The Family Table: Clearing out the garden
When my mom goes on a trip, my fridge fills up.
A little of this, a bit of that, some stray veggies or fruit — not enough for a single meal, but also not things you’d like to leave while you’re gone, lest they morph into a 5th-grade science experiment.
Over the years, I’ve developed the same routine to accommodate when we go to the beach.
Try as I might, I never make just the right amount of food — it’s always too little (prompting the need for pizza delivery) or too much.
This year, I think I might have it figured out.
I made zucchini noodles and meatballs in sauce, and a slow cooker full of jambalaya that took next to no work. The noodles and sauce, I said, were to be consumed first. I figured the jambalaya could be jarred and frozen if there were leftovers.
My backup plan for too little food: eggs and turkey bacon, cereal or the last of my freezer burritos.
As of today, I have a couple of days left before we depart, and we appear to be on track to consume everything … including the eggs, bacon, cereal and freezer burritos.
While it’s unlikely my mom will get any cooked leftovers (absent the jambalaya I shared on Monday), she did benefit from our gardening surplus.
Last year, in advance of our trip, we told our neighbors to visit our garden and take whatever they wanted while we were gone.
None did.
We came back to nearly 20 zucchini, some of which weighed as much as a small baby. We also picked carrots, beets, kale, peppers and tomatoes a-plenty.
It was too much for us to use before it all went bad, so we shared as much as we could with others. Candidly, that’s half the reason we plant so much – both Mike and I enjoy giving it away.
This year I decided to head off the bumper crop problem by thinning out veggies in advance and sending them off to mom.
She said she didn’t mind.
I showed up at her house Monday with a shopping bag full of dinosaur kale, some sizeable zucchini, a bag full of lettuce, 20-plus beets, and all of their greens.
She’s been banking recipes for the things she knows we plant, so I know it’ll all get used.
This year, we again told our neighbors to come pick what they want while we’re gone. Should they not, I hope she’s ready for another delivery when we return.
Slow Cooker Jambalaya
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into pieces
1 pound smoke Andouille sausage, sliced into rounds
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 peppers (any color is fine), diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 ounce can petite diced tomatoes – do not drain
3-4 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
Add all ingredients except for the shrimp to a slow cooker and stir to combine. Cook on low for about 3 hours, stirring once about midway through. If the veggies are tender, stir in the shrimp and cook and additional 15 to 20 minutes on low, or until shrimp are just cooked through. Serve over cooked rice or spiralized zucchini.