Preperation Harvest

As the frosts disappear and the kitchen mayhem settles we are looking outside again and preparing out veggie gardens for their summer plantings. I am always a bit latter than most with my plantings but come from the philosophy that when the soil has really warmed up, plants can hit the ground growing, instead of having to wait a month for the soil to warm.

So this weekend we are preparing for planting. We have re fertilised (thanks chooks) and cleared the winter crops. I always hate pulling out veggies that have gone to seed as it feels like such a waste. I know I could save my seeds but we have a bucket load already and last crop wasn't the best as we were away for 2 months of it.

This year I decided to deal with the pull out guilt by using all that I could of what I was pulling out. Mainly I was able to harvest coriander, kale, rainbow chard (silver beet) and onions.

Here is how I used them!

Kale and Spinach Chips

I was having morning tea with a friend the other day when their child pulled out some green 'chips'. I had heard of Kale Chips but this was not Kale... Upon asking I found out that they use all sorts of green leaves to make their 'chips'. Beetroot leaves, spinach, broccoli and kale! So, I heard a little about the process and put it loosely in the memory bank for later.

Today's harvest inspired me to retrieve that memory and put it to use.

Ingredients
Edible green leaves
olive oil
garlic
sesame seeds
salt

Method
- Wash and dry all the leaves
- Remove strong inner 'spine'
- Roughly tear into 5 cm 'chips' (they shrink A LOT)
- 'Dress' with a little dash or olive oil a good sprinkle of sesame seeds and 2 cloves of garlic
- Lay baking paper on some large trays and spread the leaves out
- Bake in a 150 C oven for about 20 mins, mixing and re spreading once or twice until crisp
- Add salt if desired

YUMM!!







Coriander Pesto

Coriander grows like a weed at our house. We planted it once and let it go to seed (as it often bolts quite quickly when planted as a seedling). We let these seeds to their thing and didn't pull the plant out it naturally died and rotted. I must have spread its seeds far and wide because for the past 6 years we have had coriander grow annually all over the place - even in the grass!) We have begun chopping the flowers and seeds and putting them in a jar!

So this is a recipe I grabbed from somewhere many years ago - I forget where as it now just lived in my head :)

2C Coriander Leaves
2 cloves Garlic
1/2 C Cashew Nuts
1/3 C Olive Oil
1/2 C Parmesan Cheese

Blend it all in the food processor until it resembles Pesto!

This is great on pasta but is also awesome spread on chicken on the BBQ or on sandwiches or a dip or....or... or ... endless possibilities!