If you can catch a glimpse of it, I also have some mild onions and arugula in the side pots!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Orto Love
This little garden is busting out of it's recycled door boundaries! I, of course, have overcrowded all the vegetables growing in this small little box of bounty, and the zucchini are encroaching on the poor little peppers who are the runts of this litter. The tomatoes, after months of weak stems, are reaching to the sky at amazing speed, and the lettuce has been harvested. I am amazed at how little effort that this blooming little patch of earth required and I have so many plans for the next one! My goal for the summer is to have a salad of greens and tomatoes entirely from my garden served with zucchini and pasta. The little hot peppers need a miracle to make it, but if they do survive a mean salsa is in store!
If you can catch a glimpse of it, I also have some mild onions and arugula in the side pots!
If you can catch a glimpse of it, I also have some mild onions and arugula in the side pots!
Tomato Pesto
My vegan friend Jennifer got me hooked on the fabulously beautiful blog Vegan Yum Yum, which I totally recommend, though it makes my messy blog look like a third grade craft project entirely created in blue-green crayon. Among the fabulous recipes, I must thank Lolo for teaching me how to chop an onion correctly so that I can now enjoy hacking into those tearjerkers as much as I love eating them. She also has some fab tips on food photography, which, as you will note, I am not so good at taking to heart. In any case, despite how inept this online masterpiece makes me feel, I love her blog and book (aptly entitled VeganYumYum) so much, that I really can't feel bad for long. So, as I was writing, one of my few vegan friends sent me a link to a magically quick and creamy recipe for Tomato Basil Cream Pasta. I loved it, but in a quick pinch to replicate it one day when I was too lazy to turn on the computer to seek it out anew, I came up with this Yum Yum inspired tomato pesto that had me going for seconds! Plus, this is a really rich way to take care of those tomatoes that are just about ready to go.
TOMATO PESTO
Ingredients:
3 large tomatoes quartered and squeezed of seeds
1/2 C pine nuts
1/4 C sun-dried tomatoes
1/8 C fresh basil
2 cloves garlic chunked
2 T olive oil
1 tsp salt
- Soak the sun-dried tomatoes in boiling water for about 15min to rehydrate.
- Add all ingredients into a food processor and process until well integrated but still chunky.
- Mix with your favorite pasta!
Fresh Red Leaf Lettuce with Tart, Sweet and Creamy Dressing
This po
st comes straight from my own New Jersey yard! My very first harvest from the experimental box garden is a bunch of crisp red leaf lettuce. I have previously posted about my sprouting, planting and nurturing of this first attempt at more sustainable living, but today is all about the luxury of moseying on out your kitchen door to make dinner. Nothing is more fresh, organic and eco-friendly then your homegrown food, and nothing is going taste better than the fruits of your own hard labor and care. In honor of this momentous occasion (did I mention that my name and green thumb have never quite been used in the same sentence?) I am whipping up some uber simple vegan dressings to lightly accompany the earthy goodness of the greens. Because these leaves have such a delicate flavor I wanted to make a simple salad lightly spritzed with my favorite flavors. And, basically I wanted to show all the non-vegs out there that animal-friendly condiments will knock your dairy-eating socks off!
THE COMPASSIONATE CONDIMENT TRIFECTA
Creamy Tahini
Ingredients:
2 T Tahini (sauce made of ground up sesame seeds)
2 T cold water
1/4 tsp salt
herbs
This is the vegan's answer to ranch dressing. It is creaming, flavorful and so darn good that I basically try to put it on all my veggies raw or cooked. This is amazing on salad, but absolutely crazy-good on sauteed greens. Whisk the tahini, water and salt together until combined. Add more water for thinner dressing. Add chopped parsley or cilantro for added flavor.
Tart & Sweet Balsamic Lime
Ingredients:
3 T high quality balsalmic vinegar
juice of 1 lime
The easiest and healthiest of all dressing. You must be sure to have good quality balsamic vinegar or it will be too strong. Add the lime juice to the vinegar until desired flavor. Let sit for a half hour and serve. The result is a smooth, rich and slightly sweet dressing that goes with a lettuce or bean salad.
Light Miso
1 T light miso paste (made from fermented soybeans)
3 T warm water
1/2 T olive oil
I love the super salty flavor of miso for soup, but it is also a fantastic dressing as well. Simply add a bit of warm water to the miso and whisk until thinned out and dissolved completely. Add a bit of olive oil and serve.
I couldn't even wait to cut a tomato to dig into this perfect salad, I just added some almonds (always protein!) and drizzled a little of each of these on the bed of greens. Fantastic!!!
st comes straight from my own New Jersey yard! My very first harvest from the experimental box garden is a bunch of crisp red leaf lettuce. I have previously posted about my sprouting, planting and nurturing of this first attempt at more sustainable living, but today is all about the luxury of moseying on out your kitchen door to make dinner. Nothing is more fresh, organic and eco-friendly then your homegrown food, and nothing is going taste better than the fruits of your own hard labor and care. In honor of this momentous occasion (did I mention that my name and green thumb have never quite been used in the same sentence?) I am whipping up some uber simple vegan dressings to lightly accompany the earthy goodness of the greens. Because these leaves have such a delicate flavor I wanted to make a simple salad lightly spritzed with my favorite flavors. And, basically I wanted to show all the non-vegs out there that animal-friendly condiments will knock your dairy-eating socks off!THE COMPASSIONATE CONDIMENT TRIFECTA
Creamy Tahini
Ingredients:
2 T Tahini (sauce made of ground up sesame seeds)
2 T cold water
1/4 tsp salt
herbs
This is the vegan's answer to ranch dressing. It is creaming, flavorful and so darn good that I basically try to put it on all my veggies raw or cooked. This is amazing on salad, but absolutely crazy-good on sauteed greens. Whisk the tahini, water and salt together until combined. Add more water for thinner dressing. Add chopped parsley or cilantro for added flavor.
Tart & Sweet Balsamic Lime
Ingredients:
3 T high quality balsalmic vinegar
juice of 1 lime
The easiest and healthiest of all dressing. You must be sure to have good quality balsamic vinegar or it will be too strong. Add the lime juice to the vinegar until desired flavor. Let sit for a half hour and serve. The result is a smooth, rich and slightly sweet dressing that goes with a lettuce or bean salad.
Light Miso
1 T light miso paste (made from fermented soybeans)
3 T warm water
1/2 T olive oil
I love the super salty flavor of miso for soup, but it is also a fantastic dressing as well. Simply add a bit of warm water to the miso and whisk until thinned out and dissolved completely. Add a bit of olive oil and serve.
I couldn't even wait to cut a tomato to dig into this perfect salad, I just added some almonds (always protein!) and drizzled a little of each of these on the bed of greens. Fantastic!!!
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