Sunday, August 15, 2010

Garden to Table Challenge (are you up for it?)

What do I need to do?

1) Ideally, grow your own fruits and vegetables (if you have a legit reason for not growing your own, you may use what your farmer's market is offering right now - what's seasonal is the key).
2) Brag on your blog about the journey of your fruits or vegetables from GARDEN TO TABLE by featuring a photo and recipe.
3) Starting this Saturday, and then every subsequent Saturday, link your post, and see what I and others have been harvesting and eating.


But wait, I harvest and cook all the time anyway, what's the challenge?

IF you want an extra challenge, cyber nods for: food that involves lots of seasonal ingredients (particularly if you've grown your own), creativity, originality, and food photography that makes our mouths water. BUT...I know I would also appreciate ideas for fresh food that can be tossed together on a Monday night, so I want simple recipes too! IF, you're not able to harvest or don't feel like cooking one week, I'll even welcome posts about a great seasonal meal you enjoyed at your favorite bistro. Lots of options.



What else you got?

There's more... just to make it more fun. You might be a food-loving, gardening nerd excited about this Garden to Table Challenge, but if you're not TOTALLY pumped yet, as an extra incentive for participating (like food-loving, gardening nerds REALLY need incentives!), at the end of the season (around November), I will randomly award 3 people with fabulous prizes (to be determined later). 1 contest entry per week for every post you link here beginning THIS Saturday.



It can be as simple as what you see below. So what say you? You in???


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Panzanella - a summer favorite that even my tomato-hating kids enjoy (and even ask for!). I've seen a few different variations, but I just use the ingredients I love most. No need for exact measurements, just saute the bread in oil and garlic, then put the rest together to taste! Ingredients: my own Japanese black trifele tomatoes, my own basil (snipped with scissors into ribbons), my own ajo rojo garlic, thinly sliced red onion, a crusty/hard bread, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. The bread will soak up the juices from the tomato and the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This makes a delicious light summer lunch!

18 comments:

  1. Hey WEndy, You are very ambitious starting this meme. I will try to participate although my cooking isn't anything to write home about, let alone blog about, and my veggie garden really didn't do that great this year, but I am looking forward to reading the posts and learning so maybe I will be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor a little bit more. Sounds like fun. I will be back on Saturday to see what's cookin, literally. I will try to find something good to make before then so I can sound like all the other nerds who enter too. thanks for your ambition and effort. I have been meaning to find good recipes and now i have a reason to do so.

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  2. This sounds fun Wendy. I'm eager to see what dishes others come up with using their garden grown vegies and fruits. I've tried unsuccessfully to grow vegies in my backyard. The weather in SF is really bad to grow anything. It's cloudy and cold most of the time. I'm definitely a farmer's market girl so let's see what I can cook up and share.

    Looking forward to learn some new dishes here ^_^

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  3. I have never heard of Panzanella before. Thanks for posting this very simple (and very tasty, I'm sure) recipe.

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  4. Hi Wendy, I have a feeling you are full of fun ideas. I love planting but hopeless in cooking. I might just find some simple recipes here. :)

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  5. Oh, Wendy! I can sense the trouble :) Cooking is another passion of mine (well, before I started my passion for gardening). Now I hardly have time left for it with the gardening, two boys, AND my daytime job, not alone blogging about the cooking! You made it sounds so appealing though... I might break down someday to join you every once awhile :) But definitely I will come to check out others' receipes!

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  6. I think this is a wonderful challenge. My goal is to have a 4 season garden which I am just starting so it will be awhile till I have veggies to cook with. I don't consider myself a great cook, but this will give me some incentive to try new things and see everyone else's.

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  7. Oh boy this sounds like a fun blog event, but after this weekend I'm going to be away from the garden for a while. I was going to post about eggplant soon anyway, so I'll save that one for Saturday.

    We love panzanella! I sometimes toss in a few more vegetables - whatever is around, usually roasted first.

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  8. That panzanella photo is making me very hungry! So delicious!

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  9. Yum, yum, yum! I'm in, with the caveat that I will start in September. I'm on a blog break in August (with a break from the blog break for the blogiversary and probably also for one other thing) and trying to have an internet/e-mail sabbatical so I can work on my book for a bit. ;) The good part is, some of the fall kitchen garden stuff might be ready by then -- if it will stop raining so I can dig a bit.

    I love your new meme, by the way. It's totally something I'll come and check in on, to see what folks are making. Your first recipe looks fantastic!

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  10. Oh this sounds fun! I will try really hard to keep on top of it - it seems I start out great and then sort of fall off the bandwagon with most challenges, but I'd love to give it a go. Thanks for getting me thinking!

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  11. This is really fun!
    Anyway panzanella sounds so delicious! I should visit your blog more often now! LOL!

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  12. This sounds fun. I can't wait to show case my tomatoes.

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  13. I like that you sauteed the bread first. Sometime I place it on the grill before making the salad. The bread becomes a bit too soggy for my taste if you don't

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  14. This sounds like a fun meme. I have just published my latest post when I read this. I'll think of something in future.

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  15. That panzanella looks delicious. I just picked a box full of tomatoes yesterday and am happy to find a new way to try eating them. Thank you. Love your header photo, I've just grown soybeans for the first time and have been blanching and freezing them to eat in the wintertime.

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  16. that panzanella to me is more delicious and appealing than the most haute and expensive cuisine in the known universe!

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  17. I love panzanella but my family can only see 'soggy bread.' I'll try your idea of sauteing the bread cubes to make them more like croutons. Yum!

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  18. I love what you did with the backyard. It's awesome! Will have to peak at it sometime. I might invest more in this backyard if we owned. Anyway-- will try in earnest to get it looking cleaner. If you need mint, I have though. And the food on your front page of your blog looks so so tasty. You should open a cafe! Nice to chat the other day. Kg was a bit more organised today when I went in. My blog address is www.theharbins.info/julieblog.

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My awesome gardening friends...thanks for leaving a comment! I don't typically repond here, but I love knowing who you are so I can visit your blog as well.

btw - if you're trying to show me nude Miley Cyrus photos, sell me nikes or viagra or antibiotics, or encourage my lovely garden readers to visit your site on solar panel construction, or seo-whatevers, sorry, but I'm not publishing your comment. If you want to moderate my blog - well, I can't keep you too busy, and the pay would be horrible. And lastly, no. I'm not interested in Club Penguin cheat codes. Thanks anyway.

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