Posts tagged ‘chives’
Goodbye garden
Here begins the slow goodbye as we trade our current in Calgary’s frigid Zone 3 for a patio full of pots in Vancouver’s lovely Zone 8. When we arrived in our current home almost three years ago the gardens were a blank slate. And now, just when things are finally settling in and filling out, it’s time to move cities.
I love gardening. There are few things I would rather do than spend my days planting, digging and tending to a garden: nothing is more peaceful, calming and real to me than cultivating a little plot of land and watching it grow.
What’s pictured above and below here – the pots and the six inches of dirt are similar to what’s available in our new place. I guess in some ways things won’t change at all. In Calgary I can see the first chives and my pretty violets starting to poke through the earth. I think if I can take a few of them along with me to Vancouver that will be enough.
Seed harvesting begins
Do you harvest the seeds from your plants? I do. I know this sounds like a tedious, painstaking chore, but actually, for the most part, it’s not. And when you compare how easy it is to harvest a handful of seeds to what you would pay at a garden centre for a tiny envelope of those same seeds, it’s an easy and satisfying thing to do. I love walking around the garden in late summer and fall collecting seed pods from the plants. Already I have a stash of small jars starting to fill up with chive, columbine, poppy, tomato and cosmos seeds. Sweet peas and nasturtiums will be next – these are in their peak right now, but it won’t be long before tiny seed pods form in place of the flowers.
Here is a quick outline of a few of the easiest seeds to harvest. It’s probably no coincidence that they are also some of the easiest plants to grow from seeds. (more…)
Rainbow chard potato bake
Tonight was one of those nights when I had to fight the urge to opt out of making dinner. We have an a couple of really good takeout options nearby that offer real food on the quick (the delicious handmade burritos with refried beans, lettuce, tomato, cilantro and fresh tortillas at Si Senor in Calgary’s Kensington neighbourhood are a particular favourite). But we try to reserve take out as a treat for the truly exhausted days only. I was just feeling lazy today, so there was no reason not to cook.
I decided to make a “whatever’s in the fridge” creation. This is actually my favourite way to cook. As long as you’ve got a few things, the result is usually pretty good, and more so because it’s something new and unexpected. We had potatoes and a bit of asparagus from last weekend’s trip to the farmer’s market, and we received a gorgeous bundle of rainbow chard from Hotchkiss Farms courtesy of this week’s order from Spud. There are lots of herbs growing on the deck and we also had asiago cheese from Springbank Cheese Company. I had the idea of a gratin in my head so I ran with that. It was a complete success – so delicious! Here’s the recipe. It’s perfect on its own for a simple supper. You could also serve it as a side dish with grilled fish and salad for something more substantial.
Rainbow chard potato bake
Slice potatoes into thin rounds and pile into a microwave / oven safe baking dish (I used a 12″ round Corningware dish). The potatoes should fill the dish about halfway (4-5 medium potatoes). Microwave them for 10 minutes to soften while you’re chopping the other vegetables.
Finely chop one small to medium sized onion and 2-3 cloves of garlic. Saute with a splash of oil until onion is soft. Add in 1 cup chopped mushroom and continue cooking until mushrooms are soft and onion is golden brown. Pour in 1 cup of white wine (or 1/2 cup wine and 1/2 cup of water if you’d rather drink more of the wine) to deglaze the pan. Cook for a minute or two until everything has bubbled together. Add in 1 cup of asparagus chopped into 2″ pieces and 3 cups of coarsely chopped rainbow or swiss chard. Cook for 2-3 minutes until chard has wilted. Stir in 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh herbs (I used parsley, oregano and thyme). Pour vegetables over potatoes, season with fresh ground pepper and mix together.
Top potato mixture with 1/2 cup grated asiago cheese (cheddar or gouda would probably also be great) and sprinkle some fresh chives over top of the cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375F.
Chives
Three chive plants came into my life last year thanks to the Calgary Horticultural Society‘s plant exchange and my ever-generous parents who are always digging up and donating plants from their yard. Two are planted in a dry, partial sun area in our front yard, and the other is in a moist shady spot in the back garden. All three of them came back and they are thriving. Each purple flower produces a seed head with dozens of hard, black seeds. I collected these last year and put them in our planter boxes alongside the lettuce and lots of tiny green shoots emerged after only a few weeks. Chives seem to thrive in our zone 3 garden.
Chives are perfect for people looking for edible, drought-tolerant, ornamental and hardy herbs. They grow well in sun, shade, containers and everywhere else. And for cold climate gardeners in places like Calgary, they’re a welcome sight in early spring as one of the first green shoots to come out of the ground after a long, long winter without fresh herbs from the garden.
As you can see in the photo above, our chives are just starting to flower. Chive flowers are beautiful to look at in the garden. Snipped chive flowers are also really tasty as a garnish, adding a simple elegance to anything coming out of the kitchen – soups, salads, omelets, pasta and other dishes. We use fresh chives in place of store-bought green onions, which is an easy way to eat locally.
Asparagus recipes
Asparagus is a delightful vegetable. It’s in season now and we’ve been buying Alberta-grown asparagus from Edgar Farms for the past few weeks from the Calgary Farmers’ Market. I’ve been trying to eat as much of it as possible now – the season is short and the tender, tasty spears we’re enjoying now are incomparably better than the imported variety. My preference is to feast now, freeze some and then wait until next year to enjoy it again. In honour of feast time, here are a few recipe ideas. If you have a great recipe that belongs on this list, please list it in the comments below.
Straight up and simple. Drizzle oil over a bundle of freshly washed asparagus and then saute or grill it for a few minutes until tender. Pile in a long, shallow bowl or serving dish and garnish with fresh cracked black pepper and a generous helping of shaved parmesan. We had local asparagus prepared this way at the River Cafe recently and it was wonderful!
With pasta. Cook enough pasta for 4 people. Linguini or penne are both good (the pasta pictured above is made with gluten free penne). Saute 1 pound of asparagus in 3 tablespoons of oil along with 2 cups of peas, 1 small zucchini, coarsely chopped. 1 cup of fresh spinach and 3 cloves of garlic for about 3 minutes. Add in fresh chives and any other herbs like basil, oregano or thyme that you have on hand. Finely chop 1 cup of almonds and mix in with vegetables. Toss the asparagus mixture with pasta and top with a squeeze of lemon juice, fresh cracked pepper, crushed red pepper flakes and plenty of crumbled goat cheese or grated parmesan cheese.
Omelets. Making omelets is an every weekend brunch or lunch ritual in our house. The omelets I made recently with some leftover steamed asparagus, finely diced mushrooms, red pepper, garden chives and cheddar cheese were excellent and a great way to use up a bit of asparagus from the previous evening’s dinner. Portobello burgers are a favourite dinner and I often have portobello stems leftover – these are perfect chopped up in omelets. Here’s a basic recipe:
Saute vegetables in a generous amount of oil. Whisk together 2 eggs with 1-2 tablespoons of water. We have been buying organic, local eggs from Sunworks Farm, which are available at the Calgary Farmers’ Market. Pour egg mixture into pan over top of vegetables. Cook until egg is no longer runny. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flax seeds over top of omelet along with snipped chives, fresh cracked pepper and grated or thinly sliced cheddar cheese. Fold over the omelet and serve with fresh fruit.
Risotto. Asparagus risotto is one of my favorite things to make for a simple but special supper at home with family and friends. I usually freeze summer asparagus so we can enjoy this a couple of times in the winter months as well. To freeze, just wrap a bundle of fresh, uncooked asparagus in a plastic bag (a bread bag works well) – no need to worry about washing or cooking it until you’re ready to use it.
