Question - Chives - What are they good for? - and a Permaculture tour

[Catherine, The Herb Lady]

Dear Folks,

See the bottom for information on an upcoming (June 11th) tour of a
permaculture residence in East Mesa.

My friend Eileen B sent me a note that she needed more ideas on using
her chive bounty from the garden. She mentioned using the garlic
chives in stir-fry recipes and onion chives on baked potatoes, but
what else?

Well...the nice thing about these garlic and slicing onion relatives
is their mild flavor, so anytime you want a bit of a light touch of
these great aromatics go for the chives.

In case any of you have never used chives, unlike the harvested
underground bulb/head, chives 'greens' or tops are what is used,
snipped or sliced into small pieces in your food, usually used fresh,
chives can also be sun-dried and stored for later use in the pantry.
(Here in Mesa, I sun-dried some of my garlic chives the other day, and
it took only about 24 hours to get to brittle stage, great for easy
storing - see link below for my blog post on sun-drying). OR, if you
want to get nice and fancy, take one or more of the long fresh blades
and tie them around long vegetables (asparagus, beans, carrots),
before steaming or roasting, creating bundles of flavor to go with
your entree.

If you are making soup or stew, you can either snip/slice the blades
for use directly in the liquid, or you can tie several together in a
loose knot and toss them in while cooking and remove when finished
(you can also add them to a bouquet of herbs in the same way).

I like a bit of chive in my fruit salads, variations on tabouleh I
make (or any cold grain or pasta salad), cole slaw and potato salad.
For sandwiches I add some to my tuna or egg salad (don't forget some
fresh spearmint in those salads too), several fresh blades make a nice
addition to wraps and fresh spring rolls.

When I make herb breads, biscuits, muffins or scrambled eggs I add
some chives to the mix of herbs, or by themselves. I have used chives
in place of onion in 'onion/dill' dips using yogurt instead of sour
cream (I almost always use yogurt in place of sour cream - more
nutrient power).

In short if you use onion or garlic in recipes, chives can be
substituted.

With the Memorial Day weekend and Fourth of July coming up - make use
of your chive bounty for the sides and marinades for burgers, steaks,
chicken and tofu slices (yes tofu makes a great grill option when
using extra firm, marinaded with some herbs, oil, citrus juice or
light vinegar and a touch of salt).

Enjoy the weekend! I'm as the Mesa Farmers Market today - goes to
Noon I believe.

Sun-drying - it's what the desert sun is for!

http://edibleherbsandflowers.blogspot.com/2011/05/preserving-bounty-sun-drying.html

Catherine
The Herb Lady

. . .

Don Titmus and his wife Cris have created an urban oasis in East Mesa.

Tour the Bee Oasis Living Learning Centre 8.00am June 11th (a
Saturday) Please RSVP

Tour of the Bee Oasis Homesite in Mesa. A homesite that is in the
process of becoming sustainable, a homesite that demonstrates many
aspects of Sustainable, Ecological, and Intentional living. Some
features are: edible landscaping, rainwater harvesting [inc. cistern,
barrels, swales, French drain system] urban chicken hybrid tractor,
organic veggie gardens, composting, rebar shade structures, bee
blocks, urbanite planter edge, solar dryer, solar cooker, natural
mosquito trap, worm bin, outdoor shower, and a bone yard and that's
just outside.......

An emphasis will be placed on the Microclimates in the Garden, and I
will always talk about Water. And you must see the amazing greenery
[for a non flood irrigated garden]

Cheers, Don Titmus - Permaculture Consultant and Teacher

Donation Requested

RSVP @ fd...@4dirs.com or on Facebook.com/beeoasis

Don Titmus
Four Directions PermaCulture
http://www.4dirs.com/fdpc
facebook.com/beeoasis