Jardin Sunday

Kitchen cats having a lazy Sunday to balance my busy Sunday.

But the weather too good to ignore jardin, so I decided to check out my crop and plan a dinner around jardin crops.

The lovely parsley. 

Dad bought me two parsley plants in mid-April. Those have been growing and giving since then. I barely chop them for them to come back again - stronger and even tastier.

It is amazing how tasty fresh jardin parsley is compared to what one buys in stores.

Now what to make with the parsley? Will it turn into tabouleh? Lebanese potato salad? A garnish on some hot dish? A green smoothie? Add to a salad? Hmmm, will have to think about it.

Moving along...

I planted dill seeds for two years and they never grew well. This year, dill is popping up on its own throughout jardin.

So I chopped a branch and now decision time. Add to a soup? A yogurt dill dip? Not sure.

An unplanned potato plant is obstructing more interesting crop.

It was pulled out revealing a tiny potato. Wondering where it would stand out from store bought potatoes - fried? gratin? mashed?

Gai-lan were planted from seeds last summer and produced lots (see Jardin Chow for the older sisters of those in this picture).

The plants survived the year and they started growing again in spring. Two of them had tiny florets ready to be used. 

Not enough to make a full dish out of, but a shame to leave them go bad waiting for others to grow. So I cut them and deciding whether to fry? Steam? Add to another vegetable? Make a mini appetizer? Oh those decisions are making my head hurt.

And in between all this green, beautiful red poked its head.

A gift from my favourite blogger of beespeaker saijiki and potluck canuck, this tiny strawberry plant gives daily.

Should those go into vitamin water? Eaten fresh? Dessert? Beginning of a jam?

Now that I have my crops, I will be making dinner. And given that it is already Sunday night, this dinner was made and you will see it tomorrow. But till then, if anyone is interested in guessing what I am doing with each crop (all hints are in the crop decisions' questions above), go for it. The first who guesses at least four right will receive a surprise cookbook. somervillekitchenwindow@gmail.com