G is for Gardening

 

 

This post will be a little different, growing your own food can bring you back to basics in a wonderful way!

•  Stores like Trader Joes, Whole Foods and even Jewel sell potted herbs that you can take home.  Rosemary, basil, thyme, chives, parsley and cilantro.  This is a small way to stay in touch with your own food.
• Railing boxes are also great for herbs in the nicer months of the year.  You could also plant radishes in them since they don't grow deep and grow very fast.
• Planter boxes/barrels that sit on your balcony, are great for tomato or pepper plants, my Mother-in-Law has a virtual farmer's harvest each summer.  She never has a summer salad without cherry tomatoes beginning about July 15th.
• My favorite gardening suggestion is hydroponic/aeroponic gardening.  Have you ever heard of Tower Gardens?

We have begun a crowd funding campaign to get our own Tower Gardens in our catering kitchen.  We are using a new crowd funding site called MUMZY.  They are helping us in our efforts.  Will you help?  Click here to see the campaign.

                  O'Hare Airport, in Chicago, has a wonderful Tower Garden Aeroponic Garden.

D is for Dandelion

 

 History:  Dandelions (Taraxacum-a large genus of flowering plants) are thought to have evolved about 30 million years ago in Eurasia. They have been used by humans for food and as an herb for much of recorded history according to Wikipedia.  Dandelion are found on all continents and have been gathered for food since prehistoric times.  I chose this because I have always wondered and wanted to learn more about the consumption of them.  As kids, we picked the yellow flowers for our moms, wrote on our skin with them, and propagated the species by blowing the fluffy white seeds into the air, making a wish.  By the time this is published, I will have tried one of the recipes below.  Health benefits can be found here.  Season: March through Early June, then Mid July through October

 

Dandelion Recipes

1. Sauteed Dandelions with Olive Oil, Lemon and Garlic

This is hands down my favorite way to eat dandelion greens. The recipe works best with young to medium-age (and sized) dandelion greens.

Sautéing dandelion greens is a great way to cook them because they keep a lot of their nutrients with this method.

2. Boiled Dandelion Greens

3. Fried Dandelion Flowers

Fried dandelion flowers taste similar to morel mushrooms. They’re very tasty!

4. Dandelion Greens Salad

5. Dandelion Root Coffee

Ok, I know many of you are going to look at this recipe with a raised eyebrow and a high dose of skepticism. But people have been roasting dandelion root as a coffee substitute for centuries. I have a bag of dried dandelion root in my kitchen right now, and I can tell you that it truly does taste like coffee. The biggest difference is that dandelion root is more bitter (tasting much like New Orleans’ style chicory coffee). It’s also caffeine free, and contains more antioxidants and nutrients than regular coffee.Roasting dandelion root is really easy. It’s best to dig up the root in the spring, which is when the roots have the most nutrients.

Again, here is the link to above work... http://www.moneycrashers.com/dandelion-greens-recipes-salad

C is for Cauliflower

 

 

History:  The oldest reference to Cauliflower dates back to the 6th Century B.C.  This wonderful vegetable is in the same family as Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Kale, Cabbage and Collard Greens, even radishes (though they are a different cultivar.  Cauliflower comes in white, most commonly, but in recent years, orange, green and purple have become easier to find.  The color changes are due to the different nutrients present in each one. Orange has beta-carotene, purple has anthocyanins which are antioxidant flavonoids and green has C and A.  Eat your colors!!!  The health benefits are found here.   Season: July through November Local

 

Simple Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients	Method of Production
1 head of Cauliflower	1. Cut head of cauliflower into small, bite size
Olive Oil	2. Coat with Olive Oil
Salt	3. Sprinkle with Salt
	4. Roast on high heat - 400°- 425° until golden brown

Cauliflower has been discovered as a great replacement of gluten for things like pizza crust.  While we do not attempt things like that in our kitchen, any recipe that gets people trying new things is good by us.  This simple recipe is a great way to introduce cauliflower to a reluctant eater.  Roasting brings out sweetness and takes away the idea that the smell of cauliflower elicits.  Try it!