Gardening is in my DNA. My dad was a master gardener. He loved to plant vegetables most people never even heard of. Kohlrabi, anyone? I’ve had some gorgeous gardens in my lifetime too. Back in the seventies I had a quarter-acre devoted to vegetables, grapes and raspberries. I even grew our own popcorn.
Now, one of the negatives I have with our retirement lifestyle of traveling the country is no garden space. When it’s springtime, something deep inside me wants to smell and touch the soil.
This year I did what lots of other Full-Time RVers do – I planted a garden in pots. Two big pots were enough to satisfy me. And, at the Farmer’s Market I found a few of my favorite plants.
In one pot (in the photo on the left) I planted a cherry tomato plant, basil and Italian parsley. (Basil on the left, parsley on the right and the tomato in the very center.)
In the other pot (see photo on the right) I put in a pepper plant and cilantro. As you can see, I also added some marigolds as they are good companion plants for tomatoes and peppers. In this picture the pepper is on the right and the cilantro is on the left.
Today I’d like to feature the cilantro plant. If you love Mexican food, like me, this is the plant for you. It is also used in Asian and Indian cooking.
Cilantro is very easy to grow, either from seed or plants. When the plant is about four inches tall you can start snipping off some of the leaves. Keep snipping them as you need them.
Cilantro does like to “bolt” when the weather gets hot. What that means is that it will develop flowers and start to go to seed. That’s a good thing and a bad thing.
The good thing is that those seeds, once they are mature and hard, can be roasted and then ground up. It’s now called coriander. That’s a spice you probably buy in a can or jar at the grocery store. The bad thing is that the cilantro leaves now taste very bitter.
One more thing about the cilantro plant. Some people like to pull up the whole plant and use the roots in soup. (I’m not one of those people.) It’s said to be a substitute for chopped garlic.
For me it’s all about the taste of the leaves. Try adding cilantro leaves to a mixed lettuce salad. Chopped fresh cilantro adds so much to soft tacos, enchiladas, burritos, or fajitas. If you like to make your own salsa, you need cilantro – the fresher, the better.
Here’s one more good use for cilantro. Green Beans (another garden favorite) should be just about ready in the garden and at the Farmer’s Markets. This is a good summer dish that shows off cilantro’s earthy flavor.
Green Bean Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 pound (enough to measure about 6 to 8 cups) fresh green beans, ends trimmed
- 3 tablespoons red wine or herb vinegar
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 (or more, depending on taste) garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion (again, add more if you love onions)
- 1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
Directions:
- Place the beans in enough water to cover and cook for about 10 minutes, covered, until the beans are fork tender, not soft.
- Drain water off the beans and place beans in a serving bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk together olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and minced garlic.
- Toss the beans with the onions, cilantro and the dressing.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
It’s not too late to plant cilantro in a pot. Cilantro does well as a window-sill plant. It actually does better in cool weather. So, if you love the taste, or you just want to dig in the dirt, get a nice pot (at least 6 inches across), some potting soil, a packet of seeds or a plant. Have your own herb garden. You will definitely notice the difference in the taste. As usual, let me know if you try the recipe or plant your own pot of herbs. If you have questions, please email me.
Talking about food is a regular feature on my blog and others as well. Visit Beth Fish Reads for other bloggers who are participating in Weekend Cooking.
I see you have green fingers as well as being a good cook.
This sounds wonderful! We love cilantro and usually grow it (for some reason I didn’t plant any this year).
I’m definitely trying these beans in a week or so when they are at the farmers market
I love cilantro too. I would love to be able to make fresh salsa from a garden!
We used to have a garden when we were first married and really do need to plant one again. There’s nothing like home grown food.
Ooh, that salad sounds grand! Another cilantro lover here. We planted dill and basil from seed this year, but the basil never came up and the dill’s been eaten a few times.
We’ve got a couple tomato plants in the ground, but mostly we moved into our house too late to get an actual garden in. Maybe next year, though!
Thanks for telling us more about cilantro. I don’t think that I’ve really ever incorporated into my cooking at all. My grandfather loved a garden..usually the size on an acre. I loved visiting when I was a kid. Pulling off a tomato and eating it right off the plant. Not to mention the hundreds of watermelon I ingested as a kid. Your post has made me nostalgic now…:D
I love cilantro, but the rest of the family doesn’t
I always wondered how it became coriander (love that, too).
Dave has planted tomatoes this year and we’ll feast on them later. The only time I tried growing watermelon my Great Dane thought I was growing balls for him to play with. The look on his face when his new “ball” fell apart was almost worth losing the melon.
I’m going to have to try the green bean recipes. It’s one veggie Jason actually likes and I love cilantro!
What a lovely garden. The book arrived today thank you-Happy Canada Day-I went to school in your town.
I can never grow cilantro for some reason, but I do love it. I thionk summer just gets too hot here but I should try it in a pot where I could prtect it better.
I have tomatos and peppers and eggplants growing and lots of basil and flatleaf parsley and a bunch of other herbs..
I like your little vegetable garden in two pots. I had to look up what cilantro is in German because I had never heard the term before. Over here we use the word “Koriander” for both, either coriander leaves or coriander seeds. That was interesting, I never knew there were two words for it.
I love your garden pots! And the recipe sounds delish! Your RV garden is quite different from mine, which exists only in my camera as you know. Next season, I may actually plant a pot or two here at the park model. And honestly, we were surprised to learn that Winter is the garden season here! Summer gardening is for the really dedicated; only a few things grow. The farm stands have pretty much all shut down. — Just the opposite of Oregon.
Good to know about the cilantro — we get a lot of cool weather here in Portland, even in the summer. I might give it a try.
My weekend cooking project didn’t work. Drat!
I am glad you were able to get your hands in the dirt this year. I know how you miss it. lol
I just swipe tomatoes from my neighbor…As long as I can reach them from my side of the fence I am alowed to take them lol
Ooh the garden is lovely and the salad looks yummy! I wish I had time to do a garden this year. I really wanted to!
how creative you are! and I just love 3 bean salad
There is a saying that once a gardener will always be a gardener. Wherever you go, there is always that urge to plant even for one. The joy it brings is priceless. I love Mexican food, its aroma and taste makes me want to eat more. I just didn’t know that cilantro is one of the ingredients they use. I always use cumin seeds for its aroma. Will try to have cilantro on my next Mexican dish. Thanks for the information.