Pasta with Borlotti Beans and Broccoli

I'm sure this can be made with some canned beans such as cannellini.  But I still have a couple of bags of borlotti beans from my harvest last fall.  Once the beans are soaked, this is very easy to toss together and super healthy!

Dried Borlotti Beans

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients:
1/2 dried borlotti beans, soaked overnight
Pasta, your choice (I used penne)
1 medium white onion, sliced
2-3 cups broccoli florets
Chicken Stock
Cream



Drain the beans from their soaking liquid and rinse.  Cook in boiling water about 20-30 minutes; remove when they are "al dente" or just before.  Just remove them before they are fully cooked!

Prepare pasta.  It can be ready ahead of time; drain and set aside pasta when cooked.

Place the beans into a saute pan along with the sliced onion and about a 1/2 cup of the chicken stock.  The beans will complete their cooking in this liquid.  When beans are tender, add the broccoli and about 2 Tbsp of heavy cream.  Season to taste with S&P.  Cook until broccoli is tender.

Toss with pasta and serve with parmesan or aged cheddar.

Potatoes Sprouting in the Dark?

While I was getting something from the cold room, I noticed that the newspaper covering the potatoes was sticking out a bit.

When I lifted up the papers I saw this!!  Mostly the russian blue potatoes, but also some of the red chieftain, have sprouted.  In the dark!

I'm not really clear on how this happened; I assumed light was needed to sprout - or at least to sprout as much as this - but the cold room is completely dark (well, I've never actually stood in the room with the door closed and the light off because that's just creepy - but I assume it's completely dark).  I may have to purchase some containers and bags of soil this weekend and get some planted.  Clearly there is no chance of planting in this yard any time soon ...

Seedling Update: April 1st - Mostly Tomatoes and Peppers

Hmm, I've cut back quite a bit on the number of seedlings I have already started, or plan to start, indoors this spring but only a month or so after planting the first seeds, I've already had to set up the second fluorescent light in the basement.  Even with the reduction from last year, I will still end up with at least a hundred or so.  And with each eventually transplanted into a 4" pot before going outside, you can imagine that takes a lot of space.


Speaking of 4" pots ... last year I had cleaned up a pile and left them in the basement as I knew I might not be able to get into the greenhouse until late March.  That was not enough so I thought I'd check out the now collapsed greenhouse and see if there was a way in to grab some gear.  No such luck.  Closest to the greenhouse where the snow has slid from the top, the snow is still 3 feet deep.  Luckily, after the windstorm did some damage to the greenhouse in the fall, I had pulled out some boxes of brand new 4" pots to store in the garage - I was hoping to barter with them this spring with another grower to save some cash, but I've had to use a stack of them.


This evening I transplanted another six each Brandywine and Black Krim tomato plants which has now doubled the totals for each.  And I did the same for about 20 San Marzano plum tomato plants.  I am having a hard time pinching away the weak ones; it always seems such a waste.  But I know what happens when 2 or 3 healthy plants compete for space and nutrients especially in these little pots.  So I'll have to do it soon.

A few days ago, I also seeded some asters and hollyhocks.  I'm already a few days behind last year on other flowers including cosmos, marigolds and nasturtiums, but that's just going to have to wait with the late winter weather we've been having.

But I did sow some watermelon seeds as those traditionally need a longer growing season that naturally occurs in these parts - and one has started to show today after only 4 days!

And lots of peppers on the heat mat (or some already under the fluorescent light) including several varieties of sweet red, two types of jalapenos, hungarian hot wax and some anchos (which I'm trying for the first time this year).