Mustardy Kale Salad With Roasted Sweet Potato & Apple

2 sweet potatoes (about 2 lbs), cut into 3/4-inch pieces
6 Tbs olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
3 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs Dijon mustard
2 bunches of kale, thick stems removed & torn into bite-sized pieces
1 Pink Lady or Honeycrisp apple, diced
1/4 cup chopped roasted almonds
4 oz shaved Pecorino

1) Heat oven to 400F. Toss the sweet potatoes with 2 Tbs of the oil and 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper, on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast, rotating the sheets and tossing the potatoes halfway through, until lightly browned and tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool lightly.
2) Meanwhile, whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, the remaining 4 Tbs of oil and 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the kale and rub together with clean hands to tenderize and coat the leaves.
3) Add the apple, almonds and sweet potatoes, and toss to combine. Serve topped with Pecorino.

Review: Oh, the bounties of my harvest. You can probably see the holes in my kale. Unbeknownst to me, I had an infestation of cabbage worms. Cleaning the kale was really difficult because there were so many and some of the kale I simply had to throw away. Mike was kind enough to spray the garden with more pesticides (organic). But, my kale is growing quite well and I had plenty to harvest. This recipe made great use of it. I was expecting more of a mustard flavor, but it was just a salad dressing flavor. The combination was incredibly yummy and I will definitely be making it again!

Adapted from:
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/kale-salad-sweet-potato-apple

Roasted Zucchini With Pistachios & Mint

6 medium zucchini, trimmed and halved lengthwise
2 Tbs olive oil
1/4 cup roasted pistachios
2 Tbs mint leaves, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice

1) Preheat oven to 475F. Toss zucchini with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place zucchini cut side down on 2 baking sheets, making sure they aren't crowded. Bake 13 to 15 minutes, or until tender and lightly browned on bottom. Flip zucchini over onto serving platter.
2) Place pistachios, mint, garlic and lemon zest in a small bowl, and stir to combine. Drizzle lemon juice over zucchini and sprinkle pistachio mixture over the top.

Review: First of all, I never use zest. My lemon juice comes from a plastic lemon in the fridge. Zest seems like a waste and I've never gotten into using it. But, I also forgot to use the lemon juice! I was hungry and served this up before I realized I'd missed a step. But, this was still incredibly tasty. I have a bumper crop of zucchini this year (it doesn't take much!) and have had to get creative to stay interested in eating it nearly every day. This was savory from the roasting and the pistachios, but the mint gave it a coolness that really finished the dish. So yummy!!

Adapted from:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/roasted-zucchini-with-pistachios-and-mint/

Garden 2013

I've been harvesting zucchini for the past month. But, now almost everything is harvestable. Keep in mind, these are all heirloom varieties, grown organically. Here are the updates from this morning:

right side of the garden

left side of the garden

Premium Late Dutch Flat Cabbage

Chantenay Red Core Carrot or Saint Valery Carrot

(planted both in the same areas)

Black Cherry Tomato

Flamingo Pink Swiss Chard

Fordhook Giant Chard

Green Curled Scotch Kale

Genovese Basil and Rosie Purple Basil

Black Beauty Zucchini

(check out the size of the leaves! and the plant is tall enough to reach my waist!)

Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts 

 I planted more Fall crops in my deck planters. My broccoli & spinach didn't do well in the garden, but grow great in these pots. Here are seedlings of: Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts, Flamingo Pink Swiss Chard, Fordhook Giant Chard, Giant Musselburgh Leeks, Large Viroflay Spinach, Romanesco Italia Broccoli and a stray marigold!)

Check out how tall the Fordhook Giant Chard grew in the planter by my front door! And, I've already harvested from it once. It has super skinny stems for a chard.

Overall, the garden is the most successful to date. The only big issues is that my Sugar Ann Snap Peas died fairly early on. The Large Viroflay Spinach and Romanesco Italia Broccoli didn't want to grow in the garden at all. And, my zucchini got a case of powdery mildew, though it didn't prevent it from producing monster-sized zucchini overnight (seriously, they grow so fast!!).