are they supposed to be this big???

((I had a fun time coming up with possible post titles for this post. Decided not to go with any of those though, so as to avoid sketchy blog traffic from folks who would google such phrases.))

Imagine my surprise the other day when I walked past the garden and saw this mother of all cucumbers dangling off the vine!! This bad boy was over a foot long!

I harvested it right away, took some pictures, showed it off to the gardener, and then began slicing and dicing. We’ve been eating off of it all week! Here’s a tangy side-dish cucumber salad. One of many great uses for your summer cucumber crop.

Thai Cucumber Salad

2 T. fresh lime juice

2 T. sugar

1/4 t. crushed red pepper

Salt

1 seedless cucumber, unpeeled and thinly sliced crosswise (I’ve always used the seeded variety- works great)

1 T. snipped fresh chives

1 T. sliced basil leaves

1 T. minced cilantro leaves

1 T. chopped peanuts

In serving bowl, whisk together lime juice, sugar, crushed red pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Just before serving, add cucumber, chives, basil and cilantro, and stir to combine. Sprinkle with peanuts to serve.

the storm…it’s a comin’

I have a million things I should be doing right now. It’s been a crazy week and next week will be even crazier as I’ll be riding all over the state on the MS TRAM. But for now, TRAM will have to wait.

Right now I have to tell and show you about the storm that’s about to hit my house. The veggie storm.

The garden is coming into it’s second life. The spring veggies (radishes, turnips, snap peas, shelling peas, and lettuces) have come to a close. The summer crop is about to hit and I think it’s going to be big.

Here’s what’s coming:

black cherry tomatoes

These were a big hit in our house last year and it looks like we’ll have a big crop again this year. If you have a chance to get some of these at your local market, I highly recommend them.

yellow grape tomatoes

How cute are these? They taste pretty darn good too.

Eggplant

This is hands down my favorite thing to grow. They are so beautiful and fun to watch. They are even tastier to eat. Last year we made a great pasta with eggplant, which you can check out here. I’m confident I’ll find another delicious eggplant recipe to share with you soon now that they are coming into harvest.

Basil

My basil is out of control! I love it though. I see caprese salads and pesto in my future.

Peppers

Check out all of these peppers just waiting to turn orange, yellow and red. I also have a ton of jalapenos – more than this gal can probably handle. If you are in need of jalapenos, please come over and take some. Really.

Carrots

I love carrots straight out of the garden. They taste very carrot-y. Much better than those baby carrots in the store. Not to mention that pulling them out of the ground is super satisfying.

Edamame

I’m very excited about this little guy. This is my first time growing edamame and I wasn’t sure how they were going to grow or how much room they would take. Well, they couldn’t be easier and now I have a ton of these bad boys. They’re not ready to pick yet as the pods aren’t developed, but when they do, it’s going to be edamame central around here.

How’s that for a lot of produce? The next few weeks will be filled with these items plus the kale and chard that has been blooming consistently.

I love summer and the produce it brings.

What are you loving about summer?

miscellany

I’m making an effort to post more frequently here on this blog. Just remember, quantity does not equal quality, but I think an attainable goal for me is to start with quantity and then hopefully things will improve from there. So, here are a few tidbits of things that fall under the category of “things I can blog about on She Said. She Said.”

Target Field Eats

I’ve been to three Twins games at the new Target Field. And I’ve eaten the same exact thing every time. (What can I say? I’m a creature of habit. When I find something I like I stick with it.) First on my list of must-eat-at-Twins-game is Angie’s Kettle Corn. It is SOOO good and salty sweet that I could eat the entire bag myself (which I think is probably 5000 calories or something). It is imperative that one buy Angie’s Kettle Corn from their kiosk in the plaza so that it’s warm and superfresh just out of the kettle. If there’s a long line they’ll try to talk you into entering the stadium to buy a bag inside, but DON’T DO IT. The last game I went to I got the LAST bag of Angie’s before it was sold out. Halleluia! With the Kettle Corn I always drink a Pepsi…I’d prefer it to be a Coke but they must only have Pepsi products at Target Field. The other item I’ve had every visit so far is a brat from Kramarczuk’s. I’m not really much of a hotdog/brat person, but during the first game I attended at Target Field I found myself sharing one of these brats with Pat, and it was really, really good, so I got it again the next two times I attended a game. The brat must be loaded with sauerkraut and fried onions. And yes, the brat is better than the polish, per my husband. The only other thing I’ve tried at a game was the nachos. Pat and I shared these also, after he had raved about the nachos he had eaten at a previous game. We quickly learned that the ‘to rave about’ nachos are the ones sold from the nacho cart, NOT the ones sold at the concession counters. Those ones are nasty and served by really rude women. Avoid those.

Premium and Kettle Corn…another great combo

What’s been your fave foodstuff at Target field? What should I try next?

The Garden

I think I’ve mentioned I’ve had nothing to do with this square foot gardening that Pat has embarked upon this summer. Nothing aside from eating the fruits vegetables of his labor! My favorite things so far to have growing in our garden have been the lettuces. Well, two lettuces (green leaf, and swiss chard) and a spinach. I adore being able to walk out there and pick the greens for a salad.

first lettuce harvest

Speaking of salads, here’s one I whipped together one day. Ingredients: leaf lettuces, cucumber, yellow pepper, carrot sticks, blueberries, and gorgonzola crumbles. Dressed with a little lemon juice and olive oil.

Ryan has really enjoyed watering the garden, and plucking things from it. Whenever we eat a vegetable he asks if it’s from dada’s garden.

Oh yeah, and today I gave the tomato plants a haircut.

Baking

On July 4th we were at the cabin. Pat was cooking dinner that night (farofa encrusted walleye, potatoes, and grilled asparagus) and the 3 year old was starting to go a little bonkers during that pre-dinner witching hour, so I said LET’S MAKE A CAKE! This dude adores making and baking, so he assisted me as I sliced up the angelfood cake my mom had along for strawberry shortcake and placed it in a layer on the bottom of a small cake pan. Next I slathered the angelfood with Reddi Whip, and then topped that with some blueberry ‘stars’ and strawberry and raspberry ‘stripes’ for a little patriotic dessert.

Last weekend I sent my errand boys off to the farmer’s market to pick up some berries. Little did they know I was planning to make a pie with the blueberries. They ate half the container before they even left the market, so I was left with not nearly enough for a pie. So, I decided to combine the blueberries with raspberries, used the Pioneer Woman’s Blueberry Pie recipe and a Pillsbury ready-made crust, and dare I say the pie turned out divine! I’ve not had the best of luck with pies in the past, so I was quite proud this one turned out exceptionally well. I find there’s nothing much better than a fresh blueberry pie!

curry

Um, hi!! Yes, it’s me, Anne. I’m a co-author of this blog, but you wouldn’t know it from reading the blog, would you?

I thought I better carve out some time to blog about the fact that I now like curry. It’s true…I always thought curry was something I did not like the taste of. It always seemed too sweet and rich and desserty to me, like a spice cake or a gingerbread or something. Something about the flavor of it, and then that flavor being combined with potatoes or meat or whatnot just didn’t do it for me. But then the spouse starting whipping together some curry dishes, and in the spirit of “I’ll eat anything that ANYONE ELSE cooks”, I started trying the curry. And I can officially say that I think I’ve developed a taste for it now.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve made an Ellie Krieger curried chicken salad (twice- once for us and once for some neighbors) that I found simply delish. I added some chick peas the second time I made it which really kicked it up a notch, and served it with pita chips. It received high praises from the neighbors! It makes a great hot-weather dinner, and the leftovers are super for future lunches.

Yesterday I was g-chatting with Jen and told her to send me a dinner recipe asap. I told her that I had “vegetables” on hand, and that a curry sounded good. Within moments she sent me this recipe for cashew curry. I really changed this recipe up since I didn’t have cashews on hand (so if I were to rename this recipe it would simple be called “curry.”) I also substituted broccoli for cauliflower, and substituted chicken breast for tofu. The curry-loving spouse loved it, and I didn’t think it was half-bad myself.

Duty calls; signing off.

Feel free to leave any of your favorite curry recipes in the comments. I’d love to try some new ones!!

p.s.: An interesting tidbit of info…the blend of curry that’s in my cupboard contains fenugreek, an herb that has been used since ancient times to increase a lactating woman’s milk supply! In case you were wondering…

black and blue bean burgers

I am almost at the half way point of my vegetarian summer. So far, I’m digging it. I haven’t missed meat at all and haven’t caved to bacon. Brette thinks that if a vegetarian falters, it’s because of bacon. While I agree that bacon is delicious, so far I’ve been successful at saying no to the pig. Go me. My body seems to be responding well too. My energy is good and my stomach is much happier than it has been in a long time.  I’ve had very few of those GSS moments (grotey stomach syndrome) since the summer began. Plus, I’ve been eating all sorts of great foods including the abundance of produce that is available right now. Man, I love summer in MN.

Today I want to chat about my latest favorite recipe.

I’ve been looking high and low for a non-meat burger that I can actually put on the grill. Yes, I know there are ton of packaged veggie and bean burgers out there, but I wanted to be able to make my own. I’m not much for food out of a box. Shocker, right? I’ve made all sorts of great non-meat burgers that I really enjoy, but none of them would make it on the grill. They are just too crumbly and would surely fall right into the coals…not what I’m going for.

After scouring different recipes and trying a quite a few burgers, I found one. I found it on a new blog I’ve been perusing, The Front Burner. These burgers are super flavorful and by pre-baking them and then finishing them on the grill, they held together like an actual burger and didn’t fall through the grates of the grill. Score!

I think these are also great candidates to freeze.  I think you could par bake them, freeze, and then throw directly onto the grill whenever you’ve got the craving. Move over Morningstar Farms!

These are actually vegan burgers, but I think they are even better with blue cheese (what isn’t?) so my version is not vegan. However, if you’d like to omit the cheese, I’ll never know. Other than the blue cheese, I did not change much to the recipe other than add some comments, suggestions, and a little more cumin. You can check out Emily’s original recipe here.

Black and Blue Bean Burgers

Adapted from The Front Burner

Ingredients: (makes 6 burgers)

• 2 cans black beans (rinsed and drained) or 3 cups cooked black beans
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1/2 cup dry rolled oats (I’ve used both quick oats and regular and either will work fine)
• 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or you could use unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3 to 6 ozs. blue cheese

To Prepare: Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

First, grate your carrots in a food processor (or use a box grater). Add the oats and the pepitas  and grind until coarsely chopped (you should still be able to see what everything is).    Add 3/4 of the beans, all spices, and the olive oil.  Mix together in the food processor until it’s fairly smooth. A few chunks are okay.

Spoon mixture into a mixing bowl and then fold in the rest of the whole, reserved beans. Feel free to taste for seasonings at this point.

Wet your hands and then form into 6 medium sized patties.  If you are not going to grill the burgers, place patties on a baking sheet (spray with non-stick spray or use a piece of parchment paper) or into a baking pan, and bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, turning once.

If you want to grill these, pre-bake them for 30 minutes at 300, and then throw them on the grill to reheat and get a little bit of that charcoal (or propane) flavor and some grill marks. Top with your favorite blue cheese and serve on your choice of vessel. My favorite is a toasted english muffin or pita bread.

As you can see, I like mine with a ketchup drizzle. My friend, Jon, added horseradish (made by my father) to his and Brette opts for just the blue cheese. I think hummus would also be good on these….but I think hummus is good on everything.

Time to put on a lid on this one.

tomato haircuts

Do you know what the secret is to successful tomato plants?

Sure, proper caging is important.

Good soil is also key.

A high quality tomato plant helps too. I got my plants at the Mill City Farmer’s Market. This is my third year getting them from the same guy. Why mess with a good thing, right?

However, if you don’t give your tomato plant a haircut every now and again, none of the other things will matter.

Are your tomato plants starting to look like this?

Wait, yours are even bigger than these? Then, you need to fight the heat, get outside and give those babies a haircut.

Why?

When tomato plants get big and bushy and grow lots of leaves, they are taking all the nutrients you are giving them in the form of soil, water and sunlight and using them for those beautiful leaves, not the actual tomatoes.

Wait, it can get worse.

Have you ever had a tomato plant full of green tomatoes and can’t figure out why they won’t ripen?

This happened to me two years ago and I could not figure out what was going on. Then, a very wise woman clued me in on the best gardening tip and a must-do. The haircut.

Those important nutrients are not getting to the tomato to turn them brilliant shades of red and yellow…they are hanging out in those darn leaves.

So, what do I mean by a haircut?

It’s pretty simple. I start by pulling off any sad looking leaves on the bottom and those random sucker leaves that just don’t serve any purpose, other than looking pretty. I then will go a step further and pull off all sorts of leaves all over the plant, making sure all the sides are even (cuz I’m anal like that). It’s kind of like cutting back shrubs.

Here are a few of my plants after their first hair cut.

I usually pull of leaves a few times a week and if things get really out of control, I go outside with a kitchen shears.

I have a lot more of these little guys popping up…… which is more exciting to me than the World Cup. (shh…don’t tell my dutch friends)

Do you have any great tomato tips? I would love to know what tricks of the trade are out there.