Chole's Kitchen: A review

Vegan anything and my husband. Seriously, it's not two things that go in the same sentence easily. But I was surprised to see his willingness to go out of the box recently.

I had the chance to review the vegan cookbook Chloe's Kitchen: 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way . I fully expected to see this be one of those things that mommy does when daddy is working late. After all, I married a good Midwestern, beef-loving boy.

After flipping through the cookbook, I was impressed by his willingness to try out vegan recipes from the book. Truthfully, vegan isn't a large step from meatless, anyway. I loved the idea that we're a few cups of almonds away from mock mac and cheese. (Something I haven't yet tried because of my cutting back starches.) The stray and hay pasta was fabulous - subbing almond milk for a more fat-laden substitute. If I hadn't had the audacity to include the sub-dried tomatoes, it would have been a huge hit.

Chloe's Kitchen got us off the fence into doing what we've been meaning to do anyway: Introduce healthier, more varied options into our diet. It's given us a fresh inspiration as we head into farmer's market season.

Saving bok choy seeds

Bok choy (or pak choi) is a great discovery for our Chinese food-loving family. The challenge is finding it just right. The stores offer huge, foot-long bok choys; the farmers markets on rare occasion offer small ones with more flavor, but they also aren't bred to sit on your refrigerator shelf.

So this year, we decided to try our hand at growing baby bok choy from seed from one of our heirloom catalogs. The problem? With our rainy spring, we started too late, and they bolted quickly.

It took a lot of research to find out anything about harvesting these seeds. If you're interested in saving seed, you have to wait until these little pods that form turn brown, then you can harvest them.

You'll want to split the pods in half - which you can easily do by hand - and both sides will likely have tiny balls of seeds covered with a small film. Reminds me of "ants on a log." Just peel the film back and dump into a container.

The seeds I've found are very prolific and easy to harvest, though it does take time. It's great if you love bok choy! In fact, once this heat wave passes, I'm excited about a fall planting.

Interested in trying bok choy? I have so many seeds that I'd love to share. Leave a comment if you are interested in some seeds!

Salmon with snow peas and dill

Snow peas freshly picked from the garden. There are few things better. And that's the reason I snuck home early before getting the kids yesterday to harvest some: The snow peas would have never made it to the plate otherwise!

We wound up feasting on a makeshift dish that took advantage of not only the snow peas, but also some dill that has cropped up unexpectedly in our garden. Simple, one pan, and happy kids with clean plates!

Salmon with snow peas and dill
8 oz. salmon
3 c. snow peas, trimmed
2-3 T. olive oil *
1 T. fresh dill

Chop salmon into 1-inch squares. Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat, cook salmon until mostly cooked through. Add dill and snow peas (additional olive oil if necessary) and cook through.

*We probably used a bit more olive oil than would normally be needed because of the pan we used.

Chinese Corn and Egg

Cleaning out my freezer the other day, I found a package of corn frozen from the peak of summer. The kids couldn't get enough of it, grabbing the cobs as quickly as I'd removed most of the kernels. This recipe, adapted from a Chinese cookbook of mine, went quickly too. It's a simple dish for a Meatless Monday or for a quick dinner after a busy day. Quick and Easy Corn and Egg 4-5 ears corn, kernels removed 5 eggs, lightly beaten 1 tsp. sesame oil pinch of salt 1 tbsp. butter 2 tsp. peanut oil 1 tsp. finely chopped garlic salt and pepper to taste Combine eggs, sesame oil and salt and set aside. Heat skillet until it is hot, and heat the butter and peanut oil until melted. Toss in garlic, stir-fry briefly, then toss in corn and stir-fry another 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add eggs, scramble and cook until eggs are set. Serve at once.

Radish stirfry? An unusual recipe to share

Indiana this week got rain. A lot of rain.

As a result, when I finally stumbled into our garden Friday night, I was greeted with serious changes. My peas must have grown several inches. My garlic now dwarfs my toddler. And radishes were everywhere.

I picked an entire basket of radishes, which sat on my counter, muddy and ignored, until morning. And while our family enjoys the sauteed radishes, it's time to expand our repertoire.

So I did a search for radish recipes. And stumbled on to a very unusual idea: Using the tops for your dinner. Recipes exist for everything from soups to stirfries using the leafs rather than the roots of radishes. Who knew?

So instead of getting one dish out of the radishes, I'll get two. A good thing because, as I found with this dish, radish tops look far too close to lettuce for my little guy.

I settled on a stirfry of the radish leaves, similar to stir-frying bok choy. (The original recipe for Spicy Stir-Fried Radish Greens and/or Swiss Chard appears here.)

After thoroughly washing the leaves (the most time-consuming part of this process), I roughly ripped appart the leaves, removing the stems.

I heated my wok with about 1/2 tablespoon of peanut oil and added the radish greens and 1 tsp. minced garlic.

As I was tossing the leaves, I mixed on the side 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon honey and a splash of hot sauce. (Keep in mind two of us like things mild.) As the leaves wilted, I added the sauce, tossed quickly, and served.

The verdict? Mixed. I thought it was fine, with a little extra salt. My husband looked at me with one eye raised and turned to the kitchen to make some very bland rice. (To his defense, he did try it, and noted it had a slightly citrusy taste.) And the 4 year old? She settled in with a bowl of it, eating every last bite.

What veggie plants you shouldn't buy

Vegetables and herb plants are oh-so-enticing when they're lined up in their rows at the garden store or farmers market. But the dollars can quickly add up.

Starting from seed can be deceptively easy, even going into June in Indiana (later if you're confident enough to do a planting for a later-fall harvest.) It's so easy in fact, that you could be spending twice or even four times the amount of a package of seeds on on package of plants.

Stick to seeds for these vegetables, which are easy to grow:

Lettuce
Beans
Peas
Radishes
Carrots
Spinach

These add the extra opportunities to sow continuously over the season and into the fall.

I've found most herbs to be easy to grow from seed as well.

Looking for a start on your gardening season? We're giving away a brown-thumb gardening seed kit this week, featuring lettuce and other easy-to-grow vegetables.

Making do with less meat

Just in time for grilling season - meat prices are on the rise. So writes today's Indianapolis Star.

Here's the deal. You can do a lot by cutting back on meat in a meal, either by making it less of an emphasis in a meal or cutting it out completely. (And, for the record, there are few vegetables out there that are $3, $5, or $10 a pound, which is what many people are willing to pay for meat.)

To get you started, here's a few ideas to get you going on the grill the next time you're out there.

• Balsamic grilled vegetables
• Grilled asparagus
• Grilled cauliflower
• Grilled citrus radiacho
• Grilled corn on the cob
• Grilled eggplant and chickpea salad
• Grilled fruit
• Grilled fruit with balsamic vinegar syrup
• Grilled fruit with carmelized orange sauce
• Grilled green beans
• Grilled potato wedges
• Honey garlic grilled eggplant
• Spiced tomatoes
• Spring asparagus and new potato salad

Have a great vegetarian recipe? Post your link here.

Peas and carrots, carrots and peas...

Peas and carrots, carrots and peas... I admit that phrase is burned indelibly on my brain after watching hours of "Super Why." But it's becoming of greater importance these days, as I'm working to plan my vegetable garden in admittedly small spaces.

See, I got a little overambitious with my garden planning this year. In a desperate attempt to get more plants without shortchanging my small yard, I started looking into the idea of "companion planting." The short explanation is mixing your plants in a way that helps them out - whether by providing shade or supporting nutrients to the plants surrounding them. Or perhaps growing one plant next to another repels insects that may harm the other plant.

I started researching companion planting, and after referencing several books and sites and trying to make sense of what I could or should plant together, it began to look like a jumbled mess:

Sounds easy in theory. Peas, lettuces, onions, radishes, beans and tomatoes seemed the most "friendly" to other plants. But then, you haven't factored in height or root vegetables, or which plants take up more space than others. In my first attempt to get this all straight, I was left shaking my head, not really sure where I ought to plant things at all.

I'm left wondering whether my approach last year is just as well: Have a plant that takes a lot of ground space, like squash? Underplant with some root vegetables or onions. Have a hole after something's been taken out? Add some new seeds and see what happens.

Either way, I've got plenty of time to consider it. My weekend of keeping my seed starts outside have left wilted, lifeless plants in its wake!

Have you tried companion planting? What system works for you?

Our cooking competition (Round 1)

Lunchtime approached, and I was at a complete loss of what to do. Burnt out on mac 'n cheese, grilled cheese and pasta, I faced a fridge with, frankly, a lot of random items.

Two bunches of radishes, eagerly bought by a 4 year old at the farmers market the previous weekend and then forgotten.

A few small kolhrabi, grabbed from the garden before last weekend's promised freezing temperatures.

A bunch of bok choi, a few packages of mushrooms, an abandoned half of an onion and snow peas, all bought with the intentions of making meals that just didn't happen.

I was stumped. And the troops were hungry.

Luckily, inspiration hit: A cooking contest! Think Iron Chef meets desperate mom.

I proposed the idea to my oldest: I would make some different veggie dishes, and they would judge and see what tastes the best. Thankfully, she was sold.

Into a small pan went the kolhrabi, sliced and sauteed in butter. (Not fancy, but as we'd never actually eaten kolhrabi before - we simply picked it because the name was funny - I figured we would play it safe.) Another pan held radishes to be sauteed as well.

In the wok went the main event: Veggie stirfry with a splash or two of teriyaki sauce, served over leftover rice.

The kids eagerly waited. By now, my daughter had deemed herself as "Giada" the judge, and her brother would be "Ted."

The kohlrabi was done first. "It's really juicy and good," she said. Hmm, juicy wasn't quite the word I'd associate it, but I did like the flavor. "Ted" took one bite and spit it on the plate.

The radishes were next. "It's pretty good," "Giada" said, munching away. "You did a nice job. You have good ingredents."

Though we've had cooked radishes before, perhaps these just looked like a pinker version of the kolhrabi. "Ted" spit his out and threw it on the floor for emphasis.

While we waited for the stir fry to be ready, we agreed that we'd go ahead and grow the kolrabi again next year - that much was a success. And then we served the main event. "Giada" gobbled the shitake mushrooms first. "Ted" went for the rice, then took one bite of the snow peas, decidedly dropping the pieces in protest - first on my plate and then on the floor. As added emphasis, down went the fork as well. The plate appeared to be at risk of a similar fate.

Despite one grouchy judge, our little "competition" worked wonders. It got my daughter at least trying a new vegetable or two, and cleaned out my fridge. Now, I've just got to figure out what's for dinner!

Veggie grilling

Might as well make the most of your farmers markets while the summer is hot. In just a month or two, the growing season - at least in Indiana - will be winding down.

While I admit to stocking up my freezer this time of year, we also love to add our veggies to the grill when my husband cooks out. If you're a little shy about this, relax. It doesn't take very long, and it's one less set of pots to clean!

Here are some vegetable side dishes to make use of the rest of your burner:

• Balsamic grilled vegetables
• Grilled asparagus
• Grilled cauliflower
• Grilled citrus radiacho
• Grilled corn on the cob
• Grilled eggplant and chickpea salad
• Grilled fruit
• Grilled fruit with balsamic vinegar syrup
• Grilled fruit with carmelized orange sauce
• Grilled green beans
• Grilled potato wedges
• Honey garlic grilled eggplant
• Spiced tomatoes
• Spring asparagus and new potato salad

Enjoy!

Weeds 19, Me 0

Gardening tip of the day: Don’t leave your onion sets in the garage when the temps get in the high 80s.

I’m not sure what happened, but my red onion sets went nuts over the last week.

Last night, I opened the paper bag to see a bizarre mess of red onion sets with 3-inch long white and yellow sprouts. Yikes. It doesn’t seem natural. So I weeded out my garden, replaced the grass and weeds that overcame my seeds and dropped the strange onion sets in the ground. If those don’t work, we’ll try again with lettuce.

Gardening doesn't seem to come as easily as it used to. It used to be I'd drop in a few plants or onion sets or lettuce seeds, and, boom, they'd just grow. This year, we're coping with a heck of a lot of work, and getting questionable results.

Beans: I clearly remember that I planted three rows of our multicolor beans, but we’re not having much luck. The first batch I’d planted resulted in two – count them, two – bean plants. The second row is faring much better but a few are getting eaten or broken. We’ll see.

Blueberries: Still alive! Though strong winds and rain knocked out about half of our flowers earlier this month, we’ve actually got pea-size (green) berries growing. We’ll see how long they last – our strawberries have already been nibbled on.

Carrots: Those rainbow carrots my daughter was so excited about are not doing so well. Of the two rows I planted, maybe four carrots are appearing (and I’m not sure that they aren’t weeds.)

Garlic: The sprouting organic garlic we planted on a whim in March is doing well. The late arrivals from Pinetree are in the ground; though half are still in the fridge holding out for fall.

Herbs: Those started from seed went nowhere. (Oregano, chives and basil are no-go.) We caved last weekend and bought several oregano and basil plants to join our rosemary plant. A coworker also shared two mint plants, which are now happily potted. We’ll see how they progress.

Lettuce: About half of what I planted actually sprouted. Not sure why.

Leeks: My poor leeks that were doing so well in the peat pellets don’t seem to have survived the real world. We’re down to one lonely leek hiding in the corner of my raised bed.

Onions: Growing like crazy. We’ll see what happens with the freakish red onions with the yellow tails.

Shallots: Sprouting and in the ground. Leftovers were shared.

Strawberries: About 1/8” high in my peat pellets, but the 3-year-old ones in the ground are going like crazy. We harvested our first berries two weeks ago.

Squash: Despite two of my plants literally disappearing the night we planted them(?) the remaining three are actually growing.

Tomatoes: Our plants are faring well overall, though we had two unceremoniously snapped at the base (despite having cages). Thankfully, the Greenwood Farmers Market is selling their heirloom tomatoes at $2 each – much better than what you’ll pay for a “regular” tomato at Lowe’s!

Gardening is certainly a work in progress. Thankfully I have two friendly helpers to keep it going - or, at least, interesting!

Growing garlic this fall

The lack of decent garlic at the grocery store the other day prompted a moment of weakness: I ordered some gardening catalogs online the other day.

Nevermind that I have no budget or a garden plot for that matter. I'm determined to have some decent garlic and shallots next spring. Which means we need to get going on some kind of planting this fall.

The first catalog arrived Tuesday, and I have to fight the 3 year old over who gets to thumb through it. What's not to be interested in - flowers of every shape and color, purple and yellow beans, the likes of which she'd never seen before, blueberries of varying shapes and sizes (which of course she's begging to have).

Explaining to a little one that it's just not time to plant berries doesn't work well, but we settled for a discussion of the three pages of garlic varieties. In the past, I've tended to favor the early-season types because I'm just not that patient (and I can re-use that space for summertime planting).

However, we have new criteria now. It's not hardneck versus softneck, or early season versus late. Based on our discussion continued this morning around a bowl of Cheerios, I've been tasked to order the red garlic.

For my little green thumb, it's all about the color.