Trees of Life and a Taste Tempter

I really
see to like
this tree

of life theme!

Today, I worked on designing the layout for this year's garden. We'll be planting 34 vegetables, plus strawberries, tomatoes, rhubarb, berry bushes, and trying a few fruit trees. We're trying out 4 heirloom varieties, including some beautiful Italian black beans. So once again, the garden is expanding! It's still way to wet to dig, so we're doing fence repairs and layouts.

I was feeling creative in the kitchen this evening so here's a Julie Ann original:

Tuscan Roasted Vegetable Stew

5 medium potatoes: peeled, cut in 1/2 and thickly sliced

1 large sweet yellow onion: peeled, cut in 1/2 and cut into large squares

1/4 of a large red bell pepper: cut into large squares.

3 parsnips: pared and cut thick diagonally

5 carrots: pared and cut thick diagonally

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp Tuscan Italian seasoning

1 tsp dried rosemary

salt and pepper to taste

1 lb 1/2 " cubed beef (or seasoned tofu)

4 cloves garlic minced

1 cup red wine

1 envelop of beef stew (or gravy) seasoning (or miso soup mix)

1-1 and 1/2 cup water (depending on seasoning mix used)

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut all veggies. Oil large roasting dish with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add all veggies. Toss to mix. Top with the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Toss to mix well. Place, uncovered in oven.

2) Prepare meat (or tofu). Coat large cooking pot with pan spray (or olive oil). Add meat and saute with 2 cloves of minced garlic until meat begins to brown. Add wine and turn heat to low.

3) Remove veggies from oven. Add remaining garlic to the top of the veggies in oven and toss to mix. Replace in oven. Turn heat up to 400 degrees. Cook 20-30 minutes, until veggies begin to brown around edges. Toss veggies every 5-10 minutes, to cook evenly.

4) Add seasoning envelope and water to meat (tofu).

5) When veggies have finished roasting, remove from oven and carefully add to meat (tofu) pot. Mix gently.

I served this wonderfully aromatic stew with toasted Italian bread, fresh CSA peas, and a glass of red wine. It was fantastic!