Last Gifts, Autumn Minestrone, Fermenting, and Raw Sauce

This past weekend, my husband and I took down most of the food gardens – except for our sweet potatoes, which we’ll harvest in November – collected all that was left of our veggies, and carried bags and baskets into the kitchen for canning and cooking. We gave neighbors bags of green beans.

Autumn arrived without warning recently. One day it was summer, and the next day it wasn’t. That means hot soup time. We had tons of tomatoes, so the soup pot came out and the stove was turned on. I put together an amazing minestrone. It doesn’t match the minestrone one finds in New York City’s Little Italy – that stuff is from another dimension. But I made a great soup using our garden tomatoes, onions, garlic, and green beans.

Minestrone is so easy. I never measure when I cook. Just sauté diced tomatoes, crushed garlic, chopped onion, carrots, and fresh spinach in a little olive oil until just sweating. Toss in some pink salt and black pepper, stir, and then add organic veggie broth. Add a tablespoon or so of organic tomato paste for a richer soup. Simmer, covered for about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, stir in cannellini beans and ditalini pasta, and cook for 10 minutes more. Check for seasoning. Traditionally, minestrone is sprinkled with parmesan cheese before eating. I used nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor and texture.

We also got the fermentation station going again. We have homemade sauerkraut fermenting on the kitchen counter. In a few weeks, it’ll be ready to eat in all its yummy, probiotic glory. Sauerkraut is another super easy thing to make at home, it tastes much better than store-bought, and all its nutrients are fresh and alive. Ditto for kimchi.

I also started jarring raw tomato sauce from our own garden tomatoes. I sterilize Ball jars, then blend washed tomatoes, garlic, our own basil, a little olive oil, and pink salt in a blender, and jar. Insanely easy, and incredibly fresh tasting and nutritious. Unprocessed, whole, raw food. Since the jars are sterilized, an unopened jar of raw sauce will keep in the fridge for about 6 weeks. Once opened, however, use a jar within one day.

It's going to reach 85 degrees today. Love it. But starting tomorrow, we revert to autumn weather. Football season starts in two days. We have about 100 unripe tomatoes lining the windowsills in the kitchen and in a giant bowl on the counter: soon, I’ll make cooked sauce for family. Today’s lunch is a ripe German Pink tomato sandwich. I have the last of our garden green peppers to munch on. We have a huge bowl of green beans in cold water in the fridge. Purple and green Thai long beans are crowding the shelves in there.

We’re wallowing in summer’s garden gifts: the last gifts of the season. Most of the food gardens have been removed and placed into the compost pile. Peach trees have been pruned. All that stands now are orange and purple sweet potato plants, sunflowers, cosmos, the flower beds, a pot of Thai Burapa peppers, pots of Genovese and Thai basil, and a Meyer lemon tree covered with small lemons. Soon, those will have to either come inside or go to compost. It’s been a generous season, and I’m incredibly grateful for it all.

Much love,

Barbie xo