Posts Tagged ‘mint’

Panzanella Salad

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Panzanella is one of my favorite summer salads, and I’ve been craving it constantly of late. It’s beautiful and packed with flavor.  It’s another of those practical Italian peasant dishes which utilize leftover stale bread. A true Florentine would disapprove of my addition of cucumber and leftover roast beef, as those are not traditional additions to panzanella.

I fired up my oven the other day to make a chicken pot pie with some leftover grilled chicken.  It was 90+ degrees outside.  I wanted to make the most of the time the oven was on, so I timed things to throw a loaf of whole wheat bread into the oven with the pie.  It’s the first homemade bread I’ve made in a few weeks and was worth the effort.

Panzanella Salad
1 or 2 thick slices of crusty day old bread, cubed
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 small English cucumber, seeded and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 lb thinly sliced roast beef, cut into strips
1 tablespoon capers
1/4 cup chopped mint and/or basil (I use a combination of both)
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste

Combine bread cubes, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, roast beef,  capers, mint, and basil  in a bowl.  Whisk together vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Drizzle vinaigrette over salad and toss well. Let the salad stand for 10 minutes to allow the bread to soak up the juices.

Snowy Day and Herbal Tea Blending

Sunday, December 5th, 2010

Yes, I know I’m a delinquent blogger.  However, in defense of my delinquency, I’ve been all work and no play for the last several weeks. Also, the projects I’ve been working on can’t be posted here unless I want to announce all Christmas gifts to my family.  For the first time in weeks, I find myself with a little free time to play around with.  I was able to spend all day yesterday at my son’s wrestling invitational, where I watched him whup his opponent.  I shot team photos throughout the day, but I’ll only make you endure one shot (although you know I want to make you look at page after page of my baby).

Today snow is flying outside my window, and up to 8 inches of lake effect snow is expected over the next couple of days. I found myself in the mood to experiment with some herbal tea blending. When this type of cold snowy weather hits, I find myself wanting to guzzle hot tea but not the caffeine or sugar that usually accompanies hot beverages.  As the holidays loom on the horizon, it’s no surprise that I ended up with this cranberry apple herbal blend. Not only is it pretty and festive, but the sweetness and warmth of apple and cinnamon and the organic cranberries (slightly sweetened with organic cane juice) eliminated the need for further sweetening.

Cranberry Apple Herbal Tea
2 parts dried apple
2 parts dried cranberry
1 part cinnamon chips
1 part hibiscus flowers
1 part rose hips
1 part lemon grass
1 part orange peel
2 parts calendula petals

I use organic ingredients whenever possible, and my fruits are chopped into small uniform pieces. The blend brewed up a warm festive cranberry color that suited the flavor perfectly.

My second blend isn’t quite as pretty as the first, but it’s very warming and tasty with ginger and lemon flavored herbs.  This blend is very good sweetened with a little bit of honey.  I can’t take credit for this blend, as it was inspired by an herbie friend of mine.

Lemon GingerMint Tea
1 part dried ginger pieces
1 part peppermint
1 part lemon grass
1 part lemon verbena

I guess I will announce one Christmas gift.  I think I’ll make up some tea bags using empty heat seal tea bags, package a few in a tin tie bag with a label or hang tag, and give them as stocking stuffers.

Cucumber Cocktails

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

Thanks to sweltering heat and humidity, I think I’m about to melt. Yes, I am griping about the weather again. A vacation to Siberia sounds absolutely divine at the moment.  The cucumbers in my garden, on the other hand, are thriving!  They’re not quite as prolific as the zucchini, but they might be coming in a close second.  Thank heavens something that thrives in the heat that’s making me miserable, can also provide some cooling relief!

Chilled cucumber juice is very refreshing, and a great way to use up an over abundance of cukes.  Personally, I love my cucumber juice in cocktails with lots of ice.

To make cucumber juice, you will first need to peel, seed, and chop your cukes.  Place the chopped cukes in a food processor and blend to a smooth puree. Pour the puree through a fine mesh strainer, pressing to extract as much juice as possible.  I don’t throw the leftover pulp away, but use it to put together a quick veggie dip or Tzatziki. The juice will store in the refrigerator for a few days.  A fine green sediment may settle on the bottom of the container… no problem, just shake it up.

The following are my two favorite cucumber cocktails.

Cucumber Cooler
4 ounces cucumber juice
1 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 to 1 ounce simple syrup
1 1/2 ounces vodka
12 or more mint leaves

Fill shaker with ice.  Add all ingredients to shaker and shake until your hand feels like it’s going to freeze off. Then switch to the other hand and shake it again. Strain into a tall glass filled with ice.

Cool As A Cucumber Cocktail
2 or 3 lime wedges
12 or more mint leaves
2 ounces cucumber juice
1 ounce lime juice
1/2 to 1 ounce simple syrup
1 1/2 to 2 ounces light rum
Soda water

Place lime wedges and mint leaves in a tall glass (I have zombie glasses, the traditional glassware in which mojitos are served). Muddle lime and mint in the glass to release their oils. Fill glass 3/4 full with ice. Add cucumber juice, lime juice, simple syrup, and rum.  Top off with soda water and stir.

Updated 8/11/10 – This post is my entry for a Cucumber Blog Party I’m participating in.  For more cucumber recipes visit the following blogs.

Creamy Cucumber Salad at the Torchsong Studio blog

Cucumber Lime Salsa at the Essential Herbal blog

Cucumber Spread (Tzatziiki) at the Sagescript Institute blog

Tomato Cucumber Salad at Swisher Hill Soapworks

Chilled Cucumber Soup at Rosemary’s Sampler

Cucumber Dill Sauce at the Garden Chick blog

Cucumber Watermelon Salad at the Soap & Garden blog

Hibiscus Mint Iced Tea

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

My mint beds have gone crazy.  In addition to drying some for winter use, I’ve been trying to find as many different ways to use it as possible.    I have a couple of other blogging friends who have been busy dealing with their overabundance of mint. Tina over at The Essential Herbal Blog recently wrote about how she dries her mints. Maggie gives several ideas for using mints over at  The Renegade Farmer.

My boys like  a cold pitcher of plain mint tea kept in the refrigerator, but I prefer something with a little more pizazz. This week’s little heat wave had me brewing up a batch of one of my favorite iced mint tea recipes.

Hibiscus Mint Iced Tea
2-3 cups loosely packed mint leaves (1/2 to 3/4 cup dried mint if you don’t have fresh)
1/4 cup dried hibiscus flowers
Juice of 2 lemons
6 cups boiling water
Honey or agave nectar for sweetening

I brew my tea in a large Pyrex batter bowl, but it could also be done in a pan on the stove.

Place the mint leaves and dried hibiscus in your brewing container. Cover with boiling water and steep for an hour.  Place concentrated tea mixture into a pitcher and add lemon juice.  Next, top up pitcher with ice cubes and/or cold water. Sweeten to taste.

I try to use sweeteners in moderation and avoid sugar when at all possible. Honey and agave nectar are my sweeteners of choice.  If you choose to use sugar, a simple syrup of 1 part sugar to one part water is a good sweetener for cold beverages.