Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Archive for the ‘Veggies’ Category

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).

The lettuce is in very good form this year: romaine, red leaf and butter lettuces are giving us way more than we can eat. I gave Mom a big gallon-size bag of it to take home last weekend. And we have baby peas! There are also some beans in the top right and green onions behind the peas.

We can really get a lot of food in a relatively small square garden. We won’t be buying salad greens for another month, and we had frozen peas from last year’s garden till February.

Mixed lettuces and peas

Baby peas and chives

Last night’s rain and the weekend’s cooler temperatures should be great for helping our baby romaine, butter lettuce and red sails along. We might even pick some to mix in a salad. Onions, garlic, beans and peas are on their way, too.

The first time I had posole, a Mexican pork stew, was at my friend Liz’s house a few years ago. She and Walter are from Colorado and served this after an art gallery opening of Walter’s, and some of Liz’s, artwork. I could not stop eating it.

It’s time-consuming to make, so I usually start cutting things up a day or two before, to make it easier to get started with the cooking. Once everything is together in the pot, it simmers for a couple of hours and makes the house smell really good The pork becomes buttery soft and the broth is full of flavor. Delicious. I like to serve it with cheese and roasted red pepper quesadillas, for a little crunch, and of course, margaritas.

Pork & Tomatillo Posole

4 pounds pork butt or shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut into bite sized pieces
Coarse alt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup canola or corn oil
2 yellow onions, diced
1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husked, cored and chopped
4 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon, dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
8 cups chicken stock
2 cans hominy
1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Garnishes (posole is traditionally served with these garnishes; I just serve with some lime wedges)
1/4 small head green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
10 radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 limes, cut into wedges

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add about 1/3 of the pork in an even layer and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown pork on both sides, making sure to get them nice and golden. Remove the browned pork to a medium bowl, then add another 1/3 of the pork, season and continue till all the pork is browned and in the bowl.

Add the onions and a large pinch of salt to the pot. Saute for about five minutes, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the tomatillos, jalapenos, garlic and oregano and continue to cook for another few minutes to soften the vegetables.

Add the reserved pork, pork juices and chicken stock to the pot. Cover it, turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Remove the lid, turn the heat to low and simmer until the pork is tender and starting to fall apart, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add the hominy for the last half hour.

Stir in the cilantro and taste. Add salt and pepper if necessary. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with the garnishes.

We grew a nice variety of lettuces in the garden last spring, and most of them did very nicely. We had salad from the garden regularly all spring and into the summer.

This is a composed salad I made one day last summer. Since the high is supposed to be about 42*F today, I’m hoping the thought of a cool salad on a hot day might warm me up. If not, I’ll make some hot chocolate.

This is for Photo Friday’s weekly photo challenge. This week’s topic is Homemade.