What are you eating from your garden?

[imafan26]

Oh that sounds good. I haven't had scrambled eggs in a while and I have a lot of green onions and chives.

Today, I picked a calamansi for my drink. I usually only pick what I am going to use for the day.

[Gary350]

This morning I sliced, 1 leek, 1 purple potato, 1 white potato, 1 sausage, then fried them in the skillet. Then scrambled 1 egg with cooked leeks. Garden is so good.

[applestar]

We’ve been eating daily harvest of berries — mostly raspberries now — and fresh snap and shelling peas that are so tender and sweet they don’t even need to be cooked.

Occasional lettuce that will be missed soon for sandwiches (another big harvest and then only if they come back from the cutting after), but there will be cucumbers later….

And napa cabbage has been good shredded in sandwiches and pickled.

DD2 is getting the sporadic broccoli and kohlrabi harvest since it’s her favorite … a purple one is nearly ready next.

Otherwise, miscellaneous culled greens of leaf celery, carrots and beets, turnips, broccoli, cabbage, kale, napa as well as kohlrabi leaves have been used for soups and cooked side dishes.

Garlic scapes are being enjoyed as well.

[imafan26]

Tomatoes. I made a BLT sandwich. I also put some tomatoes in my bolognaise . I did not grow them, but I did get some eggplant and mango from the garden. I ate two of the mangoes today. I also added some calamansi juice to my tea.

[Gary350]

This morning I made a French Crisp for breakfast. These are good for, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack like potato chips. Grade the potato, when 1/4" of oil in a skillet is hot enough to start smoking sprinkle in the graded potato. Turn skillet heat from high to med. I about 90 seconds flip the crispy over to cook it golden brown on the other side. Remove crispy from oil then allow oil to drip back into the skillet. Put crispy in a paper towel to remove more oil. Sprinkle with salt it is ready to eat. You can make these any diameter you like.

[imafan26]

I harvested more bush beans. I just microwave them and keep it simple. I am eating them with some Fajita steak strips I got from Costco.

[Gary350]

We made fried onion rings for dinner. I cut both ends off the onions then cut large onions in 4 very thick slices. I made sure there was 2 onion rings in each slice dipped them in batter then fried them. Garden onion slices are 5/8" thick with 2 rings wow they are good.

[applestar]

Blueberries started to come in; still mostly end of spring stuff like brassicas — kohlrabi, mini napa just came in and I had some with pasta for lunch … carrots, celery…. early garlic.

Squash blossoms. Waiting on the summer harvest to begin… cucumbers and cherry tomatoes soon.

[pepperhead212]

To go with the leftovers I was eating today I made another batch of guacamole, this time, the first batch with tomatoes of the season! Had to cut up a bunch of cherry tomatoes, and the saladette type, like Juliet and Bronze Torch Hybrid. The Bronze Torch I sampled for the first time - cut two slices from one of the three that looked ripe, and it was delicious, much like that Green Tiger I compared it to. But the slices had some red in them, sort of like the Lucky Tiger I grew once, but not quite the same. 3 of those, 2 Juliets, and a bunch of others, cut into small pieces. These, some chives, some cilantro, and some Hanoi Markets I had frozen, were all added to the mashed avocados. Everything from the garden, except the avocados!
The first Bronze Torch Hybrid cut open. looks more like a Lucky Tiger now, with the red tint inside. Tastes much like the Green Tiger. I ate the two slices, the rest of the 3 fruits went in the guac. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

All of the ingredients for the guacamole, on top of the avocado, before mixing in. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished guacamole, one of 3 dishes of it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Gary350]

Wife said she would make hand pies, 1 pie is large enough for 5 people to eat I cut a piece off of 1 end, WOW these are so good. She only put 3 tablespoons of sugar in the whole recipe sweetness is perfect, sugar does not over power the flavor of the blackberries.

[Gary350]

I picked more blackberries and wife made a blackberry cake. She juiced some berries the white box cake calls for a certain about of water so she added blackberry juice. After cake was mixed she stirred in several whole blackberries. Frosting is cream cheese microwaved to make it very soft then stir soft cream cheese into the whip cream. I had 2 slices of cake on chocolate ice cream.

[applestar]

Try the blackberry juice and fruits in CHOCOLATE cake or brownies and let me know what you think. I like the surprise element.

I also make blackberry liquor/cordial by adding about 50~80% by weight granulated or rock sugar and covering with rum or brandy. THAT makes great addition to the chocolate cake/brownies as well.

I was finally able to grow good napa (hakusai) cabbage. Emiko is a “mini” type but plenty big.

Harvested 2nd full head today. So far have eaten all of the not damaged but still somewhat ragged/green outer leaves (need careful washing and trimming one or two tiny slug holes in stems) by salting/sugaring and squeezing out produced liquid to get rid of the harshest green taste, then putting in soups or sauté— huge volume practically disappears. Tender inner pale leaves and stems are being eaten raw in sandwiches and salads so far. Lasts in fridge wrapped in paper towel then put in ziplock.

I’m eyeing the others almost ready in the garden and thinking maybe kimchee or other preserving method soon….

[applestar]

With the squash vines in the garden starting to take off and starting to have female flowerbuds show up that are not being prematurely dropped (anticipating them opening in the next several days), it was time to eat up the LAST Greek Sweet Red (extra large, kind of like butternut) squash that was harvested last fall.

It had a solid neck about 3 inches in diameter and the lower bulb was at least twice as wide, but there was a big, hollow seed cavity. The flesh may have been no more than 1” thick in this one.

After using a fork to scoop out the seeds, I cut the bulb part in half and the neck part in 1/4’s lengthwise, then baked/roasted unseasoned but coated in EVOO.

Then scooped out the cooked flesh and packed in a glass storage bowl, sprinkling the entire surface with cane sugar and pumpkin spice mix, and then soaking with rum to cover. With the plastic lid on, it was left in the fridge like that for maybe 3 or 4 days.

When I finally got the chance, I put the entire cooked squash (little over 2 cups) in the Vitamix and puréed with 1/2 cup sugar, maybe 1/2 tsp sea salt… then added 4 eggs and a stick of softened butter about 1 Tbs at a time.

Dumped out in a big bowl and folded in almond flour, cake flour, whole white wheat, baking powder and baking soda, a bit more pumpkin spice mix; apple brandy (apple scraps extracted in brandy) with soaked raisins and dried cranberry based trail mix (pine nuts almonds and cashews), raw almonds soaked in water and then toasted and chopped.

This made enough batter for two smaller pyrex loaf pans.

I lined with parchment and brushed with tigernut oil, then put half of the batter in one and started baking it at 350°F, then proceeded to add dark chocolate chips in the remaining batter, dumped some cocoa powder and peanut butter and roughly stirred, then added to the prepared loaf pan and table knife-swirled some more to distribute the peanut butter and cocoa. Added this loaf pan to the oven.

I started out baking for 24 minutes but that was way under. Ultimately took about one hour each, I think.

I really thought I was making “pumpkin bread” but these turned out more delicate and fluffy like cake and delicious.

[digitS']

Snap Peas – the first that filled their pods


Steve

[digitS']

I have no idea how the 2nd picture appears in the body of the post and as an attachment.

Moderators, please delete post entirely.

[Gary350]

Fried Chicken sandwich.

[applestar]

LOVE IT!

[pepperhead212]

I made my first batch of that lentil salad I make every year, once the tomatoes start ripening. The habaneros are from the freezer from last year, plus an Aji Dulce, for more of the flavor, but less heat. As always, I cooked some chana dal in the Instant Pot, on Slowcook medium, and after 30 minutes, added a half cup of rinsed freekeh - my favorite grain in this, and finished it at 2 hours and 10 minutes, then drained, while getting everything ready for it - the olive oil, red wine vinegar, habaneros, cilantro, garlic chives, feta, pine nuts, and close to 6 c of tomatoes.
Chana dal and freekah, cooked in Instant Pot on slowcook medium for 130 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Lentil salad, before stirring all the ingredients in, and adding almost 6 cups of tomatoes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished lentil salad, after eating my first bowl of it for the season. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Gary350]

Garden Pizza.

Wife had a flour pizza crust mix we added, Thai Basil, Oregano, Red Chili powder, Paprika, chopped garlic, to the dry flour mixture before adding water. Bake crust golden crispy brown then sprinkle cheese on the hot crust.

Next spread pizza sauce over the melted cheese, pepperonis, cooked Italian sausage, onions, Thai basil, red pepper, oregano, paprika, chopped garlic, thin slices of tomato, cheese. Bake until done. All of these good flavors made a very good pizza.

[pepperhead212]

I made an Indian dish this evening with a number of veggies from the garden - a sambar, using cubed bottle gourd, eggplants, and okra, along with onion and some of last year's garlic. I made a one dish meal, using some barley, which I soaked a few hours, so it would cook in the same time as the dal and the veggies.

I started with a large chopped onion, cooked in the IP on Sauté, medium, in a little oil. Then some diced bell pepper was cooked for a couple of minutes, then some ginger/garlic paste (something I made with the end of last season's garlic), cooked briefly, then 4 tb sambar masala, and cooked another 30 seconds, then added about 12 oz tomatoes, blended to a coarse purée, and cooked several minutes, with about half of the curry leaves (more in the tarka). Then I rinsed out the blender with 5 c of water, added this, and the barley, plus 4 types of dal, brought it up to a boil, and added all the vegetables. Then I added salt to taste, plus a little citric acid (easier than the tamarind, for tartness), and set on Manual, to cook 14 minutes, and let release, naturally. The dals and barley cooked in the same amount of time, due to the soaking of the barley. When finished, I prepared the tarka, and added the sizzling tarka to the sambar, for tempering, and stirred in about a quarter cup of cilantro.
The veggies for the sambar, plus some onions and tomatoes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The onions and bell peppers, sautéed with some ginger and garlic added at the end, with the sambar masala cooked about 30 seconds, before adding the tomatoes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The sambar, after adding the veggies, 4 dals, some soaked barley, and water, ready to pressure cook in the Instant Pot. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Sambar finished cooking, before stirring in the cilantro and tarka. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ingredients ready for the tarka. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Sizzling tarka, ready to stir in, followed by the cilantro. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Sambar served, with some spicy pickles. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today, getting ready for this heat coming again, I made a batch of that favorite pasta salad of mine. This time I cooked some soaked white beans and some whole oats to add to it, instead of just pasta, and cooked that in the slow cooker mode of the Instant Pot, and drained those, and set aside, while preparing everything else. The shells are just the right size for this, holding a bunch of the tomatoes, and other things in them. I just shook most of the water out of them, until not much was dripping from the colander, then dumped the hot pasta on the rest of the salad, and mixed it up.
A little more than 3 lbs of tomatoes, cut up for the pasta salad. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Almost 2 cups of basil leaves, to cut up for the paste salad, along with some capers, anchovies, olives, and garlic scapes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished salad, with some white beans and whole oats, added to the pound of pasta, with all those seasonings. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

That really looks delicious. Do you think chickpeas would work too? (Can’t have beans)

[pepperhead212]

Apple, I'm sure chickpeas would work, and something I often add to this (as well as making that salad with just these) is chana dal, which is just a type of chickpea, that has been split and hulled. This is why it stays firm much longer than other lentils. And my favorite way to cook them is in the Instant Pot, slow cooker medium, as they are easy to the right doneness, without overcooking. Takes about 2 hours, or just over to get to a perfect al dente doneness. I only used those white beans this time to use up the last ones in the jar! I didn't have anything in mind - looked at black eyed peas, and another first, but not enough, in those (I'll have to make something with a combo of beans, to use those up sometime), so I used the white beans. I always empty the jars, before refilling, so I don't have a mix of older and newer ones.

[applestar]

Thanks @pepperhead I’ll go find some chana dal

[Gary350]

Wife is roasting 18 ripe tomatoes in the oven at 350° this evaporates about 1/2 the water this will make thick tomato sauce, then tomatoes are pureed and frozen in 1 pint zip lock bags..

[pepperhead212]

I made a batch of caponata last night, which has a lot of things from the garden in it. It is fairly standard, except for the millet I cooked, and stirred in at the end, to add bulk to it. It doesn't really take that long, once everything is cut up, and mise en place.

I started it, like many eggplant dishes, by salting the cubes, and draining, and drying them. While that's going, I cut up and measured everything out, and started cooking the onion in a little olive oil, until soft, then added the celery, cooked a few minutes longer, then added the bell peppers and minced garlic, and cooked another 2 min. Then I added the chopped olives, chopped capers, currants, raisins, pine nuts, and the thyme scented oregano, along with the tomatoes. This was mixed, and brought to a simmer, covered, and simmered for 15 min, stirring a couple of times. While that was cooking, I put 1/2 c millet and 1 c water in the IP on Manual/9 min, and let it cook, and release, while doing the rest of the dish. I drained, and blotted dry the eggplant, and tossed it with about 4 tb olive oil, to coat the cubes (it absorbs less, this way),
then set aside the sauce, when done, and cooked the EP in a NS pan, half at a time, to get some browned sides on it, then drained it on PTs. Then I brought the sauce back to a simmer, with the EP and millet stirred in, cooked it about 7 or 8 minutes, then stirred in a tb of sugar and 1/3 c red wine vinegar, stirred to mix it up, then cooked it about 15 min, to boil off most of the vinegar, but leave that signature sweet and sour flavor. And an unusual but delicious option that I added in this recipe was 3 chopped up HB eggs. Then it's garnished with some fresh parsley.
Some ingredients for the caponata, some pine nuts, capers, currants, raisins, herbs, diced celery, and wine vinegar. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Bell peppers and chopped black and green olives, for the caponata. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Onion cooked in some olive oil, with the celery added when softened. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here, the ingredients in the bowl added, along with the tomatoes, to be simmered 15 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About half of the eggplant cubes, sautéed to brown. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

1/2 c millet, cooked in the Instant Pot, to add to the caponata - not traditional, but good. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Eggplant added to the sauce, to simmer briefly, before adding the vinegar, to simmer off. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Almost finished caponata, before stirring in the hard boiled eggs, and garnishing with parsley. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

3 HB eggs, chopped and ready to stir in. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished caponata. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Not really cooking - just prepping. Tonight's dinner will be gazpacho! It's in the fridge chilling now. Everything from the garden except for the sherry vinegar, olive oil, and salt.
About 2 lbs of just the tomatoes, for the gazpacho. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Another pound of tomatoes, plus all the other things for the gazpacho. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The blended mix of the other ingredients to mix in - a green pepper, a cucumber, a shallot, a clove of garlic, sherry vinegar, olive oil, and salt. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished gazpacho, ready to chill. Garnishes later - diced peppers, cukes, tomatoes, chives, and some croutons. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

I got some Anaheim type peppers from the garden. It was part of one of the agent's field trial. I made chili rellenos enchiladas.
7 roasted anaheim chiles (charred under the broiler)
8 oz block Monterrey Jack Cheese, freshly grated
1 large can La Victoria red enchillada sauce.
8 corn tortillas

Roasted the chiles uder the broiler until the skins were charred on all sides. Placed the chiles in a bowl and covered with a plate for 10 minutes. Peeled off charred skin and removed stem and seeds. Sliced the roasted peppers into strips and placed in a bowl. Added about 5 oz of the shredded cheese to the bowl and mixed with the peppers. Warmed corn tortillas in the microwave covered with a slightly damp towel for about 90 seconds. Put a thin layer of encillada sauce in the bottom of a roasting pan. Rolled roasted pepper and cheese in corn tortilla and placed seam side down in the roasting pan in a single layer. Topped the filled tortillas with more enchilada sauce and topped with the remaining cheese. Baked in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes until the cheese was melted.

[applestar]

I turned the mini napa into three different kinds of refrigerator pickles (1) sweet/sour sesame-ginger-chicken broth granules (2) sweet/sour vinegar based with ginger and red shiso plus salty pickled plum. This one is normally made with eggplants but I don’t have any atm so I added cucumber slices (3) soy-free kimchee recipe based , with dehydrated Gochugaru yon Gochu pepper pods from a couple of years ago (used some for #1 as well), ginger, garlic, nira (garlic chives), myoga stem base hearts.

Made three kinds of onigiri (rice balls) and took them for my mom’s to sample yesterday. I also gave her some potpourri sachets filled with dried fragrant lavender and other spicy garden herbs and bark, plus epsom salts and baking soda for her dresser and closet.

[pepperhead212]

Tonight I made a one dish creole type meal; well, not really, since the veggies are cooked in a wok, and the BEPs are cooked separately, but it all ends up in one dish!

The first thing I did was I cooked some old black eyed peas, to use them up (they were dated 2015, and this shows how long beans last!). And I did what I do when cooking dal and other beans for salads, as it's easy to not overcook them - I use the slow cooker! Something told me to check early - after only 90 minutes - and they were done! I know they don't take as long as larger beans, but these were old! I rinsed them, and set aside.

I thawed 6 oz of cut up bacon, and put it in the Instant Pot on Sauté low, and stirred occasionally, while cutting up everything else - a pound of cremini, a medium eggplant, a medium green bell pepper, about 2 c of okra, about a cup of green beans, and about a cup of diced bottle gourds (just trying to use up all these veggies I had bits of). I also found any tomatoes that I had that had any bad spots, cut them out, and got about a quart of purée out of it, then rinsed the VM out with a little water, and this was set aside. The bacon was finished after all this, and I removed it to a PT on a plate, to drain. Then added a little olive oil to the IP, and a large chopped onion, cooked it about 5 minutes on Sauté medium, added 4 minced garlic cloves, some ground cloves, thyme, ground bay, some smoked paprika, a little ground Thai pepper (my cayenne pepper), and cooked about a minute or so, and stirred all that tomato purée in. Then I rinsed the last cup of brown rice I had, and set that to cook, while cooking the mushrooms in the wok - I first steam them 3 or 4 min, boil off the water, and add a tb of o, and cook them over medium heat, 7 or 8 min, added the okra and pepper, and cooked about 3 min, and set aside. When the rice finished, and the pressure had released, I opened that, stirred in about 1/4 c white vermouth, the veggies from the wok, and the cut up eggplant, bottle gourd, green beans, and cooked BEPs, stirred that up, added a little more salt and hot pepper, and let it simmer about 10 minutes, to finish.
The okra and bell pepper cooked briefly with the mushrooms, after they were almost done. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

All the veggies added to the cooked brown rice, along with some cooked black eyed peas. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished one dish Creole type dish, with bacon, cremini, okra, eggplant, bottle gourd, green beans, and black eyed peas. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I made another favorite dish of mine in the summer, for using all these veggies - ratatouille soup! With all the vegetables in this dish, only one - the bell pepper - didn't come from the garden! The original recipe had zucchini, but I never grow that, so I double the eggplant, but this time I used a little of one of those bottle gourds I had leftover from another dish. And in this double recipe I used up 4 lbs of the ripest tomatoes I had in there. This was a one dish meal, unless you count the Vitamix it was blended in.

I started it in the Instant Pot, with a chopped up onion in a little olive oil, on Sauté medium, and while that was cooking, I cut up the other ingredients, and added the garlic, cooked briefly, then added the bell pepper. After cooking a few more minutes, I added the gourd and eggplant, and cooked about 5 minutes, then added some basil and thyme, along with about 4 lbs of tomatoes, and 3½ c water, plus some vegetable stock paste (I forget the brand I use of that) - the original recipe just had 2 c of chicken stock, which seems like a waste, to me. I tasted for salt - didn't need a lot, after that paste, and set it to cook for 14 minutes, and let it release naturally. Then I used the immersion blender, only to totally mix it up, so I could blend it in the Vitamix, first weighing the soup in the IP container (which weighs 28.2 oz), and figured that 3 batches would be best to do, which was just over 39 oz each. And I blended them on medium, getting that vortex in the liquid, and slowly added through the hole in the lid a quarter tsp of xanthan gum, then increased the speed to maximum, blending about 30 sec, before pouring into the bowl, and blending the other two batches. It was almost too much for that 4 qt bowl, so I had a large bowl, to start with.
Eggplant and bottle gourd for the ratatouille soup. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ratatouille soup, starting in the Instant Pot, hidden by the steam, ready to add the gourd and eggplant. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

4 lbs of tomatoes, added to the IP, along with herbs, salt, and pepper, to pressure cook 14 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ratatouille soup, blended with the immersion blender - not quite smooth enough, but makes it smooth enough to divide it up, to put into the Vitamix. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished ratatouille soup, blended in the Vitamix in 3 portions, with some xanthan gum, for a slight thickening. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished ratatouille soup, with a little more basil, and some croutons, served hot. Most of it I eat cold. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

Looks good.

[applestar]

That’s funny, I just made what I’m calling “Ratatouille Pasta”

Extra wide egg noodles were cooked first, removed from the pot, and then added back to the sauce and tossed together.

Diced walnut sized red and yellow potatoes and sliced carrots were pre-cooked in about 1/2 inch of the pasta cooking water after noodles were removed. Then added diced sweet onions and diced celery, and a big bowl of sliced Y-star summer squash, eggplants, chopped broccoli florets, kale leaves, red and green sweet peppers , and minced garlic — tossed with evoo and sea salt. Added some butter and lightly steam sautéed, then added a jar of storebought pasta sauce with mushrooms, and seasoned with freshly ground black pepper, dried sweet marjoram, celery seeds, minced sea salt-packed basil.

[pepperhead212]

Another batch of gazpacho! 97° heat calls for cold dishes. Earlier in the day I ate that last batch of that Creole dish I made (not heated!), and just before starting to make the gazpacho I ate the last 2 cups or so of the ratatouille soup. After making the gazpacho, I put about 3/4 of a pint jar in the freezer, to eat tonight - that large bowl will take a long time to chill. After cleaning everything up, and going out briefly, to get some chives, and chopping them up, it was cold already.

I put a large jalapeño in this batch, and tasted it, but not the heat. I didn't put in two, only because someone else will be eating some tomorrow, otherwise, I might have added one of my others.
Another batch of gazpacho, with some of the garnishes ready to stir in. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Gazpacho, ready to chill for tomorrow. I put it jar of about 1 1/2c of it in the freezer, for today! Just needs chives and croutons now. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I also made another batch of that lentil salad today, since I got my first ripe habanero, and more of those tomatoes than I can use! And it's another thing to eat in this horrible weather.
Everything put together for the lentil salad, while the lentils and freekeh are cooking. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Chana dal and freekeh drained, for salad. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished lentil salad, using that first habanero of the season (plus a few other things from the garden). by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also made a batch of guacamole, another thing for this weather, plus something I just harvested some more of those peppers for (the Hanoi Market is my favorite in this).

[applestar]

Hubby ordered some jumbo blue claw crabs and then opened the shells and cleaned up the meat, ready to pick off the broken up bodies and left them in the fridge for the family, so I made myself a cold noodle salad.

Cooked ramen noodles* (not instant) then put in bowl and basically piled on a sliced cucumber and tomato salad on top — with julienned fresh basil and red shiso leaves, torn up black sushi nori, salt preserved dill, freshly ground black pepper, some canola oil mayo and cashew milk yogurt. A nice mound of picked lump crabmeat and a couple of shelled claws. Then a splash of brewed rice vinegar, a pour of sesame-ginger marinade dressing and a pour of no-soy teriyaki sauce. Yum!

* Could have used buckwheat soba noodles, thin somen noodles, or any of the translucent rice/pad thai type noodles as well — this time, I reached in the pantry and ramen noodles came out

…I’m guessing Angelhair pasta might be suitable also.

[applestar]

I made gyoza today and used my garden-harvested nira (garlic chives), ginger, and garlic in the meat mixture. This was based on a Youtube video titled “easiest gyoza ever” and it WAS easy — mixing all ingredients in a zip bag, but mine failed when all the meatballs worked their way out of the wrapper and they turned into basically meatballs with thin noodles — because I don’t use non-stick coated skillet like in the video, and they all stuck to the pan. haha

Still tasted good though.

…made with 50/50 ground pork/beef, chicken broth granules, soy-free sauce, Japanese toasted sesame oil (for the 3rd tablespoon, I opened a new bottle of NOT Japanese toasted sesame oil that I’d bought to try, and that fragrant aroma just isn’t there — best to stick to the Japanese ones when called for in a recipe), sake, potato starch.


…I’ll need to try making this again to fix the naked meatball effect (I still have half of the mixture and half package of wonton wrappers left) …

[pepperhead212]

I made another batch pasta salad with over 3 lbs of halved cherry tomatoes, mostly those Negro Aztekas, which are great in this. It is basically a double recipe, with a cup of lentils and half cup of whole oats, that I cooked in the IP slow cooker medium, for just under 2 hrs, and used in place of one pound of pasta. I used about a half of one of those small jars of black olive paste I get from lidl, and a spoonful of the green olive paste, about 10 anchovy filets, minced up and about a cup of chopped up basil leaves, along with 8 minced cloves of garlic, and about a half cup of olive oil - another thing from lidl, on their "Greek Days", when I stock up on those items. I got just over 4 qts of this salad, so a generous amount of leftovers, as usual!
Over 3 lbs of halved tomatoes, with the garlic, basil, anchovies, and olive pastes, for the pasta and lentil salad. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A cup of chana dal and half cup of whole oats, cooked 110 minutes on slowcook in Instant Pot, for salad, with pasta. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished pasta/lentil/whole oats salad, with tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive and anchovy pastes, and black pepper. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Later today, a friend visited me, because she came out here from Arizona for the first time in 6 or 7 years (?), and a Niece of hers was married last week. When asked if there was anything she wanted me to make, there were two things I make countless times, that obviously made an impression on her - that lentil salad, and that pasta salad, both made with raw tomatoes in large quantities. I made the simplified version of the dish, without the olives, capers, and anchovies, because I wasn't sure if she was "watching her salt", and those would not be good for anyone doing that! Turns out she is, but not too much, so I gave her some of that kalamata olive paste, to stir in what she could handle. She liked it so much, she wanted to buy some from me! I gave her a jar of it, but told her I can't be blamed for any future salt problems she has!

We had some of that lentil salad earlier, then I made the pasta salad later, and some brownies for dessert. I only ate a couple, and gave her the remainder to take with her - what I always do with brownies, otherwise, I would eat them quickly.
3 more lbs of tomatoes cut up, for the simpler version of that hot pasta on the raw tomatoes - my friend visiting requested this, too. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A cup of chana dal, and half cup of whole oats, cooked together, like I did for the last pasta salad by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Simplified raw tomato pasta salad, requested by a visiting friend, along with that lentil salad. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

I made some too!
Had to sub for the anchovies, olives, capers, etc. and used leftover baked salmon and my Sweet (1/2” premature Adam) Gherkins. Had extra fresh basil so added those and some of the sweet marjoram flower buds that were shooting up. Yum!

(And those chana dal are great!)


…Making some quick salsa for hubby right now (Yeah my sleep schedule has been shot to oblivion — crashed around 5 or 6 pm last evening and I’m UP now…)

I take a Tostito’s salsa jar and fill to the top with chopped ingredients (ripe and unripe tomatoes, onions, tomatillos, garlic, hot and sweet peppers, herbs); add sea salt, some chili powder, lime juice. Close lid and shake, then once the ingredients settle a bit, top off with more chopped tomatoes.

Dump in my smallest pot (2C milk pan) and cook uncovered at rapid simmer for 20 min to reduce a bit, then add 1~2 Tbsp tomato paste (DISCOVERED tomato paste in tubes! No more dumb cans) and bring back to simmer.

Spoon through a canning funnel back into that jar while still hot. Wipe rim and finger tight close the lid so it seals a bit while cooling on counter. It then goes in the fridge and usually gets eaten in a couple of days.