Category: Herbs

Roasted Green Tomato Salsa

SabineLeave a Reply

Last night, I turned almost two pounds of green tomatoes into this roasted green tomato salsa. It is absolutely delicious, but has a thicker consistency than normal salsa, almost like a spread. I might have over-mixed it. Or perhaps my tomatoes were just not as juicy as others. I refrigerated the salsa, and I think before I use it, I might cut up some fresh tomatoes for juiciness and extra brightness, and to add more texture. I still have about a pound and a half of green tomatoes that will ripen on the counter – the end of my 2024 garden tomatoes.

Mise-en-place (plus two cloves of garlic, olive oil and salt)

(More) Thai Basil Pesto

SabineLeave a Reply

Yesterday, I harvested all remaining Thai basil, which was a ton. Back in March, I had started seeding six cells, which I then thinned to three or four seedlings. It took me more than two hours to prepare all the basil leaves for pesto. In the end I had exactly six cups of packed leaves and made a triple batch of the pesto recipe. I froze two servings in Ziplock bags for the winter (I now have three servings in the freezer as I had made a double batch back in August). Looking forward to Thai Pesto Noodle Bowls tonight. Overall, my six cells of Thai basil produced a total of 12 packed cups of leaves for six batches of pesto. A nice yield!

The Thai basil “wall”

Zucchini

SabineLeave a Reply
Oven-roasted zucchini with pistachios and fresh herbs

I turned three zucchini I had recently harvested into a very tasty side dish. I first drew out some water (because one of the zucchini was pretty big) by sprinkling the finger-thick slices with salt and letting them sit for 15 minutes. After blotting them dry, I sauteed them and finished them of in the oven at 450 for 15 minutes. I then added chopped pistachios and chopped fresh parsley and basil from my back porch. Super delicious with fresh baguette.

Today’s Harvest

SabineLeave a Reply

Nice big harvest today. I keep forgetting to take pictures. I harvested a ton of Italian basil and made basil pesto (really just basil, olive oil and salt; no garlic, cheese or nuts), which I froze in ice cube trays. I like to leave out the garlic, cheese and the nuts to keep it more versatile, as I also use it on fish or roasted vegetables, where I might not always want cheese.

Thai Basil Pesto

SabineLeave a Reply

Last night, I harvested a bunch of Thai basil from my plot and made this delicious Thai basil pesto. It uses toasted sesame oil and peanuts, and gets a little kick from red pepper flakes. The kids and I had one of our favorite meals last night – crispy pork bowls topped with Thai pesto. I used this recipe for the pork. So good! I made a second batch of Thai pesto but left out the vinegar and lime juice, and froze it for future use.

Thai basil harvest (about a third of what is in the plot at the moment)
Mise en place (kind of). I used my Ninja blender, which works really well for pesto.

July Update

SabineLeave a Reply
Spaghetti squash, Black-Eyed Susan, Thai basil – from the communal flower bed

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been harvesting a lot of zucchini, kale, herbs and flowers. I even donated two zucchini to our new donation basket, which we attached outside the garden gate. Today, I harvested the first two cucumbers, which I intend to pickle. My tomatoes are all still green, and sadly, the bunnies keep eating the baby winter squash :(. The basil is thriving, I might make the first batches of pesto very soon. Everything is doing well, we have had a long heat wave and a few crazy thunderstorms, so the gardens are lush.

Cherry tomatoes from the communal flower bed.