Harvest Monday - May 18, 2015

I'm down to just a few things to harvest from the garden as the spring veggies finish and the transition to summer is barely started.

I harvested the last of the favas as I cleared out the patch to make way for summer plantings. The final tally for favas in the pod came in at 78 pounds. I tucked another 3.5 pounds of peeled beans in 1/2 pound portions into the freezer, so there's nearly 10 pounds of peeled beans to enjoy through the year.

Extra Precoce Violetto favas

Last night we enjoyed one more round of bruschetta with chopped favas, just warmed with some sauteed spring onions, mint, olive oil, and Parmesan.

The next big item to come from the garden is the Little Jade napa cabbages. Here's the best looking one of the bunch so far. The leaves are a bit lacy from the attention of earwigs (big yuck), but the unsightly damage won't deter me from enjoying the harvest.

Little Jade napa cabbage

I keep intending to put together a batch of kimchi but haven't gotten to it yet. In the meantime we've been enjoying wilted cabbage sautes. I devised one easy dish that has been great for breakfast, thinly sliced napa cabbage and spring onions, placed in a porcelain bowl, pour in 1/2 cup of hot broth, cover and microwave on high one minute. Put a slice of toasted rustic bread on top of the hot cabbage, top with grated cheese, pour another half cup of broth over the bread and cheese, cover and let sit a couple of moments until the bread soaks up some of the broth, dust the top with some smoked paprika. Quick and very tasty!

Uh oh, the first Romanesco zucchini of the season... A bit odd shaped but still good.

The  Spigariello Foglia Liscia broccoli is in full production now. This is the smooth leaf version and to the left of the basket you can see a glimpse of the curly version, Spigariello Foglia Riccia, which is not yet producing shoots.

Spigariello Foglia Liscia broccoli

Spigariello can be harvested for it leaves, like kale, or allowed to produce shoots. I like to harvest the shoots. My plants are putting out really long shoots that I cut fairly low on the plant. The bottoms of the long shoots are too tough to eat, but I collect all the leaves to use them like kale. The entire top portion of the shoots, about 8 inches, are good to eat. One night I made a simple soup with a big bunch of spring onions sauteed until tender and then added chopped Spigariello and the green portions of the onions, broth and seasonings. I served that with a thick slice of toasted bread with cheese, like a big cheesy crouton. (That big slice of bread with cheese in broth is a great way to use up bread that's a few days old.)

Purple Peacock and Spigariello Foglia Liscia broccolis

Last night we enjoyed the Spigariello in a braise with pancetta, pine nuts, and spring onions, drizzled with some cherry balsamico.

The only harvests not photographed last week were some baby Tuscan kale and more spring onions.

Here's the details of the harvests:

Purple Peacock broccoli - 3.2 oz.
Spigariello Liscia broccoli - 2 lb., 6.1 oz.
Little Jade napa cabbage - 10 lb., 11.3 oz.
Extra Precoce Violetto fava beans - 16 lb., 9 oz.
Baby Tuscan kale - 2 lb., 4 oz.
Spring onions - 3 lb., .2 oz.

Total for the week - 35 lb., 10.8 oz.
2015 YTD - 303 lb., 12.4 oz.

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne on her blog Daphne's Dandelions, head on over there to see what other garden bloggers have been harvesting lately.