Since coming back from the holidays, Josh and I have made it our personal mission to limit going out for dinner (to save on cash) and going out in general (to save on booty-freezing). When there’s a perpetual layer of slush outside your door and sub-zero temperatures between you and the grocery store, you (I, anyway) limit the trips you do take outside the house to the absolutely essential.
Thus, we have engaged in quite a bit of the “what can we make from this” game of late, and this was one of the more successful results. We had a leftover frozen pie crust from a holiday pumpkin pie endeavor, as well as arborio rice and a few extra odds and ends. The risotto was a no-brainer, as we also had sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, garlic, white wine and stock–everything you need.
The quiche was somewhat less obvious, since we didn’t have cream (which is typically required for quiche) or spinach or cheese, which are favorite fillings of mine. We did, however, have milk and broccoli, so we set to work constructing something that perhaps only posed as quiche, but which was delicious nevertheless. We started by baking the frozen crust in the oven for about 10 minutes on its own, and sauteing chopped broccoli with finely diced yellow onions, thyme and Tony’s. We also mixed together about 5 eggs and a quarter cup of milk with salt and pepper in a separate bowl.
When the crust finished its preliminary baking, we put in the broccoli and onion mixture, then poured over the egg mixture and put it back in the oven to bake about half an hour. While that was cooking, we finished the risotto (stir, stir, add some broth, stir some more, etc.) and got started on the bottle of wine we’d opened for cooking. (Yes, you must follow this step.)
It’s true that the egg-and-milk-over-veggies method here makes this a little more like a frittata than a true quiche, but the richness of the crust is enough to fool you into thinking otherwise, and more than makes up for the lack of cheese. Of course, if you HAVE cheese without going out into the frozen tundra, by all means, use it. I’m just sayin. You can make something tasty even without it–and that goes for the risotto too, which was still rich and creamy from the butter and pine nuts, even without the Parmesan cheese I typically add at the end. And, bonus: if you make the risotto without wine (but seriously, why would you want to?), the whole thing is ridiculously cheap to make.
The rest of the garden (with the exception of the broccoli, which I’ll come to in a minute) continues to do well. The collard greens in particular seem to be thriving, and we plan to eat some spinach soon. We may also consider picking the collards a bit early, rather than risking their untimely end due to a killing frost…but I’m unsure of whether this would be a good idea. If anyone has experience with cooking/eating young collards, let me know. My hunch is that it would be fine–and perhaps even better than fully developed collards, which are usually so tough that they require quite a lot of cooking.
The broccoli, as I said, aren’t looking so hot. They’re trying, bless their hearts, but until whatever critter in the yard (who apparently likes broccoli as much as I do) stops munching on them, I fear they won’t amount to much. I realize that this is probably something that I, as gardener, should try to take care of…but short of covering the entire garden with chicken wire (which, let’s face it, is not going to happen), I’m not sure what can be done. For a time, I was using Dewey as a living scarecrow, but it’s unclear how well this worked–given her general disinterest in birds, who I believe to be the culprits–and I’m dubious on its future prospects, since Dewey appears to feel the same way I do about being outside when it’s cold and rainy. As always, suggestions are welcome. Especially if they involve minimal effort.
Something is eating my broccoli. I am not pleased! Neither, however, am I sure what it is. This particular shot makes it look like the work of insects, but other pieces–chewed down to nubs–look like they’ve been attacked by any of the millions of birds that are constantly flying around my backyard. I have yet to put anything on them, in part because I’d prefer not to do the pesticide thing, and in part because (as you may recall) this is a minimal-effort-and-money garden project, so I haven’t even looked into possible fixes. At the moment, things aren’t looking so good. At least for the broccoli.
The collards and spinach, on the other hand, are doing very well. In fact, it looks like the spinach (on the right) may be ready for a salad harvest in the next week or so. The collards are still quite small, so I’m not sure how long we have left with them. Hopefully they’ll make it through the cooler weather we’re expecting later this week (highs in the mid-upper 50s and lows in the mid-upper 30s!). I would love love love to make some nice Southern-style greens to bring in the fall!
In other garden-related news, the carrots seem to be moving right along, though it’s difficult to say for certain, since almost all of their growing happens below the surface. We do know that whatever is happening is a long way from being edible though. Today marks 4 weeks since planting, and the carrot growing season supposedly clocks in at around 120 days, so–provided they don’t all die before then–we have at least 3 months left. Much closer is the cilantro, which has done a shocking bit of maturation over the past week. My favorite part of any growing season is at this stage: when the sprouts, like puppies or infants, show signs of becoming what they are. 
In the case of other living things, it might be a new facial expression or a way of moving–something that moves the new life out of the realm of generic youth and gives a sign of its unique personality. I like to think that the Cilantro is right there now, moving from life as a generic sprout to life as a cilantro plant, with its miniature maple-shaped leaves and fantastic smell. I’m so proud of these little ones–they grow up so fast!
