From Garden to Table

Getting ready for the tomato planting required harvesting of the remaining lettuces, spinach and some of the celery.  It was so exciting to be able to cut all of the greens and celery, clean them and then prepare them for our Sunday evening dinner.  Our dinner was a delicious salad of such fresh, crisp mesclun with some added small pieces of stilton, toasted walnuts, radishes and scallions. The celery risotto was a very nice surprise with so much flavor from the many skinny celery stalks and many of the leaves.  This was a wonderful surprise of fresh vegetables from my garden to my dinner table.  We enjoyed our dinner with a bottle of Big House Red, a blend of 10 varietals with so much flavor and so little money (under $10).  

The salad!

The celery stalks, chopped and ready for cooking

The celery cooking in the risotto

 

The finished celery risotto

Celery Risotto Recipe

The Ingredients:  4 bunches of small, skinny celery, cut into small strips

                        1-2 TB olive oil

                        5-6 garlic cloves, chopped

                        2-3 TB chopped fresh parsley

                        1 small onion, chopped

                        1 can of diced tomatos, drained

                        3.5 C of vegetable broth

                        1.5 TB of meyenberg butter

                        1 Cup of arborio rice

                        1/2 C of white wine

                        1/4 C grated parmesan cheese

                         juice of 1 meyer lemon

                         salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the risotto in the traditional way.  Add some of the celery leaves and the lemon juice near the end of the incorporation of the broth.  Add the cheese after the cooking is complete.