Welcome to Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. First off I want to say thanks again to Michelle (From Seed To Table) for hosting while I took a month off from HM. As it turned out, I had a nasty cold bug for most of January that left me coughing and hacking for three weeks. I’m slowly getting back to normal but now I have a colonoscopy scheduled for this coming week so I am on a restricted diet. Oh well, it shall all pass soon enough and meanwhile I am happy to have a few fresh harvests that I can actually eat!
harvest of Western Front kale
I got a nice cutting of kale from the greenhouse last week. I have one plant of Western Front kale growing in there that gave up some nice big leaves. They did have a few aphids on them, but nothing that couldn’t easily be rinsed away. Aphids are usually a problem in our greenhouse in winter and this year is no exception.
Beauregard sweet potatoes
I combined the kale with some Beauregard sweet potatoes from storage to make a skillet of kale and sweet potato hash. It makes for a tasty and easy side dish, though if you added some eggs or beans for protein it could easily serve as a main dish too. There’s a little vole damage on one of the taters but it was easily trimmed off. We love our wonky veggies here!
kale and sweet potato hash
I also cut some of the Vivid Choi I have growing in the greenhouse bed. This green has proven to be a great grower here in the winter greenhouse, giving us lots of tasty leaves. It had a few aphids hanging out on it like the kale did. The leaves of this Wild Garden Seeds introduction sort of look like a komatsuna or a turnip green, and are very tender and mild tasting with crunchy stems. It is supposed to bolt into rapini come early spring, which should be an added bonus. I gave this batch a quick stir fry, along with some shiitake mushrooms. I cooked the mushrooms first then added the greens and cooked them only until they started wilting, which took less than a minute. I added a splash of sesame oil and a bit of umeboshi vinegar and it was ready to eat.
Vivid Choi
One more thing I want to mention didn’t come from our garden, but did make for a memorable dish. I cooked up a batch of Michelle’s Cast Iron Roasted Brussels Sprouts, using sprouts from the grocery. I used a well-seasoned cast iron skillet that belonged to my mother, and is probably older than I am. Since I can’t have seeds or nuts on my current diet, I kept it simple and added only some chopped up local smoked bacon, plus a splash of lambrusco wine vinegar stirred into the finished dish. I’ve oven roasted sprouts before, but I never thought about using a cast iron skillet, which does a great job of browning them up. I’ll be making this one again, and next time I want to try some of the other add-in options like pine nuts, pepitas or almonds.
Cast Iron Roasted Brussels Sprouts
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!
Sorry that you have been ill – I guess that it is that time of year.
Oh you poor thing! That prolonged coughing crud is going around here too. I hope you are fully recovered soon. It shall pass, he he he….
Kale and sweet potatoes, yum, that looks delicious. I’m so happy the cast iron skillet sprouts came out for you! I love the way the sprouts get nicely caramelized without over cooking. And lucky you to have a vintage cast iron skillet, the new ones aren’t nearly as nice.
Oh dear, sorry to hear you’ve been ill. Fingers crossed you’re fully recovered soon.
The kale leaves are big!