More leeks...

Quesadillas with Panela cheese, oregano, sauteed leeks, and roasted red peppers. Good combo. Excellent with green chili salsa.

Spring thing!

LEEKS! Leeks are in season, and Broulims had them on sale for 89 cents a bundle this week. BOOYAH. So I made:

Leek Cornmeal Pancakes

2 leeks, white and pale green parts only, rinsed and sliced thin
olive oil and butter
salt and pepper

1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 TB baking powder
1 tsp salt
thyme
allspice
nutmeg
garlic powder
white pepper

1 1/4 cup buttermilk (we all know the trick about stirring a tablespoon of lemon juice/vinegar
into regular milk and letting thicken for ten minutes, yeah?)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs

Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, then butter, waiting for butter to stop foaming before adding leeks. Saute to desired softness/mildness; season to taste.

Heat new skillet over medium heat. Whisk dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. Pour wet into dry, whisk just until combined, gently fold in leeks. Oil pan and fry pancakes. Serve with butter and/or a drizzle of honey.

Notes: The batter was pretty thick, so I added some water. Next time I might increase the cornmeal and decrease the flour by a bit. Dried thyme is VERY assertive. Use sparingly. It'd be nice to work in cheese somehow.

First Fruit Salad of Summer

Tried something a little different with the dressing this time. Took low-fat plain yogurt, sweetened it with coconut cream, and added lime juice and zest, mint, and minced candied ginger. So so so good. Though the yogurt was tasty and (relatively) healthy, it did get watery in the fridge, so I'd like to try substituting cream cheese and whipping it (maybe with a little cream) for a better texture.

Baby Quiches

Awesome! You take phyllo dough, cut it into squares, and layer it with butter into muffin tins -- three or four sheets thick. Then, bake till golden brown, fill with quiche goodies, and bake again!

I made two kinds: shallot-broccoli-mustard and shallot-mushroom-thyme-white pepper-nutmeg. Jarlsberg Swiss in both. Very tasty.

Summer Sippin'

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Oh yeah, babe.

Legumes galore...

Curried lentils with peas, smashed yams, steamed zucchini, and sour cream.

Dinner tonight

Curried lentils with roasted broccoli and pickled ginger. Good combo.