Get your potting soil, seeds and hoes ready. It’s garden time!
There’s something to say about cultivating a patch. Creating fertile ground. Religiously watering the plot. Watching your little buds grow. But the best part? Sinking your teeth into juicy, nutritious fruits and vegetables, made even more delicious with the knowledge that you’ve created them with your own hands.
Now that they’re ripe, what to do, how to prepare them? A few of our favorite gadgets to get you in the culinary spirit (and a few recipes to get you started).
1. Mandoline
How have we lived this long without this tool in our kitchens? Slices everything evenly without a knife – from eggplant to potatoes, zucchini to apples. One of our favorite recipes? Homemade dill pickles, made with Kirby cucumbers right from your garden…
8 larger or 10 smaller firm, fresh Kirby (pickling) cucumbers
3 teaspoons kosher, coarse or pickling salt
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
½ cup white vinegar
3 teaspoons kosher, coarse or pickling salt
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
½ cup white vinegar
Slice your cucumbers very thin — about 1/8-inch slices or even thinner on a mandoline. Place them in a 1-liter or equivalent lidded jar. Add 3 teaspoons salt and dill, then pour in white vinegar. Close the jar and give it a few shakes to begin distributing the ingredients.
You’re going to find the liquid level in the jar worrisomely low as it is well below the pickle pile line, but don’t fret. Within an hour or two, the salt will draw the moisture from the cucumbers and wilt them, while the liquid becomes a perfectly balanced pickle brine.
Place the jar in the refrigerator near the front, which should remind you to shake it once or twice more over the new few hours. (Or whenever you’re back at the fridge.) You can eat them as little as 1-2 hours later, but they become ideal at 6-8 hours. They’ll keep in the fridge, submerged in their brine, for 3 weeks.
Recipe from smittenkitchen.com
2. Spiralizer
This has become one of our favorites!! So many designs, but all with the same result – long, curly ‘noodles.’ Pappardelle, fettucini, linguine, spaghetti – a shape for whatever mood you’re in. And the fruits and veggies that can be ‘noodled’ aren’t just limited to apples and zucchini. Celeriac, beets, cabbage, taro root, broccoli, radish, jicama…the list goes on and on. So get in the garden and grab what’s ripe. Here, one of the most asked-for dishes, sure to dazzle your guests.
Ribbolita with Spiralized Carrots
· 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
· 1 small yellow onion, chopped
· 1.5 stalks celery, chopped
· 2 garlic cloves, minced
· 1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
· 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (use chicken if not vegan)
· 1 bay leaf
· 2 fresh sage leaves
· 2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
· ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
· 1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
· 3 cups chopped kale leaves (curly, lacinato, or Tuscan)
· Salt
· 4 slices day-old crusty whole grain bread, roughly torn into 1-inch pieces (4 oz. total, about 2 cups)
· 1 large carrot, peeled and spiralized, noodles trimmed
· If not vegan, ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, and celery, and stir to coat the vegetables in the oil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are beginning to soften, 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, sage, thyme, and black pepper, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a simmer. Add the beans and kale, season with salt, cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 25 minutes. Uncover, stir in the carrot noodles and bread, and simmer for 5 more minutes.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve. If not vegan, add a garnish of parmesan cheese (see ingredients.)
Recipe from inspiralized.com
3. Glass pitcher with Infuser
This one is easy. Just fill up the pitcher with cool, clean water, then add your juiciest, sweetest (and tartest) fruits. The best way to jazz up your 8-10 glasses of H2O per day.
4. Vitamix
Last but not least the ultimate kitchen accessory, the Vitamix. Expensive yes, but entirely versatile. Not only can you make the best smoothies on earth in this powerful machine, but also soups, dressings, dips and spreads, and so much more. Honestly, we find the best way to enjoy the nutrition and taste of our freshly grown produce is through the Vitamix. And the best part? It takes no time at all. So difficult to find a favorite recipe, but this one is tops (even if it’s so simple!).
½ cup olive oil
½ coup grated parmesan cheese
3 medium garlic cloves, peeled
2 cups fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons pine nuts
salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- Place all ingredients, except salt and pepper, into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.
- Elect Variable 1.
- Turn machine on and slowly increase speed to Variable 7.
- Blend for 1 minute, using the tamper to press the ingredients into the blades.
Recipe yields enough sauce to coat one pound of pasta.
This recipe has been written for the C-Series machines with Variable Speed control and Standard 64-ounce container. If you are using a different Vitamix machine or container size, you may need to make adjustments to the Variable Speed, processing time and/or ingredient quantities.
Recipe from Vitamix.com.
Whether or not you’re a green thumb, now is the time to enjoy seasonal, fresh, organic or locally grown fruits and veggies. Your body (and your taste buds) will thank you for it.
photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/129082931@N07/25904428156″>Spring has sprung</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>(license)</a>
