Recent Culinary Forays...

We haven't been doing too much in the way of fancy cooking lately. Our daughters left for Montana and California recently, and we've just kind of heaved a big sigh and rested.

We had French toast and bacon earlier this week...always a fav of ours.

Last night was bacon sandwiches and coleslaw. Along with nice, thick bacon, we had seared Walla Walla sweet onions and tomatoes, sharp cheddar cheese, and for me, pepperoncinis, all between slices of grilled English muffin bread.

Tonight. Tonight was dinner cooked outdoors. We had a salad of tender romaine lettuce fresh out of the garden; chicken breast rubbed with ground Ancho chile, ras el hanout, and onion powder, then grilled; dried Mission figs; grilled sweet onions; and crumbled feta cheese. The dressing was a mix of extra-virgin olive oil, figs, white balsamic vinegar, orange blossom water and fresh ginger. We grilled up some corn-on-the-cob and ciabatta bread that we had brushed with some of the Lebanese olive oil-lemon juice-garlic mix. OMG. Dinner was sweetspicysaltysoursavory...and we are very pleasantly full.

Mexican Soul Food...

Today, we harvested the second item from our garden - three large plants of Goldgelber purslane, an improved version of the well-known and common weed, and an excellent source of Omega 3 oil. With them, I cooked up a pot of Verdolagas con Carne de Puerco, or pork and purslane stew, a popular Mexican dish. Again, none of us were sure how it would go...but it turned out very tasty indeed. Its a stew of cubed pork, pureed onions, garlic (lots!) and tomatillos, mild green chilies and handfuls of purslane, seasoned with freshly ground black pepper, Mexican oregano and cumin. For a personal touch, I added some chicken stock and a little golden tequila. It really was a sort of Mexican approach to the universal soul food...braised pork and greens. Good stuff, and I've got more purslane growing. We'll be having this again...

A Humble Weed...

We've made tacos with greens, caramelized onions and queso seco cheese for a few years now. The recipe, tacos de quelites, comes from Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen, and we've really enjoyed them. Even our autistic son likes them (he of the hot dogs, canned chili and ketchup...lol). Tonight, however, was the first time that we've made them with the greens they use down in Toluca, Mexico...quelites, the unprepossessing lambs' quarters(Chenopodium berlandieri), a weed common to sidewalk cracks, empty lots and the edges of roads and fields all across America. Rick Bayless recommended Swiss chard if lambs' quarters are unavailable, but considers it inferior to them. Still, there was some trepidation in my home as I prepared them. They are good! Gina and I agree with him. They are the better choice. The next step for authenticity would be to get some blue corn tortillas...

We had a couple of plants growing in our garden plot. The majority were growing wild in the untended portions of the community garden, so I just picked the larger plants, 'til I had enough for dinner. Thankfully, I kinda' overshot the mark, so we have a healthy batch of leftovers!

Some quick nutritional facts about lambs' quarters: a 180g serving of boiled and drained lambs' quarters contained 281% of the USRDA for Vitamin A, 111% of the USRDA for Vitamin C, 46% of the USRDA for calcium, 6g of protein and 4g of fiber, its inflammation factor is 351 (strongly anti-inflammatory) and its estimated glycemic load is a whopping...5. They are also a good source of Vitamin E, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Magnesium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese. A serving has a whopping 58 calories. Instead of spraying these weeds with Roundup, we should all be gathering them and eating them...they're a damn superfood!

Oh...and here is a good guide to Mexican herbs...