katie makos

A couple of other ideas for you:

Ricotta pancakes (lots of recipes online, here's one)
https://www.recipetineats.com/fluffy-ricotta-pancakes/

Pasta with ricotta, lemon zest, basil, and cherry tomatoes
https://www.thekitchn.com/lemony-ricotta-pasta-asparagus-tomatoes-recipe-23153122

When I make this, I just chop and pan roast the tomatoes in olive oil with some garlic and  then as the pasta is finishing stir in the ricotta, lemon zest, herbs and thin with some of the pasta water, then stir in the pasta for a minute or two to absorb some of the flavour, and finish with more olive oil and season with salt and pepper and grated parmesan. It's simple but good!

Quiche/egg tart or frittata with ricotta and whatever other fillings you like

Hi there!

I third (?) the cowboy candy idea - my family makes a lot of hot pepper preserves, and these are one of my favourites. Good on sandwiches, with cheese, tacos, baked into cornbread or just on their own.

Strangely enough, I actually had a discussion with one of my friends yesterday about this very topic to see if she had any brilliant ideas, and the one I thought sounded most intriguing was making a Caribbean style hot sauce with mango or papaya - I found a few recipes online on a quick search:

https://www.seriouseats.com/papaya-habanero-hot-sauce-recipe
https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-recipes/hot-sauces/caribbean-style-mango-habanero-hot-sauce-video/

Depending on the kind of peppers you're growing, there may also be some recipes for using them up fresh - some hot peppers are nice stuffed. I'm growing pepperoncini and for some reason they are so much more prolific than my other pepper plants this year. In addition to the standard pickles I managed to find a recipe to stuff them with cheese and anchovy which I thought sounded quite tasty and plan to try when they're ready to harvest.

https://food52.com/recipes/23106-stuffed-pepperoncini

If you make a lot of chilli or other recipes that call for hot peppers, you could also try sauteeing batches of them to freeze in small portions to add as needed. I usually do that when I buy a can of chipotle in adobo and can't use up the whole amount without scorching the earth.

Happy cooking!

Anne Miller wrote:Is fish sauce cheaper than using actual fish?.

I'm not sure but I would think so? A 725 ml bottle is about $3-4 CAD here. It's more that I have a very expired bottle of it I'm now hesitant to use in recipes that call for it, and rather than throwing it away, I thought I might be able to repurpose it

@Tereza, thanks for the input. I was kind of thinking the same thing re: the usefulness of the fish after dilution. But I've had this bottle for about 3 years past it's expiry, so I figured I need to either use it or lose it! I do like fish sauce in Thai food but haven't ever tried either anchovy or fish sauce in a Korean recipe. I'll keep that tip in mind if I pick up another bottle, thanks!

I try to keep things flexible, but keep an eye on what I already have and try to use it up before adding to the pantry or freezer. Lately I've been using my flyer app to see what's on sale at the stores closest to us, and I build what I want to make for the week around that before I even leave the house, and I always try to complement or supplement where I can with what I'm growing.  

For the zucchini, as long as the outer portions aren't too watery, I would think you could scrape out the middles and stuff them - I've done that with overgrown zucchini before and it worked well. Here's a sample recipe but I'm sure there are lots online, including those with meat if you prefer that:

https://www.loveandlemons.com/stuffed-zucchini-boats/

You could also scrape out the middles and grate them to make all kinds of cakes and fritters. I love zucchini pancakes, especially with cheese and herbs! Here is another example recipe you may like:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/zucchini-pancakes-recipe-1948910

I started attending seed swaps a few years ago and haven't had to purchase very many seeds at all since then - and I agree with the previous comments about the high prices for retail seed packets, especially if you haven't grown before and are trying to assemble enough variety to grow. I've found some really interesting and unusual seeds as well as standard varieties of things at the swaps, everything from veg, to herbs, to native flowers and other ornamentals.

I've grown it a few times over the past few years, and just sowed some seeds about a week ago in a container that have sprouted, so am looking forward to it later this summer. At our last house it self seeded quite a bit which was welcome - it's easy enough to thin out if you don't want as much of it. I really like it as a heat tolerant spinach substitute and basically treat it as I would spinach or swiss chard. Last night we ate some that came from my father's garden in a pasta dish with halloumi, garlic scape pesto, and cannelini beans and it was very good! Later this summer if I have enough, I'm hoping to make a spanakopita using it.

In addition to what's been mentioned, I would try things like arugula, dill, cilantro, parsley, chervil, collards, chicories, endive, broccoli rabe, lettuces, beets, onions (for spring onion type harvets), asian greens like bok choy or choy sum.  

Hi everyone,

This is a bit of an odd one, but has anyone ever tried using Asian fish sauce diluted in water as a fish fertilizer emulsion for either veg or flowering plants? I know that there is quite a lot of salt in the fish sauce, which is why I would dilute it, but I have a nearly fully bottle of the stuff that's been sitting in my fridge for a few years now and it occurred to me that I might be able to make use of it in the garden. The ingredients are anchovy, salt, and sugar in that order. Any experience or thoughts?

Thanks!

What about Korean Lilacs, Purple Flowering Raspberry, or Carolina Allspice? The last two might need a bit more water than what you have to offer, but we grew the purple flowering raspberries at our old house and never watered them and they did pretty well.