Harvest Monday December 14, 2015

Welcome to Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. We have been enjoying unseasonably warm weather here the last few weeks. Margaret recently said it reminds her of the Energizer bunny, and that is so true because the garden just keeps going and going! I have tried to get creative with the few fresh vegetables we have in abundance, like turnips for instance. Last week I steamed equal parts Hakurei turnips and Yukon Gold potatoes (from storage), then blanched some turnip greens in the steaming water. I also roasted a big head of Simonetti garlic in the oven while I cooked up mini meat loaves for dinner.

I smashed up the cooked turnips and potatoes, and added the chopped greens plus the roasted garlic. I used kefir to thin everything and give it a bit more flavor. Lately I have been using lowfat kefir instead of buttermilk in the kitchen. It certainly added flavor to the veggies without adding fat like butter. I think the green flecks of the turnip tops added a nice visual touch as well as a bit of flavor. I will be making this dish again. They are joined on the plate by some of our frozen pole beans, and that is homemade tomato ketchup on the meat loaf.  I love making mini meat loaves, because every portion is the same, and in this case I got four loaves from a pound of lean ground beef.

Kale is another veggie that is abundant at the moment. I made a cutting from the Lacinato kale last week. This was the first harvest I made from those plants I set out back in August. They have been frozen a few times and been through a couple of heavy frosts, and the taste was remarkably sweet for this type of kale.

Lettuce has been scarce here for a few months. I think my favorite harvest of the week was a bowl of salad greens I got from the cold frames and greenhouse. Yesterday I cut leaves from Giant Winter spinach, Speedy arugula, Mizspoona Salad Select and Wild Garden Lettuce Mix. We enjoyed them in a salad I made for lunch, served up with salmon burgers. The leaves were nice and tender and actually had some flavor, unlike the lettuce we have been getting from the grocery which is pretty blah tasting.

The honor for smallest harvest of the week goes to one Aji Angelo pepper I plucked from a container plant that is overwintering in the basement. I used it to season a pot of black beans I cooked up last night. It’s nice to have even a little bit of fresh pepper to go along with the ones I have dried and frozen. This one was only mildly spicy, no doubt due to its ripening in cooler temperatures. It was also a tad smaller than usual for this variety, though plenty big enough for the beans.

Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to share, add your name and blog link to Mr Linky below. And be sure and check out what everyone is harvesting!