Month: July 2010 (Page 2 of 2)

Knowing Exactly When To Harvest Garlic

July 11, 2010 / Lindsey / 1 Comment

In this post I described how to harvest and cure your garlic (and onions too). However, knowing exactly when to pull your garlic out of the ground isn’t always easy.

There’s a period of time — a “sweet spot” — when the garlic will be perfect. Harvest too soon and the head won’t yet have formed into distinct cloves…harvest too late and the protective papery skin that encases the head will have broken down, allowing dirt and worms into the crevices between the cloves. So I took some pictures for you that will hopefully help to identify the sweet spot.

Harvest your garlic when the leaves have mostly turned yellow or brown, but the stem is still green. It’s okay if a few of the leaves are still green, too, though if all the leaves are still green, it’s too early to harvest.

Harvest your garlic when it looks like this. (Click for larger image.)

And if the leaves and stem are completely dry and brown, like in the photo below, you’ve missed the sweet spot, so definitely dig the garlic immediately.

Left in the ground a little too long...but do still dig it up ASAP! (Click for larger image.)

Left side: Harvested at the perfect time. Right side: Left in the ground a little too long. (Click for larger image.)

In the picture above, the garlic on the left was harvested at the perfect time: the stem is still green, the cloves are fully formed, and the outer papery skin is intact. The garlic on the right was left in the ground a little too long (notice how the stem is completely brown and the outer papery skin has mostly broken down).

If you miss that sweet spot and find that the outer papery skin of your garlic has disappeared and the dirt and worms have gotten in between the cloves, attach a spray nozzle to your garden hose and spray a forceful stream of water straight into the middle of the garlic head, which will blast out the dirt.

For further info on how to cure and store your garlic, pop on over to this post.

Left: Harvested at the perfect time. Right: Left in the ground a little too long. (Click for larger image.)

Summertime Gazpacho

July 10, 2010 / Lindsey / 1 Comment

Today I’d like to share with you one of my favorite summer recipes — gazpacho! This chilled, raw-vegetable soup is so refreshing on a hot summer evening. Pair it with buttered, rustic bread and a cold beer, and you’ve got yourself a fabulous quick summer meal that’s light and delicious.

I don’t actually measure my gazpacho ingredients anymore, and it’s a little different each time I make it. But this recipe is a favorite, and is a good place to start.

Summertime Gazpacho

2 lbs (approx.) ripe tomatoes, diced (3 – 4 large tomatoes)

2 scallions, chopped

1 red bell pepper, diced (optional – I usually leave it out if they’re too expensive or I can’t find organic)

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 – 2 garlic cloves, minced

2/3 cup lightly packed cilantro, chopped (or lots more if you like!)

1/2 – 1 jalapeno, diced with seeds removed (optional!)

Half a cucumber, diced

6 Tbsp olive oil

2 – 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

3 – 4 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt to taste (usually between 1/2 and 1 tsp)

1/2 to 1 tsp pepper

Couple dashes of Penzeys Smoked Paprika (optional, but adds incredible flavor…I am obsessed with this smoked paprika! It’s one of those “secret weapon” ingredients.)

*****

Mix everything together in a bowl. If you’d like, transfer half to a blender and blend until somewhat pureed but still a little bit course. Transfer back into main bowl. OR, feel free to skip that step! It’s up to you whether you like the texture smoother and soup-like, or chunkier and salsa-like.

Serve with homemade croutons, or toasted & buttered rustic bread.

Yum, I could eat this every day!

*****

Enjoying Wild Foods: Daylilies + Lamb’s Quarters

July 8, 2010 / Lindsey / 2 Comments

Daylily buds

Now that it’s summer, there are lots of forage-able treats in the urban landscape, and today I wanted to highlight a couple of my favorites: Daylily flower buds and Lamb’s Quarters leaves. I often take walks on my lunch break through the neighborhoods near where I work, and munch on these, raw, as I encounter them (picking mindfully, of course). The daylily buds have an unusual, sort of mild spicy taste that grows on you, and the Lamb’s Quarters leaves taste very similar to spinach, and can be eaten either raw or cooked like spinach.

Just be sure to avoid plants growing near busy roadways or areas that are likely to have been sprayed with pesticides (like the grassy areas of parks).

Here’s what Alan Hall’s Wild Food Trailguide says about Daylilies:

Unopened flower buds, opened flowers, and withered flowers may be eaten. Unopened buds boiled in salted water for a very few minutes make an excellent cooked vegetable. Buds and opened flowers can be dipped in batter and fried like fritters. Both open and withered or dried flowers can be added to soups and stews, where they provide body and impart an interesting flavor. The flavor of dried and freshly collected flowers is somewhat different and they should be tried both ways. If flowers are dried for later use they should be soaked until soft in cold water before using. The softened dried flowers will have a slightly genatinous quality. The small tubers can be dug anytime during the period when the ground is unfrozen. Only firm, young tubers should be collected. After digging they should be washed clean of clinging earth and freed of small rootlets. Boiled in salt water they have a flavor reminiscent of sweet corn. They can be eaten raw as a salad and are sweet and crisp with a pleasant nutty flavor.

Lamb's Quarters leaves

Lamb’s Quarters is a member of the Goosefoot family and a relative of Quinoa. You’ll find it growing mainly in poor, disturbed soils and in other weedy areas.

Here’s what Alan Hall’s Wild Food Trailguide says about Lamb’s Quarters:

Lamb’s Quarters leaves make an excellent potherb that is considered by many people to be superior to spinach. And like spinach, it loses a great deal of bulk in cooking so an ample supply should be collected. Young plants are best, but this plant continues to put up new shoots that can be used well into summer. The leaves are not bitter, and the cooking water need not be changed. Seeds can be collected by rubbing them from the spikes into an appropriate container. They are available from the time they are dry in the fall until they drop, often well into winter. The seeds are extremely abundant and it is possible to gather several quarts in less than an hour. Winnow out the husks and trash, and then grind the seed into flour. Since the seeds are very hard, grinding can be difficult: the seeds slip away from the grinders in hand mills (although kitchen blenders work well). To get around this, it helps to boil them until they are soft, then mash up the softened seeds and allow them to dry out before grinding. The flour produced from the seeds is very black. It is good for making pancakes, muffins, etc., and can be used by itself or mixed with wheat flour. The mush produced by boiling seeds until they are soft can be eaten as a breakfast cereal or emergency food.

And don’t forget about Purslane! It’s another nutritious weed with a lovely mild lemon flavor that’s also growing abundantly at this time of the year.

Use Caution With Bee Pollen Supplements

July 5, 2010 / Lindsey / 4 Comments

Bee Pollen

Unfortunately, this post is the result of quite an interesting week — I had 3 anaphylactic reactions in 48 hours, due to some bee pollen I ate! Bee pollen is considered to be a super food because it contains high-quality protein (meaning it has all the essential amino acids plus quite a few more), plus it’s rich in minerals and Vitamins A, C, E, as well as most of the B vitamins including folic acid, and it contains over 5,000 enzymes and thousands of phytonutrients. Bee pollen also contains plant nectar and bee saliva. It’s been used as a health food supplement in China for hundreds of years. But if you have – or even suspect you have – an allergy to bee stings, honey, royal jelly, or any other bee products, I want to pass on a word of caution about bee pollen supplements. While bee products are obviously not the same as a bee sting, they are related enough to cause cross reactions (Allergy. 1992 Feb;47(1):41-9). Also, if you have a severe allergy to pollen, I would also steer clear of bee pollen (Annals of Allergy. 1981 Sep;47(3):154-6).

This article states that “Bee pollen may actually set off allergies in those who are particularly sensitive, especially those allergic to bee venom and ragweed.”

Now, I’ve had quite a few bee stings in my life, with no evidence of an allergy until my most recent sting 3 years ago: Immediately after being stung, I almost passed out, and then got quite sick for about 24 hours. That wasn’t a normal reaction for me, and a coworker suggested that I may have developed a bee sting allergy. I later learned that a bee sting allergy can develop at any time, and the more times you’ve been stung, the higher your chance of becoming allergic.

But back to the bee pollen. Having read how nourishing it is, I recently bought some from the health food store. The label recommended eating just a few grains at first, in case of an allergic reaction, but mentioned nothing about avoiding the product if you have allergies to bee venom, other bee products, or to pollen. Perhaps the label could have been more specific…perhaps it was daft of me not to make the bee-sting/bee-pollen connection in my head. In any case, I ate a few grains with no problem. The next day I ate more of the pollen – probably between 1 and 2 Tbsp, and was fine. But the next day, within about 10 minutes of eating between 1 and 2 Tbsp of pollen, my entire face began to swell up — especially around my mouth — and I developed a burning red rash that quickly spread from my face to my neck, back, arms, and legs. I got lightheaded and my heart was racing and pounding. This was certainly something I’d never experienced before. Hubby and I decided I needed to get the pollen out of my body, so I did a…uhh…”barf induction.” Yuk. The reaction subsided, though I definitely didn’t feel very well.

The next morning I still felt weak, shaky, unwell, and strangely ‘out of it.’ Right as we were about to walk out the door for a bike ride, I started feeling really sick and lightheaded, like I was going to throw up and pass out. The rash immediately returned, starting on my face and spreading to the rest of my body. Evidently, anaphylaxis can be biphasic, meaning it can occur again within 72 hours, without any further exposure to the allergen. And then again the next day, I had a third reaction with the same quickly-spreading red rash, sick feeling, pounding heart, and lightheadedness as before; however, that time my throat swelled up, which was really scary, and I ended up in the ER. It was not a fun night.

A few days later, I then accidentally confirmed my bee pollen allergy by eating granola bars that I had made with Really Raw brand of honey, which contains small amounts of bee pollen. Before my three anaphylactic reactions, I had eaten the granola bars with no problem. But ever since the anaphylaxis, I’m no longer able to eat even the minute amounts of pollen contained in my granola bars without having a reaction.

The doctor said it sounds like I’m allergic to bee stings in addition to the bee pollen, so I now carry an Epi-Pen, prednisone, and benadryl with me at all times.

And so the moral of my story is: Bee pollen has been used as a natural, nourishing super food for centuries. However, if you have an allergy to bee stings or are highly sensitive to pollens, do approach bee pollen with caution. If you do decide to take it, I would highly recommend starting out with just a few grains at first and then increasing your dosage slowly!