A quick entry with a recipe for fancy butter…

1 stick of salted butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon honey
2 cloves of roasted garlic
1/8 heaping teaspoon hot pepper powder

Combine ingredients into a small storage container and enjoy all week while you use it to make all your breads and crackers taste more exciting ;)

Our cherry tomatoes are finally turning red! The other day we made our first salad using them- I have to say, fresh picked cherry tomatoes are oh so delicious and satisfying; I’m already anticipating the next ripe bunch any day now. This salad was thrown together with a mix of our usual produce, offerings from our organic produce box and some wonderful from our garden. Just thought I’d share the idea with you, it’s always nice to have salad inspiration- mmmm vegetables!

ingredients :: red leaf lettuce, raspberries, cherry tomatoes, olives, cheddar cheese, 1 baby ancho, pine nuts, basil, hard boiled egg, mustard seed dressing.

The preparation of this meal is pretty obvious, chop vegetables as necessary and combine.  The basil in our garden is now growing well and we have been able to use it a couple times a week with out depleting it completely.  One of our plants started off slowly and seemed to be struggling so we repotted it, changed it’s location, and trimmed it down. Now, it’s growing really well. Another basil plant started off full and healthy, once we started to chop stems from it we found it wasn’t growing back; we started to pick just the larger leaves from the top so that new growth could move in and it seems to be working out right. New leaves keep appearing and the plant is now becoming more stable.

Our ancho peppers, also known as pablano peppers, are probably the most impressive peppers growing in the garden right now because they are getting so big. We have three fairly large ones that seem to be taking over the plant and weighing it down.  We’re going to pick them to eat tomorrow and hopefully the plants will continue to produce.  The one we used for this salad was tiny and fell prematurely- but we decided to use it anyway.  Although it was very small it still tasted nice. Anchos are a fairly mild pepper, this one smelled like it might be spicy but didn’t really offer any heat.  We just sliced it as a topper for fun.

The cherry tomatoes are doing well, the whole pot of plants is filled with green, orange and red fruits.  We only had a handful this time around but it was definitely enough to brighten up this salad.  They were near perfect!

We used a red leaf lettuce as the base of our salad, raspberries from our fresh produce delivery last week, and pine nuts.

Green olives are always a nice addition to a salad, I don’t always like to use dressing- if I do, I take it on the side.  Olives and fresh herbs usually add enough extra flavor on their own for me.  And last, cheddar cheese and a hard boiled egg for some extra protein. We have a little egg slicer which is perfect for slicing uniform rounds for a salad. I also like to quarter them or halve them as well- any way will be good!

The dressing on the side is one we have been preparing an awful lot these days.  It originated from our raw kale salad, and now that we’ve made it several times it’s an easy one to whip up and modify quickly.  This time we added some crushed red pepper to spice it up.

Salad is a dish that has infinite possibilities. You can add just about anything you desire and it’s near impossible mess it up (with the exception of adding raw onions).   We are trying to eat salads more often- like everyday.  I don’t know why we don’t do this already because it’s not hard to prepare, it can be a very filling meal, and you never feel gross after eating it.  The freshness is light, leaving you with energy instead of feeling overstuffed and heavy.

I want to share with you the salad we made the other day as inspiration for you to increase your salad intake as well as getting creative with what you add to your own.  The best part about this is that you have control over what you include in your salad, which means you can make it perfectly delicious to your taste.  Plus it can be as laborious or as simple as you want to make it. Here is what we used in ours this time…

Baby spinach, greenish red heirloom tomatoes & cucumbers.

Herbs- rosemary, thyme & sage.  Each chopped up a bit, especially the sage which we only used a tiny amount of.  We still don’t quite know what to do with sage yet but I like the flavor so we try to use it anyway ;).

Portobello mushrooms sauted in olive oil with chili garlic paste & basil. I like a little spice so I easily added a bit of our favorite hot sauce.  Crushed red pepper or black pepper would be a nice and convenient option for heat as well.  I like to saute the portobello slices until almost cooked before i add the Basil. Adding it towards the end wilts it just enough to cling to the mushrooms but still taste fresh.

#1 Best tofu and crumbles.   This salad was delicious and extremely satisfying.  Adding either the tofu or the crumble would be enough crisp for one salad, but adding both is twice as nice.  More salad ideas to come…