Four Edible Plants You Can "Recycle" By Growing Again

So I had some trouble with the title of this post. I mean, what was I supposed to call it? 

1. "Four Plants You Can Grow From Nubs"

2. "Four Plants You Can Buy at the Grocery Store and Then Grow from the Leftover Remains" 

3. "Four Plants You Can Grow Not From Seed Because You're Going to Buy the plants from the Store and Then Sort of Recycle Them by Growing Another Plant" (yeah, that was a good one)

4. "Save Money by Growing Plants You Already Bought" (kind of like that one actually)

5. "Science Monday: Regrow Your Herbs and Vegetables"

You can see the problem here, but the point really is rather beautiful. You can buy these vegetables and herbs and then you can plant part of their remains and get more plants. Of course this saves money (sometimes those herbs can be really expensive). It also provides a good snow day activity to do with your kids. It also provides the starter for that nice little window sill herb garden you've been dreaming of. And finally, it's the perfect solution if you, like me, cannot seem to grow green onions from seed even though it should be crazy easy, but you simply cannot do it even in the spring/summer so you just keep trying and failing and then you have to buy a big bunch at the store so you can use, like, half a green onion for your soup and then... (Now that is what I should have titled this piece.) So it was finally a great way for me to get my green onions. And, although I've never had trouble growing basil from seed in the spring, I haven't ever been able to do it in the winter, but if you use a leftover bit of herb, you can grow basil in the winter and plant it in an indoor pot. 

Maybe this doesn't appeal to you. Maybe you consider this the type of crazy-talk that Pinterest posts are so famous for. Well, then, I can only hope that this gets re-pinned two jillion times like so many of those crazy-talk pins. 

1. Green Onions

Use the green onion. Save the bottom part--the white part with the root (or where the root once was).

(You'll use this top part in some cooking of course.)

Put this root end down in a pot with very wet potting soil (keep that soil really wet until this starts to sprout up).

You won't completely bury it--the top will show.

Soon it will sprout up. (Unless it rots, which did happen with one or two of mine, but I still got further than I've ever gotten with seed.) You can see a sprouted onion there in the back corner.

When it's grown, clip off the green onion and use it and it will regrow again from the nub left in the pot. It will do this a time or two, but be thinner each time. And then it will eventually poop out. Or at least mine always have. Still, this trick keeps me in onions for a while.

2. Basil.

Save a sprig of your basil. Put this in a vase like you would if it was a cut flower.

After a while it will start to sprout roots. When it's good and rooty, put it in a pot on the windowsill. Naturally I have never remembered to take a picture of my basil when it was good and rooty, so here is one from the internet. This blogger (thanks amykathryn) used a bunch of basil, but just a stem is necessary. Someday I will actually remember to take a picture...

3. Celery. My friend recently did celery. It's another plant I can't dream of growing from seed, but look what happens when you put a stump in a bowl of shallow water:



This is how it looks after two weeks. I'm totally trying this one.

4. Romaine Lettuce. This one's a bonus. I've never tried this or had a friend try it, but was enchanted by the idea and will try it next time I get a head of romaine (another thing I just can't seem to grow from seed). So go here if you want to try romaine. Thank you P's and Q's. Just like the celery, you put the nub from the romaine in a bowl of shallow water, set it by a sunny window and it will regrow. It's like magic.

As for my window sill pots (pictured up top), they were a gift from my sister. They are made from rice hulls and very pretty. I'm not sure where she got them (psst--she just told me she got them from West Elm), but I found some on Amazon. They were not intensely cheap on Amazon, but are awesomely cool since they last several years and then biodegrade. However a perfectly good window sill garden could be done with cheap terra cotta pots or whatever you've got. For indoor plants, you should use an indoor potting soil.

Basil Spinach Pesto

It's that pesto time of year. Basil is on and oh, I love it.

While basil, in and of itself, is not at all devoid of nutrition, it's still not quite the powerhouse that other things green and leafy are. I'm okay with that, but I did start wondering what would happen to my pesto if I mixed some spinach into it. Because, you know, when you're mixing green stuff into pasta made from white flour, well, you (and by 'you' I mean 'me') want to feel kind of good about yourself. I mean you really don't want to feel like the pickiest nine-year-old alive who is sitting across from you and eating his pasta with tomato sauce is actually getting more nutrition. Because that's just embarrassing. And then one day as I was pondering about spinach pesto, I found this. Okay, so I'm never the first one to a party, but that doesn't mean I can't take home a party favor.

Since pine nuts are expensive enough right now to set into a gold band, I used walnuts in this. I also omitted the Parmesan (as I always do in pesto, figuring you can add it into your dish later if you want it).

I was worried that the spinach and parsley would overpower the basil, but basil--she's a strong girl and can carry her own. I had this for lunch today and while it was a wee wee bit less basil-y than my classic pesto, it was still a basil-based pesto through and through. Truly, if I hadn't been trying to compare the spinach to the sans spinach versions, I never would have thought to notice a difference. In fact, if there is someone in your family who doesn't like classic pesto because it has so very very much basil-y kick (cough, Kip), this might be just the ticket as it is slightly more subdued. How awesome is that? You can please your picky eaters and trick them into eating spinach at the same time. I'm kind of freaking out about it it.

This was great on pasta and would be delicious on sandwiches, pizza, and over meat. You can also use it in your pasta sauces and meatballs (two places I love me some pesto), although here I must say that I do prefer the classic pesto in my meatballs and spaghetti sauce. That said, 'prefer' doesn't mean that this spinach-y one wasn't still very good in those things. It was good (and the difference was not noticed by anyone but me); it just wasn't quite as good.

Basil Spinach Pesto
adapted from Gluten Free A-Z Blog
Makes about 2 Cups (about enough to fill up an ice cube tray)
Prep time: 20-30 minutes (the de-leafing of the herbs gets you)
Cost: $2.00
basil: mine's from the garden and free; I'm guessing it would be .50-1.00, but don't know as I haven't bought it in several years; parsley: .20, spinach: .50, olive oil: .50-1.00)

Note: This recipe also calls for parsley (not too shabby nutritionally either). I did use parsley and this pesto really was great, but I think that if you don't have it, you could probably add another cup of spinach, basil or a combo of both to very good effect as the parsley adds only a very subtle mildness to the pesto.

2 C basil leaves
2 C spinach leaves
2 C parsley leaves
1/2-1 C walnuts (use sunflower seeds for a nut-free version)
4 cloves garlic
1/2-1 C olive oil

Clean and remove leaves from their stems. Peel and crush the garlic. Add ingredients to food processor or blender and process until smooth (The blender gives me a smoother pesto if you care about that sort of thing).

Store it. I freeze mine in ice cube trays, then plop them into a Ziploc bag. Then I can add 1 or 2 to sandwiches or a dip or whatever if I just need a small amount, which I often do.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

How to Store Basil

If your basil hasn't yet died from insufferable heat and/or dryness, well then, it might be ready to flower. And once it flowers people say that the flavor declines (although by my book, it's still pretty darn good). At any rate, you really ought to pick it and do something with it because if you leave a few leaves down at the bottom, you'll probably get a second rush of basil (provided you have plans to water for the rest of the summer), and you wouldn't want to miss that.

The problem is that suddenly you'll have a (hopefully) large cluster of basil and you will need to do something with this. And maybe you'll be babysitting friends' kids or making peach butter or going to work or staring blankly out your window (er, I mean, writing). Well, at any rate, there might be things that need doing. These things might even need doing for several days before you get to your basil. If you flop it on the counter and forget about it, well, you can probably dry it pretty effectively this summer. But that dried basil won't taste quite right in that pesto you were planning to make. Which is why I propose a basil bouquet.

Oh, sure, you can wash it and dry it and wrap it in paper towels in a Ziploc bag. This will buy you a few days. As will putting it in a glass of water in the fridge (which will inevitably be knocked over and/or drunk by your 2-year-old). But where is the fun in that?

Basil is actually a really pretty plant. And it smells great any time you brush against it. Put it in a glass or vase and position it by your window or, if you're feeling artsy-fartsy, throw a few zinnia in and put it right there on the dining room table. It always cheers me up. And it reminds me of itself (which basil in refrigerated paper towels does not). As a bonus, if you happen to forget about it long enough it will regrow its roots right there in your vase, and you could replant it if (okay, that's not a bonus, really, but it is interesting).

Then you can use it when you finally haul your four kids to the store to buy nuts--an errand which should take approximately 5 minutes, but which takes roughly 70,000. Now, go make some pesto. It will calm you down.

Poor Man's Pesto (Also, it's nut free)

Cheap Eat Challenge, Part 2: Watch as our family of 6 eats on less than $10/day.

Anybody priced out pine nuts lately? They've never been what we here like to call cheap, but this year they are what we here like to call really outrageous. Earlier in the summer when I made pesto, I used the remainder of a big bag I bought last summer and and stored in the freezer. This time around, I kept looking at different stores thinking that the last store with its crazy expensive pine nuts must have been a fluke. (In some circles, this is called denial.) After about 5 stores of this, I put some expensive ones in my basket. Then on my way to the checkout, I walked past some sunflower seeds. They had a bright yellow and red sale sign. That always catches my eye.

The sunflower seeds cost 1/4 of what the cheapest pine nuts cost. And I thought, "What the heck; they're kind of sort of in the same kind of sort of family, right. And they've kind of sort of got the same kind of sort of look and texture, right?" That was good enough for me.

My Poor Man's Pesto turned out pretty good too. Let me level with you; it wasn't quite as good as Classic Pesto (aka that with pine nuts). I'm a huge pine nut aficionado. Plus, the sunflower seeds I bought were pre-roasted; I think raw would have been better and more like a pine nut in that oily, toothsome texture they have. However, this pesto is awesome, and while I don't know how it will measure up with classic pesto in pasta, I think it might be even better on sandwiches and meat than classic pesto. It's nuttier, and I like that in a seed.

P.S. This is also nut free, so it's great for anyone with allergies who wants to enjoy some pesto.

Poor Man's Pesto
makes 1-2 C
Prep time: 10 minutes; maybe a little more if you need to clean your basil well, as I did
Cost: $.75
(my basil was free; sunflower seeds: .50, olive oil: .20, garlic: .05)

4 C basil leaves, well washed
1/2 C olive oil
1/2 C sunflower seeds (if wanting for sandwiches, this is perfect; if you want it in pasta sauces, I'd reduce it to 1/4 C or 1/3 C)
6-8 large cloves garlic
salt if your sunflower seeds are raw; otherwise omit

Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Not having pesto tonight? Put the remainder in ice cube trays, freeze, and then store in a freezer bag.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Basil: A Tip

Cheap Eat Challenge, Part 2: Watch as our family of 6 eats on less than $10/day.

Yeah, it's not a glorious picture. The good news is that it's not supposed to be.

See that whacked off basil plant there in the middle; that's what we're going to talk about today.

Yesterday I made a booty load of pesto. I cut off all my basil plants to the tune of 12 C of basil leaves for my pesto. However, when I cut them off--and here's the tip part--I leave a few leaves at the bottom--sometimes even some teeny weeny ones will do. These will grow into another branch. Depending on how much summer/mild fall you've got left, they'll grow back a lot or a little. But the point is that you can have your pesto and eat your basil too. I made a LOT of pesto. And I'll still have enough basil leaves to meet my current basil needs until a frost hits and does the little guys in. On a very good year (i.e. and Indian summer kind of a year, or a year when your basil is ready early), you might even get the little guys to grow up enough to get another batch or few of pesto out of them.

Oh--and if you haven't made pesto before, and if you have a source of cheap basil, you really really should make pesto. It's good; it's easy; it makes you feel special.

Classic Basil Pesto

I thought it was too late for pesto. I cut my basil down about 3 weeks ago and then never got to posting this in the rush of pumpkins, breakfast cookies, and apples. (Why, I will never know because look how beautiful the basil is.) But then this morning, I had a look at my herb garden. There under a layer of fall leaves were the little stubs of basil plants with a few little leaves of basil still going strong. Yes, it's by the house and as I said, there's a nice protective layer of fall leaves covering the little guys, but the point is, it's still possible. If you're in southern Indiana or south, go outside, cut down your basil, and make some pesto. You can freeze it. You can give it as gifts. You can eat it all for dinner tonight and wonder at the summery-ness of your fall kitchen. And if you don't happen to be down here close to the mason dixon line, well then, you could always cheat and go to your local Asian foods store. They tend to have cheap, fresh herbs year round, though I must warn you, they are certainly not local.

But before we talk about how to make pesto, let's talk about how we can use pesto. Maybe you're an old pro at this, but if you, like me, grew up in an herbs-are-dry-things-from-plastic-containers-at-the-store family, you may not have a clue. I'd never had or, (while I'm making food blogger confessions) heard of, pesto till about 4 years ago. I was an easy convert--it's pretty, it smells good, and I'd discovered I loved fresh basil early on in my marriage.

So, how to use pesto:

1. Most classically, you add it to pasta--usually something short and tubular, like penne, but I'm not into making rules about these things.

2. You can also put it on sandwiches. I especially love it paired with mayo and chicken.

3. You can drop a bit into your marinara sauces to give an extra basil kick. Or you can add it to plain tomato sauce (about a buck for a big can at WalMart) and make your own marinara sauce easily and cheaply.

4. You can use it to drizzle over anything tomato-based: tomato soup, tomato salad, tomato sandwiches, tomatoes period.

5. You can use it in place of traditional tomato-based pizza sauce on pizzas. Top your pesto pizza with some sauteed vegetables such as onion, zucchini, and olives, and add a little cheese. It's very good.

And if you plan to use your pesto, you know, not this week, we should also talk about how to preserve pesto. I suppose you could can and pressure cook it, but I haven't gotten to the owner-of-pressure-cooker point in my food life (and I'm not sure I want to), so I freeze it.

If I'm giving it away, I freeze it in small pretty-ish jars. (Or baby food jars. You know, whichever I have on hand.) And the stuff for me, I freeze it in ice cube trays. Then I take the cubes out and double bag them, and stick them back in the freezer. That way any time I want a bit for a marinara sauce or a sandwich or to drizzle over soup, I just grab a cube. (If you also make homemade baby food in this way, do not grab a cube for baby, thinking it's some of those pureed peas you made because you are a good mother. Baby will not appreciate pesto as much as you do, even if it is mixed in with rice cereal.)

Okay, now you know how to preserve it and use it. Let's say you don't want to. Maybe you like fresh basil, but don't want to make pesto, either because you don't like pesto or because you don't have the ingredients or because those darn pine nuts cost too much. Process only the basil and olive oil, then freeze it in cubes. Voila! You'll have fresh basil all winter long.

Classic Basil Pesto

A note on pine nuts: Pine nuts are not cheap, my friends. If you're going to use them, buy a larger bag and freeze what you don't use in your pesto. Then you can use it for next year's pesto too. Or for salads or chicken dishes or whatever. You can also substitute cheaper nuts like almonds or walnuts in place of the pine nuts. You can also (gasp) skip the pine nuts all together. If you do, I will keep it between the two of us.

2 C fresh basil leaves
1/4 C pine nuts, toasted or not
4 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4-1/3 C olive oil.

Wash your basil and take the leaves off the stems.

If you wish to roast the pine nuts, roast them in a pan at around 400 with a bit of the olive oil till fragrant (about 10 minutes--warning--I'm guessing here; though I've roasted nuts before, I did not roast my pine nuts. I like them un-roasted).

Throw everything in a food processor or blender and run it till it's saucy.

Add to ice cube trays or preserve it however you like. Or eat it for dinner, you lucky person, you.

PRINTABLE RECIPE