September 16, 2024
The Roots Are In
by Linda Dansbury

I made a very "chefy" dish this past weekend. When I did it, I wasn't sure it was going to be that good, but it turned out great. I used onions, peppers, turnips from the farm, plus a couple of other things from my garden. Place water in a small pot with a nice sprig of thyme and tarragon and salt. One at a time, boil the cut up veggies until desired tenderness. Place in a casserole and keep warm. When all veggies are cooked, boil the liquid down to about a cup. Then add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking it in. when it is a nice sauce, pour over veggies, sprinkle with a lot of chopped fresh herbs - I used parsley and chives - and enjoy. This was really delicious.

Turnip tops and roots, onion, herbs - did a riff on the Asian Turnip Green and White Saute. Added some soy sauce at the end and served them alongside dumplings for a delicious light meal.

Eggplant, peppers, onion, potatoes, squash, tomatoes, Swiss chard and more - prepared and froze a minestrone soup. The great thing about this type of soup is that you can add just about any veggie you have in your fridge. I make it late in every summer season to help use up veggies. I don't add the pasta/rice now, because I freeze it for winter enjoyment and the quality of the grain is better if it is cooked right when you eat it. I also use a parm cheese rind in the soup as it is simmering, which adds a really nice flavor to it.

Arugula, tomato - arugula is delicious as a component of a salad, but also is great when the main ingredient - simply squeeze a bit of lemon juice and olive oil and salt and pepper and enjoy.