Series: From my Covid gardens
It is not spring yet, but with the new Covid variants we will probably be in lockdown for a long time. And I’ll have my Covid gardens going again this year.
Every morning last year – spring, summer and fall – I’d walk in the garden with my cup of coffee, curious about my plants. Is there anything that can be used? If so, I’d cut it with my kitchen scissors. Once all was harvested, I’d decide how to use the crop during the day. At the beginning it all went into omelettes and salads, but as the spring progressed so did my plants, and soon I’d have enough for three meals a day.
Sometimes I’d just throw a few leaves in the pan, some green onions and or green garlic scapes, then add mushrooms and this’d be the vegetable side for fish or chicken, like in the photo above.
Aside from the salads and omelets that would take kale and leaves from the swiss chards and the beets, in late May I had plenty of beets and chard leaves to be used. I start cutting the outer leaves. This way they continued growing and producing more green mass.
Below are some easy recipes or sooner ideas.
Note: I use every edible part of the plants be it from my gardens be it from the grocery store. No waste!
Frittata with swiss chard and beet leaves:
In mid June I picked the outer leaves from the swiss chard, the beets (red and yellow). I had plenty of leaves, but they shrink and wilt when cooked.
So, I sautéed the stems with about 100g of smoked ham and once cooked, added the leaves and took the pan off the cooktop. And still had no idea where I was heading with it, as is the case much of the time when I start cooking. Well let’s see what else is available. No, not pasta, that’s for another time. How about some sort of frittata? I poured milk in a glass pan, to cover the bottom. Probably about a cup.
Then I started whisking eggs into it. I stopped at 6, I think. Added salt and ground peppercorns. Then added the green mix into it.
Baked it in my top (small) Gemini oven on 375F for about 40 min. Delicious.
Salad niçoise style
This is just a photo. Although it may be served as a fancy salad in restaurants nowadays, the main purpose of this salad was to make use of some leftovers. There is a lot written about it, but I make it with whatever I have in the fridge or in the garden. This summer, I made it many times, using not only my lettuces and cherry tomatoes, but green beans, peas, zucchini and raw beets. Then I’d add a can of tuna, a few olives and sometimes a boiled potato or two. And hard-boiled eggs of course. Topped it with anchovies, which Alex loves in any dish but especially in this one. I don’t use oil or vinegar. Just the juice from the tuna (I use the whole tuna in water for this, although it can be flaked too). In the case of the photo, everything except the egg, tuna and anchovies is fresh from the garden. Nothing tastes better than freshly picked vegetables.
Beans with pancetta and leafy greens
You can use any type of canned beans you like, but I actually cooked my kidney beans from scratch. Also, any leafy greens will work with this. I used mainly kale and a few swiss chard leaves.
In a non-stick frying pan first cook the pancetta until crisp. Discard most of the fat and sauté green onions in the remainder. Add the cooked beans: if you are using canned, drain the water first. Top with the greens and let them simmer for about 2 – 3 minutes until they wilt and shrink. Don’t overcook. They should keep their green colour. Serve while warm. I decorated it with zucchini flowers, which I threw in the pan at the last moment.
Bonne appétit!
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