Sunday, August 26, 2012

Cookin' Ahead

Now that school is back in session, time is really at a premium. To avoid the nightly "what's for dinner" conundrum I thought I'd try to get ahead of the game today. I prepped a few meals in advance in the hope that they'll be on deck when I get home too tired to start from scratch. Today I used the grill to roast 2 eggplant, corn, and a few bell peppers. The eggplant became a lemony spread for home-baked baguette. The corn and peppers found their way into some black bean enchiladas. We'll be eating those for days. I also roasted cherry tomatoes and garlic to stir into a basil pesto with pasta later this week. Pizza dough is also rising in the fridge for a night this week where we can grill up a tasty pie. And, while they have nothing to do with dinner, I also threw together a batch of chocolate chip cookies. There was no need to have the oven going and not bake cookies!

In the garden many of the brassicas have sprouted: tatsoi, turnips, rutabaga, kale and the spinach and beets are also showing their tender sprouts. I may be wrong, but I think some carrots have also started to come up. If I can manage to remember to water, we may have a good harvest at the end of fall. The added water has also helped coax the tomatoes into productivity. It's such a joy to be able to eat a cherry tomato (or two) while watering the garden. Bliss!

One part of the weekend that was far from blissful was the weeding of the mini forest of silverleaf nightshade that took over the side yard. These plants look innocent enough, but they are covered in spines and seem to proliferate through some sort of underground runner. I feel like I can never get rid of it and in some states (WA and OR) it is considered a noxious weed. I'd love to get that part of the yard more landscaped, or at least mulched, in an attempt to suppress this and other weeds.

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