Vegetable of the Month for May: Potatoes

If you wanted to grow potatoes this spring/summer in your garden, hopefully you have them planted already as they should have gone in the ground first thing in spring. Now is the time to scout those new potato plants for a beetle that finds them irrestible! Learn more about this visitor from Colorado below ;-)

Also take some time to explore the many ways that you can enjoy potatoes in a delicious, healthful way (instead of just as french fries!)

View the Veggie of the Month info sheet below in full screen mode if your eyes hurt from looking at the small font (click next to the orange Download button) OR download it to your computer and save it for future reference.
 

Learn more about growing potatoes here (www.Gardeners.com) and here (Mother Earth News).

And for more inspiration on preparing potatoes in a new way, see these delicious looking recipes. Yummmmmmm!

Vegetable of the Month for December: Collards

I like collards, and just assumed (because it seemed like the right thing to do) that you had to cook them to eat them. This year at the Carolina Farm Stewardship Conference in South Carolina I was proven wrong! I attended a presentation by FoodCorps service members about the amazing work they do across North Carolina connecting kids to real food, and their presentation included a hands-on demonstration and tasting of a recipe they make with kids in schools - raw collard wraps!  

http://www.olivesfordinner.com/2012/05/raw-collard-greens-sushi.html

To my surprise (and I would bet to yours if you try it), they were super tasty! Thank you FoodCorps for opening my eyes to the wonderful world of raw collards!

Did you know that calorie for calorie, leafy greens like collards provide more nutrients than any other food! So what are you waiting for!?!  Eat 'em up! 

This month the Vegetable of the Month info sheet features the raw collard wrap recipe. Give it a try, and share your findings with other gardeners!

View the Veggie of the Month info sheet below in full screen mode or download it to your computer and save it for future reference.
 

Vegetable of the Month for December: Collards -

VIDEO

 



Here is a great video from The Produce Lady to give you some more ideas on preparing collards.

Fruit of the Month for November: Pumpkin!?

That's right, a pumpkin is actually a fruit! Well botanically speaking anyways.

In simple terms, fruits are the means by which plants disseminate seeds. So if there are seeds (which obviously there are lots of in pumpkins), then you have yourself a fruit!

Pumpkins are still referred to as vegetables in culinary terms though.  So... a pumpkin could actually be considered a fruit and a vegetable! Confusing I know.  If you're interested, you can read more here about pumpkins and fruits.

Enjoy the new recipes and info provided below. We hope it will inspire you to try something new...whether that be planting pumpkins next year in your garden or making pumpkin soup for the first time!

Fruit of the Month for November: Pumpkin


Learn more about pumpkins and how to cook with them by watching this video...

Happy National Nutrition Month!

March -- National Nutrition Month® is a nutrition education and information campaign sponsored annually by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The campaign is designed to focus attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.

 And speaking of nutrition...

Veggie of the Month for March: Green Peas

STORAGE
It is best to serve all types of fresh peas the day they are purchased (or harvested from your garden!). If they must be stored, place them in a perforated plastic bag in the refrigerator. Do not wash them before they are stored. Shell green peas right before you cook them.

PREPARATION
Rinse peas before shelling them. To shell peas, pinch the stem off with your fingernails and pull the string down the length of the pod. The pod will pop open and the peas can be pushed out of the pod with your thumb. When finished, wash all peas.

Rinse snow peas and sugar snap peas before use. To trim snow peas, cut the tips from both ends of the pod. This can be done with kitchen shears. Sugar snap peas need to have the strings removed before eaten cooked or raw. The string runs around both sides of the sugar snap pod. It is easiest to start from the bottom tip and pull the string up the front, and then snap the stem off and pull the string down the back of the pod.

RECIPE

Garden Delight Stir-Fry
This is a basic technique allowing individuals to experiment with many different variations. Select your favorites from this list. Serves 4.

Sauce (1⁄4 cup for four servings)
Lite/low sodium soy sauce, Low sodium tamari, Teriyaki marinade, Bottled stir-fry sauce, Sweet chili sauce

Starch (1 cup per person)
White rice, brown rice, jasmine rice, basmati rice, rice noodles, whole wheat spaghetti noodles

Vegetables (Any combination, 1 to 2 cups per person, less if serving as a side dish)
Peas, onion, broccoli, celery, carrots, peppers, mushrooms, squash, cauliflower, cabbage, bok choy

Wash and cut selected vegetables into small, even-sized pieces. Heat 1 tbsp. vegetable oil over high heat in a 10-inch skillet. Keeping the heat high, add vegetables to the pan in order of firmness – harder foods first (ex. cauliflower) and ending with softer foods (ex. mushrooms). With a spatula, move vegetables around in the pan to keep them from sticking. Cook the vegetables for a few minutes until they are brightly colored and still crisp. Add sauce to taste (about 1⁄4 cup). Stir fry until all vegetables are thoroughly coated. Serve with choice of starch.

Recipe from Cook Smart, Eat Smart


Information courtesy of...

-  CDC’s Fruit and Vegetable of the Month http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/month/peas.html
-  The Produce Lady http://www.theproducelady.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/TPLenewsPDF_Mar12.pdf