I like Minestrone OK, but THIS was spectacular.  I served it with a loaf of homemade french bread and irish butter.  Oh, and a nice glass of Sangiovese.  

Meatless Monday Minestrone (For Instant Pot)

2 T. olive oil

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 t. minced garlic

2 cups diced carrots

1 stalk of celery, chopped

3 or 4 slices of lemon, deseeded

2 t. dried basil

1 t. dried oregano

1 t. dried thyme

1 quart (32 oz) can diced tomatoes

3 T. tomato paste

1 quart (32 oz) vegetable or chicken broth

1 c. dry small shell pasta

3 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced

2 cans kidney beans (sub 1 for cannellini if you wish)

2 cups spinach

2 t. balsamic vinegar

Shredded or grated Parmesan, for serving

Chop all your veggies first.  Turn Instant Pot to SAUTE and let it heat for a minute or two.  Add the olive oil, then add onion, and garlic. Saute for about 3 minutes, until fragrant.  Then add carrots, celery, lemon slices, basil, oregano, thyme, tomatoes, tomato paste, broth and pasta. 

Press CANCEL, close the lid and set to MANUAL (or PRESSURE COOK) for 2 minutes. Make sure valve is set to SEALING.

When it beeps, do a quick release and open the lid.  Add the zucchini and beans. Set to SAUTE again and cook until the zucchini is done to your liking.  Stir in the spinach and balsamic vinegar. Serve with grated Parmesan. 

Spring in the Greenhouse

I have a lot of experiments going on out in the greenhouse right now and they all seem to be going superbly! If you are on Facebook you might remember that I was searching for a waterbed heater a while back--odd...huh? I put a "wanted" ad on Craigslist and after a couple of disappointments actually managed to score 2 waterbed heaters. No, I'm not having a nostalgic moment, but I had been shopping for seed mat heaters for my greenhouse and found that they were terribly expensive. Seed mat heaters look a lot like waterbed heaters, as I recalled, and I thought that perhaps someone out there might have one for sale cheap. Not only were the heaters just half the price that ONE seed mat was, they are much bigger also! A very good score for a girl who LOVES a good bargain.

So the theory is that seedlings start much faster when bottom heat is applied to them. In the past I've used my greenhouse for many different things, but I haven't been big on starting seedlings. So I am starting quite a few seedlings right now and will likely have baby lettuce (mesclun) in just a few weeks! I typically spend quite a bit of money on plants each year, and my theory is that this will save me quite a bit. For now I'm growing lettuce, eggplant and cilantro because I have limited space for the vegetables. They have to be fairly close to the house or else the deer come up and feast upon them.

I just purchased a book that I read many years ago--Square Foot Gardening---and hope to incorporate more of the ideas from that book into my veggie crop this year. The idea is that you don't need a huge area for vegetable gardening and that a lot of space is wasted when vegetable gardens are planted in the traditional way. The methods in the book also reduce the amount of work required--that is always a bonus in my book!

I also ordered a variety of heirloom tomato plants from www.Burpee.com and just got notice that they are on their way. In MHO it is too early to set out tomato plants, so those bad boys will go into the greenhouse for awhile while we prepare a new raised bed for them. I've found a nice spot but I'm afraid it is going to require quite a bit of work to put a new bed in place there.

All the while I am also getting ready to put in a decorative flower bed out in front of the greenhouse--it's been pretty baren and weedy out there and it really needs some work. And I really need a few nice days so that I can get all my ambitious projects started!