Sesame Soba with Wilted Kale and Mizuna

With the cool temperatures of fall (by Atlanta standards), the Edible Garden is flourishing with cool season greens and vegetables such as Swiss chard, beets, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, and mache.  Kale 'Winterbor' is pictured above and featured in the recipe below.

Garden Chef Christina Curry also worked mizuna into her dish.  Plant it because its feathery leaves are handsome or because it’s resistant to cold.  Either way, harvest some of the slightly peppery leaves, march to the kitchen and whip up this tasty dish featuring Asian flavors.  A lesser known lettuce, mizuna is sometimes included in mesclun and other mixed salad greens. 

Sesame Soba with Wilted Kale & Mizuna

3 T grape seed oil
2 T ginger root, chopped
2 cups kale, cleaned and cut
2 cups mizuna lettuce, cleaned
2 T sesame oil
1/2 lb. cooked soba noodles
2 T toasted sesame seeds
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 T sweet chili sauce
1/3 cup chopped green onion

Heat the grape seed oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the chopped ginger and cook for 30 seconds. Add the kale and allow to cook just until wilted, about 1 minute. Next add the mizuna lettuce and remove from heat. Mix well with the sesame oil. In a large bowl, combine the soba noodles, kale-mizuna mix, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, green onion and toasted sesame seeds. Toss together gently and garnish with more toasted sesame seeds.

Find printable versions of the Garden Chef recipes here.

Wheat Berry Salad with Pomegranate and Fig Vinaigrette

While many fruits have come and gone in the Edible Garden, the 'Nana' Dwarf Pomegranate still shines, heavily laden with fruits well into fall. Bred to be small and ornamental, they taste tart and aren't as juicy as the ones you get in the supermarket, but are definitely edible. To test for ripeness, squeeze a fruit that hasn't turned yet as a baseline before squeezing one that's red. Ripe pomegranates should have deep red skin and a little give to the fruit.   

Whether you grow pomegranates in your yard or buy them at the store, combine them with wheat berries and a fig vinaigrette for a dish that's simple and tasty.

Although not featured in this recipe, here's a photo of an 'LSU Gold' Fig fruiting in the Edible Garden.  Garden Chef Christina Curry used dried figs and fig infused vinegar for her dish. 

Wheat berries are the unprocessed wheat kernel including bran, germ, and endosperm.  This whole grain contains more nutrients than stripped-down flour, pasta, or bread.  Because it can take nearly an hour to cook wheat berries, consider preparing them in advance and storing in the refrigerator until you're ready to throw this simple and tasty dish together.  Look for wheat berries at the grocery store.

Wheat Berry Salad with Pomegranate and Fig Vinaigrette

2 cups cooked wheat berries
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1/4 cup dried figs, chopped
3 T red onion, chopped
2 T mint
2 T oregano
2 T fig infused vinegar
3 T olive oil
salt and cracked black pepper to taste

In a large bowl combine wheat berries, pomegranate seeds, figs, red onion, mint and oregano. Mix together gently to incorporate ingredients. Add the vinegar and olive oil, mixing gently. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Find printable versions of the Garden Chef recipes here.