitchen counter. Unripe quince are a pale green/yellow color. When they ripen they turn more of a golden yellow color and have a beautiful flowery, perfume.
Cooking Quince
As I mentioned earlier. Quince is a hard fruit and not easy to cut. I gave up trying to cut straight through the core, like I would with an apple. Major fear — slicing through one of my fingers using this method! Ouch!!!
Instead, I peeled each fruit and them sliced around the core. Yes, I lost some fruit using this method, but I did manage to exit the kitchen with all of my digits intact!
As I sliced each fruit I dropped it into a pot of water that had half a lemon in it. This prevents the fruit from turning brown. For about four cups of fruit, I used six cups of water and 3/4 of a cup of sugar. Heat the water to a simmer and cook until they are soft. This will take about 60 to 90 minutes depending on the size of the quince pieces. You can use the quince as soon as it is soft but if you keep cooking it a bit longer, you will see it take on the beautiful magenta color that is so striking.
Quince have a ton of pectin in them so making jellies, jams and preserves does not require any additional thickeners. After they were cooked, half the quince went into the freezer for a harvest pie for Christmas and half I mashed down into a jammy preserve.
After I the quince cooked down, I added some cinnamon and nutmeg. I used the preserves to top an easy oat bar. You can use the quince preserves the same way you would use any other jelly — on top of toast, or a peanut butter sandwich, or as a glaze for a main course protein.
Quince Topped Oat Bars
This oat bar is adapted from a recipe from Forks over Knives https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes and was done by mashing two ripe bananas, adding a teaspoon of vanilla and 1 1/2 cups of oats. I mixed until it was combined and pushed it into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. After that, on went my quince preserves, about two cups worth. I topped it with chopped walnuts and put it into a 350 oven for about 30 minutes. When it’s done, pull it out, let it cool and store in a container in the fridge.
If you can’t plant a quince tree, I highly recommend snagging some if you see it in the market. It’s such a beautiful, colorful and lusciously scented addition to many recipes.
Final gifts of summer
The garden has its autumn look about it. There is carnage among the sunflowers. We had four separate storms this summer and early fall that came weeks, even months apart but each took their toll. The last one was the final straw. The downed sunflowers block most of the garden paths but they will stay for a while. There is nothing urgent I need to tend and they are covered still with bees and goldfinches harvesting their bounty.
The tomatoes are pretty much done except for one lone cherry tomato that just won’t give up.
The final gifts of the summer garden give way to a stunning fall
A neighbor texted me to tell me of one of the sure signs of fall. The geese are flocked up in the creek. She also warned that tonight’s temperatures are expected to drop into the 40s for the first time this season. With that alert, I headed out to the garden to pull the last of the basil before the cold put it beyond use. Harvesting the basil brought some unexpected gifts.
My pole beans that gave up during August’s drought had five beautiful beans at the top of the trellis. Surprise!
An eggplant hid a small round fruit under its worn leaves and several peppers flashed red showing they were ready. I brought them all inside to a kitchen that is delicately perfumed with a pot of simmering quince. (More about that in my next post.)
Hectic summer slows its pace
It has been more than two months since I wrote a piece for this blog. The summer turned out to be crazy and each time I sat down to write, something came up. I had been working on a post about growing and cooking zucchinis but even though there are plenty still at the market, tips on growing them seem out of place with the changing season.
The last zucchini I harvested managed to hide and became a monster! A foot long! I really thought it would be too tough and mealy inside to cook but amazingly it was very tender and didn’t even have much in the way of seeds!
So this piece is a grateful thanks for the final gifts of the summer season, while I look forward to what fall will bring.
In the meantime, one of my favorite zucchini recipes this summer was a creamy quinoa and vegan sausage stuffed zucchini.
Creamy Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini
Start by preheating the oven to 350. Then take your zucchini (Average sized ones will cook better than my monster.) and scoop it out leaving about 1/4 inch shell. Chop up the zucchini you just scooped out and set it aside. Then chop the veggie sausage in 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces. You could even put in a ground sausage but I prefer the chew of small pieces.
Add the Sausage and the chopped zucchini to a skillet and saute over medium heat in a little bit of olive oil. When it’s browned, move it to a bowl and set aside.
Season two cups of cooked quinoa with 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste, then add the quinoa to the bowl with the sausage and mix to combine.
Mix the cashew cream (see https://creeksidekitchenandgarden.com/springs-first-planting-is-easy-and-early-peas/ for Easy Cashew Cream directions) and enough water to make a sauce the consistency of heavy cream and add it to the bowl. Stir to combine. At this point the filling should be a little soupy because it will thicken up some as it bakes but you don’t want it too runny. I think the roughly 1/3 cup of liquid total is just about right.
Oil a small baking dish and place the zucchini shells in the dish lightly coating the shells with olive oil as well. Salt and pepper the inside of the shells. Add the stuffing mixture to the shells and place in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes until zucchini is almost cooked through. (My monster zucchini took longer but regular sized zucchini should take about 25 minutes to this point.)
While the zucchini is baking, mix the Panko bread crumbs in a small bowl with a scant tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of lemon juice and sprinkling of lemon zest.
After about 25 minutes, remove the zucchini from the oven and top with the breadcrumb mixture and bake for 10 minutes more or until zucchini shells are tender and the breadcrumbs are browned.
Serve with lemon wedges to add additional lemon flavor, or top with additional cashew cream and a sprinkling of smoked paprika. (Optional)
I think this goes well with either a light red wine or a fruity white. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini
- Olive oil
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 chopped vegan sausage (I used Tofurky Italian Sausage)
- 1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs
- Lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup cashew cream
- 2 tablespoons water
- Salt and pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Scoop out zucchini leaving about 1/4 inch shell.
- Chop up the zucchini you just scooped out and set aside.
- Chop the veggie sausage in 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces according to your taste.
- Add the Sausage and the chopped zucchini to a skillet and saute over medium heat in a little bit of olive oil. When it’s browned, add it to a bowl and set aside.
- Season two cups of cooked quinoa with 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the quinoa to the bowl with the sausage and mix to combine.
- Mix the cashew cream and enough water to make the consistency of heavy cream and add it to the bowl. Stir to combine.
- Oil a small baking dish and place the zucchini shells in the dish lightly coating the zucchini shells with olive oil as well. Salt and pepper the inside of the shells.
- Add the stuffing mixture to the shells and place in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes until zucchini is almost cooked through. (My monster zucchini took longer but regular sized zucchini should take about 25 minutes to this point.)
- Mix Panko with about a scant tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of lemon juice and sprinkling of lemon zest.
- After about 25 minutes, remove the zucchini from the oven and top with the breadcrumb mixture and bake for 10 minutes more or until zucchini shells are tender and the breadcrumbs are browned.
- Serve with lemon wedges to add additional lemon flavor, if desired or top with additional cashew cream and a sprinkling of smoked paprika.
Raspberries Glow like Rubies in the Garden
Raspberries glow like red, red rubies peaking through the green leaves. But beware the wicked thorns on these plants as you reach in to coax the fruit off the vines! They taste sweet and tart and are nothing like what you will find in the supermarket.
Eight years ago when I first laid out the garden, I planted blackberries and raspberries. I planted two varieties of blackberries and a neighbor gave me a third kind. Four different kinds of raspberries went in. After several years only the blackberries my neighbor gave me survived and this year sees me with just one type of raspberry. But a stunning raspberry it is.
Caring for Raspberries
When I planted my berries, I’d never grown them before. I’d never had a garden large enough to handle their rambling growth. I watched lots of videos on the internet and came away with conflicting ideas on how to best care for the vines. I think it may be a case of trial and error and finding what works best for you.
I’ve trellised mine along both a wire trellis that went in before I fenced the garden and using the deer fence after it was in. The raspberry pictured above actually migrated from where I originally planted them to the other side of the peach tree.
The one type that survived my early lack of knowledge is growing well. After it has fruited, the vine dies back and I cut it down to a few inches from the ground. Gloves and arm protection are needed for this task as the vines have wicked thorns!
Wineberry Raspberries
The raspberry that survived is called Wineberry Raspberry. Purchased from Edible Landscaping (https://eat-it.com), they fruit early for raspberries and have an incredible taste. Originally from Japan, they are apparently so easy to grow that they have naturalized in the Eastern United States. They produce jewel-like fruit that taste incredible.
The berries are planted along the back edge of the garden and are fronted by Bee Balm (Monarda) and Coneflower (Echinacea).
They don’t taste like supermarket berries!
Sweet and tart at the same time and incredibly delicate to pick. Sometimes as I went to pick them off the vine, I squeezed the berry just a little too hard and ended up with a “deconstructed” raspberry! They didn’t squish, just broke apart into tiny individual berry bits. I’m sure that’s one of the reasons you’ll never see these berries at the supermarket.
The berries grow in a small cluster that sometimes all ripen at the same time, allowing you to snip off the very tip and harvest six to eight berries all together. Yea!!!
I got about four quarts of berries this year over the course of about two weeks, from late June through early July. A very good investment of time. I fertilized them a couple of times with Garden Tone and pulled a few weeds from around the base of the plants, otherwise the only time invested was in the picking.
There are lots of good raspberry recipies out these but I have never used them because I love them so much eaten fresh out of hand! These ended up in a fruit salad with farm stand cantaloupe and blueberries.
My daughter visited over the Fourth of July and used farm stand peaches and blueberries with some of the raspberries in a mixed fruit crumble as a Fourth of July desert. It was excellent! So excellent that we ate most of the crumble before I remembered I should take a picture. 🤦♀️
I also enjoyed my garden fresh raspberries with morning oatmeal and to top this very simple chia pudding.
Vanilla Chia Pudding with Ruby Raspberries
This “recipe” is so simple, I don’t think it even really qualifies as a recipe but here goes….
- 1 1/2 cups plant based milk of your choice
- 1/3 cup chia seeds
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 Tbs. Maple syrup (or more according to your taste)
Mix all the ingredients. Stir well and refrigerate for at least three hours. Stir once or twice to keep the chia seeds distributed otherwise they have a tendency to sink to the bottom of the jar and clump.
To serve, spoon into dish and top with raspberries. Nice additions are also chopped almonds and/or cocoa nibs. Enjoy!
Spring in the Garden and Kitchen
Things are kicking into high gear here in the Creekside Garden. Spring is making itself known throughout the garden and having those very earliest of veggies to work with in the kitchen takes me to my happy place.
Daffodils are popping up everywhere.
The viburnums are flaunting their beautiful pink nosegays that smell so sweet and fill the garden with their perfume.
The Quince tree is covered with pale pink blossoms that will become unique apple-like fruits for jams and jellies this fall.
Spring is fast paced!
There doesn’t seem to be enough time to keep up with getting plants started, staying on top of the fast growing weeds and mundane tasks like picking up branches downed by winter storms. But I still have time to enjoy the Swiss chard planted last fall. It was kept warm over the winter with plastic and is now large enough to harvest leaves.
Early started lettuce seedlings are also ready to be picked. Plants like lettuce and chard can be harvested all at once or you can cut off the outer leaves from the base and leave the plant to continue to grow. Especially early in the season, that’s what I usually prefer.
For the past several years my dill patch has self-seeded but it doesn’t appear to be thriving this spring, so dill seeds went in next to the chard and are already about 2-inches tall!
Carrot seeds and beet seeds went into these bright blue grow bags.
Hands off pesky critters!
This is my first year using grow bags but I thought I’d give them a try for plants that have edible roots.
My yard has tons of voles. These little mouse-like critters live underground and they think beet, carrot and potato roots are candy! They also take out Swiss chard, lettuce — just about anything if they’re hungry enough.
By laying out walkways of gravel and digging some gravel into my beds, I’ve cut way back on the damage they do. Grow bags are a new addition in trying to foil them.
Maximizing growing space
Another reason I am trying the grow bags is to use them in locations that get enough sun for good plant growth but have tree and/or shrub roots that make planting in the ground difficult.
In addition to the medium blue grow bags, I have four larger purple grow bags that will be planted in a week or two. Two of them are getting potato slips and two of them are getting melon seeds. Melons should grow well in our area but every year I’ve planted them in the ground, they’ve not survived. I hope isolating them in their own grow bag will give them a better chance.
Indoors, cow pots host more lettuce seeds and a dozen marigolds. (For more info on planting into pots please see Planting for Spring!!! ) Marigolds can easily be sown directly into the garden but I want to decide later exactly where I want them based on how other plants are filling in. I got them from one of my favorite seed companies, Baker Creek. http://rareseeds.com
Asparagus is also up. This is week one of cutting. I have five more weeks I can cut spears before I need to leave the rest to send up their fern like stalks. Not harvesting too much allows the remaining stalks to feed the plant. That ensures another harvest again next spring.
This post’s recipe uses some of those asparagus spears and for more ideas on how to use this wonderful veg check out — Asparagus is up and lands on the grill!
Spring Cooking
Since it’s so early in the growing season, there isn’t a large quantity of any one plant. That’s where dishes like Pasta Primavera and this rice dish come in handy.
I had just three asparagus spears, some Genovese basil I thinned from its grow pot and amazing oyster mushrooms from a local grower. To make use of a little of this and a little of that, I made a quick, easy rice dish that can be served as a main dish or a side.
Companion Salad
I paired my Spring Veggies and Rice dish with a salad of sliced tomatoes and tofu topped with basil thinnings. If you’re not dairy challenged, mozzarella would obviously be classic for this. Check out Love Those Mouthwatering Tomatoes! for more on how to bring this salad together.
Neither one really qualifies as a “recipe” but I hope they inspire you to use the earliest of the garden’s gifts.
Spring Veggies and Rice
This easy to put together rice dish is a mash up of pasta primavera and a paella.
Directions
With rice in the fridge I wanted to use up, I added this and that from the garden and local growers. It came together quickly and easily.
The vegetables (in this case some yellow bell pepper, asparagus and oyster mushrooms) are given a fairly rough chop.
I sautéed them in a little olive oil with a sprinkle of salt until they were just getting soft.
I love paella but it takes some time to get it right. So….this is NOT a paella because there is no sofrito and no slow cooking to get crusty rice but this is MUCH faster and has a flavor slightly reminiscent of that amazing dish.
Cumin and smoked paprika are the spices I used in this dish to push it towards that Spanish flavor profile. I didn’t have saffron on hand but that would have worked well in this dish. I love the taste of orange with cumin and paprika so I squeezed an orange and added the juice into the pan.
Next I added in frozen peas and the spices. Heat it up just long enough to warm up the peas.
Finally I tossed rice into the pan and tasted for seasoning. Mine needed a little more salt and I added some black pepper.
For a final touch I sprinkled this with a little Aleppo pepper. In addition to taste, it adds a nice pop of color!
It was a good quick dinner which I paired with a light Tempranillo wine. Let’s keep that Spanish theme going!
This made enough for lunch the next day, served cold over lettuce just picked from the garden!
A drizzle of creamy lemon dressing worked well.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups vegetables rough chopped (I used bell pepper, asparagus and oyster mushrooms)
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tsp. cumin
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Sprinkle of Aleppo pepper (optional)
- Juice of 1 orange (about 3/4 cup)
Directions
- Give all the vegetables a rough chop.
- Heat the olive oil in the skillet for a minute or two. You want it hot but not smoking.
- Add the chopped vegetables to the skillet and sprinkle with a little salt. Cook until just starting to soften, about 7 minutes.
- Add in orange juice, frozen peas, cumin and smoked paprika. Cook until peas are warmed through, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the in rice. Cook until rice is warmed through and orange juice is reduced. About 5 to 10 minutes.
- Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed.
- Sprinkle with Aleppo pepper (optional) and serve.
Dish is also good cold as a grain salad.
Spring is on the way!
Spring is definitely trying to come early this year. It’s still February but lots of daffodils are up, birds are taking on their spring mating colors, the maple trees are a haze of red waiting to burst forth and that means…it’s time to plant seeds!
In addition to plants that won’t go into the ground until May, like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, which I’m staring indoors now, I’m also starting some seeds indoors that can go out earlier. For more on getting seeds started check out this post…https://creeksidekitchenandgarden.com/planting-for-spring/
Lettuce can be started early
Six weeks ago I planted lettuce seeds. Lettuce seeds are tiny and don’t need but a light dusting of soil to cover them so there were many little lettuce plants in my cow pot planters. After three weeks, when they got to be about an inch tall, I thinned them down to one per three inch pot.
They hung out under the grow lights another three weeks until they were about two inches tall and then they went into the garden under a greenhouse cloche I got from Gardeners Supply. https://www.gardeners.com/buy/sunny-forcing-cloches-set-of-3/8600075.html
The cloches have been fantastic! I put one over a pot that has my tarragon in it. My poor tarragon does not like to come inside over the winter, but last year it didn’t particularly like being in my cold frame either. This year, I popped the cloche over it and it looks incredibly healthy and vibrant! As does the lettuce:-)
Cool weather planting tips
The six lettuce plants went into the ground at the end of February. They’re cold hardy varieties and if I need to, I can always cover them if it looks like frost. When the ground is this cold, it’s hard for plants to pick up nitrogen, so I’ll feed these with a liquid seaweed fertilizer until the temps warm up more.
I am now planting two lettuce plants per week indoors so that as I harvest what is outside, I will have plants to replace them with until it’s warm enough to direct sow outdoors. Even then, I may still plant in individual planters. It’s hard work thinning lettuce in the garden bed. Much easier when it’s up on the counter!
And, of course, I would never throw those lettuce thinnings away. They were the green base for a winter red beet and Cara Cara orange salad.
Red Beet and Orange Salad
I love beets and although I don’t have any in the garden yet, they are plentiful at the store. I also love the combo of the sweetness of beets with the sweet but tart tang of oranges. This recipe is easy to modify to match your mood. Add some feta cheese if you’re looking for creamy and salty or slivered almonds if you want some crunch. Super easy to make, this stores well for at least three days in the fridge.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of cooked beets, peeled (boiled, steamed or roasted)
- 1 small orange, supremed (about a quarter cup)
- 1 tablespoon of orange juice
- 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of oil (olive or avocado would be my picks)
- 1 teaspoon of mustard, preferably dijon
- 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 cup feta cheese (optional)
- 2 tablespoons slivered almonds (optional)
- Lettuce or baby greens
Directions
Cook the beets however you like them. Boiled or steamed is probably easiest and, depending on the size of your beets, should take about an hour. Roasting really brings out the earthy flavor of beets but unless you have other vegetables to roast at the same time, uses a lot of energy and in the summer, can heat up the kitchen.
When the beets are cooked cut them in about a half inch dice and put them in a medium bowl.
Supreme the orange. To supreme an orange, cut both ends off, then using a paring knife, cut the peel away from the orange. I used a Cara Cara orange for this salad as they are plentiful in the store now. Regular oranges would work just fine as well.
Finally, use the paring knife to cut in-between the membranes that hold the orange segments together. Do this over a small bowl so that you catch the juice as the segments come free.
When all the pieces are free, squeeze the remaining orange center in your hand into the bowl which should give you at least a tablespoon of orange juice, then cut the orange into roughly half-inch pieces.
Add the oranges to the bowl with the beets and the cheese and/or almonds if you’re using them.
In the small bowl with the orange juice add the balsamic vinegar, oil, mustard, cumin and salt. Whisk together and then pour over the beet and orange mixture.
I used a banana vinegar I purchased from Rancho Gordo. They primarily sell beans but have some great spices, hot sauces and vinegars, too. Surprisingly, the banana vinegar tastes a lot like apple cider vinegar to me. Maybe just a little bit mellower.
Serve the beet salad on top of fresh greens.
Winter in the Garden Warming Stock in the Kitchen
Mulching is an essential fall/winter garden task that makes life easier in the spring and helps build good soil.
Fortunately winter has been mostly mild in my area so far. Fortunately — because I am soooo late in getting my garden beds mulched for winter. Usually a late fall task, weeding and then mulching with either pine straw or shredded leaves turned into a January/February event.
This year it was warm so late into the season https://creeksidekitchenandgarden.com/the-cadence-of-the-changing-seasons/ with the first frost not coming until mid-November, I got really behind. First late frost, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas and New Years — and of course my day job, lol. Now in late January, I am finally getting the beds put to bed for the winter.
I have plenty of pine straw from the pine trees all over our creekside property. The bigger challenge has been pulling up all the weeds that have spread throughout the beds with no edibles growing and no mulch down.
One of the beds is already well prepped as I did get a good layer of pine straw over my garlic when it went into the ground in October. And another is safely under cover growing some cold tolerant Swiss chard.
No Till Gardening
One of the new(er) concepts in gardening is that, even as rain forests are carbon sinks and help mitigate ozone depletion, so are our garden beds. The less we disturb the soil, the more carbon it is able to store and the less released into the atmosphere. No-till gardening is partially an outgrowth of this. However, much of no till gardening uses glyphosate (Roundup) to accomplish this.
Organic Alternatives
As a (mostly) organic gardener, I’m not going that route. But I’m also not doing what was recommended in my organic gardening books of 30 years ago and tilling my beds to a depth of 8 inches, waiting several days to let the birds eat the bugs plowed up then tilling again to a depth of four inches before mulching. My compromise is hand pulling weeds and then laying down an organic mulch from my yard.
Some organic gardeners have been using cardboard to kill weeds over the winter and laying mulch over top of the cardboard. All of it decomposes and helps the soil. A lot of work but I may try that next year. I certainly get enough cardboard from my UPS and Fed Ex deliveries!
Puppies Love to Help!
My dog, Rascal says he would help with digging up weeds, really! But, although he loves digging he digs in the most inappropriate places! Lol!!
Rascal’s hole was mostly ok, until he strayed into the strawberry bed and they started to fly…
Spring is on the Way
While doing late winter bed mulching, I am exercising patience for spring to come. Trying not to start my seedlings too early and reminding myself that it is still the middle of winter. However…..the earliest of daffodils have made an appearance.
And a neighbor’s pussy willow has budded out.
My marker of spring is a forsythia sending out its sprays of yellow flowers. I have a small one I planted a year ago and although the buds are beginning to swell, no flowers yet. Patience!
While I wait, I wanted to share with you my “recipe” for a frugal and delicious vegetable stock that is my base for so many winter recipes.
Roasted Vegetable Stock
I have a plastic bag in my freezer where many of my vegetable trimmings end up. The ends of onions, carrot and celery scraps, tomato left overs, squash seeds and herb trimmings. During the summer I toss corn cobs into bags and freeze them as they are a great addition to stock. If I don’t have enough scraps when it’s time to make soup, I’ll cut a couple of onions in half, add a couple of carrots and a couple stalks of celery. An almost full gallon freezer bag is enough for about 14 cups of stock.
Of course, you could start with fresh vegetables and there are lots of recipes out there for wonderful vegetable stock. But I like mine and the fact that it helps cut down on food waste.
While lots of odds and ends can go it, there some are things that should not go into stock; cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cabbage, bell peppers and, surprisingly, potatoes. It seems potatoes (according to the chefs on The Kitchen) will make the stock cloudy while cruciferous vegetables can make it bitter.
So come stock making day, I pull out my bag of odds and ends and add a few more if my bag is not 3/4 full. Lay them out on parchment paper on a rimmed sheet tray and roast them at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. When I can smell the vegetables and they look a little browned around the edges, out they come.
I used to put them in my stock pan, cover with water, bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 30 minutes or so. Now I use my Instant Pot. I put all the veggies in a colander like basket that fits into the Instant Pot, fill the pot with water and set it to “Soup” setting. Using the Instant Pot means I don’t have to watch to see when to turn down the stove. Talk about spoiled! But it does make life easier.
If you don’t use all the stock in a few days, it freezes well. I try to remember to make a few stock “ice cubes” so that when I need just a little stock, I can pop them out and use them.
I make my stock with no salt added. I usually generously season/salt my dishes and so the unsalted stock cuts down on sodium overload.
Enjoy!
The Cadence of the Changing Seasons
Seasons have their own special cadence. Summer seems to last forever. Fall is one of the most amazing seasons and most years, winter seems to come too quickly. This year saw a wonderful slow fade from summer into fall with tomatoes and peppers still trying to flower and bear fruit in mid-November!
As summer faded, autumn seeds for cool season crops that can overwinter under cover went in. Garlic was planted in October and is waiting under its layer of pine needle mulch to burst forth in spring. I didn’t manage to plant fall harvest crops like broccoli and cauliflower — but there’s always next year.
Weather Makes a Mess
This fall saw my garden looking disheveled. The fringe of two hurricanes, Ian and Nicole, bashed plants around, tilting tomato cages and leaving debris. They even uprooted two of my sunflowers! Apparently there was still enough dirt attached that even with roots up in the air, the plants just kept pumping out flowers. Although unsightly, I let them be. They were covered with bees — big bumble bees, honey bees and tiny bees that the internet informs me are called Sunflower Bees. Who knew! I love them all.
The Seasons of Birds
Late in the fall when I opened my sliding glass door to step into the garden, 20 or more goldfinches rose up into the air, unseen before my disturbance. They were clearly still getting plenty of nourishment from the plants, even in their tumbled state.
The plants aren’t the only things changing. One of my markers for the start of fall is the Osprey disappearing from the creek as they make their way to South America for the winter. Just as they leave, Dark Eyed Juncos flock to the yard and the feeders. Usually the switch is complete at the end of October. Some years it is earlier, some later. Birds seem to have their own idea of when it’s time to come and time to go dependent upon something other than the turning pages of a calendar.
Winter is Coming
Now that we’ve had our first couple of nights with temps around 30, the sunflowers finally gave up. I pulled them up from the garden beds and laid the plants on the bank by the creek in the hope that next summer sunflowers will sprout there. I did that last fall as well and was rewarded with a handful of volunteers…who knows, maybe next summer there will be even more.
I’ve planted Swiss chard, beets and some kale in the late fall garden. When the overnight temperature dipped down to 30 degrees for the first time in late November, I covered the bed with plastic sheeting. I buy the plastic cover from the local hardware store, the 4 mil thick variety. That seems to be enough insulation.
This year I bought some easy on easy off clips from Gardener’s Supply (they look like big chip bag clips) so that I can easily move the plastic off when the beds need rain or the day is too warm for the covering.
The Last Summer Harvest
Fall lasted a long time this year and only in mid-December is it starting to feel like winter is approaching. For now, I still have a few tomatoes ripening on the counter and thinnings from the autumn beds to make the best of two seasons.
Fall Meets Summer in the Kitchen
Fall thinnings with summer tomatoes
This hardly qualifies as a recipe but if you are thinning beds, don’t toss the tiny greens! They are delicious and so tender that you can even eat the roots. I mixed my thinnings with some of the tiny tomatoes from my volunteer tomato plan and topped it with a light vinaigrette. A small but satisfying side salad. One hint, make the vinaigrette very light or it will overpower the delicate greens. A lemon or rice wine salad dressing would be beautiful.