March 2019 – Go Green, Corned Beef Salmon, Chilled Avocado Soup, Corned Beef Pizza, Green Recipes

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Go Green 

Those green leafy vegetables are loaded with chlorophyll and isothiocyanates. Did you know that that chlorophyll pigment is like hemoglobin? It contains magnesium at the center and is like “blood” for plants, allowing them to magically convert light to energy.

Are you wondering why should eat them?  Well, there seem to be benefits beyond measure for your body and health. Take a look at a couple of those Good Health “Go Green” Rewards.

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  • High in Antioxidants
  • Full of Minerals
  • A Natural Source of Fiber
  • Improves Your Metabolism
  • Makes You Feel Fuller for Longer
  • Protects Your Eyes
  • Provides Natural Defenses from Sun Damage
  • Lifts Your Mood
  • Keeps You Hydrated

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Corned Beef Spiced Salmon with Cabbage and Romanesco Rice
Add corned beef pickling spice to celebrate March

Go Green with Romanesco, Parsley, Dill, and Cabbage

About the Recipe:  Try an updated recipe to celebrate the Irish green month of March.  Add a pickling spice to salmon and lightly pan fry for a corned beef-like crust.  Serve it along with a side dish made from bright lime green Romanesco cauliflower, turned into bits of rice-like bits, and mixed with butter flavored soft cabbage. It’s a delightful side dish for any Irish meal.

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Sparkling Chilled Avocado Soup
Add a little bubbly to buttery avocados; top with salmon flakes and herbs

Go Green with Avocados and Basil

 

For the Recipe:  This chilled soup is perfect for that special celebration supper.  A touch of the bubbly effervescence adds a gourmet touch and accents the buttery flavor of the avocados. Garnish and serve it with your own favorite add-ins.

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Irish Colcannon Corned Beef Pizza
A Leprechaun’s Secret Irish Recipe

Go Green with Cabbage, Dill, Parsley, Pickles, Green Onions, Capers

About the Recipe:  An Irish favorite potato dish is creamy mashed potatoes with cabbage, and this recipe adds more flavor with bits of corned beef and a touch of mustard. It’s spread over a prebaked caraway pizza crust and topped with melt-away cheeses, red onions, and 12 corned beef sausage-like rounds. Add a final sprinkle of bright green dill, parsley, green onions, capers and drizzles of ranch dressing to add that magic March touch to the oh-so delicious pizza

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Nashville Lawn and Garden Show

A new trend, organic gardening, is beginning to grow literally!  Young and older people in the nation are interested in providing their families with nutritious vegetables and fruits. There is a personal satisfaction that germinates from growing healthy plants and using earth-friendly practices. Food gardening is providing personal satisfaction.

At the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show this year, Master Gardeners provided workshops and demonstrations on how to make, build, plant, and enjoy active gardening.

  • Start small; think simple

                  Use containers, raised beds, vertical farming practices.

  • Choose easy to grow plants you enjoy

Select native plants, vividly colored varieties, herbs, useful produce.

  • Easy access that’s uncluttered

Like porches, patios, or able to reach garden patches

  • Have supplies readily available

Use lightweight containers, casters for heavy pots, wagon for moving soil, colored garden tools with rubber handles, long-handed or curved tools.

  • Use vertical landscaping ideas

Like stacked containers, wooden boxes, not beyond your reach

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Edible Landscapes
Nashville TN Lawn and Garden Show

The Nashville Lawn and Garden Show provided information about how the changing times are creating changing home gardens.

Todd Breyer, a national award-winning registered landscape architect and garden designer presented a light-hearted look at the best, easy-care, and most beautiful edible landscape plants that can easily be incorporated into any home garden. You won’t believe how beautiful these gardens are!

The best part is that they provide nutritious fresh produce too!

Edible Landscapes  Todd Breyer – landscape architect & President of the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show Foundation.

Interview

English gardens adjacent homes shows potential for vegetable growing.

Todd Breyer giving demo at Nashville Lawn and Garden Show

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Spicy Italian Zucchini Supper Pie
Light pepper cheese spices up this vegetarian main dish

Go Green with Basil, Parsley, Zucchini, Italian Herbs 

About the Recipe: A savory Italian filling of peppered cheese combines with onions, garlic, and fresh zucchini, creating a vegetarian supper tart with a crisp, golden buttery basil crust.  The dough for the crust can be prepared ahead of time, wrapped airtight for up to 3 days, or even frozen for up to 2 months.

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Sweet White Wine Poached Pears with Fresh Fruit Compote
An elegant dessert that’s easy to prepare

Go Green with Pears, Basil, and Kiwis

About the Recipe: Poached pears are one of the easiest desserts to prepare. After removing the cores and simmering them in poaching liquid to soften, they just relax in their liquid waiting to be served with a sauce or even a dollop of cream. They are an elegant dessert that taste fresh and light.

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Culinary Herbs for the Landscape
Nashville TN Lawn and Garden Show

Herbs can play an important role in a landscape since they are colorful, provide flowers, and best of all, are useful when preparing various foods.

They add interest, intensity, and complex layers in simple dishes.

Sherre Phillips, Past President of Herb Society of Nashville, demonstrated how to select Culinary Herbs for the Landscape with a variety of herb gardening tips and recipes.

After the demonstration, we talked to Sherre Phillips and asked her about what kind of herbs to use in a small garden.

Sherre Phillips Interview about herbs in landscape design

Interview

Sherre Phillips lecturing audience at the Nashville Lawn & Garden Sho

Attractive well manicured garden incorporating herbs and flowers

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Rosemary Sweet Potato Crisps
Golden sweet potato nuggets are crispy and a feast of flavors

Go Green with Fresh Rosemary

About the Recipe: If you enjoy French fries, you will fall in love with these crisp, golden brown sweet potato nuggets. They are so easy to make, and you can parboil the potatoes to make it even easier.  The fresh rosemary adds just the right amount of flavor, making them into the perfect side dish for sandwiches or suppers. S

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Fresh Fruit Cocktail Surprise
Mix fresh peaches with berries and add basil and pepper

Go Green with Limes and Fresh Basil

About the Recipe:  When I first tasted this recipe, all I could think about was how light and fresh it tasted.  The basil herb and black pepper formed back flavors and didn’t overwhelm the other ingredients.  It was perfectly balanced.  It would be a refreshing fruit dessert to serve on a warm summer evening.

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Victory Garden – Needhams’s Nursery

As we gathered new ideas from the show’s venders, we met Tom Needham from Needham’s Nursery.com in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. He was distributing leaflets with new packets of seeds attached entitled “Victory Gardens.”  He told me that he remembered the family stories about planting those gardens and decided to encourage people to plant their little victory gardens.  

Herbs and Annuals being sold by Needham’s Nursery at the Nashville, TN Lawn and Garden Show 

When I asked him about buying his herbs, he just laughed and told me that they belonged to God and were given to us –  free. I only had to pay for the container and the love he gave his plants. Now – that is so clever! I loved his herbs, so green and fresh. I guess he gives them lots of love.

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Pink Ribbon Garden Project

As I thought about Victory Gardens from the past. I noticed another display that reflected a modern Victory Garden.  The only difference was that it was designed to show cancer survivors how to grow organic food and serve healthy meals.  It is called the Pink Ribbon Garden Project and was started by the Libby’s Legacy Breast Cancer Foundation along with co-founder Grammy-winning musician Melissa Etheridge. Beginning in Florida and extending services to New York, they will be starting “A Pink Ribbon Garden” in Nashville, Tennessee soon.  

We asked Tracy Maynard-Harris, Executive Director of Libby’s Legacy to tell us a little more about the “Grow one, Give one” concept.

Tracy Maynard – Harris Interview

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Green Bean Salad with Peppered Peach Vinaigrettes
Sweet peaches dress the tender garden green beans

Go Green with Garden Green Beans, Mixed Baby Lettuce, Pistachios

About the Recipe:  Fresh garden green beans are tossed with a sweet peppered vinaigrette and served over a bed of dressed baby lettuce leaves.  The plate is circled with peach slices and topped with crunchy green pistachios and crumbles of soft fresh cheese. It makes a beautiful vegetable salad for those special dinners.

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Spicy Seared Salmon Cakes
With “South of the Border” Pepper Coleslaw

Go Green with Cilantro, Avocados, Peppers, Cabbage

About the Recipe: The salmon cakes are served open-faced on fire roasted flatbreads. They are seasoned with “south of the border” flavor, mild peppers, and rich green cilantro.  A delicious pepper slaw can be served on the sandwiches or used as a side dish.

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Spiralized Butternut Squash “Lasagna” Supper
All the Italian-style deliciousness packed in one squash casserole dish

Go Green with Garden Veggies. Basil, Kale

About the Recipe:  The first clue that this dish is extraordinary is the aroma that fills the entire kitchen, combining crushed tomato sauce, olive oil, garlic, basil, and touch of chili spice. Add creamy ricotta cheese, tender veggies, and melting cheese to make this winning supper dish. It is a perfect main entrée for vegetarians.

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Irish Cappuccino Coconut Cupcakes
Brightens up your day with fudge flavor and glowing green coconut

Go Green with Pandan

About the Recipe:  Dark rich chocolate cupcakes are flavored with a touch of coffee and vanilla.  The cakes are filled with a smooth emerald green cream cheese coconut layer.  Fudge frosting generously glazes over the top with a delightful dollop of March green coconut. 

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