I am planning to go one month this summer without eating anything other than out of the garden. In fact the only thing I will be willing to add to my recipes other than the fruit and veggies will be bread (like if everything is on a sandwich), pasta (because I make that by hand anyways from scratch), and herbs and spices that I may not be growing. that's it.
So I will need some good recipes to get me through the month! Put up some of your best that only use veggies. Don't worry about what I'm growing, just post it, I have extra room this year so if I really want to try a recipe I can either substitute or I may try to grow whatever it is I need. However you may want to keep in mind that I will have eggs because a friend and I are getting chickens this spring.
Thanks everybody! BTW, this is not at all an attempt to go vegetarian, it's more an experiment in how I eat and how sustainable the garden is compared to what I can consume.
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!potatoes!
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I grill a lot of the veggies out of my summer garden. Okra, yard long beans, squash, peppers etc. I'll simply cut the yard longs into 6-8 inch lengths, cut the squash lengthwise, leave the peppers whole and make a raft out of the okra using 2 skewers. For the okra, I'll alternate the direction of the pods and skewer 6-8 of them together. For all the veggies, I'll brush on some olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper and grill till done.
I also like to take a clove of garlic and mince it fine, pour a teaspoon of salt on it and using the side of my chef's knife, pull it along the chopping board to make a paste. Put the garlic paste in a bowl then add olive oil, balsamic vinegar and some black pepper and make a dressing. Then take a couple tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and a bit of fresh basil, place that in the bowl and toss till well coated. Refrigerate this for a couple hours for a nice cool salad with a little zing.
I also like to take a clove of garlic and mince it fine, pour a teaspoon of salt on it and using the side of my chef's knife, pull it along the chopping board to make a paste. Put the garlic paste in a bowl then add olive oil, balsamic vinegar and some black pepper and make a dressing. Then take a couple tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and a bit of fresh basil, place that in the bowl and toss till well coated. Refrigerate this for a couple hours for a nice cool salad with a little zing.
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DoubleDogFarm
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Jeff,
You may not want to use your oven in the heat of the Summer, but I think roasted vegetables are hard to beat. Carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onion, peppers, squash etc toss in a bowl with oil and herbs. Mix until all surfaces are covered and spread them out on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven until caramelized.
Eric
You may not want to use your oven in the heat of the Summer, but I think roasted vegetables are hard to beat. Carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onion, peppers, squash etc toss in a bowl with oil and herbs. Mix until all surfaces are covered and spread them out on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven until caramelized.
Eric
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rainbowgardener
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Stir fry! Totally adaptable! Tonight I was cooking to feed 40 at Tender Mercies shelter for homeless mentally ill. I didn't have enough of any one ingredient for an actual recipe for 40. So I basically stirfried most of the veggies in the house (lots and lots of carrots, onion, cabbage, potatoes, turnip, cauliflower) in a couple cups of oil with salt, pepper, cumin, turmeric and coriander measured in tablespoons. These spices were inspired by an Ethiopian recipe.
You can use curry powder, cumin, mustard, turmeric, coriander, cayenne, cardamom (maybe with ginger and cloves) to make your stir fry a curry.
You can use bean sprouts, water chestnuts, soy sauce, ginger, mustard, lemon grass, mint, basil, garlic, coconut milk for Asian inspired stir fry.
Add beans, chili powder, cayenne, cumin, cilantro, oregano, cinnamon, cloves, chipotle and your stir fry is latin flavored (great wrapped in a tortilla)
Of course basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme, sage and plenty of garlic and tomato makes an Italian stirfry that is great over pasta.
It basically doesn't matter much what the veggies are as long as there's some onion and garlic! Secret to stir fry is to warm the spices in the oil first to bring out the flavors, then add the toughest veggies first, most tender last. Stir fry quickly over moderate heat, JUST until tender crisp, don't over do it. You want your veggies still solid and crisp. But whatever you have in your garden works like this!!!
You can use curry powder, cumin, mustard, turmeric, coriander, cayenne, cardamom (maybe with ginger and cloves) to make your stir fry a curry.
You can use bean sprouts, water chestnuts, soy sauce, ginger, mustard, lemon grass, mint, basil, garlic, coconut milk for Asian inspired stir fry.
Add beans, chili powder, cayenne, cumin, cilantro, oregano, cinnamon, cloves, chipotle and your stir fry is latin flavored (great wrapped in a tortilla)
Of course basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme, sage and plenty of garlic and tomato makes an Italian stirfry that is great over pasta.
It basically doesn't matter much what the veggies are as long as there's some onion and garlic! Secret to stir fry is to warm the spices in the oil first to bring out the flavors, then add the toughest veggies first, most tender last. Stir fry quickly over moderate heat, JUST until tender crisp, don't over do it. You want your veggies still solid and crisp. But whatever you have in your garden works like this!!!
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rainbowgardener
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Good luck on the eating from the garden project; keep us posted on how it is going.
In the growing season, I only eat veggies either from my garden or from my local CSA farm. And I get organic free range eggs from a local grower. And I'm vegetarian, so I never eat meat anyway. But that still leaves me buying a lot of things at the grocery - soymilk, rice and other grains, bread, cheese and other dairy products, some fruits, beans (this year I'm going to try growing a few more with my community garden plot), black tea for me and coffee for the spouse, some of the more exotic herbs (like a lot of the stuff listed in the stir fry recipes), etc .
Eating locally grown (never mind just from my own garden) seems like a great goal, but I don't know how close to it I'm ever going to get.
In the growing season, I only eat veggies either from my garden or from my local CSA farm. And I get organic free range eggs from a local grower. And I'm vegetarian, so I never eat meat anyway. But that still leaves me buying a lot of things at the grocery - soymilk, rice and other grains, bread, cheese and other dairy products, some fruits, beans (this year I'm going to try growing a few more with my community garden plot), black tea for me and coffee for the spouse, some of the more exotic herbs (like a lot of the stuff listed in the stir fry recipes), etc .
Eating locally grown (never mind just from my own garden) seems like a great goal, but I don't know how close to it I'm ever going to get.
Sounds good. I'm borderline on the mayonnaise. I like it, but "just from the garden" and I can't grow mayo. IDK if it qualifies as just a flavoring thing. So much fat. Sugar is definitely out. I think I'm pretty much limiting the additives from out of the garden to olive oil, spices and herbs I'm not growing, bread (homemade), and pasta (homemade from scratch only), and I think that's about it.Marlingardener wrote: Cut broccoli into bite-size pieces, toast a handful of pecans, chop a red onion, and mix all in a bowl. In a small bowl put mayonnaise, a dash of white pepper, lemon juice, and a pinch of sugar. Mix well and stir into vegetable mixture. Refrigerate for about an hour to let flavors blend.
Don't get me wrong, the recipe sounds great. I just have to be careful not to throw in too many exceptions when the goal is to eat strictly out of the garden.
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rainbowgardener
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lorax
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Gotta be the Locros, for me. These are veggie based soups that are both simple as heck and extremely tasty.
The base: make a veggie stock out of whatever you've got on hand. It's particularly good with green beans, broccoli/cauliflower/romanesco, celery, and carrots. Oh, and mushrooms, and salt. Once the broth has a good colour and flavour, strain out the veggies and reserve them.
The potatoes: chunk up some potatoes and simmer them in the broth until they're tender.
Now the variations!
Locro de papas: To your base, add some glassified onions and a pinch of achiote. Return the veggies to the base and blender the heck out of it until it's creamy.
Locro de Zapallo: Add some chunks of squash to your base, simmer until tender, return the veggies, add a clove of garlic, and blender the heck out of it until it's creamy.
Locro de Zambo: Cream the potato base, then add two or three finely sliced zucchinis and a dollop of ginger to the soup and simmer until the zucchs are tender.
Locro de Zanahoria: Prepare the base primarily with carrots and perhaps a bit of broccoli/cauliflower. Puree this with a bit of ginger and garlic and serve cold on hot days. Soooo good.
The base: make a veggie stock out of whatever you've got on hand. It's particularly good with green beans, broccoli/cauliflower/romanesco, celery, and carrots. Oh, and mushrooms, and salt. Once the broth has a good colour and flavour, strain out the veggies and reserve them.
The potatoes: chunk up some potatoes and simmer them in the broth until they're tender.
Now the variations!
Locro de papas: To your base, add some glassified onions and a pinch of achiote. Return the veggies to the base and blender the heck out of it until it's creamy.
Locro de Zapallo: Add some chunks of squash to your base, simmer until tender, return the veggies, add a clove of garlic, and blender the heck out of it until it's creamy.
Locro de Zambo: Cream the potato base, then add two or three finely sliced zucchinis and a dollop of ginger to the soup and simmer until the zucchs are tender.
Locro de Zanahoria: Prepare the base primarily with carrots and perhaps a bit of broccoli/cauliflower. Puree this with a bit of ginger and garlic and serve cold on hot days. Soooo good.
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DoubleDogFarm
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DoubleDogFarm
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rainbowgardener
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Hey Jeff... I saw you are still around at least a little. You never gave us an update how it went trying to eat from the garden for a month. That was last year, we are around to summer again. Are you trying it again this year?
I bumped in to this thread, looking for the spice lists I gave -- stir fry for dinner tonight! I think Asian with my own lemon grass (new thing to grow this year and it is doing great).
I bumped in to this thread, looking for the spice lists I gave -- stir fry for dinner tonight! I think Asian with my own lemon grass (new thing to grow this year and it is doing great).
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Gary350
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Southern Style Okra.
I have lived in several STATES and NO ONE knows the correct way to cook Okra except people in the south.
Put 1/4 cup of butter milk and 1/4 cup of water in a bowl then mix well.
Harvest soft ripe okra pods. If the pods crunch or are hard to cut throw them in the compost. Slice your okra into 1/2" thick slices then place them in the bowl and stir well. Leave them in the bowl for 15 minutes then let strain and drain for 5 minutes.
Mix together 1 cup of flourr, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Sift well.
Mix the okra in the flour, mix well making sure none are stick together. Hand mix a few minutes then let them set for 30 minutes. Dump in a colander shake out the excess flour.
Put 3/4" of cooking oil in a large 12" IRON skillet on high heat until it begins to smoke. Turn the heat down about medium/high then bump in enough okra to cover the bottom of the skillet. Not too much okra you do not want okra laying on top of each other is should be a nice even layer in the skillet that is easy to stir. Stir about every 1 minutes until golden brown, drain out the oil, dump on paper towels a few minutes, then serve hot.
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Roasted Vegetables. This is one of my favorites.
1 Large potato cut into cubes about 3/4" thick.
12 to 15 Brussel sprouts
1 large onion cut into 8 pieces.
Mix by hand in a large boil of olive oil to get all the vegs a good coating of oil. Drain well to remove all oil then spread the vegies out on a large cookie sheet and bake in the oven 400 degrees for about 1 hour.
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Crock Pot Vegetables
Put 1 cup of water and 3 tablespoons of Dark Brown sugar in the pot and stir well.
Cut a head of cabbage in 1/2 then cut the half into 4 pieces then place the pieces in the crock pot.
10 carrots cut into 1/4 inch pieces.
Add other vegetables if you like.
After the crock pot comes up to full heat cook for 2 hours.
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Mexican Vegetable Stew
6 pints of tomato juice from garden ripe tomatoes including the skins.
1 large yellow onion sliced and diced.
6 very large cloves of garlic chopped.
1 beef or chicken bouillon cube.
2 cups of chopped cabbage.
1 cup of sliced carrots.
1 large potato cubed.
1 cup of corn.
2 tablespoon of chili powder.
1 tablespoon ground cumin.
1 teaspoon of salt.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 hour.
Then add the following and simmer 15 more minutes.
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce.
8 sprig of fresh Marjoram.
10 sprig of fresh Thyme.
I have lived in several STATES and NO ONE knows the correct way to cook Okra except people in the south.
Put 1/4 cup of butter milk and 1/4 cup of water in a bowl then mix well.
Harvest soft ripe okra pods. If the pods crunch or are hard to cut throw them in the compost. Slice your okra into 1/2" thick slices then place them in the bowl and stir well. Leave them in the bowl for 15 minutes then let strain and drain for 5 minutes.
Mix together 1 cup of flourr, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Sift well.
Mix the okra in the flour, mix well making sure none are stick together. Hand mix a few minutes then let them set for 30 minutes. Dump in a colander shake out the excess flour.
Put 3/4" of cooking oil in a large 12" IRON skillet on high heat until it begins to smoke. Turn the heat down about medium/high then bump in enough okra to cover the bottom of the skillet. Not too much okra you do not want okra laying on top of each other is should be a nice even layer in the skillet that is easy to stir. Stir about every 1 minutes until golden brown, drain out the oil, dump on paper towels a few minutes, then serve hot.
===================================================================
Roasted Vegetables. This is one of my favorites.
1 Large potato cut into cubes about 3/4" thick.
12 to 15 Brussel sprouts
1 large onion cut into 8 pieces.
Mix by hand in a large boil of olive oil to get all the vegs a good coating of oil. Drain well to remove all oil then spread the vegies out on a large cookie sheet and bake in the oven 400 degrees for about 1 hour.
===================================================================
Crock Pot Vegetables
Put 1 cup of water and 3 tablespoons of Dark Brown sugar in the pot and stir well.
Cut a head of cabbage in 1/2 then cut the half into 4 pieces then place the pieces in the crock pot.
10 carrots cut into 1/4 inch pieces.
Add other vegetables if you like.
After the crock pot comes up to full heat cook for 2 hours.
===================================================================
Mexican Vegetable Stew
6 pints of tomato juice from garden ripe tomatoes including the skins.
1 large yellow onion sliced and diced.
6 very large cloves of garlic chopped.
1 beef or chicken bouillon cube.
2 cups of chopped cabbage.
1 cup of sliced carrots.
1 large potato cubed.
1 cup of corn.
2 tablespoon of chili powder.
1 tablespoon ground cumin.
1 teaspoon of salt.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 hour.
Then add the following and simmer 15 more minutes.
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce.
8 sprig of fresh Marjoram.
10 sprig of fresh Thyme.