I definitely have World Cup fever! Argentina’s doing awesome, in spite of our hilarious coach… and the US is still hanging on!
But back to what I should be blogging about: food. Cooking with fresh ingredients, especially things we’ve never bought raw, is a bit of a challenge. We’ve been doing pretty well, though.
Ingredients used: Garlic shoot, beets, beet leaves, lettuce and strawberries.
FRIDAY:
We had our friend’s going away party BBQ. We’ve known her for less than a year, but she’s been an integral part of our lives. She’s one of the most outgoing people I know. Case and point: one of the first times we were meeting up with her to play tennis, she was playing with some random people. We figured she knew them somehow, but it turned out she got there earlier and just introduced herself, borrowed one of their racquets and played with them.
So Friday we were saying goodbye, as she moves forward and starts the grad school journey for herself in PA.
Ryan had the day off, so after going to Pep Boys to get our car looked at… and after stopping by Blue State to watch the World Cup–USA vs. Slovenia with us… he went to make yummy salsa and delicious chimichurri.
Chimichurri is a green sauce used in Argentina as a marinade to put on meat, but goes well with almost anything. The origin of its name has some cute stories about argentines not being able to pronounce an English name (you can read more about this on wikipedia). I don’t really know how much about this is true, all I can say is that it’s delicious. However, people make this sauce slightly differently. Basic ingredients: oil, parsley, garlic, vinegar, red pepper flakes.
Ryan’s recipe for chimichurri (Griselda approved!):
* Fresh cilantro-a bunch
* 1 jalapeño
* 2 teaspoons paprika
* 3 garlic whistles (scallions can be used instead)
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* salt and pepper-to taste
* 2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper
* 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
* 1/3 cup extra virgen olive oil (EVOO, as Rachel Ray calls it)
Here’s what it looks like in a container:
It goes well on burgers, italian sausage, or any other thing you can think of:
SATURDAY:
Ryan was again doing stuff on the car from early in the morning. He was at the dealer until about 11am… and I was being very productive watching soccer. Then we got really tired out by playing Ultimate frisbee from about 11am until 1pm. I made a quick lunch of pastrami sandwiches using the nice lettuce, but I forgot we had chimichurri!!!
Later that evening Ryan worked up the energy to make that Beet Rosti with Rosemary.
Cut off the leaves (save those for later!), peel and dice up the beets. (Grating can also be done for this recipe).
Finely chop two sprigs of rosemary.
Mix in a bowl with 1/3 of cup of flour until all the beets are coated. Then, pan fry with EVOO, add salt and pepper to taste, until beets are tender.
Don’t throw those leaves away…
Sautéed beet leaves with bacon and garlic.
That’s right, the beet leaves are actually very yummy, they have a stronger flavor than spinach, and you can do similar things with them.
Sauté the garlic and garlic whistle with EVOO. Add in chopped turkey bacon. Once the bacon browns, then add 1/3 cup water. Add in the beet leaves, and cook until the leaves and stems are tender.
Finally, the strawberries make delicious shakes!
I added strawberries to raspberry lemonade, with some ice and honey. Another time I added bananas. And for breakfast on Sunday I used milk, instead of the lemonade. All wonderful!
