Zucchini Kiku

Kiku is a Persian or Arabic dish that has many variations. This is a great recipe to serve as a side dish or even as a main entree. The portions below serve approximately six adults.

Ingredients:

3 medium zucchini, cut into julienne or grated
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (keep two salt measurements separate)
2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 eggs
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (commercially available ground pepper may be substituted)
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water
1 cup grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

1 heavy skillet (cast iron is best)
large mixing bowl
9x13 inch casserole baking dish

Preparation: Using 1 tablespoon sea salt, salt cut zucchini; place salted zucchini slices into a colander and drain for 30-45 minutes; rinse and squeeze dry in a clean dish towel.

Kiku Instructions: Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Using a heavy skillet (cast iron is best), saute zucchini for about 1 minute in extra virgin olive oil. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon and mash up with a potato masher. Saute the onions and garlic until golden and add to zucchini. In a separate large mixing bowl, beat eggs with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, ground pepper, lemon juice and saffron mixture. Stir zucchini and onion mixture into mixing bowl, combining with eggs, salt, pepper, lemon juice and saffron. Pour fully combined ingredients into a well-oiled (olive oil is best) 9 inch by 13 inch pyrex (or other brand glass baking dish) pan. Just before placing in oven, sprinkle top of kiku with 1 cup grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese. Bake about 30 minutes at 375 degrees or until top is browned. Cut into squares and serve.

Eggplant Kiku Variation: omit zucchini and use 2 large eggplants, about 2 pounds total, peeled and cut int 1/2 inch squares. Mix eggplant squares with sea salt and leave in a colander to drain for about 1 hour. Rinse well and pat dry. Mix with sauteed onions and proceed with recipe except omit cheese or substitute for a hard white cheese, such as Parmesan or Romano.

Spinach/Herb Kiku Variation: omit zucchini and use 2 cups cooked, chopped spinach, squeezed dry and mixed with one bunch chopped cilantro, 1 tablespoon chopped dill and 2 tablespoons chopped chives. Mix with sauteed onions and proceed with recipe except omit saffron and use 1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek and 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin.

Recipe inspiration from Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon, pages 440-41.

Zucchini Across the Pond (Courgette, If You Please)

I just found a zesty zucchini/courgette and rice recipe from a kindred spirit in the UK. Her blog is Diary of a Mad Gardener and the zucchini/courgette recipe is here. From her rantings about slugs, I think we can learn from her battle experience against the slimy dark side.

Drying Herbs

This year the garden is yielding some delicious herbs. Next year, we hope to create a special herb garden to yield mounds of savory culinary herbs. We plan to start the herb drying process soon. If you want to follow along at home, here's the herb drying game plan:

1. Wash your cut herb leaves and stems. Let herbs "drip dry" in a colander or mesh wire basket.

2. "Spin out" water by wrapping wet herbs in dish cloth and making big, bold arm circles (this is best performed outside because water will fly out due to centrifugal force).

3. Place herbs in a safe spot where water can fully evaporate. Evaporation may be hastened by exposing the herbs to a breeze in a shallow, loose basket, or a wire tray. Personally, my favorite method is to place the herbs loosely upon newspaper, inside my house, but near an open screened window. Bonus points if it's a sunny window.

4. Flip/turn herbs daily until all water is fully evaporated. For small batches, the ole tie the herbs in a bunch and hang upside down may be the easiest method. However, make sure most of the water is gone before bunching herbs together.

5. Keep turning herbs until all delicate parts are "crispy."

6. Now for storage. There are two options: 1) store as is, twigs and all or 2) crumble by hand and separate leaves from twigs, storing only the fragrant leaves.

7. Store in an airtight container. My easy method includes clean glass jars looking for a new life: old pickle jars, salsa jars, mayo jars, etc. However, if you use this method, make sure the jars are extremely clean and dry. You will likely want to wash the jar, air it out for a few days, wash it again and then dry. If the jar is not fully and truly clean, your dried thyme will taste like stale dill pickles - no one wants stall dill pickle thyme seasoning.

8. Note: if your herbs are not honestly dry, you will end up with mold in your dried herbs. Consequently, I wait until I think my herbs are dry beyond all dryness and then let them dry another three days.

9. Store in a cool, dry place. I put mine in the pantry or basement.

10. Have extra herbs? Dry some for friends and give home-dried herbs as a hostess gift. You'll be the prize of the party!

Sage advice from www.culinary-herb.com [pun completely intended]:

The practice of storing powdered herbs in paper or pasteboard packages is bad, since the delicate oils readily diffuse through the paper and sooner or later the material becomes as valueless for flavoring purposes as ordinary hay or straw. This loss of flavor is particularly noticeable with sage, which is one of the easiest herbs to spoil by bad management. Even when kept in air-tight glass or tin receptacles, as recommended, sage generally becomes useless before the end of two years.

Volunteers: Keep Watering All the Raised Beds

Hi all, I wanted to thank you all for your commitment this year to the garden. It would not be alive without you! We pulled out some plants that died or went to seed, and last week in their place, replanted some lettuce, cabbage, radishes, carrots. Sooooooo, even if the bed looks empty, please spritz them a bit so they can pop up! Thank you again for all your help..... Kathleen

The Great Giver: Zucchini

Once zucchini is up and running, get excited because this baby produces some serious bounty! What to do with all that great zucchini? Here's an all time favorite:

Mom's Zucchini Bread (the classic) (recipe credit to allrecipes.com):

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (or other nuts)

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Note: When I tried this recipe it was really sweet. In fact, my husband calls this "zucchini brownies"! Next time I make this recipe, I will use just under 2 cups sugar instead of 2 1/4 cups sugar.

Sunny and Simple Pesto Ideas

There's nothing like fresh pesto on steaming pasta or as part of a delicious pizza! Also, you cannot beat pesto as a bread or veggie dip that is brimming with garden yumminess. The beauty of pesto is that you can eat it fresh or freeze it in small serving sizes. My mother and I often whip up enough pesto for the present meal as well as enough to fill the cubes of an ice cube tray. Once pesto is frozen in cubes, it can be popped out and transferred to another storage container. Presto, you now have pesto frozen in single serving amounts and you can thaw as needed!

Here is a basic pesto recipe:

1/4 cup nuts (walnuts, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, etc.)

2 cups packed chopped raw herbs/greens (basil, kale, parsley, cilantro, etc. Best if only one type is selected)

1/2 cup grated hard cheese (Parmesan, Romano)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice (or other citrus)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (regular salt may be used, but sea salt tastes WAY better)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth. DONE and done. Serve and enjoy!

Whole Foods recently published the following pesto combos:

Classic: pine nuts + basil + Parmesan

Sunny: sunflower kernels + parsley + Ramano

Omega-3: walnuts + kale + Manchego

Southwest: pumpkin seeds + cilantro + Vella Dry Jack

Vegan: cashews + arugula + 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Greens Growing!

Arugula, mustard, spinach, peas, oh my! We are growing like crazy over at the garden and feeling blessed. Thus far, we have been able to pass along the product to six families that may not otherwise get to enjoy organic fresh produce.

New Name, Same Mission

We decided to move to a more fun name for our garden efforts in PDX. Our mission remains the same:

The People's Republic of Produce is an intentional urban-farming initiative that exists to grow the best local, organic produce to be given the lowest income people in North and Northeast Portland neighborhoods. We grow as much as we can and give away all that we grow. We envision PDX neighborhoods checkered with intentional garden plots that exist to feed, educate, and sustain all those who live there, especially those who would not otherwise experience the benefits of healthy, local, organic food.

Garden Work Day May 11

Exciting things are happening at the garden! We got approved receive a free compost bin from the city of Portland so that is a major score! Also, C.J. was able to secure some broken palates that will be used to construct additional compost bins. Several of us will be at the garden plot constructing compost bins and conducting garden maintenance this Tuesday (May 11) from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. If you are available - please join us!

Rachel has reported that the hail of the last week or so really took a toll on our sweet baby plants. Thank goodness we also planted seeds! Rachel and I will get together soon to discuss how and what damage control will be necessary after the hail. Stay tuned!

Finally, we will soon post a maintenance / work schedule on the blog - that will probably go up sometime next week. Keep watching http://sharecropspdx.blogspot.com. Also, if you have pictures from the work day, please send them to me!

Ground Breaking Was FANTASTIC

Today could not have been more exciting or more successful. We had so many people from the community working the dirt together to build out our dream community garden. Way better pictures to come, but in the meantime, here are a few shots emailed in from an iPhone journalist.

The Prequel

Big action will happen out at the St. Johns Community Garden tomorrow! In the meantime, here's a last look at the field "before."

Join Us On Earth Day!

Earth Day - Garden Work Day

ShareCropsPDX

First Build Out Work Day = April 24, 2010 (Earth Day)

Who: YOU and anyone interested in gardening in St. Johns

What: Ground breaking and building of the St. Johns Community Garden @ Red Sea

Where: St. Johns Community Garden @ Red Sea across from Red Sea Community Church located at 7535 N. Chicago Ave. Portland, OR 97203. The garden is the plot of open urban land facing Chicago Avenue spanning from North Leonard Street to North Central Street.

When: Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm

Why: ShareCropsPDX is an intentional urban-farming initiative that exists to grow the best local, organic produce to be given the lowest income people in North and Northeast Portland neighborhoods. We grow as much as we can and give away all that we grow. We envision PDX neighborhoods checkered with intentional garden plots that exist to feed, educate, and sustain all those who live there, especially those who would not otherwise experience the benefits of healthy, local, organic food. Grow with us, Share crops with Portland.

How: Please bring yourself, a sack lunch, some water to keep you hydrated, any gardening tools or supplies you may have (see needs list below), and any friends who love to garden or are interested in learning. Don’t worry if you’ve never gardened before, team leaders have all the plans ready for the build out and we just need interested volunteers! Come and stay as long as you are able, or come late and stay until the end.

Thanks in advance for helping us serve North Portland residents by revitalizing this urban space. We hope this garden will be such a smashing success that we will be invited to farm other available urban plots.

Keep Watching: http://sharecropsPDX.blogspot.com

Needs List:

• Two folding tables
• Left over or unused potting soil
• Two 100 ft. hoses
• Lavender starts
• 10 hoes
• 10 shovels
• 4 rakes
• Garden hand tools
• Twine
• Ground stakes
• Caution tape
• Coffee grounds
• Newspaper
• 6 Hammers
• Used / empty garden planters / pots (plastic or clay)
• 8 Sharpie markers (black)
• Bring your camera to document the work day
• 6 large wooden palates
• Bring your gardening gloves if you have a pair; bring extras if you have extras
• 2 Wheel barrels
• Small rocks, seashells or sand (for re-potting tomatoes)

sharecropsPDX Seed Starts

J and I headed out to a farm to take advantage of a friend's very generous offer to "babysit" our seed starts in his heated green house. We had a blast carefully filling and charting our starts for SEVEN (yes, you read that correctly SEVEN) flats of seed starts. The tomato flat had 36 large start pellets, but the other flats were the standard Jiffy variety that house 72 little seed babies. You do the math... this would have been a monster job to tackle alone. We cannot wait to go back and check on the babies in 10 days. We will be even more excited when we plant the starts in the the new community garden in St. Johns!

Me with the tomato flat and J with a "regular" flat, also filled with tomato seeds:


Some of our tomato starts:



All of the flats, COUNT THEM! We put the babies under newspaper so as to not sun shock them while we worked. I cannot think of a better use of our morning paper: