Learn about wild living
Inspired by Turtle Lake Refuge’s “weed” expertise? Katrina Blair invites you to delve into the world of living food nutrition, wild edible and medicinal plants, permaculture and holistic health.
Local Wild Living Program will take students on a six-month journey that covers topics such as harvesting wild foods, creating living food recipes, making herbal medicines, building solar dehydrators, learning about soil mycology, making fermented recipes and integrating holistic practices into your daily life.
The 120-hour course runs from Sept. 3 to March 26 and includes overnight wilderness outings. The suggested donation for the course is $888. To register, email Blair at katblair@frontier.net or call 247-0514.
An excess of eggplant? Give this recipe a try
I joined Shared Harvest community garden three years ago and have been relishing my abundance of fresh produce ever since. But my first year in the garden, one of the crops that stumped me was eggplant. In peak season, I was harvesting five to 10 eggplants a week, and there really is only so much Baba Ganoush and Eggplant Parmesan you can eat. So, I set out to experiment with new eggplant recipes, and I happened on the following recipe, which to this day remains my most favorite way to cook eggplant fresh from the garden.
Roasted Eggplant Salad
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
2 large eggplants
Salt
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
Juice of 1 large lemon
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
½ cup almond slices
2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup chopped scallions
Method:
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Cut eggplant into 1-inch cubes, sprinkle with salt and set aside. Use a paper towel to dab any extra water that beads up. (This helps to reduce the bitterness of the eggplant.)
Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, honey, paprika and cumin. Toss the eggplant in a bowl with the marinade. Stir in the chopped garlic.
Roast the eggplant in an oiled 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish for 40 minutes, or until very tender and slightly browned. Stir the eggplant halfway through the baking time. Allow to cool slightly after removing from the oven.
Whisk together the lemon juice and soy sauce. Toss with the eggplant, then stir in the almonds, goat cheese, parsley and scallions. Serve warm.
Recipe adapted by Amanda Saunders from www.thekitchn.com.
Local community garden hosts pie-making contest
Love pies? Is that even a question? Check out the Garden Project of Southwest Colorado’s “Pies in the Garden” open house and pie competition from 4 to 6 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Ohana Kuleana Community Garden, 564 East 30th St. Admission is $5 and includes pie tasting, prize drawing and voting for the best pie, but submitting a pie gets you in free.
Anyone can submit a pie for the contest, with awards for the best savory pie and the best sweet pie.
Pies must be 9 inches and must be accompanied by two copies of the recipe. Tickets can be purchased online at www.thegardenprojectswcolorado.org.
The Ohana Kuleana Community Garden experienced its first full year of production in 2013. With more than 12,000 square feet of growing space, the garden offers 40 plots in which community members can garden.
Amanda Saunders
