Meatless Mondays

My friend over at Mommy Porch has been posting for months about her Meatless Mondays.   I didn't realize until I read an article in this week's Washington Post that it was an organized movement.

I stopped eating meat when I was 19 and pretty much stuck to that routine until I was in my 30's.  Then I would eat the occasional piece of chicken while out dining and when I was pregnant with my daughter, I really craved chicken.  So slowly, meat has worked it's way back into my diet.  After all, there is a 1/2 of hog sitting in my freezer.  I would say that meat is still not a mainstay of our diets - chicken once a week and fish once a week and the rest of the time is really vegetable based. 

In any case, with the harvest starting of my own garden and my CSA set to start to deliver in a couple of weeks, I think I will try to follow the Meatless Monday routine and blog about it like my friend Mommy Porch.  Tomorrow for dinner will be risotto with fresh peas.

Speaking of porches, I was sitting outside on my porch shelling peas and enjoying looking at my garden.  It doesn't get any better than that.

My porch

I love my porch!

How's the vegetable garden looking this week - May 21

I stopped by the garden today to pick peas and lettuce for dinner.  I don't have pictures of dinner but I made bow tie pasta with a cream sauce with peas and diced ham.  Simmer cream for a few minutes, added fresh shelled peas and heritage hog diced ham.  Pour over bow ties and add parmesan cheese.  Had a salad of lettuce, arugula, spinach, mustard greens and radishes.  Made a vinaigrette with smooshed garlic and salt, dijon mustard, sherry vinegar and olive oil.

Here are some pictures from the vegetable garden today

Fresh Peas

Peas on left, snow peas on right, green beans under row cover

Radishes, chard, mustard, spinach, lettuce, arugula

Tomatoes in the funny contraption

Broccoli in the middle

Fava beans. I can't wait for these!

Favas mixed with random, stray potatoes

Shallots with sticks for pole beans

Beets and onions (and Martin's legs)

Leeks

Carrots and garlic

Dill.  Self seeded but I will use it all for pickles

Potatoes!

This week's harvest from the Vegetable Garden

It's been raining for a few days so yesterday was the first time in several days that I was able to stop by the garden.  Everything looks healthy although a couple of the sweet potato plants are lifeless and because of the cold weather, the tomatoes are not growing as they should.

I picked some greens for dinner.  As I was walking past the peas, I did a double take and saw fat pods hanging off one type of plant.  Yipee!  One of my favorite foods is fresh shelled peas.

These babies were gone in a second.  Beanie Two had a few but I ate the rest, raw.

Broccoli raab - flowers and all.

What to do with the raab?  I boiled some water and then threw in the greens for a couple of minutes.  Drained, then chopped greens.  Saute some pork sausage, chop into pieces while frying, then throw in chopped greens and cook for a few minutes until hot.  Season to taste. I only added a little salt but hot pepper would be good.  Eat for lunch the next day.

Mixed greens for salad

Lovely radishes

What's blooming May 17

Lots more blooming in the yard.  It's been raining the past couple of days and will be for the next couple of days.  That's ok, the plants need the rain

Bellflowers (with gnome)

Shade garden doing great

Huge Hosta!

I used to not like Hostas until I discovered the beautiful varieties.  These really need to be divided

Carolina Smoke Bush

Dianthus

This is the most bizarre plant - I thought I had transplanted lamb's ear.  The leaves are fuzzy but these flowers are not what lamb's ear look like.  I've searched and it seems to be Rose Campion. I have no idea where it came from since I never planted it anywhere in the garden.  Oh well, the flowers are very pretty.

Dianthus - smells like cinnamon

I don't remember planting these!  They are a delicate bulb - yellow and some pink.  I can't remember what they are

Sedum

Pink Dianthus viewed through chive flowers

Lavender mixed with thyme

Chocolate Souffle

Mommy, can we make chocolate souffle for dessert?  Of course honey

Chocolate Souffle

6 tablespoons sugar plus extra for dusting ramekins
1 oz semi-sweet chocolate
4 1/2 tsp butter
2 tblsp cocoa
2 tblsp flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
3 egg whites

preheat oven to 375  Grease and sugar 4 ramekins

Combine chocolate, butter and 3 tblsp sugar in saucepan.  Cook on low heat until butter is melted.  Add cocoa, flour and salt.  Whisk in milk and cook for 3 min.  Cool.
Beat egg whites until foamy.  Add remaining 3 tblsp sugar, 1 tblsp at a time.  Beat until stiff peaks form.  Fold 1/4 of mixture into chocolate, then fold in the rest.  Pour into ramekins and bake for 20 min.

Chocolate mixture

Ramekins, greased and dusted with sugar

Beanie Two, beating egg whites

Ready for the oven

Yum!  Ready to eat

What's blooming May 9

I've spent the past 2 days totally cleaning up the yard and gardens.  Lots of weeding, mowing, transplanting, watering, and pruning.  Made a trip to the nursery to buy plants for containers and some mulch.  Didn't have the energy to do that today but it's on the agenda for tomorrow.

A perennial geranium - Johnson's Blue

Climbing roses.  Didn't realize until I looked at these later that there is a clematis blooming under it.

Siberian Iris.  A colleague gave me some a few years ago and now it's time for them to be thinned

Jude the Obscure roses with clematis

White peonies with Baptisia on the left and irises on the right

Dianthus - smells like cinnamon

Some kind of daisy - I thought they were shasta but apparently not!

I love these clematis

Shrub roses.  I know they are common but you can't beat them for color all summer

Cooking from the garden

The crops are coming in and it's time to start using them.

Lemon balm is a member of the mint family so not surprisingly, it is spreading in my yard like crazy.  I tried making tea out of it and it's delicious

Lemon Balm Tea

I cut a couple of handfuls of lemon balm, washed the leaves and plucked them from the stalks.  Bring to a boil 6 cups of water.  Put in lemon balm and 2 regular tea bags and 1/4 cup sugar.  Let steep until lukewarm.  Strain out lemon balm and tea bags.  Put in a pitcher and add a tablespoon of lemon juice and another cup of water.  Serve over ice.

Sauted mixed greens with poached eggs

The greens in the vegetable garden are out of control!  I thinned the beet greens and then picked the broccoli raab and some mustard.  Originally I thought I would eat it as a side dish with some pasta but while the greens were cooking, I thought poached eggs would be nice.

Beets greens on left, broccoli raab on right with a few mustard greens in the middle

I minced several cloves of garlic and then warmed them in olive oil.  Added the greens and several shakes of homemade dried pepper flakes.  Cooked until wilted.

For the eggs, heat a little oil on medium heat.  Crack two eggs into the pan and cook for 1 min.  Grab about 4 ice cubes, put in the pan, cover with a lid and cook for 2 min.  The easy way to poach eggs.

Greens with eggs and garlic olive oil