Vegetables aplenty
Picking up where we left off last week …
The kitchen garden has also flexed its muscles as we’re bringing in record numbers of carrots, potatoes, beets, and green beans (and no beetles!) Being July, it’s not surprising that the lettuce is slowing down, but the tomatoes and parsnips are picking up the pace. During the past couple of months we’ve worked hard to eliminate meat in at least 50% of our meals. Not a dogmatic approach, nor do we engage in any self-loathing when it doesn’t happen.
With such abundance in the kitchen garden, we’d be crazy not to make the most of it with more veg-centric meals. And yet it’s also kept me on my toes, trying to use as much of the harvest as possible. The lettuce, obviously, went into salads and more salads, but to be honest I could have done better at using it all up before it bolted. The peas matured suddenly and took me by surprise, but there’s nothing better than peas fresh from the pod, steamed with butter & salt, or served over pasta with fresh herbs and a bit of parmesan. We had more than we could eat right away, so I froze the rest to enjoy as a supporting actor in other pasta or salad dishes.
Strawberries are my favorite fruit ever, but this year they are more of a bonus snack when we’re lucky enough to get there before the mice. Small, infrequent yields are not uncommon the first year and the plants look great. We have high hopes for next season, as long as we reinforce the bed to protect the fruit.
Our love of beets came about thanks to a farm share subscription a few years ago, and every week I pick a batch and roast them. They make a nice addition to green salads, and also feature prominently in our meatless menu rotation. I love a good whole-meal salad with grains and beets, like the Beet and Lentil Salad with Cheddar or Farro Salad with Beets, Greens, and Feta, both from NYT Cooking1.
We serve carrots most often simply roasted with a bit of olive oil and thyme, but this first batch didn’t last that long. We washed, peeled, and ate them raw. Yum. Carrots keep really well in the fridge, ready for action, so this is another crop I can pick in batches and have at the ready.
Green beans, like peas, don’t demand much from the cook: a bit of steam, and salt or herbs as you like. Green beans also make a nice addition to salads. And they freeze well. Win-win-win!
We started basil in seed trays, but after planting them out they appeared to stall so we panic-sowed more seeds in the bed. Now we are drowning in it, but I guess that’s a nice problem to have. Basil, of course, is an excellent seasoning for any number of dishes, but to me nothing says summer like Pesto. In fact, the other day I opened the August 2023 issue of Bon Appétit magazine to find a two-page spread singing the praises of basil, including BA’s Best Pesto2 recipe which has become my go-to.
Is it possible to have too many potatoes? In theory, no, because they are delicious. In practice … maybe. I bought the smallest packages of seed potatoes available but even so, we have a lot of plants. Last year’s crop was abysmal; we started late and without a dedicated bed we had to use grow bags. This year the potatoes are loving their nice new bed, and rewarding us for our kindness. My current approach is to harvest a couple of plants at a time, store the spuds in burlap sacks in a dry place, and then try to use them up before they sprout. We’ll see how that goes; fortunately I know of a local food pantry that would love to take any extras off our hands.
There is no wrong way to prepare potatoes in my book, although I leave frying to the pros. In the summer heat, potatoes are especially nice in salads. We made a salade niçoise for a recent a picnic with friends, and then a similar salad without the tuna for a weeknight dinner. As a special bonus, both dishes also called for green beans.
I feel like I am just barely keeping up with our garden produce, and now tomato season is upon us. This past week brought one lonely ripe tomato, which quickly found its way into a very tasty taco salad. I won’t be surprised if we see masses of newly-ripened fruit in the week ahead. There may be nothing better than a fresh tomato at the height of summer. Bring it!
I’m always on the lookout for new recipes to take advantage of our garden produce. Please share your favorites in the comment section:
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My mouth is watering! Your basil makes me jealous. It all looks delicious.
Well, that was a Pavlovian post: I could feel my mouth watering thinking of eating those fresh peas and potatoes with butter, salt & pepper, all as fresh as fresh could be. I put excess basil through the food processor with a soupcon of water, then press the ground leaves into ice cube trays, freezing them and then saving the cubes in zip lock bags for cooking throughout the winter. I do this with parsley and cilantro as well. I freeze rosemary as is, in stalks. Thyme does well this way too.
Your beets are gorgeous!