Cucumber Salad with Pickled Carrot & Red Onion

SUMMER POTLUCKS are one of my favorite events - a great chance to improvise and use whatever fresh produce I can get at the farmer's market. Today, I got some amazing cucumbers, carrots, radishes and red onions. So, I thought it might be nice to pickle the carrots and onions, and then add that all to the cucumbers - that way the cucumbers are still nice and crispy and will pickle slightly in the vinegar brine, making the leftovers more of a pickle than a salad.

1# carrots, peeled & cut up
1 med red onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic
spices - anise seed, dill seed, mustard seed, black pepper, salt, clove
3/4 c. sugar
1 c. apple cider vinegar
2-4 T. sea salt
fresh ginger - big chunk, peeled and sliced thin
1-2 serrano chiles

6 cucumbers
1 bunch radishes, sliced thin
1/2 bunch parsley
1 bunch peppermint

1. Peel & cut up the carrots - I have a coarse grater that makes 1/2" wide shreds - or julienne the carrots into small sticks about 1 1/2" to 2" long.

2. Drop the carrots into 3 c. boiling lightly salted water and simmer for about 1 minute. Drain into a colander, rinse with cold water and then thoroughly drain (a casserole dish lined with a clean tea towel folded to fit or paper towels works great). Leave the carrots and occasionally turn them to drain better.

3. Add spices to water and return to boil, boil it down about 1/3 or so. Add the apple cider vinegar, return to boil and then add the onion slices, serrano & ginger. Simmer about 3 minutes.

4. Remove the towel from the dish where the carrots are resting - pour on the onions & brine & spices. Stir together and let rest.

5. Using a zester, remove some of the cucumber peel - it makes a nice edge and will help the cucumbers keep some shape. Halve the cucumber and cut into 1/4" thick slices. Add to carrots & onions, toss gently to mix and cover.

6. Scrub & thinly slice radishes (reserving the greens for eating later - yum!) and add to the salad.

7. Chiffonade parsley & peppermint - toss into salad. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to serving bowl. Store remainder of salad in large mason jar, make sure it is covered with brine - should keep a week in the fridge (unless you eat it all).

Mint Pesto

This mint pesto turned out beyond my expectations - it really works and it keeps well in the refrigerator. If you have mint growing wild in your garden, this is a really great use for it. The proportions for this recipe are estimated and your mileage may vary!

Ingredients:
7-8 cups washed mint leaves (no stems)
1/2 - 3/4 c raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 - 3/4 c raw almonds
1/2 c pumpkin seed oil
2-4 T agave syrup
3-6 peeled & coarsely chopped or smashed garlic cloves
2 serrano chiles, seeded & coarsely chopped
Sea salt, to taste
Olive oil, as needed

1. Wash and strip enough good mint leaves to fill your 7 c Cuisinart
2. chop 1/2 c raw pumpkin seeds and 1/2-3/4 c raw almonds
3. Add a few handfuls of leaves to the food processor & process til it starts to blend up a bit
4. Add some pumpkin seed oil, alternating with olive oil for taste
5. Coarsely chopp 2 serrano chiles and add to food processor with more mint leaves
6. Coarsely chop 3-6 cloves garlic, add to food processor with more mint leaves
7. Add juice from 2 limes and more mint leaves
8. Add sea salt and 2 tb agave syrup and rest of mint leaves
9. Process the heck out of this til it's smooth - add water or veg broth to thin it out if necessary.

Be sure to tap your storage containers to get out air bubbles, then cover the pesto with a layer of olive oil to help keep it fresh.

This pesto is great on pasta, mixed into potatoes and everything. Plenty of mint, so plenty of opportunities to experiment!

Garden Update - Tomato Relocation Project

James graciously offered to help with my tomato relocation project - in fact, he had some great ideas and mapped out my rows and we put in some seedings from his house, and moved little tomato plants so they are in better rows. It looks promising!

I've noticed that since my garden is so late in getting going, there are a LOT more weeds. The cucumber plants are doing great - they are popping out of the ground and surrounding their little mounds. Even the kabocha squash seems ok.

The broccoli rab & chard are happening, but all too close together. I picked a TON of mint while James reorganized the volunteer tomato seedlings. When we went inside, we got into some trouble in the kitchen - a giant load of mint pesto. It came out so great that I will definitely be making more of this next time I weed the garden.

SEEDLING FAIL - again!

You know what they say, right? Third time is the charm? Well, they LIED!

OK - for real, the seedlings were doing MUCH better. The weather was warm so I put the tray outside to harden off and had high hopes. That is, til I came home from work the day after a return from camping with a friend to discover that - will good intentions - he had put the clear plastic cover back on the seed tray and they all DIED while I was at work on Tuesday.

*sigh*

I told my friend and he was very sorry - in fact, he respectfully converted the little seed cup markers to tombstones of varying faiths (cross, star, crescent moon,peace sign, and I think an ankh) before I got home Wednesday. I just found the cute seedling marker modifications tonight when I got home. I love this friend - he has a really endearing cute streak.

Time to move to Plan B: relying on volunteers and seedlings from James.

Garden Update

The kale, broccoli rab & chinese broccoli (basically like broccoli rab) are growing and may be ready to nibble early next week. Chard is going like crazy and getting TALL! I think I have to re-plant chard seeds. Cilantro, fennel, dill & parsley not growing as expected. Lettuces planted didn't grow well though two heads of romaine popped up 10 feet away (I think seeds got on kitty or raccoon paws - birds must've eaten rest of seeds).

The potato condo is doing very well. Lots of vines, no flowers yet - am going to add a few more sprouted potatoes to the condo.

Lots of tomato volunteers in the garden - 31 at last count though I spotted a few coming up amidst the kale.

My seedling tray is sad and pathetic.

I am going to just buy a TON more basil seeds and sow direct to soil because I'm tired of them not growing in the tray, and have to go buy some more tomatoes so I can have 50 or so again this year. *sigh*

Buying tomato plants. What is this world coming to?

Another Cookbook Contest!

My friend Karen Solomon just published a book called "Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It" with Tenspeed press. A blogger named Erin is giving away a copy on Erin Cooks - so please hop over and leave a comment before 6pm today if you want to try to win Karen's book!

Vegan & Wheat Free Desserts!

Ricki at Diet, Dessert & Dogs has just announced the completion and impending release of her new cookbook Sweet Freedom. She's been tempting us for months with photos of delicious looking desserts and is also offering a give-away of several copies of her books - all you have to do is got to her blog entry and leave a comment. You can get additional entries by e-mailing the information to friends or posting it to your own blog. I'm determined to win a cookbook, so I've done both. :)

More Strawberries!

Oops, I did it again! Bought another flat of strawberries! This time, I managed to make up a big batch of delicious strawberry jam. It came out really fantastic! I can't wait for blueberries & cherries to come up!

YIELD:
8 c. strawberry jam in 8 and 12 oz jars

SEEDLING FAIL, Redux

I am very worried for my seedlings. The seedlings are way too long and leggy. The conditions are the same as last year - except that I started the seeds in March, and here it is already May. So, I set up two grow lights and put a heating pad under the tray. I pulled out the really leggy seedlings that look seriously doomed and replanted -- fingers crossed!

Garden Update

Very exciting to report that the garlic is positively flourishing! The dill and fennel are coming up, and the tomato plants I got from the farmer's market seem to be doing ok. There are dozens of volunteer tomato plants in the garden - in fact, they are growing strong and seem to be doing pretty well. The kale & greens are all coming up - but sadly, the seedlings for parsley, cilantro and lettuces are not. Potato condo looks amazing. I swear - I have photos - just haven't uploaded them yet!