Summer Frittata

A simple dish that uses quite a bit from the garden.

Summer Frittata (from Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Fast Food)

8 oz. asparagus spears
8 oz. zucchini
8 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
4 eggs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs Olive oil

1) Trim the asparagus and cut the zucchini into 1/4" slices. Cook the vegetables in a little boiling water for a few minutes until tender but slightly crunchy. Drain immediately.

2) Heat the broiler. Chop the sun-dried tomatoes. Whisk the eggs lightly, add the cheese, tomatoes and parsley and season with a little salt and pepper.

3) Heat the oil in an 8-inch skillet, add the vegetables, then pour in the egg mixture. cook for 4-5 minutes, until the bottom of the frittata is set and golden brown, then put the skillet under the broiler and leave for a further minute or two to set the top. Serve cut in half or in thick wedges.

B-Patch Gardeners' Day

We had our annual B-Patch Gardeners Day at our community garden Sunday. A small turnout but we had a great time. Good food and Better people. I thought I should share some pics (all pictures by Rebecca Dare)


Graham the Beet Master!
Catherine demonstrating paper starter pots
Rob demonstrating hanging gutter gardens
Cat loves her plot!
Graham reacting to the demo's

Zucchini, Olive, and Cheese Quesadillas

I don't know bout you, But I am inundated with Zucchini this year! So I got this recipe via a friend of mine on the inter-webs.

Zucchini, Olive, and Cheese Quesadillas
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
Cooking spray
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1 1/4 cups shredded zucchini
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas
1/2 cup (2 ounces) preshredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup diced tomato, divided
1/4 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives, divided
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled feta cheese, divided

Preparation

Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté for 1 minute. Add zucchini; sauté for 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from heat; stir in oregano, salt, and pepper.
Wipe pan clean with paper towels, and coat with cooking spray. Heat pan over medium heat. Add 1 tortilla to pan, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup mozzarella. Top with half of the zucchini mixture, 1/4 cup tomato, 2 tablespoons olives, 2 tablespoons feta, and 1 tortilla. Cook for 3 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom. Carefully turn quesadilla; cook for 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Place quesadilla on a cutting board; cut in half using a serrated knife. Repeat procedure with the remaining tortillas, mozzarella, zucchini mixture, tomato, olives, and feta. Serve warm.

Just a reminder

(Click on flyer to enlarge)

Interesting Reading...

The following is an excerpt from most excellent Article: Growing Communiy Gardens in Cities, left on our facebook page, by someone over at Burien Parks and Recreation!

P-Patch, which began in 1973 and was named after Rainie Picardo, the farmer who first allowed residents to begin gardening on his land, once even counted as a gardening member Mayor Wes Ulhman. Today P-Patch has sixty-eight gardens, an annual budget of $650,000 and a staff of six, and Seattle has more garden plots per capita than any other major city. Even more impressive, Seattle’s City Council passed a formal resolution supporting community gardens and recommending their co-location on other city-owned property. The city’s comprehensive plan calls for a standard of one garden for every 2,000 households in high-density neighborhoods (known in Seattle as “urban villages”). Nevertheless, despite this abundance, P-Patch still has a waiting list of 1,900 persons; in crowded neighborhoods that translates to three to four years.

Read more here

How to freeze Swiss Chard and other Greens

One of my favorite things in the garden is Swiss Chard... I really want to preserve Swiss Chard. Other than dehydration (makes great snack chips),

* Wash the chard well.
* Separate the stalks from the leaves. It makes it more convenient when you're cooking the chard later, since the stalks take longer to cook than the leaves (and, sometimes you only want to use one or the other in a recipe, not both.)
* Bring a pot of water to a boil, and fill a bowl with ice water.
* Blanch Swiss chard stalks for two minutes, leaves for one minute. Place them in the ice water immediately after blanching to stop the cooking process.
* Drain well, and place the stalks and leaves in separate freezer bags or other freezer-safe containers.
* Freeze for up to six months.
Also works for Kale, Spinach, beet and turnip greens!

Fried Zucchini

Photo: Creating a Family Home Blog

The following recipe comes from Kelli, at Creating a Family Home Blog, and looks so good!

Two medium-sized zucchini, washed and sliced into thin rounds, less than a quarter-inch thick
Two eggs, beaten in a shallow bowl
Italian seasoned bread crumbs, about one cup
Extra virgin olive oil for frying
Kosher salt to taste

Fill the bottom of a heavy frying pan with about 1/8” of olive oil and put it on medium-high heat.

While the oil is heating, dip the zucchini slices in egg and dredge them in bread cumbs until they’re fully coated. Set aside until oil is very hot.

Tip: If you start frying before the oil is hot enough, you’ll end up with soggy zucchini slices that have soaked up all the oil. You’ll know your oil is hot enough when a you toss a pinch of bread crumbs into the pan and the oil around them bubbles. If the oil’s not hot enough, the bread crumbs will sink to the bottom without any fanfare.

See all the bubbling action? Yay for fried zucchini!

Once all of your slices are coated and the oil is hot (but not smoking!), start carefully placing the slices in the pan in one even layer. Be careful not to overload the pan, or else you can bring the temperature of your oil down too low and end up with said soggy zucchini.

After 2-3 minutes, check to see if they’re brown enough to flip. You’re looking for a medium golden brown color.

Flip slices and let the second side get nice and brown. When they’re about done, the oil will bubble less vigorously. Remove from pan onto a wire rack and salt them immediately.

Tip: Place your fried zucchini on a wire rack to cool instead of paper towels. Paper towels cause the crispy crust to get soggy—and this goes for any fried food. Instead, I put the paper towels under the wire rack to catch the oil drips.

Tip: Salt the zucchini rounds while they’re still piping hot. The salt will stick better.

Repeat with the next batch of zucchini until all your rounds are fried and salted.

Tip: Add more oil in between batches as needed, but allow the oil to get up to temperature before adding the next batch of zucchini.

ENJOY!!!!