Apartment "gardening"

August 30, 2011

We are nice and settled into our tiny apartment in Rosslyn, Virginia, despite the earthquake and hurricane attempting to disrupt us. It's been awesome so far....but there's one thing missing.

A garden! I am going into major garden withdrawal, since I use so many fresh herbs in my cooking. In Beaufort, I was used to walking into my yard and picking whatever I needed. During most of the year, I had flat-leaf parsley, basil, chives, mint, rosemary, oregano, and thyme.

Before my move, I decided to give indoor "gardening" a try. I took two baskets with plastic liners, and filled them with "mature" basil plants, chives, and parsley. During the first two days of travel in my car, and then into the apartment, the parsley looked like it was not going to make it. I cut back some of it's "dying" parts, and now, it's making a slow comeback. I've had to put the potted herbs on my kitchen table, under one of our large bay windows. It gets a lot of morning sun, but I fear it will not be enough to sustain the sun-loving basil through the shorter days of the year.

My new garden

I have also started growing sprouts again. I bought this large "sprouting jar" for $2 at a health food store a few years back, and we have grown 3 batches of alfalfa sprouts in the last two weeks. Sprouts seem to be the way to go for "apartment gardening" since they take up very little space, require no soil, and will grow in almost anything. My "sprouting jar" is really a large Ball jar with a stainless steel mesh top that keeps insects out and allows for good air flow. You could do the same with a clean leftover marinara jar, a cheesecloth or thin towel and a rubber band to hold it on.

Here's what I do: At the health food store in Beaufort, "It's Only Natural," I bought organic alfalfa seeds.

In my "sprouting jar", I add:

1 cup of lukewarm water

1 teaspoon of organic alfalfa seeds

Set the jar on your counter top and let the seeds soak for 8-12 hours (overnight)

After 8-12 hours, pour off the water from the seeds (the steel mesh also makes this easy, it keeps your seeds IN the jar when you dump the water out)

Put your jar where there is sunlight, like a windowsill.

Watch them grow!

For alfalfa seeds, the process takes about 72 hours.

Remember to rinse the sprouts once daily with lukewarm water, just swish it around to "moisten" the growing spouts, then dump the water out.

When you are ready to eat them, rinse them out in cool water into a bowl, and let the seed "husks" float to the top, and skim them off. You can skip this step and eat them, they are just a little tough.

You can sprout certain things in the dark, but, without sunlight, there will be no nutritious chlorophyll production in the wee little sprout leaves.

Alfalfa sprouts are a good source of Vitamin A, protein, fiber, Vitamin K, and Vitamin C.

Now I have all these sprouts, what can I do with them? Add them to:

- Veggie/fruit juices - Smoothies - Stir-fry

- Salads - Sandwiches - Wraps - Coleslaw

- Sushi - Pizza topping - Eat raw

What else can I do with sprouts? What else can I grow in my jar?

Check out the International Sprout Grower's Association website for ideas.

Tofu Vegetable Stir-Fry with alfalfa sprouts

Ingredients:

1 package extra firm tofu

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated or finely minced

1 garlic clove, finely minced

1 teaspoon tumeric

1 tablespoon Garam Masala spice mix

1 cup of low-sodium chicken or vegetarian broth

1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

handful of baby carrots per person, sliced into quarters

1/2 pound broccoli florets, I used frozen

1 cup of cherry tomatoes, cut into halves

1 red bell pepper, sliced into slivers

1 medium-sized Vidalia onion, small dice

Handful of your homegrown alfalfa sprouts

Method:

8-24 hours prior to cooking, drain the tofu, and pat it dry. Get as much water out as possible, so that it can soak up the marinade.

Cut the tofu into 1 inch cubes.

In a zip-top bag, throw in the tofu cubes, the fresh ginger, garlic, spices, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and broth. Make sure the tofu is well-coated.

Park this in the refrigerator to marinate.

When you are ready to cook, chop all your veggies up and have them ready to go.

The stir-fry technique requires fast cooking, so, there is no time to cook while you prep the rest of your stuff.

In a HOT, large sautee pan or wok, place a tablespoon of olive or sesame oil. Throw in your veggies. Keep them moving every 20 seconds or so in the hot pan for about 5 minutes. You want the veggies still crisp in the center, but soft and slightly caramelized on the outside.

Evacuate the finished veggies to a clean bowl.

Return your pan to the VERY HOT burner to heat up again.

Add another tablespoon of olive or sesame oil.

Put in your tofu, but reserve the marinade.

Toss the tofu until the edges are caramelized, about 5 minutes, it's ok if it sticks to the pan a little. Evacuate the cooked tofu to the bowl with the veggies.

"Deglaze" the hot pan with the tofu marinade. Let it reduce if there's too much liquid. Then quickly add your tofu + veggies back in and toss. This will coat everything and get the little tasty bits off the bottom of the pan.

Allow to cool slightly, then serve with rice or ramen noodles.

Then....right before serving, put a sprinkling of the alfalfa sprouts right on top for extra crunch. It also makes it look pretty and fresh!

Now that I've made you hungry, I will gross you out. Next step in this "indoor gardening" project....convincing Doug that we can have a worm box!