Roasted Fall Veggies

digging for potatoes

Fall is a wonderful time to roast vegetables! And the garden is a perfect place to find delicious vegetables to roast and eat. Kids from Lincoln and Northgate Elementary Schools were able to harvest some pumpkins and squash, leeks, carrots, beets, and potatoes and make a tasty snack.  Here is the recipe!

Fall Roasted Vegetables

-  Peel the potatoes, carrots, and beets and cut them into pieces that are about as wide as a finger and about 1 ½ inches long. 

-  Scoop the seeds out of the squash and small pumpkins, and cut them into pieces about ½ by two inches long.  You can take the peel off or leave it on if the skin is thin. 

-  Cut the root and dark green leaves from the leek and cut it the long way.  Use scissors to cut the leek into 1-inch pieces.

-  Toss all of the vegetables with olive oil and place them single layer on a baking tray.  Bake them at 375 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes.  You should watch them closely and have an adult help you check if they are done by poking a fork in them.  They’re ready to eat when they’re soft and lightly brown.  Delicious!

What else could you roast in the oven?  What about zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, or yams?  The answer is yes!  Very hard vegetables (like yams) may take longer to cook, so you can chop the pieces smaller, or put them on their own baking sheet so they can stay in the oven a little longer.  This is a wonderful time to experiment in the kitchen and find out which veggies you love the most.  Enjoy!

Celebrating fresh food and fun cooking!

Cookin' up a Summer Garden Snack!

Soil to Snack Summer Campers 2013

We started our summer garden camps with Nature chefs--sweet first and second grade campers who loved to nibble in the garden.  Then we hosted fifth and sixth grade campers for a garden/cooking immersion week known as Dirt to Dinner. These campers learned many cooking skills while eating full garden meals.

Our third and last garden camp was with curious and hard-working third and fourth graders.  It was aptly called Soil to Snack. These third and fourth grade campers spent much of their week in the garden.  They loved to water both the veggies and each other!  And they sampled new foods while creating healthy, delicious snacks.  They especially loved lemon cucumbers, "Space Broccoli" (really called 'Romanesco') and fresh figs!

Some beautiful and cool looking 'Space Broccoli'!

Chef Jim teaching the campers how to make gnocchi

There are potatoes in this soil!!

Mixing things up

Check out these giant zucchinis!!

We hope to see you again next summer for some more delicious garden snacks!

Heavenly Rhubarb Lemonade

Rhubarb lemonade was a huge hit with Team Rain from Salmon Bay Elementary!

Team Rain loved the rhubarb lemonade so much they nicknamed it "Rhub-ade". One team member remarked, "It wasn't rubade, it was heaven".  We agree!!

Rhubarb is a perennial vegetable that can be harvested in the spring and into the summer.
Just eat the stems, which are delicious in pies, cobblers and even lemonade! DON'T eat the leaves because they are poisonous. 

Rhubarb Lemonade
Combine in a saucepan:
2 to 4 cups chopped rhubarb stems (more rhubarb will make it more tart and colorful)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons grated lemon zest
1 cup water
Bring ingredients to a boil and let it simmer over medium-low heat for about ten minutes until the rhubarb is soft. 
Set it aside and let it cool.

Meanwhile, cut 6 to 8 lemons in half and juice them with a reamer.  You should try to get about 3/4 cup lemon juice.

Fill a pitcher with about 8 cups of water and ice.  Pour the rhubarb mixture into a sieve and use a wooden spoon to press out as much of the rhubarb liquid as possible into the water.  You'll be left with the lemon peel and some rhubarb goo in the sieve, which you can eat (the kids thought it was delicious) or compost.

Pour the lemon juice into the sieve above the pitcher to remove the seeds and press gently to get the juice from the pulp.  Stir well and give it a taste.  Does it need more juice?  More water?  More sugar (I doubt it!)?

Serve with a fresh mint leaf if you wish - Mmmmm!

Brussels Sprouts and Sunchokes...Together!

Tis' the season of kale, sunchokes, Swiss chard, and Brussels sprouts....our tough winter vegetables. Not sure what to do with these seasonal crops? Here are a couple of recipes courtesy of our garden friend and volunteer Carol....thank you Carol!

Brussels Sprouts and Sunchoke Salad 

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 50 mins Serves: 4 as a side dish

Ingredients

Any leftover protein (beef, pork, chicken, tofu, or just leave it as a vegetarian/vegan)
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1 pint sunchokes, cleaned, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups Brussels sprouts, cleaned, trimmed and thinly sliced (keep any loose leaves to put on the salad later on)
2 sprigs rosemary
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt pinch ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
2 teaspoons maple syrup
Juice of 1/2 a lemon 
Shaved Parmesan, or aged cheddar Cheese (optional)

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Heat your oil or butter in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat, then add in your protein and cook until browned and caramelized, about 2 minutes (unless you are using bacon, then just cook until crisp). Remove with a slotted spoon, place on a plate lined with paper towel and set aside.

1. Add in another tablespoon or two of oil or butter, then add in your thinly sliced sunchokes over medium-high heat. Cook until blistered and becoming slightly tender, about 6-8 minutes, then add in the thinly sliced Brussels sprouts (but save some raw leaves for a pretty finishing touch). Toss in the rosemary, salt, and pepper, stir to combine, and allow to cook for an additional 6-8 minutes, until almost completely tender. Add in the meat, whisk together the mustard, maple syrup, and lemon juice, and toss to combine. Place in the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes, until everything is tender and warm.

2. Remove the pan from the oven, toss with the raw Brussels sprouts leaves and cheese, adjust seasonings as desired, and serve warm (although this tastes great reheated for lunch the next day or for breakfast with a fried egg on top, too).

3. Recipe by The Crepes of Wrath at http://crepesofwrath.net/2013/01/07/brussels-sprouts-and-sunchoke-salad/

Enjoy!!



Bean and Swiss Chard Soup

Chard!

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup white dry beans cooked, or 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
3-4 cups vegetable broth, depending on desired thickness
1/2 bunch Swiss chard (or kale), ribs and stems removed and roughly chopped
Freshly grated parmesan for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, cook onion, carrots, and garlic in olive oil until
veggies soften. Add white beans, vegetable broth, and chard. Cook
until the chard has softened, about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to
taste. Serve with parmesan cheese. For those who can't do dairy, add some fresh parsley or non-dairy cheese instead......and voila!