Eating the garden

Time to eat the fruits of my labors..and that of other Hispanic farm workers.

My dinner tonight consisted of pasta w/ swiss chard, garlic, and olive oil; heirloom tomato, purple bell pepper, and lemon basil salad, and beet, arugula, and goat cheese salad. And I sopped up the olive oil with a piece of crusty whole wheat bread.

The arugula, swiss chard, and lemon basil were grown by me in my little garden (pic of newly harvested swiss chard above and lemon basil sprig here). My beets and tomatoes aren't ready yet so beets and heirloom tomatoes are from the Farmer's market. And purple bell peppers were found at the 99 Cent store.

All of these are easy and favorites of mine.

Chard pasta: Boil any type of larger pasta (penne, linguine, etc.) to al dente and add the cut up stems of chard at the end of the cooking time. Right before turning off the heat, add the chard leaves and immediately pour into the colander. Drain and return to the cooking pot. Add about 1-2-3 cloves (to your liking) of minced garlic and drizzle w/ olive oil (again however much you like but generally just enough to lubricate everything.) Grind pepper and salt on top. Add some fresh grated Parmigian, Romano, Asiago or whatever tasty hard cheese you have on hand, if desired. Also good add-ins are a sprinkle of dried parsley and/or crushed red pepper flakes. Serve right away.

Tomato, pepper, and lemon basil: Chop tomatoes and pepper (yellow bell peppers are my favorite for this). Rip up basil leaves. Splash w/ red wine vinegar (go conservative at first and taste for the right amount of tang.) Add olive oil (keep about a 1:3 ratio for vinegar to olive oil). Grind salt and pepper on top and mix. Serve right away.

Beet, arugula, and goat cheese salad: Boil some beets. Cut into slices when cool. Rip up some arugula onto a plate. Cut some herbed goat cheese into slices or pieces (Chevre brand is good.) Chop a granny smith apple into bite size pieces. Arrange beet slices, apple, and pieces of goat cheese over arugula. Make an oil/vinegar dressing that is sweetened slightly with honey or sugar. I like to use this muscat orange vinegar from Trader Joe's w/ olive oil and honey. Make sure to put salt and pepper in the dressing and drizzle over the salad. Again, serve right away.

I was so proud of my swiss chard and arugula. They have grown so healthy looking..probably thanks to the vermicompost in the soil and compost tea (both homemade!) I've used to grow them. Grown completely organic, with no chemical fertilizers or pest control, and a lot of Farmer Winnow's obsessive-compulsive kind of love! Here are compostables from this meal waiting to become part of next year's garden:
And the worms are now eating it for their dinner! :) Ecology!