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By LYNNE ROSSETTO KASPER
Scripps Howard News Service
Dear Lynne: Real gardeners have their acts together by April. As a late bloomer (terrible pun), I'm starting now. So where do you think I can get seeds or plants for things like herbs, heirloom tomatoes, heirloom beans and such? Pots will be my land because my North 40 is a sunny fire escape. --An Enthusiastic Late Bloomer in Chicago
Dear Late Bloomer: Heirloom, unusual and "bet-you-never-heard-of-this-one" are all booming right now because of the sustainability and local movements. You couldn't be launching that fire-escape garden at a better time.
First place coming to mind is Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa, with its huge selection of heirloom and other hard-to-find food seeds. Heirloom tomatoes are its middle name, with over 1,000 varieties (between the yearbook and online selections), including a couple I like a lot -- Isis Candy Cherry and Black Krim. (Eastern European black tomatoes can be particularly rich and complex -- rather like the prime rib of tomatoes). Take a look at the www.seedsavers.org site, and don't hesitate to call for advice.
Amish Land Seeds has a section given over to black tomatoes. It is www.amishlandseeds.com/russian_tomatoes.htm. Check also for unusual beans.
A site exclusively for beans is www.ranchogordo.com. Not a seed outfit, rather, owner Steve Sando sells his hard-to-find dried beans for cooking. All you have to do is plant them once it's warm outside and you can have your very own. Additionally, www.one-garden.org is the site for the Ozark Seed Bank.
Dear Lynne: We cooked them, dyed them, rolled them and my daughter named them, now we cannot throw the darned things away. Do you have any recipes for hardboiled eggs, please? And please, nothing deviled; my husband hates that. -- Resigned to the Egg in Tacoma
Dear Resigned: Consider wedges sprinkled with coarse salt and drizzled with Instant Herb Drizzle Sauce. This is how it would work.
HARD-COOKED EGG WEDGES WITH INSTANT HERB DRIZZLE SAUCE
Serves 4
2 to 3 large handfuls of tart and mild salad greens, washed and dried
4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and each cut into 4 wedges
1/4 cup roasted seeds or nuts (pumpkin, sunflower, almond or pecan)
Instant Herb Drizzle Sauce:
1/4 to 1/3 cup good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried herbs
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 lemon for squeezing over salad
Mound salad greens in the center of a large platter. Tuck egg wedges in here and there. Scatter with the seeds or nuts.
In a small pottery or glass bowl, combine the oil and herbs. Cover with a paper towel and microwave on high for 1 minute, or until very fragrant.
Drizzle the herb oil over the salad, scatter it with coarse salt and generous grindings of pepper and, finally, squeeze the lemon over the greens. Serve now.
Another idea is to serve the eggs as a garnish on a beans-and-spring-vegetables dish ...
MEDITERRANEAN BRAISE OF SPRING GREENS AND BEANS WITH HARD-COOKED EGGS
Serves 4
Good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion, minced
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
Generous pinch hot red pepper flakes
8 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Grated peel from half a lemon
1 teaspoon ground cumin or more, to taste
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
2 generous handfuls curly endive, tiny dandelion greens, baby chard or spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 15-ounce can chickpeas or other good-tasting bean, rinsed and drained
10 pencil-slip asparagus stalks, trimmed of tough ends and cut into 2-inch lengths
4 to 6 hard-cooked eggs, shelled and quartered
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 to 2 tablespoons good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil
Film the bottom of a 12-inch skillet with the oil. Warm it over medium high, add the onion, carrots and red pepper, and cook until golden. Stir in the garlic, lemon peel, cumin and paprika, and lower heat. Gently cook garlic until it has softened. Do not brown. Blend should be very fragrant.
Stir in the greens and wilt over medium high. Immediately add the vegetable broth, stirring in the tomato paste. Simmer uncovered about 5 minutes, or until greens are starting to get tender. Blend in beans to heat through.
Finally, add the asparagus to the pan and warm. To serve, heap the braise into a shallow bowl. Arrange the egg wedges on the braise, sprinkle with the Parmigiano and the 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Taste for seasoning. Serve warm.
Lynne Rossetto Kasper hosts "The Splendid Table," American Public Media's weekly national show for people who love eat, and is the co-author of "The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions." Ask questions and find Lynne, recipes and station listings at www.splendidtable.org or 800-537-5252.
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