Hibiscus and Rosehip Sun Tea

Full Moon Feast, by Jessica Prentice, was my first introduction to the magical combination of hibiscus and rosehips. Prentice wrote of a recipe for creating homemade sodas that used dried hibiscus and rosehips, noting that both are natural sources of vitamin C. The combination, along with a sweetener, tastes distinctly of Hawaiian Punch, that ruby colored sugar treat forbidden to me as a child. Naturally, I fell head over heels in love with the combination!

Prentice's soda used yogurt whey to create natural carbonation; I didn't want to work that hard. My method was to add it to already fermented kombucha producing a gorgeous colored fizzy drink that is actually nutritious and low in sugar. But sometimes I'm lazy and impatient so I make sun tea instead.

Shaved Fennel Salad with Dill and Feta

My garden is not doing so well, other than the zucchini, which of course is growing like gang busters! The garden is fixable, so stay tuned on that front, As for the zucchini, I was thrilled to find a recent post at 101 Cookbooks that was a totally different spin on a fresh zucchini salad and turned out to be just as delicious as anticipated!

Heidi of 101 Cookbooks obviously used a mandoline to shave the fennel and zucchini paper thin; my mandoline leaves much to be desired, so my knife skills had to do. While my veggies were not as transparent (check out her photos versus mine), the dish was still fantastic.

Quick Pickled Okra

I have family members who are compulsive shoppers for clothes, shoes, bags, furniture, you name it. Usually it is in thrift or second-hand stores and much of the old stuff gets sent back to the same stores, so it is a zero-sum game. Me, my impulsive shopping is at the Farmers Market; no surprise there.

Show me an interesting herb or green and I'm sold. Baby anything - squash, eggplant, artichokes - and out comes the cash. At least by limiting my cash flow my purchases are usually of a reasonable size.

A pound of okra found its way into my bag simply because I was sucked into the horde voraciously picking over the first okra of the season. Cornmeal crusted and pan-fried is my go-to recipe for the feared pod but I decided to branch out and found Pickled Okra on Food Blog Search. Crunchy, tangy, with lots of dill and garlic flavor, this was a great find!

Watermelon Tomato Salad

A couple of seasons back on Top Chef a contender made a salad similar to this one and won the Quick Fire Challenge (it was to do a 2 minutes segment for Good Morning America - 2 minutes!!) At the time I was really shocked at the combination - tomato, watermelon and a sharp cheese (she used feta). It was one of those instances when I decided that tasting was believing, since I wasn't so convinced.

Enter Mark Bittman talking about the same style salad. Welllll, Mr. Bittman melts my stubborn food heart so I gave it a whirl. It really is pretty fantastic. Sweet watermelon, tangy cheese and luscious tomatoes really do create some serious magic. Better late than never!

Four Spice Salmon from Mark Bittman

Are you a Mark Bittman fan? I am, roaringly so. He's one of the few people I would gush over, in person, or probably lose my voice and faint dead away. I really do kind of worship him. And his Minimalist is back! Well, sort of, but actually in a better format because he is revisiting recipes and doing them in video format on the New York Times website (I paid for a NYTimes subscription so that I can watch him, really. That was all it took to make me fork over money to read a website.)

This recipe was the first of his videos that I watched and it does not disappoint! Four spices - cumin, coriander, clove and nutmeg - and you have an amazing rub. Wild salmon, particularly Sockeye and King, are at their peak right now which means they are less expensive than usual. If you can find some pick it up and give it a rub, your stomach with thank you heartily!

Classic Herbed Potato Salad - Happy 4th of July!

Potato salad, it was made for cookouts! But if you're looking for a lighter version than the traditional mayo-based one, check out this fresh herb and olive oil salad. Lots of fresh herbs plus a few dashes of olive oil and cider vinegar and you'll hardly recognize that there are potatoes hiding under all that greenery!

Adding green bell pepper (or any sweet peppers) gives a little crunch and the red onion provides a bit of savory punch (did that just rhyme!?) I have also made versions with bits of dill pickles tossed in for a some added texture and more sourness, but that is a matter of preference.