Eating from the Garden - 2008

Since my garden broccoli is ready and I'm in full swing of eating (everyday) and giving away some of my six plants, I wanted to share an easy broccoli recipe I've adapted from "The Silver Spoon" Italian cookbook (Phaidon - ISBN 0714845310) - page 414. This is a great book if you're ever looking for an Italian version of the Betty Crocker cook book.

It's a great summer recipe and gives you a reason to eat broccoli. If you don't want the full amount of broccoli (like me) just make the dressing normal size and cover whatever broccoli you made. I made this in about 10 minutes. I wouldn't substitute anything here - it's all fresh and most of it comes from your garden anyway.

2 lbs broccoli - cut into flowerets
1 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprig, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 fresh serrano pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
pinch of mustard powder
salt to taste

The original recipe calls for a chile (I'm guessing the Italian variety) but I used a serrano, I guess a jalapeno would work as well. Boil broccoli, stir remaining ingredients and pour over the still warm broccoli. Enjoy.

No. It actually makes no mention of that in the cookbook. I think there are a number of everyday Italian / Mediterranean dishes that could be viewed as "low calorie" or "low fat." Honestly, I don't think there's even a reason to use the low-fat yogurt - you could use full fat if you want. It's just a nice way to prepare a dish that usually gets the butter or olive oil and salt treatment. I'll use the same "dressing" on other great vegetables. It's a nice balance of garlic, spicy, and sour from the yogurt. If it's actually good for you, well, that's a bonus that you won't even have to think about....

Here's another dish I find myself eating quite of bit (or a variation thereof). With the over-abundance of Japanese eggplant and basil, I thought I would whip up a nice fettuccine with pesto and eggplant. It's simple and easy, and perfect for summer. My black beauty eggplant is coming in and so are the peppers and tomatoes -so there's plenty more to eat. Here's a pic:

Tyrus,

Looks terrific, as does the broccoli/dressing (name of dish?)

Looking forward to the next installment of Eating from the Garden - 2008.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:Tyrus,

Looks terrific, as does the broccoli/dressing (name of dish?)

Thanks. It's called "broccoletti piccanti allo yogurt" or less exciting "spicy broccoli with yogurt." I believe it's supposed to not use the main head of the broccoli plant but the small sprouts that grow after you cut the main head off.

I'll keep you posted, unfortunately, I'm not growing pigs up on the roof!

tyrus wrote:I'll keep you posted, unfortunately, I'm not growing pigs up on the roof!

Maybe that's something you can branch into next year.

Looks great Tyrus,

Making me wish I had eggplant this year!

You can have some of mine - seriously, I can't eat it all. I made some grilled eggplant last night. Sliced thick, salted and drained, then brushed with olive oil and on the grill. Layered it with some fresh basil leaves and thinly sliced garlic and more olive oil. Very good but I didn't put a dent in it. The leftovers will be baba ghanoush with some pita. Not bad...

Quick and easy soup recipe. My mom calls it her "Sicilian Broccoli Soup," since it was a friend's family recipe. Nobody ever writes these things down so I did my best to re-create it last night and it turned out pretty good. Here it goes:

1 medium onion, chopped
1 bunch of fresh broccoli - about a pound (I used some frozen from the spring garden) - chopped. This is a good time to use the stalk, just peel away the fibrous outer layer before chopping.
2 large Russet potatoes, peeled and diced in 1/2 inch cubes
2 TBSP olive oil
1 cup (or a little more) small pasta (my mom uses pipettes but I can rarely find those, I used small elbow macaroni).
Peeled/seeded hand crushed tomatoes (28 oz) from the garden or 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
Water
Sea Salt and Pepper

Okay, try to follow me here, this is how my mother explained it. In a large pot (I use a 5.5 qt dutch oven), saute the onion in olive oil until soft, add water until the pot is about 2/3 of the way full (I'm guessing this is about 8 cups). Add potatoes and broccoli and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer/low boil. When the potatoes are 1/2 way cooked (about 10 minutes), add the pasta and cook to al dente. Then, remove about 3 cups of the liquid and RETAIN it for later. Add the tomatoes, salt/pepper and heat through. Don't over cook the soup, the potatoes and pasta can get soft - my mom usually adds the tomatoes and then covers the pot and turns off the heat. If the soup gets too thick, you can thin it with the retained liquid, depending upon your taste.

Now, I don't over season, instead I'll season my own bowl with some more sea salt. In the past, I've added a little red pepper flakes to the soup and you can also add a bay leaf to the pot as it cooks.

I usually serve with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and some grilled Italian bread but you could add some torn basil, another splash of good olive oil, etc. If you wanted a heartier meal, you could add some white beans to the soup.

We're winding down a little bit from our summer garden. With the warm weather, we still have some tomatoes (about 5-7lbs per week lately), spinach, lettuce, onions, and herbs. Everything else has run its course. Next year will be better planned with crop rotation and vegetable varieties.

With the economy the way it is, I'm guessing there will be a pinch in some pocketbooks that may impact the grocery list. To give some an idea of my garden ROI this year with just my tomatoes, here is an excerpt from our garden blog (http://greenroofgrowers.blogspot.com/) (*moderators, if this is inappropriate, please feel free to delete):

To give you an idea of why I feel good about my garden investment this year, here’s an example. I planted four boxes of tomatoes (actually five but the last box was a late season addition of donated heirlooms tomatoes – I want to keep this fair). My investment for the boxes was $34 each (I bought twelve at once). I figure the potting mix and fertilizer cost another $12 per box and starter plants were about five bucks each (two per box). That’s about $224.00 for tomatoes this year!

But wait. Some claim that they can get yields of 40lbs of tomatoes per box per season. I didn’t count but I would estimate that, on average, I was pulling about 5-10lbs of tomatoes per week since mid July (I’m still pulling 5 lbs a week in mid October). If we take an average of two pounds of tomatoes per box per week for 13 weeks, it’s about 26lbs of tomatoes per box, per season (a conservative estimate) or 104 pounds of tomatoes. At my local organic grocer, organic tomatoes cost about $4 per pound in season. At the farmers markets, they average about $3 per pound. That’s $300-$400 if I were to purchase my yield and quality at the store or market. That’s a significant savings and don’t even get me started on my lettuce! On top of the cost difference, I have the pleasure of walking upstairs to pick my “fresh off the vine” tomato for my BLT. I will track the costs better next year. This year was my “R&D” phase to see if growing vegetables on my roof was possible.

Obviously, next year's crop will have a larger ROI because the cost of the planters will be negated. With rising food costs, the economy, and sometimes lack of fresh vegetables, starting a garden could be a great way to supplement your food bill.