Rutabaga, Onion, and Kale

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is this week! Somehow the year is almost over and winter is sneaking up on me. I'm not ready! Can someone please tell winter to wait a minute? I need to prepare myself for this cold weather.

Thank goodness for things that don't need to do anything special to prepare for the cold... like brussels sprouts. I have left brussels sprouts out all winter before. When I want brussels sprouts I just go out and break the frozen sprouts off the plants. I've sometimes left parsnips in the garden, too. I keep digging them up and using them until the ground freezes and I can't dig them up anymore.

Turnips and rutabaga survive a bit of chill, and so do onions. Kale does quite well through several frosts. But too much cold will destroy these things. Knowing that their days are numbered makes me want them more, especially now, while I can still get them straight out of the garden. So yesterday I combined rutabaga, onion, and kale in a big skillet and sauteed them slowly in some butter and olive oil.

It was really really really really good.RUTABAGA, ONION, AND KALE

rutabaga
onion
kale
butter
olive oil
garlic, minced
salt and pepper

Cut rutabaga into julienne type strips. Thinly slice onion. Tear leafy green parts of kale into small pieces, discard stems. Saute rutabaga, onion, and kale with butter and olive oil in a large covered skillet for about 30 minutes. Uncover frequently to stir. When all ingredients are tender add minced garlic and simmer for a few more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Spring Omelet

Something I like about keeping a garden is that I get to anticipate different foods at different times of the year. Each season brings a variety of different foods... and I enjoy looking forward to harvesting the new foods of each season.

A couple of weeks ago I started gently scratching around in the asparagus bed. I knew that soon I would start seeing some thick nubby stubs of asparagus peeking out of the ground... and eventually, one day last week, I did!

Asparagus grows quickly this time of year and I've been eating asparagus every day ever since I noticed that first stalk! Add a handful of spinach that I planted a while back, some fresh eggs, and a few chives, and I have the makings for one of my favorite go-to meals this time of year... a delicious spring omelet!I briefly saute some spinach and asparagus and then set it aside.Then I whisk up a couple of eggs with a bit of salt and pepper.
I pour the eggs into the already heated pan and nudge the edges of the egg inward, tipping the pan to spread the uncooked egg to the new edge.

Then I put the spinach and asparagus on one side, add some shredded cheese, fold it over, and sprinkle some fresh cut chives on top.Classy! No wonder I look forward to spring so much!

Savoring September Salads

Autumn is my favorite season.

I love the beautiful colors, the crisp air, dry leaves that crinkle under my boots, and the cool, damp nights.

But I am not the only one who enjoys the cool, damp nights of autumn... salad greens like this kind of weather, too. They thrive in it.

If you have a garden, or a window box, or a flower pot on a stoop you can plant some lettuce and spinach seeds and have some quick growing salad this time of year. Depending on where you live and the kindness of Mother Nature, there may still be time to plant seeds for salad makings. Keep them well watered and they will continue to make salad for you even as you pick and use the greens. They will likely survive some frost. And no salad tastes better than the one that you tended into the coldest of weather.

My favorite way to dress a salad is the simplest... a splash of tasty vinegar, some olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss it together and dig in.

But salad is very accommodating. It will accept all kinds of additions. The more you add to it, the better it gets, limited only by your imagination and bravery. So throw in anything you've got.... steamed broccoli, sliced pork chop, caramelized onions, fresh chopped parsley, zucchini blossoms, toasted pumpkin seeds, diced apple, cooked lima beans, hard boiled egg, or leftover toast. Salad makes a great dumping ground for many of the odds and ends lurking in your fridge.

I've never met a salad that I didn't like.

Save Some Green!

There is no way of preserving the light crisp flavor of fresh greens. There just isn't. Nothing can compare to the bright colors and light texture that young tender spinach, chard, mustard, turnip, and beet greens add to your salad. And they rocket the vitamin content of that salad all the way to the moon!Canning these beautiful beet greens seems like an insult to them!

But in the winter, when the snow is flying, and you can only entertain faraway dreams of rototilling and planting seeds, you will be glad that you did insult those greens. Canned or frozen greens can be made into some delicious meals when fresh greens aren't available.

There are a number of good resources for home canning. The USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning is always up to date, and it's free. It is available online here. With one keystroke you can find instructions about how to can anything, including spinach and other greens. It also provides guidelines for processing foods at your altitude, whether you use a weighted-gauge or a dial-gauge pressure canner. This resource is comprehensive and easy to understand. I would never be able to out-do those people on this little blog. I would rather focus on sharing ideas and recipes using your homegrown foods here.

Incidentally, freezing greens is at least as good as canning them, if not even better. And it's easy. The pretty green colors are certainly maintained better by freezing than by canning. But this year I am canning more greens than I am freezing. I just want to save room in the freezer for some other things. If you prefer to freeze yours, remove tough stems, wash thoroughly, blanch or steam for just a couple of minutes, cool quickly in ice water, drain, and vacuum pack or put into freezer bags or freezer containers.Since a variety of fresh greens (and other colors!) are still thriving right now, we continue to enjoy them straight from the garden. So I'm not going to use the canned or frozen ones just yet. But I know I won't be sorry that I saved some before the heat of summer causes them to bolt. You won't be sorry if you can or freeze some, too!