Garlic Herb Pasta with Egg on top

Serves 2 as a filling meal, serves 4 as a side dish.This may have been the best pasta I've ever made- and it's so easy! Garlic pasta is a dish made traditionally in northern Italy- especially (I'm pretty sure) in Emilia-Romagna. It's traditional to ladle a bit of very high quality balsamic vinegar over the dish. Here's my recipe:

1/2 head of Garlic
Olive Oil to generously coat saute pan
1/2 pound whole wheat pasta
1 bunch of parsley
1 bunch of basil
a few stems of oregano
4 eggs, fried or scrambled
2-4 tsp. balsamic vinegar (or lemon juice)
salt and pepper

First, boil water for pasta.

Then chop up all the herbs. Set aside.

In a saucepan, saute garlic in plenty of olive oil over medium heat. Let the garlic cook until it is translucent. Don't let the garlic brown, or else it will become bitter. As the garlic is cooking, fry eggs in another pan.

If eggs or garlic is ready early, just remove the pan from heat and cover with a lid.

Cook pasta in the waiting water, drain.

Separate pasta into bowls. Pour garlic saute over pasta, then mix in the fresh herbs. Sprinkle balsamic vinegar over pasta, then place eggs on top of dish. Salt and Pepper. If you wish, sprinkle some parmesan on top as well. Mange!

Tabouli

Here's the recipe for the awesome tabouli Kristin prepared for us at this Tuesday's work day, compliments of Caroline from Frankie Lappe’s "Diet for a Small Planet."

TABOULI (Zesty Lebanese Salad)

1. Pour 4 cups boiling water over 1 1/4 cups raw bulgur (cracked wheat) in a bowl. Let stand covered, about an hour, until light and fluffy. To remove excess water, shake in a strainer and squeeze with hands.

2. Combine Cooked Bulgur with

3/4 cup garbanzo beans, cooked or canned, rinsed and drained

1 1/2 cups fresh, minced parsley

3/4 cup fresh minced mint

3/4 cup chopped or sliced scallions

3 medium tomatoes chopped

1/2 cup (or more) lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp salt (or to taste)

Freshly ground pepper to taste

3. Chill at least one hour. Serve on raw grape, lettuce or cabbage leaves.

Red Bean Dip

Mary Ellen reminded me to share this recipe for the Red Bean Sauce/ Dip I made at the first work day this year. Here it is! Also, I used this same recipe last night with black beans instead, and that was tasty too.
1 can of Red Beans (Kidney Beans), drained
1/4 cup Olive Oil
half a Jalapeno Pepper
2 splashes of Red Wine Vinegar (or a big splash of Apple Cider Vinegar)
2-3 cloves Garlic
splash of Water
Pepper Salt

Blend everything together in a blender. Great served as a crispy veggie dip or over a salad.

Cucumber Tabbouleh Salad

Kristin's tasty tabbouleh inspired me to make more!
But I didn't have any bulgur wheat.
And I didn't have any quinoa.
But what I did have was lots of cucumbers!
Here's what transpired:
2 Lemons, juice of
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp maple syrup or honey
.... Blend in blender. That's your dressing to put over the vegetable medley below:

Two big bunches of Parsley and one bunch of Mint
~wash herbs and chop finely.
4 cucumbers, copped fine
1 Tomato, chopped fine
cracked Pepper
(Sea Salt- but not until serving. Otherwise the salt will pull all the water from the cucumbers and there will just be a soupy mess.)

Arrange the vegetables in a pretty way on a plate before dressing. Or mix everything together, and make little bunnies with a few romaine leaves!

Citrus Radish Confit

9oz radishes
1/2 lemon zest & juice only
1/2 orange zest & juice only
2 tbsp sugar
1oz butter
Salt & pepper
Water to cover

Place all ingredients in a wide shallow pan, just enough water to cover ingredients . Bring to boil then simmer until all liquid is reduced down to a few tablespoons of rich buttery syrup. Serve warm.
Can be reheated.

Thanks, Mike!

Zucchini Lemon Lavender Blueberry Muffins

In the first bowl combine:

1 TBS Lemon Zest
1 TBS lavender buds
1 cup grated Zucchini
1 egg (or omit egg, and use 1/2 cup almond milk total)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 almond milk (or any kind of milk)
1/4 cup orange juice (or lemon juice)
1 tsp vanilla extract

In second bowl combine:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup corn meal or polenta
1 TBS baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg

Mix each bowl so that the ingredients in each are well combined. Then add first bowl contents to second bowl. At this point, add:

1 to 1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries.

Combine everything gently. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups.
Bake for 20-30 minutes in a 350 oven, or until golden brown.

Ideally, these muffins should have a tangy sweet topping. Here are two ideas:

~1/2 maple syrup + 1/4 cup orange juice, simmered in a saucepan until thickened, then drizzled over muffins when done baking.

~cinnamon sugar

Serve with a flower salad! The flowers pictured are from our garden and lawn. In the mix are: cilantro flowers, nasturtium, pansies, white clover (this grows wild), white clover leaves, dill flowers, and marigold petals. Flowers are the missing part of our diets- and they're so pretty and fun to eat! For pictures of a few more wild edible flowers, check out Sergei Boutenko's page here.

(I learned how to make vegan muffins from Meredith McCarty, who has an incredible baking cookbook called "Sweet and Natural". All the recipes in it use natural sugars like honey or maple syrup, and use only plant oils instead of butter or eggs.)

Sun Tea

Sun Tea can be made with whatever one might make regular tea! Sun tea has a fresh and vibrant taste achieved by the gradual heating of the water- it gently pulls the flavor of the herbs into the water.

I went around my garden and plucked things here and there (except the lemon- I plucked that from the refrigerator).
Here's what's in this tea:

Half of an organic Lemon, sliced very thin
Small handful of Mint
4 Stevia leaves*
1 stem of Thyme
4 Chamomile flowers
1 Lavender flower sprig
1 Raspberry Leaf
1 Strawberry Leaf

Use a big Mason jar. Rinse all the herbs. When putting green leaves into the jar, crush them in your fingers. This will help release the oils. Set outside in the sun, and let it sit there all afternoon. Serve tea over ice and garnish with flowers or fresh herbs.

Sometimes I like to leave mine out all night so it gets moonlight too!

*If you don't have stevie leaves (which make the tea sweet), perhaps try a little dollop of honey or maple syrup instead of the stevia.