Fall Planting

(Not-so) BREAKING NEWS! You still have time to plant fall vegetables!

At this point in the summer, when the days are hot and long and you are harvesting all the fruits (and vegetables) of your labor, it’s easy to forget that the planting season is not over yet. In fact, you still have several weeks to get fall vegetables started. Today we transplanted cauliflower starts from their home in the little greenhouse to the wondrous new world of the ground. The weather was beautiful for working outside, and it should remain so throughout the rest of the week (read: what are you waiting for?! Get going!!) It’s not just the days that are ideal; the nights will be cool as well, making a perfect combination for starting your fall vegetables.

Here’s what you can still plant this year: beets; Chinese cabbage; lettuce (head and baby); radishes (round and Daikon); spinach; Swiss chard; and turnips. The latest these should be planted is early to mid-August, considering that our first frost in the great region of Michiana usually comes around mid-October. So you still have plenty of time! For more detailed information such as exact planting dates, check out Johnny’s Seed Planting Schedule Calculator (http://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/seed-planting-schedule-calculator.html), and enter the frost-free date as 10/15/2017.

Good eats and happy harvesting!

Leah

Fall Cabbage Planted Today

Swiss Chard Fritters

This recipe comes from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s Jerusalem: A Cookbook.

Note: The original recipe calls for Swiss chard. Spinach, kale, mustard greens, etc., can all be substituted. If using spinach, increase by about 1/2 and wilt in a pan rather than boil. For the herbs, adjust freely to what you have on hand or prefer.

• 14 oz Swiss chard
• ½ cup chopped Italian parsley
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• ¼ cup chopped dill
• 1½ teaspoons grated nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• freshly cracked pepper
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 large eggs
• 3 ounces crumbled feta cheese
• Olive oil for frying
• Lemon wedges for serving

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add greens, and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and squeeze the leaves.
2. Place chard in food processor with herbs, nutmeg, sugar, salt, pepper, flour, garlic and eggs. Pulse until smooth. Fold in feta by hand.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Spoon in a heaping tablespoon of mixture for each fritter. Press down gently to get each fritter about 1 cm thick. Cook a few minutes, flip, and cook a few minutes more. They should be slightly golden. Transfer to a cloth or paper towels. Add more oil as needed.
4. Serve with lemon wedges.

Garlic Green Beans

The best recipes can be the simplest recipes. Here’s proof.

Serves 4

• 3/4 pound fresh green beans
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Coarse salt

1. Snap off the tops of the beans. Melt the butter in a skillet, add the beans, and cook them over a medium to medium-high flame, stirring, until they begin to brown.
2. Lower the flame, cover, and cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until the beans are the desired tenderness, stirring occasionally.
3. Mix in the crushed garlic, sprinkle with salt, and serve immediately.

Source: Penelope Casas, The Foods and Wines of Spain, by way of Food52’s Genius Recipes, posted here.

Recipe: Smothered Cabbage

The following traditional Venetian method for cooking cabbage is called sofegao, or “smothered.” This recipe comes from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

Serves 6

Smothered Cabbage, Venetian Style

• 2 pounds green, red, or Savoy cabbage
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• Salt
• Black pepper, freshly ground
  
• 1 tablespoon wine vinegar
  

1. Detach and discard the first few outer leaves of the cabbage. The remaining head of leaves must be shredded very fine. If you are going to do it by hand, cut the leaves into fine shreds, slicing them off the whole head. Turn the head after you have sliced a section of it until gradually you expose the entire core, which must be discarded. If you want to use the food processor, cut the leaves off from the core in sections, discard the core and process the leaves through a shredding attachment.
2. Put the onion and olive oil into a large sauté pan, and turn the heat on to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it becomes colored a deep gold, then add the garlic. When you have cooked the garlic until it becomes colored a very pale gold, add the shredded cabbage. Turn the cabbage over 2 or 3 times to coat it well, and cook it until it is wilted.
3. Add salt, pepper, and the vinegar. Turn the cabbage over once completely, lower the heat to minimum, and cover the pan tightly. Cook for at least 1 1/2 hours, or until it is very tender, turning it from time to time. If while it is cooking, the liquid in the pan should become insufficient, add 2 tablespoons water as needed. When done, taste and correct for salt and pepper. Allow it to settle a few minutes off heat before serving. Note: The smothered cabbage can be prepared 2 or 3 days ahead of the soup, or served as a side dish from here. It also freezes well.

 

 

What to do with beet greens?

After trying several recipes, we’ve finally found it: A beet green recipe we enjoyed so much that we’re looking forward to eating it again.

This is a simplified version of Silly Apron’s recipe, found here on Food52.

Serves 2

• 3 bunches beet greens, red stems removed, rinsed, and coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 cloves of garlic, grated

1. Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic, cumin, and paprika. Stir a couple minutes.
2. Add the beet greens and salt. Turn the heat to medium and stir to coat the greens with oil.
3. Cover. Lower heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Stir and simmer another 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
6. Drizzle greens with olive oil and top with a poached or fried egg.