Yummy Harvest

Harvest: 14 yellow pear tomatoes, 1 red grape tomato, 6oz kale, 6oz arugula, 1 burgess butter cup winter squash, and 1 baby oxheart carrot.

Kale Harvest

Harvest: 6oz kale and 2oz deer tongue lettuce.

Stir Fry on Fried Chinese Cake Noodles

Made cake noodles today with greens harvested from the garden.

Stir Fry on Fried Chinese Cake Noodles

noodles
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoons ginger, minced
1 tablespoons garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 lb chicken thighs, skinned, deboned and diced
1/2 lb cooked shrimp
1 cup straw mushrooms
1/2 lb sugar snap peas, cleaned (or other vegetables)
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
2 tbs cornstarch to taste
salt and pepper

1. Cook noodles till just barely al dente.


2. Stir fry ginger and garlic in cooking oil.


3. Season chicken with salt and pepper.


4. Fry chicken with ginger and garlic, continue to cook until chicken is brown.


5. While chicken cooks, heat 1.5 tablespoons oil over medium-high to high heat in a separate skillet. Add the noodles. Quickly spread them out to the edges of the pan, and then let them cook, without stirring, until they are browned on the bottom (5 - 8 minutes). Carefully invert cake onto prepared plate. Return skillet to medium heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and brown (another 3 minutes)


6. Add mushrooms and sugar snap peas to the chicken. Then add 1/2 cup chicken stock, oyster sauce, and sugar.


7. Mix cornstarch with remaining 1 cup chicken broth separately and add to stir-fry mixture.


8. Cook until the mixture begins to thicken, then add shrimp. When shrimp is heated through, server over noodles.

Harvest: 3 baby oxheart carrots, 4oz of red russian kale, and 4oz of mibuna asian mustard greens

Crispy Kale

This tastes a lot like nori (seaweed).

Crispy Baked Kale

kale
freshly ground sea salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste
olive oil

1. Preheat your oven to 350F.
2. Tear the kale into bite-sized pieces and wash and dry it in a salad spinner.
3. Spread these pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet. Spray all the leaves with a fine mist of olive oil until they are lightly coated.
4. Sprinkle the freshly grated sea salt and pepper to taste. Don't over do it!
5. Bake in oven 15 to 20 minutes. Kale will look a bit translucent but still green. Enjoy!

Homegrown Vegetables

Garden looks good. Very lush. I feel lucky to eat fresh homegrown vegetables.

Harvest: 1 lemon boy tomato, 11 yellow pear tomatoes, 1 bambino hybrid eggplant, 1 scarlet globe radish, 4oz of red russian kale, and 10oz mix of mibuna asian mustard greens, deer tongue lettuce, tom thumb lettuce, and arugula.

Garden Salad

Harvest: 7 yellow pear tomatoes, 2 scarlet globe radish, and 6oz mix of mibuna asian mustard greens, deer tongue lettuce, tom thumb lettuce, red russian kale, and arugula.

Chinese Broccoli

I finally figured out the english name of Chinese broccoli (芥蘭, pinyin: jiè lán) -- it's Chinese kale or flowering kale!

I think I'll buy some seeds of the Great Lance variety from Johnny's Selected Seeds:

Glossy leaves and crisp, thick stems.
This uniform, budding-type Chinese kale (also called gai lohn and pak kah nah) is great in stir-fries or cooked like broccoli. Harvest the stalks when 8" tall and 2-3 flower buds are open. After the main stem is cut, the plant will send up many branches for subsequent harvests. More vigorous and adaptable than nonhybrid varieties. Avg. 4,750 seeds/oz. Mini: 220 seeds.

Days to Maturity or Bloom: 45

Harvest: 2 red grape tomatoes, 7 yellow pear tomatoes.

Kale & Winter Squash

The winter squash plants (Burgess Buttercup, Uchiki Kuri, and Delicata) are growing rapidly. They started to choke out the onions. I had to trim each of the plants back this morning.

As for the kale, I finally trimmed back the leaves that pretty much had no greens left (bugs), leaving several plants with just one or two leaves.

On the plants that had many healthy leaves, I harvested several.

Also planted more bok choy.

Harvest: 1oz red russian kale.

Kale Destroyed

Bugs have completely eaten / killed the kale.

So much for cooking Tuscan-style spaghetti with kale and cannellinis.

At least the tomatoes are still producing.

Harvest: 6 red grape tomatoes, 5 yellow pear tomatoes. 

Tuscan-Style Spaghetti with Kale and Cannellinis

My first attempt at cooking kale...

Tuscan-Style Spaghetti with Kale and Cannellinis
Vegetarian Times Issue: September 1, 2006 p.42

Serves 8

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium-size onion, diced (about 1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 Tbs.)
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 1/2 lb. kale, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 12 cups)
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
3/4 tsp. salt
1 15-oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup pitted black olives, chopped
1 12-oz. pkg. whole-wheat spaghetti
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté onion in oil 5 minutes, or until softened. Stir in garlic and red pepper flakes.
2. Add 6 cups kale, and cook 2 minutes, or until wilted, tossing occasionally. Add remaining kale, tomatoes, broth and salt. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 15 minutes, or until soupy, tossing occasionally. Stir in beans and olives.
3. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain, and return to pot with kale mixture. Cook 2 minutes over medium heat, or until pasta absorbs most of liquid. Sprinkle with Parmesan, and season with salt and pepper.

Nutritional Information
Per SERVING: Calories 270, Protein 10g, Total fat 7g, Carbs 46g, Cholesterol 2mg, Sodium 379mg, Fiber 10g, Sugars 5g

Cooking from the Garden

Need to learn some recipes to consume the plentiful kale.

Radishes look ready to harvest and eat. Don't know any radish recipes either -- I just eat them in salads.

Peas planted two weeks ago are ready to be trained up the tomato cages. Must check on them daily.

Onions planted three weeks ago have delicate shoots and purple flowers.

Harvest: 13 red grape tomatoes and 8 yellow pear tomatoes.