Rutabagas

Posted on August 31, 2023 by myediblebackyard

A rutabaga is a root vegetable something like a large turnip but sweeter and tastier. It is one of my favorite vegetables but, like parsnips, it doesn’t show up often at farmer’s markets or in the CSA basket. So this year I decided to try growing some in my community garden plot. The seeds I sowed in the spring emerged quickly and abundantly, but then so did the flea beetles! I was sure the crop would be a failure and avoided looking at that part of the garden as the ragged, emaciated leaves were just too sad to see. So I was quite surprised when several weeks later the sickly-looking plants had turned into a row of large, healthy leaves with large round purple and yellow roots forming below them. Not only had the plants overcome the siege of the flea beetles, they were also surviving the onslaught of snails brought on by this summer’s rainy, wet weather.

The rutabaga is a vegetable that gives twice, as the leaves as well as the roots are edible and delicious. They taste something like kale and can be used in the same way. A common way to eat the root is to boil it and mash it like mashed potatoes. It is also good roasted alone or with other root vegetables and is good in soups and stews. It is also an important ingredient in Cornish pasties, or so I’ve heard. I’ve never made any but now that I have the main ingredient on hand, maybe I’ll give it a try.

Here is a simple and tasty way to enjoy rutabagas.

Roasted Rutabagas and Apples

  • 2 lbs rutabaga, peeled and diced
  • 2 large apples, cored and sliced
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2-3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425°. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and toss to combine. Spread them on a greased baking sheet and roast until golden, about 45 minutes, stir them halfway through.

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Two Kinds of Parsnip Pie

Posted on February 16, 2023 by myediblebackyard

I love parsnips, but they don’t turn up often in my CSA basket or at the farmer’s market, so for the past couple of years I’ve been growing them in my plot in the community garden. The first year was a roaring success. I harvested half the crop in late fall and the rest in early spring for a total of close to 20 lbs. It’s a good thing we love parsnips in this house!

This past year was a much different experience. In the fall I dug up not quite 3 lbs. of parsnips and I expect I’ll get a similar amount when I harvest the rest this coming April. I suspect this relatively poor harvest was due in large part to the very dry summer we had last year. Fortunately for our parsnip desires, a friend gave us a few pounds of parsnips this winter, so we have had plenty to enjoy.

Parsnips keep well in the refrigerator for several weeks. They are good roasted alone or with other vegetables, and make a nice addition to soups and stews. They also make delicious pies. Below I share two favorite recipes for parsnip pie – one savory and one sweet. When I have a lot of parsnips on hand, like I did last year, I cook and puree some, then freeze the puree for longer storage. This is handy for when I want to make a parsnip pie.

Parsnip Pie with Onions
• 2 onions, sliced
• 3 eggs
• 1 ¼ cups milk
• 1 cup pureed parsnips (made from about ¾ lbs raw)
• ¼ cup grated cheese
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 uncooked pie crust

Sauté the onions in a small amount of butter or olive oil until golden and caramelized, about 10 minutes. Beat the eggs and milk together. Add the parsnips and salt and mix well. Stir in the cheese and onions. Pour into the pie crust and bake at 375° for about 45 minutes, until set.

Parsnip Custard Pie
• 1 cup milk
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• ½ tsp. vanilla
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 cup pureed parsnips (made from about ¾ lbs raw)
• 1 uncooked pie crust

Beat the eggs and milk together. Stir in the sugar, nutmeg, vanilla, and salt. Add the parsnips and mix well. Pour into the pie crust and bake at 375° for about 45 minutes, until set.

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Beets in Winter

Posted on February 8, 2023 by myediblebackyard

Last fall I bought a supply of storage vegetables – carrots, potatoes, and beets – from the CSA. Most of that has been eaten up by now, but I still have a few beets left. I used some of them the other day to make beet spread, a favorite treat in my household. It makes a nice snack spread on crackers and is also tasty as a sandwich spread.

BEET SPREAD

  • ¼ cup walnuts
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, peeled
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 8 oz. beets, peeled and diced
  • salt to taste

Pulse walnuts and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the beets and lemon juice and pulse to finely chop. Add the olive oil and salt and process to a chunky paste. Add more oil if needed. Taste and adjust salt.

Local analysis of the beet spread I made this week:

Local – beets from the CSA, garlic from my garden

Nonlocal – walnuts, lemon juice, olive oil, salt

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Food is Everywhere

Posted on May 27, 2022 by myediblebackyard

Food is everywhere. Here are some of the culinary delights we have enjoyed this spring, made with plants found growing near our house – salads with dandelion greens and mustard flower buds, stinging nettle soup, stinging nettle tortillas, stinging nettle pancakes, stinging nettle casserole (you can see we like stinging nettles!), and roasted vegetables seasoned with wood sorrel and gill-over-the-ground. We look forward to finding and eating more wild foods over the summer, including wild berries, red clover, and many more.

Some of the gill-over-the-ground that planted itself in my garden

Food is everywhere, you just have to look for it.

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Making Pesto

Posted on August 20, 2021 by myediblebackyard

Making pesto is something that never caught my attention until this summer. It started when I noticed that a lot of lambs-quarters had planted itself in my garden and I started thinking about things one can do with an abundance of greens. Once I found a basic formula for pesto, I experimented with whatever greens came my way, including lambs-quarters, radish greens, lemon balm, chard, beet greens, and carrot greens. Some I have liked better than others. My two favorites so far are radish greens and chard combined with basil. Some other greens you could try are spinach, mint, arugula, and kale, as well as dandelion greens and other wild greens.

You can use the recipe below with whatever greens or combination of greens you have available. Nuts and seeds that are commonly used in pesto include walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, and sunflower seeds. I saw one recipe that used pistachios, which sounds yummy. Some recipes recommend toasting the nuts, which I am sure is delicious, but so far I have been too lazy to try that myself. Most recipes recommend using 1/2 or even 3/4 cups of oil. I use much less as I prefer things to be not too oily. Also, I usually use pesto as a sandwich spread. You would probably want to use more oil if you plan to use your pesto as a sauce.

Since I have been making so much pesto, I have put some in the freezer to enjoy in the winter. I froze it in an ice cube tray, then put the frozen cubes in a plastic container for longer storage. This way I can take out whatever amount I need at a time.

Pesto

  • 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup nuts or seeds
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 cups greens
  • 1/8 – 3/4 cup olive oil
  • salt to taste

Pulverize the cheese in a food processor. Add the nuts, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pulse a few times. Add the greens, a cup at a time, and mince well. While the food processor is running, add the oil, a couple of tablespoons at a time, until the pesto is the consistency you like. Taste and adjust salt if needed. Makes about 1 cup.

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Wood Sorrel

Posted on July 2, 2021 by myediblebackyard

Wood sorrel is a low-growing plant with heart-shaped leaves and small yellow flowers with five petals. It is sometimes mistaken for clover because its leaves look a bit like clover leaves.

Wood sorrel may also be confused with a garden plant with a similar name. However, wood sorrel (genus oxalis) and common or garden sorrel (genus rumex) are quite different plants.

Wood sorrel leaves are tender and have a pleasant lemony taste. A small handful of chopped leaves makes nice addition to a garden salad. You can also make a simple sauce by sautéing wood sorrel in a bit of oil or butter.

Wood Sorrel Sauce

  • 2 cups wood sorrel leaves and stems
  • 2 Tbsp. oil or melted butter
  • Salt to taste

Chop up the wood sorrel with a knife or scissors. Sauté in the oil or butter until wilted. Serve over steamed or roasted vegetables. For those of us who live where lemons don’t grow, this is a nice way to add a lemony taste to vegetables using a local plant.

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Stinging Nettles Casserole

Posted on May 4, 2021 by myediblebackyard

If you’re looking for a way to use up all those stinging nettles that are available just for the picking right now, here’s a recipe to try.

Stinging Nettle and Rice Casserole

  • 1 cup raw rice
  • a colander full of freshly-picked stinging nettles
  • 1 medium onion, copped
  • 2–3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup grated cheese (cheddar is good)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Cook the rice. Steam the nettles. Rinse in cold water until cool enough to handle, then chop with a knife or scissors. Sauté the onions and garlic. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper. Stir in the chopped nettles, sautéed onions and garlic, grated cheese, and cooked rice. Place in a greased baking dish and bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

This recipe could also be made with spinach or any other greens you have available.

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Refrigerator Pickles

Posted on January 14, 2021 by myediblebackyard

I was thinking the other day about the delicious refrigerator pickles I made last summer when cucumbers were abundant, and feeling sad that I would have to wait many more months before tasting them again. Then I realized – why wait, when I have a bag full of locally-grown beets in the fridge right now. I mean, pickled beets, right? I figured I could use the same recipe for pickling the beets as I used for the cucumbers. So I did, and they came out great.

IMG_1694

Cucumbers or beets, these pickles make delicious snacks, add sparkle to sandwiches, taste great on cheese and crackers, are delicious however you eat them. You can use the leftover brine for salad dressing, as part or all of the liquid in a bread recipe, or for livening up soups and stews.

Refrigerator Pickles

  • 1 lb cucumbers or beets 
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup water (you can use the cooking water from the beets)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon each mustard seed, peppercorns, ground turmeric

Slice the vegetables. If using beets, peel them first and steam the slices until tender, about 15 minutes. Pack the vegetables into two clean pint jars. Make the brine by combining the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and spices in a saucepan over medium heat. Let simmer, while stirring, until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Pour the brine over the vegetables in the jars. Put on the lids, let the jars cool, then put in the refrigerator. Wait 24 hours before eating. These should last about a month in the refrigerator, unless you eat them before then, which you probably will.

 

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Carrot Greens

Posted on November 5, 2020 by myediblebackyard

When you come home from the Farmer’s Market, the CSA, or your own garden with a bunch of fresh carrots, don’t discard the carrot greens. They are delicious and nutritious and can be used in a variety of dishes.

Here are some ways to use carrot greens:

  1. Add them to a stir-fry
  2. Roast them with other vegetables
  3. Make carrot greens pesto
  4. Add them to a green salad
  5. Use them in place of lettuce in sandwich
  6. Make a carrot greens omelet
  7. Make a carrot greens pizza

Here’s a recipe that uses both the carrots and their greens.

Spicy Carrots and Greens

  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp each turmeric, coriander, cumin
  • 1 lb carrots, sliced, and their greens

Sauté the garlic and onions with a small amount of oil in a large frying pan for about 5 minutes, until onions are translucent. Mix in the spices and cook another minute or two. Add the carrots, stir to coat with the spices, and cook until they are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the greens and cook until the carrots and greens are as tender as you like them. You can add small amounts of water while cooking if needed to keep the vegetables from sticking to the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with rice or the grain of your choice.

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Bee Balm Bread

Posted on July 1, 2020 by myediblebackyard

bee balm flower

Bee balm is an unusually pretty garden flower, attractive to bees and hummingbirds, as well as to gardeners. It has a delightful fragrance reminiscent of oregano and mint. I dry some bee balm every summer to make a fragrant tea to enjoy all winter long. It is not only tasty but is also supposed to be antimicrobial and soothing to the nerves.

Bee balm is also used in cooking. It can be used to flavor meat, tossed into salads, and added to biscuit and muffin recipes. Today I added it to a whole wheat bread recipe. It came out sooooooooo tasty. Here are the ingredients I used.:

  • 1  1/2 cups water
  • 2 T honey
  • 1 cup bee balm petals and leaves
  • 3 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/3 cups white bread flour
  • 1 t salt
  • 2 T butter
  • 2 1/2 t yeast

Here are the ingredients in the pan:

be balm bread

I made the bread in my bread machine. You can do the same, following the manufacturer’s instructions for your machine, or you can follow your usual procedure for making bread by hand, or you can just use your favorite whole wheat bread recipe adding 1 cup of bee balm petals and leaves to a two-loaf recipe.  However you make it, it is sure to come out delicious, especially when you eat it fresh out of the oven with butter.

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