Collard Wraps & This Week's Harvest

The winter greens are getting to the end of the season and starting to flower, so I've been trying to use up as much of what remains as possible while I still can.

I haven't consumed my collards in many ways this year, other than by juicing them.  Since I had a lot of salad and sandwich type of ingredients on hand, I decided to make some collard wraps.

I grabbed three large collard leaves from the garden, as well as some kale leaves and fresh cilantro from the garden for my wraps.

I de-ribbed (took off the stem) of the collards and kale, and then prepped other items to stuff inside my wrap: grape tomatoes, avocado, red pepper hummus, deli turkey, pepperjack cheese and lemon.

I spread a couple tablespoons of the hummus on the leaf first (it helps to "glue" the leaf together), then stuffed the rest of the ingredients inside and rolled it up.  One and a half wraps were quite filling, so I'll have the remaining wraps for lunch tomorrow (yay for leftovers!)

Other winter green harvests this week included swiss chard and salad greens.

Arugula, Romaine lettuce, leaf lettuce, and baby spinach.

My harvest totals so far this year include:

• 7.5 oz Cherry Bell radish
• 1 lb 9.7 oz kale (unknown variety)
• 2 lb 6.8 oz Flash collards
• 1 lb 7.7 oz Ruby Red chard
• 14.2 oz Fordhook Giant chard
• 7 colanders salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula) 
• 1 lb 2.9 oz Meyer Lemons (5)
• 1 lb 1.2 oz Broccoli (5)
• 7.1 oz cilantro
• 6.5 oz parsley

Frozen

It has been a chilly couple of weeks in Central Texas, with highs around 40 degrees Fahrenheit and lows around 27 degrees.  My garden has not been a fan of the below freezing temperatures.

I was most concerned about my Florida Prince peach tree, considering it was in the middle of blooming when the cold front came in.  To try to salvage the blooms, and ultimately at least a little bit of a peach harvest, I covered the tree in Christmas lights and then put a couple freeze cloths over it.  This might have helped somewhat, but with the wind that also blew in with the freezing temps, the freeze cloth didn't stay covering the full tree for very long.  I guess we will see once temps rise again if my efforts helped keep the peaches at all.

The greens, while normally cold-weather lovers, were not digging the freezing rain we've had the past few days.  They were all limp and defeated-looking this morning.  The good thing is that they generally bounce back pretty well once we get back into the 40s.

The poppies also took a beating.  I'm really hoping they bounce back like the other cold-weather greens.  I have so many poppy rosettes this year, it would break my heart if I lost them before getting to enjoy all their glory.

It has been a bummer having this crappy weather, mainly because it means I'm stuck inside and can't play in the garden.  At least I have a small garden indoors that I can enjoy on these cold and rainy days, like the hyacinths that I forced in a pot indoors.  Their heavenly pungent aroma fills up the entire kitchen.

And even my Madame Joseph Schwartz rose, which was brought indoors since I purchased it recently and haven't put it in the ground with the chaotic weather we've been having, sent out a bloom for me to enjoy while I wait for the spring weather to arrive.

Today's Harvest & Kale Chips

The winter veggie garden is still growing strong.  Today I harvested another full colander of salad greens, several more heads of broccoli, as well as plenty of kale, collards and chard.

I used the lettuce, arugula and spinach to make several salads, the broccoli became a side dish, and the chard and collards went into some green juice drinks.  But I thought I would try something a little different with the kale this time...kale chips.

I de-ribbed the kale, cut it into about 1.5 inch pieces, coated it in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, spread it on a baking sheet, and sprinkled some of my home-made herb salt on them, then popped them in the oven at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes, flipping the kale pieces about halfway through.

I love kale tossed in a salad or steamed as part of a side dish.  However, I've never actually had kale chips before.  I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but the kale chips didn't quite meet my expectations.  I think they were a bit more bitter than I anticipated.  They were also extremely light and airy and didn't satisfy any snacking cravings that I had.

 Or, maybe I just didn't prepare them quite right, in which case, I would be happy to hear about any tips or tricks you have in baking kale chips.

My harvest totals so far this year include:

• 7.5 oz Cherry Bell radish
• 1 lb 9.7 oz kale (unknown variety)
• 2 lb 6.8 oz Flash collards
• 11.7 oz Ruby Red chard
• 6.4 oz Fordhook Giant chard
• 4 colanders salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula) 
• 1 lb 2.9 oz Meyer Lemons (5)
• 1 lb 1.2 oz Broccoli (5)
• 7.1 oz cilantro
• 6.5 oz parsley

Today's Harvest: First Broccoli

Today I harvested my very first garden-fresh broccoli!  About half of my broccoli plants already bolted (which the bees are absolutely loving right now), and about 1/4 of the broccoli has some very small heads that won't amount to much.  But I got three decent sized heads that went into a delicious quinoa side dish that we had with a fancy seabass dinner my husband made me.

I also harvested another large bowl of salad greens:  several types of lettuce, spinach, and arugula which was used for two large, delicious grilled chicken, tomato, avocado and goat cheese salads.

My harvest totals so far this year include:

• 7.5 oz Cherry Bell radish
• 12.5 oz kale (unknown variety)
• 1 lb 2.2 oz Flash collards
• 5.1 oz Ruby Red chard
• 2.9 oz Fordhook Giant chard
• 3 colanders salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula) 
• 1 lb 2.9 oz Meyer Lemons (5)
• 10.8 oz Broccoli (3)
• 3.1 oz cilantro
• 2.5 oz parsley

Foliage Follow-Up: January 2015

Normally at this time of the month, I participate in Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.  Unfortunately, I could not find a single bloom in my Zone 8 Central Texas garden right now.  While I'm bummed that there are no blooms to share right now, it made me realize that there is plenty of foliage to admire instead.  That is why I'm partaking in my first Foliage Follow-Up, hosted by Pam over at Digging.  This month's foliage is not only beautiful, but also EDIBLE - they are my winter veggie greens!

There are the collards...

(Flash)

...the Swiss chard...

(Ruby Red and Fordhook Giant varieties)

...the broccoli...

(Sun King Hybrid)

...the kale...

(Toscano and unknown varieties)

...the romaine lettuce...

...and the arugula.

There was such an abundance of these delicious greens in the garden today that I harvest almost a full pound of them and juiced them into a healthy drink along with some celery, apples, and lemon.

My harvest totals so far this year include:

• 7.5 oz Cherry Bell radish
• 4.8 oz kale (unknown variety)
• 5.9 oz Flash collards
• 1.3 oz Ruby Red chard
• 2.9 oz Fordhook Giant chard
• 2 colanders salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula) 

Thanks for stopping by my first Foliage Follow-Up.  Be sure to stop by Digging to see what other gardeners have to show.

Wintertime Greens

My winter greens are finally ready to start harvesting.  There is a ridiculous amount of arugula, so I skimmed the internet for several recipes that sounded appealing and called for a decent amount of my rocket.  I have some spinach and lettuce also ready for harvesting, so I found a delectable salad that called for such ingredients.

I picked a full colander full of arugula, baby spinach, romaine lettuce and sylvestra lettuce and decided to make myself a delightful salad to get the new year started off right.

I found a recipe on Love & Lemons that I found appealing and made a few modifications for what I had on hand.

Arugula, Apricot & Goat Cheese Salad

Ingredients (1 large salad or 2 side salads):

• large handful of arugula (I added in my available spinach and lettuce varieties as well)
• 1 avocado, cubed
• 5 dried apricots, diced
• 1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup raw almonds, chopped

Dressing (2 servings):

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 medium lemon, juiced
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• salt & pepper (I used my rosemary, parley and lemon herb salt)

Instructions:

1. Whisk the dressing ingredients together.
2. Toss the arugula and other greens, avocado, apricots and goat cheese together.  Drizzle with the dressing and top with chopped almonds.
3. For additional heartiness, toss salad with 1 cup of cooked quinoa.

The salad was absolutely delicious.  I've never had a more flavorful salad in all my life.  What a treat to have my own greens grown right in my backyard garden!  I didn't have any quinoa on hand today to toss the greens with, but I'll definitely be trying this option in the future!

I also had a craving for a pizza that I recently enjoyed in New York City and wanted to recreate...an arugula, mushroom and truffle oil no-sauce pizza (or cheesy bread, as my husband would say).

Arugula, Mushroom and Truffle Oil Pizza
Makes 3-4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pizza dough (I used Pillsbury dough)
• 1/2 pound sliced mushrooms (I used half portobello, half shiitake)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1-2 handfuls coarsely chopped arugula
• 1 tablespoon truffle oil
• salt & pepper to taste (I used my herb salt)

Instructions:

1. Put a large heavy baking sheet on the lowest rack of the oven, preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
2. Stretch out dough on a lightly floured surface, pulling on corners to form a roughly 16 x 13 inch rectangle.  Transfer to a tray lined with parchment paper.  Lightly prick dough all over with a fork.
3. Slide dough (still on parchment) onto hot baking sheet.  Bake until top is puffed and pale golden in patches, about 6 to 10 minutes.
4. Remove from oven; prick any large bubbles with a fork and flatten.  Scatter mushrooms over crust, then season with salt and pepper and lay cheese on top.  Top with roughly chopped arugula.
5. Bake pizza until edge of crust is deep golden and cheese is bubbling and golden in patches, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Drizzle with truffle oil.  Serve immediately.

This was extremely delicious, but very rich, so I couldn't eat more than 3-4 small square pieces at a time (my waistline thanks me).  I may try a version with a white cream sauce next time to see how it would compare, but will definitely keep this recipe in my box.

Do you have any favorite arugula recipes that I should try out?