Maple Pecan Granola and Sourdough Boule




I pulled no longer productive summer plants and planted lettuce, spinach, chard, and arugula. The birds have been eating my seeds, so I got seedlings at Eastern Market yesterday morning. I have planted some more seeds, but wanted back up. The grape tomato is still prolific, alone among the tomatoes. The cucumbers are completely past, making room for chard and turnips. It is time to make the last batches of pesto with the basil and parsley. Another blossom has come and not quite gone on the night-blooming cereus.
One of the first things I did when I got home was to start several kinds of sprouts. Soaking beans overnight is, if you think about it, just a prelude to sprouting. I often sprout beans for a few days even if I plan to cook them. Once they have just sprouted (usually after two+three days), cooking time to tender is only 10-15 minutes. I had some sprouted chickpeas, a couple of potatoes in cold storage (aka the vegetable bin in my refrigerator). Today was the first day I was really able to get into the garden since my return. In addition to carrots, I was able to pull a substantial quantity of various greens: kale, chard, curly endive.
The stew: saute in olive oil (or a mix of olive oil and butter), minced onion and garlic, diced celery and carrot until translucent. Add to pot peeled and cubed potato and sprouted chickpeas (if using only soaked chickpeas, cooking time will be 3-4 times as long; or you could use already cooked chickpeas) and stir to coat with cooking oil. Add a couple of dried hot chilis (optional) and some sprigs of rosemary and oregano (fresh is best). Cover with vegetable stock or water and cook until chickpeas and vegetables are tender. In a pressure cooker this took about 10 minutes. Chop whatever fresh greens you have on hand (anything, but collards; if all you have are collards, kidney or pinto beans would work better than chickpeas). Add the greens just before serving and cook only long enough to wilt greens. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. I used rind from a spanish rosemary-crusted goat cheese when cooking. This would be optional, but if you want just a hint of cheese flavor, cooking with the rind of a hard cheese is very nice.
Ah, it is good to be home.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Yesterday morning, when I was starting to pack to leave for Oregon today, the most critical elements for getting ready (after making sure I had my wallet, camera, and some yoga clothes in a suitcase) were to water the garden well, pull some weeds, pick ripe vegetables, and cook.
I’d given away some produce a couple of days ago, but still had eggplants, peppers, tomatoes from the garden and half an onion from something I had cooked earlier in the week.
I cut everything in half, slathered it in olive oil, sprinkled the vegetables with coarsely ground pepper Himalayan pink salt and put it into the toaster/convection oven (my favorite kitchen appliance). The vegetables roasted while I was doing other chores. Now, on my return, I will be able pull from the freezer ingredients for a wonderful pasta sauce.
As much as I am looking forward to a week of yoga and exploration, I’ll be delighted to come back to garden and my own kitchen. It is almost time to start planting greens, beets, and turnips for fall.
Apple gingerbread. Has molasses, but no refined sugar. Based on the apple gingerbread in 1001 Vegetarian Recipes, by Carol Gelles.

The week before last, because soy milk was out of stock again, I got a soy milk maker. It is certainly possible to make mylks from soy, grains, or nuts without a dedicated appliance , but it makes it an easy task once every several days.
The pulp left after straining (I’ve settled on a combination of soaked soy beans and brown rice) makes for great pancakes. Shown here: garlic chive pancakes on a bed of herbs, young greens, and edible flowers.
