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So after I cleared out a bunch of non-productive seed pods from my Aerogardens, I decided to give dill a try. On purpose, as opposed to trying everything included in the kits. Two types in the “grow anything” pods this time around instead of the seeds they provide, but only because they are different types.
Mammoth dill on the left, regular on the right. Pun in the title aside, apparently dill normally gets that big or bigger, I’m just impressed because it’s the only thing I’ve had an easy time growing and this is the first time I’ve had a plant grow that much.
And since I forgot to measure it when I took that first picture… yardstick propped up on the smaller unit.
I tried getting a photo while holding up the yardstick to demonstrate how close the dill was to touching the ceiling but couldn’t hold it and my phone steady so took the lazy approach. 😉
However, since the whole point of using an Aerogarden is to help reduce food waste by growing and using my plants when they’re somewhat fresh instead of buying a bag of whatever and then forgetting I have it… still gotta use the dill somehow.
For me, the easiest (in terms of knowing I like it) is meal-prepping quiche. With canned salmon. (I quite like Wild Planet pink salmon with skin and bones though it is a challenge getting it for cheaper than an arm and a leg, thus the lack of an affiliate link–I’ve bought my last couple of cases direct from the brand’s own site–and I still have Safe Catch to try for their dedication to minimizing the mercury content.)
Seems to me scrambled eggs with dill and salmon will work just as well–it doesn’t take long to make anyway so it’s not like it’s any more effort than a meal prep, especially now that I’ve been getting up an hour earlier for the alleged purpose of having more time to do stuff, and it doesn’t require the repetitive “how long do I bake this for/how many eggs do I need again?” google search to make sure I’m doing it right. I just need to get in the habit of doing it a couple of times a week.
But that’s not all. Somewhere along the lines I was searching for tomato alternatives–or alternative tomatoes–with regards to acid reflux. I’d been at a garden giveaway with a family member at the time (I’m not sure of the official name, but sort of like a food bank but associated with the local hospital and specific to people who need it from a medical standpoint, and everything is fresh produce from the hospital’s own gardens) and the person in charge was recommending yellow tomatoes for reflux, which led me on a digital dive about what breeds were better than others. But I also found recommendations for eating pesto instead of tomato sauce (apparently the pine nuts help).
And a recipe for making pesto with dill.
Bought myself the Ninja Express Chop food processor because it was small and seals–well, not “seals” so much as it doesn’t have that big opening on one end that shoots the food into a bowl and makes a mess if you didn’t position the bowl quite right… I wanted something I could toss everything into in one go like a blender.
Note to self, when a recipe gives you the ability to pick a batch size, don’t leave it on the default that requires 2 cups of dill when the processor only holds 2 cups. 😅 Produce like dill spreads a lot when you’re trying to measure it (or stuff a food processor with it) even after cutting it to fit, so chopping it as I went at least meant it took up less space but it also meant chopping everything in stages until I had enough space to add the other ingredients instead of the “in one go” I had bought it for.
I thought I’d taken a picture of the “dished” product but apparently not…. Speaking of which, though, the splashguard lid that protects the motor also serves as a lid to store food directly in the bowl, no need to transfer to another container. Kind of a large container for stuffing in my fridge for a small batch of pesto but it’s fewer dishes to wash.
Anyway, I still have recipes to explore to use more dill, but I think for now my egg-based ones are going to be my primary option with the pesto as a secondary. The main benefit of the pesto from a “food waste” perspective is how much dill I’m using in one go but I still need to use up the finished product in like a week or freeze it. I don’t even need to use it as a tomato sauce alternative though, it works great as a sandwich spread with different meats and I’ve used it as a dip to snack on Tortilla chips as well.
I’ve also been on the lookout for a “quiet” personal blender for migraine reasons (they’re often advertised on many a “best item” list for using in the morning when everyone else is asleep) but the Ninja Chop is quiet enough that I may forgo that search and just use this as my blender. Obviously ice will be loud no matter what you use but this is strictly about the motor.
And once I’ve finished harvesting the dill and disposing of whatever died under my negligence and non-use, I’m switching that smaller unit back to the microgreens configuration and using up the seeds that came with that kit… turns out it’s a bad idea to grow them outdoors when you can’t tell if you’re growing crops or weeds. (The thing I thought was lavender in that post’s images…? Once it developed enough to tell those were berries, I googled a description–the reddening stem being my biggest clue–and came up with pokeweed.)
Side Quest Publications 