• From fast food to fresh food: livening up the palate with summer herbs

    Posted on July 9th, 2010 Saver Queen 6 comments

    Prior to, during and after my move, I resorted to eating out at fast food restaurants… a lot.  So you can bet that I am well and truly stoked to finally have my kitchen in order, because I am more than ready to start eating fresh and healthy food again.  Last weekend I christened my kitchen by whipping up a few items where my little patio herb garden could play a starring role.

    Exhibit A: Chickpea salad, with feta cheese, yellow peppers, cucumber, thinly sliced zucchini, green onions, peas, and an assortment of herbs (basil, mint, chives and parsley). Every one of these veggies was grown locally. Grated garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper make the dressing.

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    Exhibit B: Orzo and vegetable salad with homemade pesto, celery, carrots, cucumber and peas.

    I love the orzo in this salad!  All vegetables in the salad are local, including the basil and spinach that were used in the pesto, except for the celery.  This was delicious with peas, carrots, cucumbers and celery, but I would add some tomatoes and onions next time.

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    If you’re wondering about the pesto, it was incredibly easy to make.  I used Martha Stewart’s recipe but I didn’t want to strip my basil plant naked, so I used about half basil and half spinach and it still worked out well; I found that it had a strong nutty flavour, however, and would increase the basil and scale back a bit on the pine nuts next time.

    This is a fantastic way to use up basil.  The pesto can be used on traditional foods like pasta and pizza, of course, but I really enjoyed it in the salad above, and I also used it as a flavourful sandwich spread.

    Exhibit C: Cucumber and mint dip

    Similar to, but not technically tzatziki, I made this dip with cucumber, mint, sour cream and yogurt (not bothering to strain it) and grated garlic. Tasty with pita, in pita sandwiches or served with kebabs.

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    Exhibit D: (Not shown) Mint iced tea

    I took the leaves off several branches of my mint plant, crowded the leaves into tea balls and steeped them in hot water in my tea pot.  Made two pots of this hot mint tea and then emptied the contents into a large jug.  Added some honey, let it cool, and refrigerated until cold.  Very refreshing and delicious - and healthful!

    Bright, beautiful, flavourful! It feels so good to start cooking again, using local produce and herbs!

    Recipes
     

    6 responses to “From fast food to fresh food: livening up the palate with summer herbs”

    1. Benjamin Bankruptcy July 11th, 2010 at 21:09

      THe chickpea salad looks awesome:) Would the yoghurt dip technically be called “raita”?

      I’ve always found the problem with pasta salads is you need to add way more “flavour” (pesto, tomato paste whatever) that you do when it’s a hot dish. Can be tricky for the noobs. Particulally if you prepare it hot and let it cool.

    2. psychsarah July 12th, 2010 at 11:02

      I’m totally inspired by these salads! We joined a CSA (communty shared agriculture) for the first time this year, and I’m always looking for yummy ways to use up our weekly box o’ organic, local produce.

      Also, thanks again for organizing the picnic yesterday. It was a great time! Let me know if you want a lift to Polaris, or if you’re going on your own, we should meet up for dinner or something :)

    3. Michelle July 12th, 2010 at 13:47

      If you can get the current “Food and Drink” issue from LCBO, there’s a fabulous corn/pepper/onion with cumen and cilantro recipe in there. We had it as a salsa over p. chops last night, but today I threw it into a wrap with swiss cheese and put it in the panini press…ohhhhh, it was goooooddd!

    4. Nancy July 13th, 2010 at 08:06

      I was just thinking about adding more vegetarian dishes to our diet, and voila…this chickpea salad is going to be our meal tonight! Keep ‘em coming…

    5. Saver Queen July 13th, 2010 at 13:09

      @Ben - I guess the dip is more like raita! And yeah, it’s hard to get cold salads tasty enough. I find that cheeses, garlic and other flavourful additions like sundried tomatoes go along way.

      @Psychsarah - Great to see you! Will be in touch soon about Polaris. I have to figure out my weekend! I’ll send you an email soon. Glad to hear that you guys joined a CSA. How do you like it?

      @Michelle - that sounds great!

      Also, I just wanted to add that the zucchini is cut thinly by a vegetable peeler - this works really well.

    6. Shared Hosting May 30th, 2011 at 15:16

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