Eating from the Garden

Kelly & I have a little garden going this year.... my 1st attempt at gardening. We planted in early May thinking that we were late in getting it started, only to find out from other gardening friends that we planted way early!

But, luckily the weather was somewhat warm in May, with only 1 frost warning. The plants languished in the cool weather but survived.


We left them to the elements without our amateur interventions as we went on vacation over the end of May. When we returned the plants had experienced a growth spurt.

And since then, we've been trimming and picking veggies for our meals.

The current list of planted goodies includes:
3 varieties of tomatoes,
Zucchini
Yellow squash
Red bell pepper
Cucumbers
Green Onions
Spinach
Radishes
Swiss Chard
(and now for our potted herbs)
Basil
Cilantro
Parsley
Peppermint
Sage
Chives


Last weekend we picked some of the radishes and spinach (only 40 days and they're ready to eat... wow that is fast!). Last night Kelly cooked up the spinach to make Spinach Catalan. She found the recipe over at the Gutsy Gourmet

Here is the recipe:
•1/2 cup golden or regular raisins
•Salt & pepper to taste
•1/3 cup olive oil
•5 garlic cloves, crushed
•3 large spinach bunches (about 30 ounces), trimmed, rinsed, well drained
•1/3 cup pine nuts (Roasted in pan previously)

PREPARATION:
•Place raisins in bowl. Cover with hot water and let soak 10 minutes. Drain.

•Heat olive oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until golden, about 4 minutes. Discard garlic. Increase heat to high and add spinach. Cover and cook until wilted, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Uncover, add raisins and pine nuts and stir until cooking liquid evaporates, about 4 minutes. Season spinach to taste with salt and pepper. Serve spinach immediately.