Shrimp Stir Fry with Snow Peas in Coconut Curry Sauce

I just planted snow peas in my garden last weekend.  When they are up and ready to be picked they will be perfect for this easy, delicious recipe.  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

Shrimp Stir Fry:

• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used frozen and thawed them beforehand)
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 can Water Chestnuts
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced (any type will do)
• 8 ounces snow peas, strings removed
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (scared of fresh ginger? don’t be…it can be peeled and frozen easily to be used at anytime)

Coconut-Curry Sauce:

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1-2 teaspoons red curry paste (I used 2 teaspoons for a doubled recipe – this paste can be found in most grocery stores in the Asian foods aisle near the Thai ingredients)
• 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

1. For the sauce, combine the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl (I doubled the sauce because we love extra sauce in our family). Set aside. Toss the shrimp with soy sauce. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up any clumps, until curled and lightly browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a clean bowl.
2. Add 1 more tablespoon of oil to the pan and return to medium heat until shimmering. Add bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in snow peas and bean sprouts and cook for one more minute.
3. Clear the center of the pan and add remaining 1 teaspoon oil, garlic and ginger. Cook, mashing garlic mixture into the pan with the back of a spatula, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in cooked shrimp. Whisk sauce to recombine and add to pan, bringing to a simmer. Cook until the sauce thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Source:  Mel’skitchencafe.com

Mixed Greens Salad with Grilled Chicken, Snow Peas and Ginger Sesame Dressing

I did a second planting of lettuce in my garden this year and am enjoying fresh fresh fresh salads!  This is one of my favorite salad dressings … give it a try, it may become your favorite as well.  ENJOY!

Ginger-Sesame Dressing – Source:  Epicurious.com

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons honey or brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons peeled and minced ginger
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Add 2 tablespoons of water. Process until smooth.

Salad Ingredients

• Mixed greens
• grape tomatoes
• Avocado
• Yellow Pepper
• Snow Peas
• Crumbled goat cheese (optional)

If I Plant It, It Will Grow – Learning as I Grow

This is my second year of vegetable/square foot gardening and my garden continues to amaze me. As my garden grows, I continue to learn.

Shade Cover

The latest addition to my garden is that space age dome shaped thing.  What in the world is it for??  I will be putting a shade screen cover over it so that I can enjoy lettuce all summer. Lettuce does not do as well in the heat of summer as it is quicker to bolt and will turn bitter tasting.  Without a shade for your lettuce you can kiss all those awesome fresh salads goodbye.  And how sad would that be?!

Living in the Present Moment

Another lesson that can be found in the garden is learning to live in the present moment.  Everything is constantly changing in a garden and if you don’t take a moment to savor moments such as the soft white buds on a snow pea and the peas just beginning to take shape, it will pass you by.  A seasoned gardener knows to pay attention in the here and now, because a few hours later it will not be the same.  A garden is full of reminders that life is transient and you had better enjoy it now.

Growing Vertically

This year I’m trying something new in my square foot garden.  I’m growing summer squash vertically.  Yes, you heard correctly!  Not only does it save space in the garden, but it is healthier for the squash as they are not laying on the ground, more prone to disease.

Pictured in the lower right is Nasturtium.  The flowers (once they bloom) are edible as well as the leaves.  I thought how cool and pretty would that be to add edible flowers to my salads.

Some of the Vegetables I’m Growing

Purple snow peas.  Aren’t they pretty?

These are the tomatoes I started from seed.  I’m so happy to see they are doing well!  It’s hard to believe all my vegetables started from a tiny seed.

Bush cucumbers.  The description said they are bush cucumbers and I was thinking great I won’t have to trellis them!  That picture was taken about a week ago and they are quickly getting big.  I’m not so sure they are truly “bush cucumbers”.

Purple and Green Basil.  I love love love Basil.  Bring on the Pesto!!

I started my Kale inside from seed this year and it has absolutely flourished!  I tried Kale Chips for the first time this year and I have to agree with the majority … they are awesome!

I’m also growing beans, carrots, arugula, swiss chard and radish.

Learning to Live With Rabbits

This year I put up a tall fence around my beds to keep out the rabbits.  Wow … did I have a lot to learn!!  I got up one morning and went outside to look at the garden and to my utter shock and surprise there was a rabbit in the middle of the garden staring back at me!  The rabbit got through a 2 inch opening … if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed it!!  And the rabbits in my yard are fat! The rabbit(s) had fun eating all of my Edamame (so sad … I planted these for the first time and they were doing great) “were” being the operative word.  So I waged war against the rabbits.  I put in chicken wire on the lower part all around the fence this past weekend.  Now I know for sure rabbits cannot get through chicken wire.  I came home on Monday and the first thing I saw when I pulled in the driveway was a rabbit staring me down and he/she didn’t look very happy.  Later that evening I discovered that why the rabbit looked so unhappy and why it had tried to dig under my fences.  I was sitting down by the garden and saw some activity in the garden and much to my surprise this is what I discovered – 5 babies.  The mother had made a nest in one of my tomato squares.

They are only about 4 inches long and oh so cute.  Maybe I will have to learn to make peace with rabbits; at least little cute babies.

Happy Gardening

If I Plant It, It Will Grow – Growing Tomatoes From Seed and Building More Square Foot Gardens!

“If I Plant it, it will grow”.

This year I am doing something I’ve never done before – start tomatoes from seeds inside!  I saved seeds from my heirloom tomatoes last year and I also purchased several different heirloom varieties from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (their catalog is breathtaking!).  I disinfected my containers with a solution of water and bleach, moistened my seed starting mix and planted 20 tomato plants.  All went well, except for one mistake!  It is always a good idea to read through all instructions first instead of going step by step.  I only wanted 20 tomato plants in my garden.  I followed the instructions to plant 2-3 seeds per container thinking I would just cut away the tomatoes that looked to be the weaker seedling.  Well, that is not what followed in the instructions … it told me that once the “true leaves” of the tomato appear to transplant each of the tomatoes into a 4 inch pot!  Yikes!!  That would mean I’d have 60+ tomato plants (all my seeds germinated)!  I will transplant more than 20 and give some away to friends and plant less next year.  

Tim built me shelves for my plants and I bought double light fluorescent light fixtures for my plants.  The tomatoes germinated in 7 days, with my seeds that I saved germinating first!  They are thriving under the light which I leave on approximately 16 hours per day. It is fun to watch them grow and now will be ready to transplant as the first true leaves have emerged.

Tomatoes transplanted after first true leaves

I’m hoping for tomatoes like I had last year!  Grow baby grow!

It has been almost 1 month since I planted the tomato seeds and they are thriving!

Tomatoes not quite a month old!

This weekend I purchased two more square foot cedar bed kits at Home Depot (they were on sale) and added them to the existing 4×4 bed and look what we came up with!  Now I will have plenty of gardening room to plant everything I love.

Spring is really taking its time here in NE Ohio.  I looked at pictures at the same time last year (check it out here and learn more about square foot gardening) and all the leaves on the bushes and trees were out fully  by now!  I can hardly wait to start planting outside … but I think I’ll have to patient and wait a few more weeks.

Happy gardening!

If I Plant it, it Will Grow. Now harvesting ….

Now harvesting ….

• Heirloom tomatoes
• Carrots
• Lettuce
• Beets
• Green Beans
• Swiss Chard
• Kale
• Arugula

It was hard waiting and being patient to harvest my carrots.  Although, I must admit, I cheated and pulled a couple of them early to see the colors!  Finally, my patience has paid off and I pulled the carrots to discover colors of yellow, purple, white and orange … just beautiful!

My heirloom tomatoes are going crazy!  The Italian heirloom tomatoes are the largest tomatoes I have ever seen and the plant itself grew over 6-1/2 feet tall and had to be topped.  The winner for best flavor goes to the Hungarian Ox Heart tomato and Yugoslavian tomato.  They are big and beefy, very little seeds and a taste that is out of this world.  I have saved the seed and will try my hand at starting them inside for next season – another first for me!  My last count, about 1 month ago tallied 114 tomatoes formed … I’m sure that count is even higher now.

A Learning Process – What I’ve Learned

This is my first vegetable garden, and a learning process. 

• I’ve learned that I need to thin my beets and carrots better next year so that they grow larger.
• I’ve learned that I don’t like my lettuce in the middle of the garden and I want to plant it at the edge of the garden shaded by a larger plant.
• I’ve learned that I love Swiss Chard!  I never tasted Swiss Chard before I planted it and I absolutely love, love, love it!  I’ve sautéed it with garlic, olive oil, lemon and a pinch of red pepper flakes and I’ve made a salad with it … oh soo good!  I’ve dubbed Swiss Chard as my new favorite green!
• I’ve learned what heirloom seeds are. What are Heirlooms? Seed Savers Exchange defines an heirloom as any garden plant that has a history of being passed down within a family, just like pieces of heirloom jewelry or furniture. Some companies have tried to create definitions based on date, such as anything older than 50 years.
• I’ve learned that if I soak my seeds they germinate faster! I did two plantings of green bush beans and the first planting I did not soak and they took forever to come up.  The second planting came up in a few days and shot up like jack in the beanstalk! (Of course, I’m sure the warmer soil had much to do with that for my second planting.)
• I’ve learned that I really don’t want to plant broccoli and cauliflower – they take up too much space and I’d rather enjoy more of some other vegetables.
• And most important of all, I’ve learned that I love vegetable gardening!

Garden Update – If I Plant it, it Will Grow – Nourish Your Body … Nourish Your Soul

My last garden update was on June 2nd.  The garden is thriving and soaking up sunshine and daily water.  Pictured above is a basketful of kale and lettuce.  I am loving my garden lettuce salads.

I just took a look at last garden update and I can hardly believe the difference!  I am so happy with the progress of my first vegetable garden – it would seem I have inherited my father’s green thumb for gardening!  Woooo whooooo!!

Take a look.  The picture below was taken at the first of June.

The picture below was taken the first of July!  Amazing … this gardening thing is awesome!  I was curious yesterday and went out to measure my purple potato plants.  They measured 3 feet, 4 inches tall!  Wow … and the information that came with them said they are supposed to grow 2 feet tall.  I hope this means I will have loads of purple potatoes to dig up!  I also measured my tallest tomato plant and it measured 5 feet 7 inches already and has over 10 tomatoes on it.

With 15 tomato plants I have a feeling I’m going to be very busy making tomato sauce, salsa and canning tomatoes.  How great will that be to have in the winter months … so much better than canned from the store!

The bush beans are doing fantastic and will be ready to pick soon.

My smaller raised bed is also doing well.  I’m curious to see how my cauliflower will develop.  So far, it is just a plant with huge leaves.  If you see the holes on the leaves you’ll see that I share my vegetables with the insects!  Organic all the way!

The peas are finished – they don’t tolerate heat well and we’ve been in the midst of a heat wave.  Next year I plan on planting more snap peas – they were the best snap peas I’ve ever tasted.

Just like the Energizer Bunny my gourmet salad mix and lettuce keeps going and going and going.  Next year I’m planning to start some lettuce inside from seed.  The gourmet salad mix I planted outside from seed has done amazingly well.

Once potato plants flower you can dig up the “new” small potatoes.  I decided to let them go undisturbed and will wait until they are larger.  It’s actually surprising that I waited.  Patience seems to be my biggest challenge right now.  I keep looking at my carrots and beets and can hardly wait to pull them.  I did pull one of each and they weren’t ready yet, so I’ll need to be patient for a while longer.

Flower Gardening is also good for the soul!  In addition to my gardens, I have a lot of perennial flower beds.  Flowers were my first love, they are good for the soul, they are beautiful and brilliant, and they make me happy.

I have many different colors and varieties of Lilies.

Pink Phlox in bloom.  One of my favorite Phlox is the candy cane – the pink and white flower.

Like a burst of sunshine …

And at the end of the day, you can walk up the path, sit down and enjoy the bounty of your garden, relax and take in the beauty of the flowers and listen to the soothing sounds of the fountain nearby.

I cannot at the moment, think of a better way to nourish the soul and the body!