garden to table.

you may remember awhile back when i started my little garden.

well, it is completely growing. sprouting. thriving with every passing day.

a whole lotta florida sunshine. some sprinkles of water. and a dash of love.

is the perfect recipe for a darling little veggie and herb garden.

i am almost wondering if i planted too much in too little of a space.

as the mint & the cucumbers have gotten to become close friends. 

i just adore my abundance of greens. 

it has brought so much excitement watching them grow. 

and i even spotted my very first veg this morning.

well, hello little baby zucchini. 

isn't he the cutest thing ever?

in my exuberance of seeing the real fruits veg of my labor,

i decided today would be a day of enjoying the harvest

from le jardin mills.

a garden to table sort of day, if you will.

i love sundays.

sundays have always been my very fave day of the week.

the hours go by slowly. the day is lazy. there is no routine.

and i happen to like that a lot.

so,

this sunday i spent the day in the garden & the kitchen.

snipping. patting. sprinkling. chopping. baking. mixing. 

just trying to impress my lovie with my creative culinary skills. 

i decided that each dish for tonight's dinner 

would incorporate at least one part of our garden. 

i snipped from our bounty of basil.

and i clipped from our mountain of mint. 

our romaine is running rampant, 

so i pulled two big bundles.

and i just have to share,

i felt so wonderfully country chic

as i overfilled my basket with fresh, organic, greens. 

oh, and purples, too.

i did a little taste test after i washed all the romaine.

and to my surprise, it tasted just like the romaine you buy at the store.

yahoo! we really can grow our very own romaine lettuce. 

the menu for tonight was the following.

basil & sour cream mashed potatoes.

romaine salad with the works.  

feta & fresh basil stuffed chicken breast. 

& minted ice tea.

these potatoes were done without a recipe, and simply done by taste.

they were absolutely divine. 

wash five or six red potatoes.

boil them till fork tender.

mash them up a bit.

add a dash of heavy cream.

and a few heaping spoonfuls of sour cream.

chop up a few handfuls of fresh basil.

mix it all together.

salt & pepper to taste.

this salad is my all-time fave.

it is so easy to throw together in a snap.

romaine lettuce. 

pecans.

sun dried cranberries.

crumbled feta.

green olives.

& champagne vinaigrette.

it has the perfect amount of sweet & salty. 

this is one of the easiest recipes.

and it is easily one of the best.

many thanks to the one-and-only, ina garten.

two chicken breasts.

pull the skin away from the meat.

stuff with fresh basil leaves & feta cheese.

drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top.

sprinkle a generous amount of salt & pepper.

roast the chicken at 375 for about 35 minutes.

or until the chicken is brown & crispy on top.

what is great about this recipe is that you can be creative.

whatever strikes your fancy at that moment, you can incorporate.

i have made this with goat cheese & basil pesto.

and it was divine.

i would be curious to try an olive tapenade & feta combo. 

maybe that will be next week.

to top off the night, i wanted to make fresh mint & oreo ice cream for dessert,

but i think a strawberry and basil sorbet might be a little bit healthier.

so, i think i will try that.

anyhoo.

it was great fun to create this garden to table dinner for my lovie.

i can hardly wait for all the veggies to start sprouting so that i can experiment with them. 

tell me, do you have a garden to cook from?

Tweet