Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Archive for the ‘Gardening’ Category

We have three hydrangea shrubs around our house, and all three have huge, gorgeous blooms and are all different colors. I know that the acidity of the soil determines what color they will be; the interesting thing is that we don’t do anything to the soil to affect the color. One is blue, one is purple, and one is pink. I love the huge flower heads they get.

I’m late again for the the Photo Friday weekly challenge, but I’m posting anyway Last week’s theme was Bloom.

The manure Dan tilled into the garden this spring has made a huge difference in our yield so far this year. We pulled a bunch of onions to make room for basil, and the bell peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes are coming in nicely now.

Today I will be picking and preserving Anaheim peppers and making basil pesto for the freezer, as well as for us.

A basket full of yummies

Roma tomatoes

Anaheim peppers

We have quite a bit going in the garden right now – several kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet and hot peppers, tomatillos, onions, garlic, cantaloupe (an experiment) and lots of herbs.

These are a few pix of food we harvested earlier in the spring – we now have a couple pounds of shelled and blanched peas in the freezer, along with at least five pounds of blanched green beans. And of course, all that salad!

Our first peas!

A couple pounds of beans

Bell pepper fell off – it was about 3 inches long, just enough for Dan’s salad

Some friends introduced me to Vietnamese cooking a few years ago, at the restaurant Great Saigon on Virginia Beach Blvd. in Janaf Mall. One of my favorite meals to get there is bun, or meat served over salad and rice noodles with a hot, sweet, salty and sour sauce or dressing.

I decided to try making it at home by combining a recipe I found at myrecipes.com with one from the cookbook The Best International Recipe by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated magazine. It’s a bit more work than I want to do on a weeknight, but next time, I’ll mix up the dressing ahead of time and maybe skip the shallots.

This is my contribution to the food blogging event Grow Your Own, originated by Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes, which celebrates raising and cooking our own fresh food. The lemongrass, mint and chiles in this recipe came from my garden. We had a huge crop of hot chiles last year, and I still have some in the freezer.

Here’s a tip: To preserve whole hot chiles, place them on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer. Freeze until fully frozen, then remove to a zipper-lock bag and keep in the freezer. When ready to use, remove the number of chiles needed from the bag and let thaw on a plate on the counter. This will take about 10 minutes, depending on the size of the chile. Trust me, they maintain their hotness

Shrimp Bun – Korean-style Rice Noodle Salad

Ingredients – serves 4

Shrimp
2 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. canola or peanut oil
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 lb. peeled and deveined large or extra-large shrimp
2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed and crushed with the side of a knife

Dressing
1/3 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup warm water
3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 fresh hot chiles, minced
1 clove garlic, minced

Shallots
1/8 cup canola or peanut oil
1/2 shallot, julienned
salt to taste

Salad
2 carrots, or 6 baby carrots, peeled and shredded
1/2 cucumber, peeled and julienned (cut into matchstick shapes)
4 oz. dried rice noodles
2 cups lettuce, any kind, cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 cup fresh basil, cut into chiffonade (ribbons)
1/4 cup fresh mint, cut into chiffonade (ribbons)
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup chopped peanuts

Preparation

SHRIMP: Combine shrimp with marinade ingredients; seal in a zipper-lock bag, place in a leak-proof container, and refrigerate for 1 hour, turning occasionally.

DRESSING: Whisk dressing ingredients in a medium bowl until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

SHALLOTS: Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and cook for 5 minutes, until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Strain shallots through a sieve into a small bowl; reserve oil. Place fried shallots on a paper-towel-lined plate to drain, and set aside.

SALAD: Place rice noodles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand 20 minutes, then drain. Combine the noodles with the shallot oil, 1/4 of the lettuce, and 1/2 of the bean sprouts, carrots and cucumber, tossing well.

Pre-heat grill or grill pan. Remove shrimp from bag and discard marinade. Grill shrimp 2-1/2 minutes per side, till completely opaque. Place 1/4 of the noodle mixture in each of 4 bowls. Top each serving with 1/4 of the shrimp and 2 tbsp. of the dressing. Pile 1/4 of each of the remaining ingredients around the rim of the bowls and top with 1/4 of the fried shallots. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and serve.

Back in, probably February, Dan planted mesclun mix seeds in a terra-cotta planter on the back steps. I had told him they would last all summer, but I neglected to specify that he should sprinkle a pinch of seeds each week for the summer. So he planted the whole seed packet all at once.

April 25

This is from last week, so it’s a little smaller now, but we definitely need to eat more of this. I also added a couple of parsley plants in there. It couldn’t be easier to grow – just sprinkle the seeds on and keep it watered.

May 15

Last weekend, I was planting marigolds in the veggie garden, for some color and to help keep pests away, and this plant had to go – it was right where I needed to put a marigold in order to get the symmetry I like in my garden

I thought it was an onion, but when I pulled it out, I saw it was a head of garlic – and a good-sized one, too.

That reminded me that in the kitchen, I had a head of garlic with sprouts on the cloves, so I got that, separated the cloves, and planted them in the garden, so this fall, we’ll have more homegrown garlic. For the record, I planted them between the pepper plants (so I can find them again).