The first kale was harvested, some dinosaur kale. It went into a Genius Kale salad, a recipe from Food52 (thanks to Susan from Edible Gardens Point Loma for the pointer). Thinly sliced kale was tossed with diced cheddar, chopped almonds, diced mango and a lemon olive oil vinaigrette. We had it with steamed PEI mussels from our CSF share and a baguette turned into garlic toast. The wife loved it and I got her to eat kale (and mussels)!
More spinach was picked. The plants are not yet showing signs of bolting but I guess I have the clock ticking as we march toward the solstice. This was put in a spinach and strawberry salad with some more diced cheddar (Cabot’s Alpine artisanal cheddar, my favorite), toasted slivered almonds and tossed with a honey balsamic vinaigrette.
Plenty of chard is now being picked after I removed and destroyed the leaves with the leaf miners. This was chopped and sautéed in butter with one of my Saffron shallots from the basement. The shallots are still rock hard with tight skins. Too bad Saffron was discontinued, it is a great shallot.
I picked the last of the Zlata radishes, and some more of the red Dragon radishes. Was Dragon named for its color or for the weird tentacles it seems to grow? They were very tasty, sweet and juicy with just a little heat. I also pulled a few of the Hakurei white turnips. The Hakurei are not looking great this year, maybe too hot and dry for them.
Finally on Sunday. I cut the first of the Tronchuda Beira, the Portuguese kale. I am growing this in place of standard American collard greens. It looks a lot like collards but is hopefully more adaptable. I am planning to try a batch of Caldo Verde soup this week. From reading recipes, the Portuguese kale soup I make from the Victory Garden Cookbook (with red beans and tomatoes) is likely to be Azorean in origin. A lot of our Portuguese neighbors here in New England actually came from the islands. Azorean food is more rustic, they say. I will be giving give Caldo Verde a try, but I don’t guarantee I won’t go back to the peasant soup we love.
That is the harvest from my garden last week. To see what other gardeners world-wide are doing, visit Daphne’s Dandelions, out host for Harvest Monday.
Really wonderful greens! I also bookmarked the Genius Kale Salad for when I have some kale - not yet though. Can't wait for my chard, I planted Ruby Red along with my usual Rainbow Mix.
ReplyDeleteLovely kale! I need to grow the tronchuda again. It is so productive here in fall, and adaptable in the kitchen too.
ReplyDeleteVery nice greens and roots! Is the chard "Bright Lights" or did you create the mix yourself?
ReplyDeleteThree varieties: Pink Passion, Magenta Sunset, and Orange Fantasia
DeleteThat chard is lovely. I take it your wife doesn't usually like kale. I wish I could get my husband to eat it. Or any green.
ReplyDeleteShe's not fond of most veggies. Your pound a day of greens would kill her.
DeleteSpinach and strawberries- my favorite. We're omnivores, so I dress up my spinach and strawberry salads with bacon dressing from a local restaurant. Spinach from the garden, strawberries from the farm market, dressing from the place down the road - local and delicious.
ReplyDeleteSounds good. Another classic I'm going to have to do is spinach and mushroom salad with a warm bacon dressing.
DeleteLove that Tronchuda Beira, I think it has a nice sweet cabbage flavor, much tastier than collards. I'll be sowing seeds for that in a few weeks for fall and winter harvests, same goes for kale. The Dragon radishes are funny looking with the extra roots. They look a lot like the China Rose radishes that I grew last year (also slated for fall planting). I wonder if Dragon has mild tasting greens like China Rose.
ReplyDeleteGee, am I going to have to taste them to let you know? The radish greens are pretty chewed up by flea beetles and not really all that appetizing so I compost them.
DeleteLovely harvest, my spinach is all gone but should be harvesting chards and other greens this week. How come your chard stems are so short?
ReplyDeleteI clip them with a scissors, don't always get it all.
DeleteYour kale salad and mussels sound delicious. Your wonderful spring harvest makes me want to grow kale. I've grown collard greens before but they were too strongly flavored when grown in the summer.
ReplyDeleteProbably need to grow them in early spring or fall. Usually summers here are not continually hot so the kale and collards last all season. Winters are often cold enough to kill them, so no early spring harvests.
DeleteKale salad, mussels and garlic bread? Now that's my kind of meal! Aren't shallots incredible when it comes to storage? I remember when I first grew them many years ago in my first garden - I couldn't believe that they were still good almost one year later! Can't wait to hear how you find the Caldo Verde. I've only had the non-Azorean version (no tomatoes or beans) and I LOVE it - it's definitely a favourite.
ReplyDeleteThe verdict on the Caldo Verde was meh. I used andouille sausage which didn't add much flavor. I'll go Azorean peasant anytime. The Victory Garden cookbook is out of print but available on Google Books: http://bit.ly/1GhfzYW . Great recipe.
Delete