Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Aardvark Eggs (because "Armadillo Eggs" is taken)

This is another in the category of "I can't believe I wasted so many years not knowing this": squash leaves are edible! You know how a squash plant (zucchini or otherwise) can take over a whole garden? Great big leaves everywhere? Well guess what? That's just fine.

I planted some butternut squash seeds along the back of 2-foot bed. I planted some chard toward the front. I wanted the greens. Well I don't know if the squash killed the chard but the chard never came up. But boy-howdy did the squash ever! I also had some peppers and nasturtiums in there and I was afraid the squash leaves were going to take all the light. Then it occurred to me that "what if those great big leaves were edible". A short internet search later and "yes they are"! They need to be rubbed pretty well to get the fuzz off but that's easy enough. I put a bunch of them in a big pot of soup, along with the stems. Excellent.

Speaking of the stems, wash and rub them real well and cut them into 2-inch pieces and they're just like ziti.

So anyway, I came up with a recipe for a sort of dolmadakia or tamales made with these leaves:  https://flic.kr/s/aHsktvJSFn

boil some sweet potatoes
saute some onions and raisins (or sweetened dried cranberries)
mash the sweet potatoes and onions and raisins
add cinnamon to taste
chop up some Mexican crumbling cheese
wash and rub the squash leaves
cut the leaves in half
steam or boil the leaves just lightly*
put a dollop of potato/raisin on the leaf
sprinkle cheese on top
roll the leaf up
fry the rolled concoction in oil


*I steamed them too much and they fell apart, not at all and they're too chewy

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