What are you eating from your garden?

[imafan26]

I am in mostly harvest mode now. I still have some cool crops to harvest and some of the warm season crops are also producing.

Today, I made lettuce wraps. I actually bought three hoagie rolls at the Farmer's market on Sunday, but they got moldy, so I ended up throwing them out. Too much humidity. Lettuce to the rescue. I stuffed them with egg salad.

I just finished my fajita vegetables and lime cilantro rice.

I made garlic rice in the rice cooker with garlic sauteed in butter and long grain rice. That lasted for about 8 servings. I added calamansi and cilantro that I harvested from the garden. I have Tahitian lime, but the calamansi is the right size for a single meal. I have been adding the calamansi to my ice tea.

For the fajita vegetables. I used eggplant from the garden.

I have a graduation to attend tomorrow so I am making Tuna salad for lettuce wraps and I have some ritz crackers I need to use up as well. I have red currant tomatoes in the yard. If they are not too waterlogged from the rain, I can take some of those too.

I picked a Meyer lemon and I am making a lemon meringue pie on Saturday for my Mom's birthday.

I gave my sister a lettuce and some green onions, and my friend gave me a papaya for a lettuce and some apple mint.

The other day, it was cold (for me) so I made ramen with Tokyo bekana I harvested from the yard. I wished I had some won tun to go with it, but I didn't. It was still good. Reading the direction on the ramen noodle package, it says it is two servings. Who eats half a package of ramen!

Today, I cooked more short grain rice an boiled eggs in the rice cooker. I will make fried rice later.

I took out some hot pork sausage and I am going to make sausage with bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, garlic ( left over ingredients I did not use for the fajita vegetables). I have more eggplant, and I harvested a zucchini and broccoli, so I will toss that in with the sausage.

The mint is trying to escape again, I may add mint to my tea as well as the lime.

I have some more cucumbers to pick, and with the red currant tomatoes and lettuce, they will make a nice salad.

[digitS']

Wow, Imafan!

Since I complained on the weather thread just yesterday about our cloudy, windy Spring. I'll just say here that it is 35°f (2°C) at 5:30am.

Unless we count the chives in scrambled eggs, anything we have from the garden is coming from the temporary hoop house over the 2 beds in the backyard.

Greens from those beds have been Kaailan and Mustard. (Three sprinkles of organic slug killer has gone down but the Bok Choi has had some real problems from those slimy critters. New plants have gone in.) Covering with plastic film kicked the 2021 Scotch Kale into growing and we have enjoyed those for several weeks this Spring. There was also a serving of Chard but only one plant was saved to see how it would over-winter.

Rhubarb pie!

Steve
who has noticed that the "outside" kale has begun to grow

[imafan26]

I always hear how good Rhubarb pie is. It is too warm to grow that here.

[pepperhead212]

Only greens and herbs here. Only about a month before other vegetables start producing.

[imafan26]

Right now, I have to eat or give away as much as I can. The last of the lettuce will be coming in over the next few weeks. I have been eating the thinnings.

I have the last of the bush beans and snow peas in the frig. The pole beans are still growing.

Swiss chard, komatsuna, bekana, perpetual spinach, kale, and peppers keep awhile and are perennial or biennial so I can cut them as I need them. The herbs are the same. They just have to be cut back or divided before they choke themselves.

Eggplant puts out eight about every other week. The black ones have to be taken before they lose their shine or they are only good for the worms.

Tomatoes are starting to ripen and the bigger tomatoes are flowering.

I have only one cucumber in production. I am replanting the other buckets with heat tolerant cucumbers.

Hot peppers can be picked before they turn red so I can get those anytime as well.

I have semposai that is pushing the limits of the pot. I am going to try to make stuffed cabbage with the leaves. But first I have to finish the sausage and peppers I just made. I forgot to put the zucchini in the sausage and peppers so, I will have to use it for something else.

I am doing better at growing in smaller quantities of each type of plant, but I still have to work on planning it out so they all don't need to be harvested at the same time.

[applestar]

Not much new harvest from this season’s newly planted garden, but I’m still picking Aspabroc and other overwintered broccoli-like brassica floral buds that have bolted; cleaned up the overwintered runty carrots and ate them before they bolted too.

…And most recently, some burdock that self seeded last year that will also bolt if left in the ground. Some were too little and not worth the trouble of cleaning up, and one was too big and woody, but there was enough to add to an interesting side dish.

Also getting some trimmed onion greens.

[imafan26]

I have several pots of green onions and leeks. Thankfully, I have them in separate sections. One section got infested with black aphids and most of the plants died. The other section was not affected. I always feel bad when I have to buy produce, I usually always have available in the yard. I am getting more soil ready so I can replant the onion seeds.

[pepperhead212]

I took out the next to the last (I think!) gallon bag of tomatoes from the freezer yesterday, and pulled most of the larger ones out, and thawed them, to make gazpacho. I got cukes and ripe bells on sale at Aldi, and still had garlic and shallots from last year, so it was mostly home grown. All that talk about tomatoes being harvested by some people in warmer areas, plus seeing those fruits setting on those early plants, gave me a craving!
Last year's tomatoes, thawing to make some gazpacho. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Not quite as red as usual, as there are quite a few gold tomatoes, as well as a yellow bell. And some of those garlic chives, that are all over now!
Gazpacho, made with frozen tomatoes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

Looks good.

[imafan26]

Yesterday, I cleaned out the frig. I made cabbage soup. I found a smoked sausage in the freezer, I had a cabbage in the refrigerator I bought at least a couple of weeks ago. I also had carrots and a couple of potatoes. From the garden I still had some bush beans left over. ( I am surprised they kept so long), broccoli, and a few snow peas. I picked three calamansi to add to my iced tea. I saved some of the cabbage and carrots and made cole slaw.

Cabbage soup
10 oz smoked sausage, diced
1 large onion, chopped
8 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium head cabbage, chopped
2 potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
15 oz can stewed tomatoes (no salt added)
8 oz can tomato sauce (no salt added)
2 packages of sazon
3 packets of herb ox no salt bouillon
2 quarts water
3 tablespoons cumin
3 small bay leaves
1.5 tsp pepper
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
1/2 cup red wine
3 packets of stevia

Sauteed diced smoke sausage with onions and garlic in a large dutch oven until onions translucent. Added seasoning, bouillon, and water. Added in canned tomatoes and tomato sauce. When it cam back to a boil, added potatoes and carrots, Cooked 10 minutes, added cabbage, green beans, snow peas, and broccoli. turned down the heat to simmer for 20 minutes.

I have to reduce my salt. The sausage has a lot of seasoning and salt, so I did not have to add anything anyway. The herb ox bouillon uses Mediterranean herbs instead of salt. You may have to add salt if you are not used to low sodium food. It tastes better the next day.

Cole slaw
4 cups shredded cabbage
1 medium carrot, grated
2 tablespoons olive oil mayonnaise
2 tablespoons plain yogurt or sour cream
2 tablespoons milk ( I used almond milk)
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar ( red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar works too_
1 packet stevia
Salt and pepper to taste
Walnuts or raisins can be added to cole slaw.

I have always liked coleslaw, but I never made a good one myself. I found out that I was using way too much mayonnaise and that it works better if the mayonnaise has a little milk added to make it creamier. Olive oil mayonnaise has fewer calories and sour cream or yogurt lightens it up more. Raisins or sugar adds a little sweetness. I need that since I don't like the taste of vinegar, so I have to add sugar if I add vinegar. I use a salt substitute. Coleslaw does taste better with the vinegar and allowed to blend for a few hours.

[Vanisle_BC]

Still enjoying fresh asparagus plus sprouts of purple broccoli and a few coles that overwintered and are now budding.

[Gary350]

Wife decided to make fried onion rings with an online recipe calls, Blooming Onion Rings. I cut a 4" diameter Candy onion into 1/2" thick slices. Wife breaded the rings & I fried them at 375°. I know this is about as unhealthy as it gets, I ate 5 onion rings, wife ate 6 or 7. We froze the rest if the O rings. We can cook frozen O rings in the air fryer the oil will drip away.

[digitS']

Lettuce, finally from the temporary hoop house - which was dismantled this week. The cool weather and clouds are likely helping to keep the greens now exposed from burning up.

Lettuce doesn't always do what I want it to do . In the protection of the hoop house, it seems lots slower than the Asian veggies in there with it. Slower than the escarole and, we now have Italian dandelions. In the open garden, lettuce may quickly bolt to flowering. Planted late in the season, it will not grow quickly between hot weather and before frosts shuts it down.

In contrast, bok choy will be available early and late and, fairly close to weekly.

Steve

[imafan26]

I picked the last of the lettuce yesterday and I found a couple I missed this morning. Beans, red currant tomatoes, Tokyo bekana, eggplant, peppers.

I have the same problem with lettuce in cooler weather. It grows, but slower. I starts to speed up growth when the night temperatures stay over 65 degrees F. and the day temperature is 70-75 degrees F. Once the day temperatures go over 80, they start to bolt. My effective growing season for lettuce is Nov-May. The lettuce will live and produce slower but longer in the coldest months, but the heads will get large and be ready to pick in 30 days in April and May. I can only grow Romaine from October-March. They are not as tolerant as the more head resistant loose leaf lettuces. There are more heat tolerant lettuces that will grow under shade in summer, but they are usually tough and turn bitter.

[pepperhead212]

Here's that red mizuna again - Beni Houshi, from BC - about 2 weeks after that last large harvest. I've cut bits and pieces from it, for salads, but it was totally growing over the lettuce again, and was even larger, as you can see. No sign of bolting, which is great - I've tried 3 other red varieties that bolted fast, even indoors. And the green mizunas are taking off, too, as you can see! And all these clumps started as one plant each.

You can see why these are my favorite greens, overall!
Less than half of the single red mizuna plant harvested at one time again. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Red and green mizuna, along with some leaf lettuce. 6-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The largest of the green mizuna plants, 6-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

Mostly raspberries and strawberries

[Gary350]

Hash brown potatoes for breakfast every morning with French toast & real maple syrup & coffee. Golf ball size potato make perfect 1 serving hash brown potatoes.

[Gary350]

Dinner was a garden salad, 7 Pac Choy leaves, 1 long sweet pepper, 1 candy onion, Thai basil, Tarragon, Fennel, Cilantro, 3 kings of cheese, green olives, 2 kings of dressing & blue cheese. Wow this is good. Beans would have been good to but no ripe beans yet.

This sweet pepper is better than sweet bell peppers because it does not have a bell pepper flavor.

[Gary350]

For lunch I made a BIG 2 day salad, pac choy, onion, herbs, carrot, peppers, olives, cheese. I mixed 2 bottles of dressing with Blue cheese then puree with French mixer. Pac choy seed tops look like small broccoli. Onion seed tops are flowers. NO garden beans yet, maybe flat pod beans in 2 weeks and Cranberry beans in 4 more weeks. I have a large bag of salad enough for several meals. I could very easy be a vegetarian.

[Gary350]

Pac Choy seed tops are like eating mini broccoli with yellow flowers. I made a lunch salad with, left over baked chicken from last nights dinner, sweet peppers, onions, garlic, pac choy.

[imafan26]

I harvested today. Sunking Tomato ( a bit ominous. It is a pretty round firm tomato). Thai hot peppers, super chili, calamansi, Red currant tomatoes, Revolution bell pepper (They can get bigger, just not for me), I harvested the cucumber a few days ago and a small Meyer lemon that fell off the tree. The Poamoho beans have been collected over the past five days, a few at a time. I broke the green tomato off a few days ago when I was bagging the tomatoes.

[pepperhead212]

I got 3 more eggplants today - 7 total now - with many more on the String and 2 Ichiban plants. I also saw a green fruit started on the Hari F2, and the Green Knight. That latter variety I have never grown, and never saw a variety with clusters of flowers like this! I'll post photos, once they set more fruit.

[pepperhead212]

I made my first Szechwan eggplant dish of the season, with just over 2 lbs of eggplants harvested - 8 so far. The one behold and 5 ichiban were all almost white, while the two String eggplants were starting to get seedy, but not terribly so, and nothing was at all bitter, so far. And I used a bunch of that almost year old garlic!
Garlic from last season, for the Szechuan eggplant. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ingredients for Szechuan eggplant, ginger, garlic, shallots, garlic chives, and chili paste with garlic. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

First Behold eggplant, with no sign if seeds at about 6 x 3 inches. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Eggplants cut up for the Szechuan eggplant - the String Chinese the only ones with seeds. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished Szechuan eggplant, to be put on some rice. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Szechuan eggplant on rice, half brown half white Basmati. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I was making a batch of yogurt in the Instant Pot today, so I couldn't use it for the rice! I used a trick I learned from Ming, for mixing white and brown rice - soak the brown rice 20-30 minutes, then rinse, and cook together, and they cook for about the same time.

[imafan26]

Looks good. I still have one more meal of spicy eggplant to go. Yours looks good too.

[pepperhead212]

I made something with my first okra today! Only 6 of them, cut in half, along with 4 eggplants, diced up, along with a half cup of finely chopped garlic scapes, from the garden.

It was a chole masala, I added these vegetables to, for bulk, and started it last night by soaking 1 1/2 c white chickpeas. This morning I cooked it in the IP, with a couple of teabags. I drained it, saving the liquid, cooled, and refrigerated it.

Yesterday, I also made a new batch of chole masala spice mix, plus a couple of others I was out of. The chole masala has the most ingredients - 19 - so that will save a lot of time in a lot of dishes! This dish was fairly fast to make, once that was prepared, like most of these types of things. This dish was all made in the Instant Pot, except for the spice mix, and all those spices are toasted in the usual skillet.

It starts with whole cumin in oil, over medium heat, until crackling some, then the chopped onion and garlic scapes are added. While cooking, the spices are all measured out, plus a little salt, and added, along with the 4 diced up eggplants. I sautéed for about 7 minutes, stirring frequently, then added the water, chickpeas, halved okra, quinoa, and mixed well. I simmered it very low, for 30 minutes. That was it! I had a small bowl, topped with a little cilantro. I'm taking most of it to a friend tomorrow, that has been handling a lot lately, and I know she'll like this.
The chole masala, with some eggplant diced up, and cooking with the onion, garlic scapes, and all the spices. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The chole masala, with the precooked white chickpea added, along with the first 6 okra, halved, plus a half cup of black quinoa. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished chole masala, with eggplant and a small amount of okra added. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished chole masala, topped with a little cilantro. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I made a simple dal, to try that new Sambar cucumber in. It was a simple dal, with mild seasonings (imagine that!), to see what the flavor was like in a cooked dish, and it was good, but next time it will have more seasonings. The flavor and aroma was mild, when raw, and no different than other cukes, but the seeds were barely forming. It seemed like it had stopped growing about 3 days ago, which is why I picked it, but next time I'll let it stay on longer. Also made some quick pickles, but they weren't quite ready yet.
Here's that first Sambar cucumber, seeds not at all developed. Made just over a half cup, diced up. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A simple chana dal, with cooked cucumber, and a few spices. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished chana dal, topped with some garlic chives and cilantro. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I made a one dish meal - an Indian dal/subzi, in which I put 3/4 c each of toor dal, red chori, and whole sorghum berries, and soaked it for a couple of hours, then cooked that on slow cook, while out in the garden. Later, I removed that from the IP, rinsed it out, then cooked a chopped onion and about a half cup of chopped garlic scapes in some ghee. Then I added 3 tb of a new sambar masala I made recently, and about a cup of chopped tomatoes, and cooked on low, until the mix turned thick, then return the cooked dal to the IP. I tossed the diced eggplants in a wok, while that cooked, followed by the okra, and added them to the IP, then cooked again in the slow cook mode, while I was outside again. Probably took longer to type this in, than the work time for the dish!
Sorghum, rather jowar, added to the sambar, which eggplant and okra is cooked in. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The okra, ready to stir fry briefly, in the leftover oil from the eggplant. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished dal with eggplant and okra, and some sorghum - a.k.a. jowar. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

We need smell-o-vision!

Mine was a modest 1 tsp dried lavender buds (from a whole bouquet that had been harvested earlier in June) and 1 tsp of elderflower extract (made last summer) … and 1 1/2 inch cube of frozen Flying Dragon trifoliate orange juice …added to steamed “butter cake” made in the rice cooker.

I embellished the original recipe by subbing a portion of sugar with honey and a portion of butter with sunflower oil, and adding about a cup of mixed leftover fruits (grapes and blueberries) from the freezer. Also buttered the outside of a heatproof glass and pressed into the middle of the batter to create a bundt form (and filled the glass halfway with water). It took 4 additional white rice cycles in the neurofuzzy cooker, and I removed the glass in the middle for the last cycle.

Moist and yummy,

[pepperhead212]

This was more of a late lunch, but I'll probably have another bowl later, too! It is the first dish I make every season, when I start getting enough cherry tomatoes, and I had more than enough on the counter today that were ripe.

It's that lentil salad I make many times every season, that also has a habanero, though for the first ones I have to use frozen ones in, as they don't ripen until late July/early August. Had to use two frozen, but when fresh off the plant, only one is needed! The original recipe only called for 2 cups of halved cherry tomatoes, but I eventually increased that to 5 cups! That's the ingredient that I have to wait for.
Another ingredient from the garden is the garlic chives, but those are around long before the tomatoes show up!
Here's that first batch of lentil salad I look forward to every season! 7-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Earlier today, I had a craving for Mexican, so I made something using those tomatoes I had to trim the bad parts out of - ended up being 3 cups of them in the Vitamix, to which I added about a half cup of those garlic scapes, and 3 canned chipotles and 3 dried moritas. I blended this for 3 minutes or more, 'til it was steaming, then poured into the Instant Pot. Set it to sauté/high, and cooked it down to a very thick sauce, stirring frequently, while dicing up one of the bottle gourds, and those two sambar cucumbers. These smelled and tasted like any other cukes, but are often cooked, in Indian dishes. This was over 3 cups of vegetables, which I added to the IP, now turned off. Then I added 3 c water, and a scant cup of grits, to which I added about 1/4 c masa harina, to get that flavor. I added about 1½ tb of dark soy, for that umami flavor, and the salt, mixed well, and simmered about 30 min. on slow cook/high, to cook the grits and vegetables, stirring a few times. I stirred in about 3/4 c of that "taco style" cheese from Aldi, and that was it. A delicious Mexican tasting mash, and amazingly, those vegetables still had a bite to them, after cooking over 30 minutes! A summer squash cooked like that would disappear.

Here's what was leftover:
Leftover chipotle grits dish, with diced bottle gourd and cucumber. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Can't get much cheaper than this, with everything from the garden, except salt, vinegar, and olive oil. And the croutons.
My first gazpacho of the season! As soon as I get around 3 lbs of ripe tomatoes (there have been more, but mostly cherries, and not all at once), I do this. The sweet peppers were from a friend's garden (no sweet peppers here!). The garlic was the smallest head this season, equal to a medium clove.
Just over 3 lbs of tomatoes, for the gazpacho. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tomatoes pureed, about 3 lbs, with 3 tb chia seeds, to thicken. by pepperhead212, on Flickr


Remaining veggies for the gazpacho. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A little bit of the tomatoes, pureed with the veggies, sherry vinegar, and some olive oil, emulsified with it at the end. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About 3 quarts of gazpacho, to have for a few meals! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A friend came over and helped me eat some of it, along with some diced tomatoes and cukes (was out of peppers), some chopped garlic chives, and some croutons.

[imafan26]

I harvested Swiss Chard today. I also got 2 papaya and an upo which I traded for tomato and Tokyo bekana. I have pickled beets in the frig I made a few days ago. I guess I will be eating these.

I usually cook the Swiss chard with bacon, onion, garlic, balsamic vinegar and a little truvia for sweetness. I still have cucumbers and a couple of tomatoes and I just make a simple cucumber and tomato salad with those. Actually, I think I will make a BLT, I also have lettuce and hoagies.

[applestar]

We’re eating berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries), eggplants, lettuce, kohlrabi, cherry tomatoes

We’re also making room in the freezer by pulling out anything leftover from last year’s harvest. A bag of tomatoes went in a pot roast the other day….

[imafan26]

That reminds me, I have eggplant I haven't harvested yet and a zucchini.

[pepperhead212]

I haven't cooked anything here for a few days, except boiling water for iced tea, and steamed a couple of veggies in the MW. It's just been too hot!

Today I had a couple more bowls of that gazpacho, for lunch, then in the late afternoon, and then I made a salad later on, with some cooked barley, some diced tomatoes and cucumbers, a very small clove of garlic, mashed, and minced with a generous amount of basil and a jalapeño pepper, some diced feta cheese, and some snipped garlic chives. The dressing was some white rice vinegar and a fairly strong EVOO, salt, and a generous amount of black pepper.

I found the frozen (!) barley when I was putting some things in the freezer a couple of days ago, and it was about 2 c, left from a bunch I had cooked a couple of months ago, and it froze well - just thawed it, rinsed it well, and drained. I halved the cucumber, scooped out the seeds, and diced it - ended up being about half the volume of the tomatoes, that I kept adding, until it looked right! I used a large Amish Gold Slicer, which is a fairly fleshy tomato, and a smaller Brandyboy F2, a fairly fleshy one, too, and the best tasting! I diced up 4 green grapes, adding them one at a time, until it looked about right. Then I stirred in the other ingredients. Absolutely delicious, and 2 bowls left for tomorrow!

The feta was a new (to me) variety I got from Aldi, and it was good, but mild - has a buttery flavor, which would be good in a pasta, where the feta is the main flavor, but it isn't noticed as much here. I used to use one from Trader Joe's, but I haven't been there in a LONG time! So another, even stronger brand I get at Shop-Rite - Dodoni - and that's what I usually put in these salads I make in the summertime.

Amish Gold Slicers, to dice up for salad. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Barley, tomato, cucumber, and feta salad. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Feta cheese from Aldi, used in salad. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

T made sloppy Joes for lunch and dinner yesteday. I cooked the Swiss chard the usual way with onions, garlic, bacon, pepper, apple cider vinegar and a little sugar yesterday as well. Today, I cooked up some tricolor pasta and used the sloppy joe sauce instead of spaghetti sauce and threw in the Swiss chard. I also had a zucchini that I harvested today that I steamed and added to my pasta bowl for dinner.

[Gary350]

Garden corn, garden tomatoes, bake beans with garden onions, German sausage with garden relish.

[imafan26]

I steamed another zucchini. I have some leftover pasta so I am making pasta with zucchini.

[pepperhead212]

I made up another batch of that gazpacho (a friend that was over ate the last bowl of the first batch). And finished my other leftovers today.

I made a relatively simple vegetable side dish, to serve with Indian foods. I have all those bitter melons I have to use, and this will be reheatable, for me to take it to an Indian friend's house tomorrow. I can still smell that browned onion smell throughout the house!

I cut open both varieties, and as you can see, the round one is definitely more developed, with fairly large seeds, while the long one is not very developed. The white pith, that I scooped out of all of them, didn't taste bitter at all, and when I sampled the different ones, in the cooked dish, neither seemed more bitter, or different at all in flavor. The finished dish was not very bitter, with a balance of sweet, from the jaggery and onion, and some sour from the amchur. They will definitely like this, and I'll make one of those chutneys to take over, too - maybe a tomato one.

The dish is a little salty, but I must have salted too much, and too long (I left it while getting the onion and everything else ready, and some other things around the kitchen), with that 20 minute salting called for in the recipe. Next time I'll use just 1/2 tsp, and make sure I don't go too long.

At first, the vegetables weren't browning at all, so I bumped the heat up to 3 the last few minutes, which is more like a med-low, and they started browning some. Then the last 2 minutes with the seasonings were on medium - 4 on this induction burner. I only ate a little, but it will reheat well, I'm sure.

Here's the recipe:
https://www.tarladalal.com/onion-and-karela-sabzi-7452r

Bitter melons halved, round Big Top, and long Number One, getting ready to scoop out seeds. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Onion and Bitter Melons for the sabzi, cooked 10 minutes, with no browning. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished Onion and Bitter Melon sabzi. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I made a vegetable dish today, using a bunch of those things from the garden, as always! The flavors are based on ratatouille, and I added some rice, to make a one dish meal.

It was all in the Instant Pot, so I first cooked some brown rice in it much earlier, then let it cool, and put it into a container, and put it in the fridge. Later, I blended a large amount of tomatoes - almost to the top of the small Vitamix container, then put about 3/4 c of dried tomato pieces in it, to soak, while cutting up the onion and garlic, and started cooking the onion in the IP in a little olive oil, on sauté/high. Then I blended the softened dried tomatoes, which thickened the tomatoes considerably. Garlic was cooked with the onion briefly, then the tomatoes were added, with about 1/4 c white vermouth. Then the herbs - about 1/2 c chopped parsley, 1/4 c chopped basil (more later), 1 tb chopped thyme, and 3 fresh bay leaves. After it came to a boil, I switched to slow cook/fast, which keeps a fast simmer, covered with the splatter screen, and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, while cutting up all the rest - the eggplants, bottle gourd, okra, and large bell pepper. When it had thickened considerably, I removed it to a large bowl, rinsed out the IP, and let it dry, then set to sauté/high again, adding about 4 tb olive oil. I added the eggplant and bottle gourd pieces, and cooked about 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Then added the pepper and okra, and cooked 3 or 4 minutes, then put the tomato sauce back in the pot. I put it back on slow cook/fast, and simmered another 20 minutes. Then I stirred in the cooked rice, and another generous amount of chopped basil, and let sit on warm another 15 minutes.

This is the type of dish I would cook in a Dutch oven, in the oven at the end, with raw rice, but using that in the IP results in sticking, making a dish like this. But I don't turn on the oven if I can help it, in the summer!
Sauce made, in IP by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cooking the eggplant and bottle gourd on high/sauté in IP, about 8 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Red bell pepper and okra stirred into the eggplant mix, and cooked a few minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tomato sauce added to the vegetable mix, then cooked 20 min on slow cook/fast. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A generous amount of chopped basil, added to the mix, along with some cooked rice, to let sit on warm, for about 15 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished dish, after the rest, to heat the rice through. by pepperhead212, on Flickr