Black Rice Salad

I bought black rice several months ago because Dr. Oz said it was good for you! LOL! I had no idea what to do with it and I needed a side dish for some veggie kabobs. I like cold rice salads, and WOW, this was born! It is delicious!

Makes about 6-8 servings.

1 Cup black Thai rice
1-3/4 Cups water
pinch salt
1/2 yellow pepper diced
1/2 red pepper diced
1/4 Cup red onion diced
1/4 Cup fresh chopped mint
1/4 Cup fresh chopped basil
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

Sauce
3 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 Tbsp. Tamari sauce (or 1 Tbsp. soy and 1 Tbsp. vegetarian fish sauce)
Juice of one lime

Bring the rice, pinch of salt and water to a boil in a sauce pan over high heat. Reuce heat to simmer and cover with lid. Let the mixture simmer for 45 minutes, or until water is absorbed.

Whisk together sesame oil, tamari and lime juice. Set aside.

Once rice is cooked transfer to bowl. Pour sauce over the rice while it is still warm. Stir well. Add chopped pepper and onion and chopped herbs. Chill and serve.

Carrot Cake

We received a pound and a half of carrots this week from our CSA. I found a delicious recipe for carrot cake. It is not low fat, that will be my next mission is working on how to make this a no fat cake. Let me tell you though, this carrot cake is delicious. Instead of using a cream cheese type fattening frosting, I did lighten it up a bit by just using a glaze made with 1.5 Cups of powdered sugar, 1.5 TBSP. almond milk and 2 tsp of vanilla extract. I applied the glaze while the cake was still a bit warm. Wow is this good!

Original recipe came from Christine Hennessey's blog

The Best Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe Ever
(adapted from GroupRecipes)

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose white flour
1 cup of white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
2 tsp of cinnamon
3 cups shredded carrots
3/4 cup of canola oil
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/2 cup of golden raisins
1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x9 inch square pan with oil.

Mix together the flour, sugars, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon until thoroughly combined. Add the shredded carrots and the oil to the dry ingredients and mix well with a spoon (not a hand mixer!).

Add the orange juice and mix again, then fold in the nuts, raisins and coconut.

Put the batter into pan.

Bake for 45 minutes or until knife/toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.

Let cool before topping with vegan buttercream cinnamon frosting.

Fresh Salsa

Traditionally I had been making salsa by parboiling the tomatoes to remove the skins, and cubing them resulting in a chunky salsa. While I still think this kind of salsa is the bomb, sometimes you need fresh salsa in a more expedient and less messy manner!
I have come up with a way to make a delicious, albeit less chunky, salsa in my Ninja food processor. I am sure you could use any food processor or a Vitamix.

Rough chop the following:

5 tomatoes
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 jalapeno
Place them in your processor and give them a whiz
add the following:
juice of one lime
couple generous pinches of Kosher salt
2 tsp cumin
Give it another whiz

From here you can just place it in a jar to use within the next 10 days, or freeze it in freezer jars or bags.
You can also use a food strainer to strain off some of the juice. Remember the longer it sets the spicier the jalapenos will get.

Using Swiss Chard

Using the Swiss chard we get in our CSA share can be challenging. I am not crazy about bitter greens so eating them raw in a salad or just steaming or sauteing them doesn't work well for us either. Last year I made a delicious potato dish with rosemary and baby potatoes. I was looking for inspiration for something new this year and came across this recipe from FatFreeVegan.com Swiss chard with white beans and jobs tears I made a few changes. I sauteed the chard stems and onion in red wine and used barley instead of Job's tears and cooked the barley in vegetable broth. It was really quite good and used the entire share of rainbow chard we got this week!
I also made Hasselback potatoes, yum!

Vegan Potato Salad

Yummy vegan version of the classic!

Serves 8

8 Potatoes (your choice they should be medium to smallish)
6 Green onions
2 stalks celery
2 Tbsps. sweet relish
2 Tbsps. Balsamic vinegar
1/4 C veganaise or naysoya
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Place potatoes in salted water on stove and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium and cook potatoes for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile chop green onion white parts and about three inches of the greens. Mince celery. Place both in bowl and set aside.
Once potatoes are soft when pricked with a fork, remove from heat and shock with cold water. Allow to cool slightly, then peel. Place warm potatoes ontop of veg mix and add balsamic vinegar. Stir. Add salt pepper and relish, stir. Add veganaise or naysoya. Stir. Allow to come together in the fridge for about 1 hour. Enjoy!

Easy Cucumber Salad

Serves about 6

2 Large Cucumbers
1 Large Tomato
1 Bell Pepper (orange, red or yellow)
1 Bunch Green Onions
1/4 Cup Fresh Flat Leaf Italian Parsley
2 Tbsp. Fresh Mint Leaves
About 8 Kalamata Olives
1/4 Cup Roasted Garlic Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar
Pepper to taste

Wash all vegetables and herbs. Peel and half cucumbers, use a spoon to scrape the seeds out of the halves. Cut the halves into four strips and dice. Dice the tomato and bell pepper. Cut green onions about half way up the green parts and discard leftover greens (great green material for composting). Finely chop parsley and mint. Dice up the Kalamata olives. They are quite salty and flavorful so use more or less to your taste. Pour the vinegar over the veggies and herbs and pepper if you wish. Allow to set in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.
Nakano makes a great line of seasoned rice wine vinegars.

Enchilada Casserole

Even though the winter has been quite mild there is still very little local fresh produce to be had. I am working hard to create winter comfort food recipes that are mostly vegan. My transition to becoming a 'herbivore' has been slow. Although I have cut out using dairy at home completely, I still eat out frequently and find myself consuming dairy at restaurants.
Last night I was inspired by another blog post to create my own version of a vegan enchilada casserole.

About 8 servings

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Spray a 9x13" baking pan with cooking spray

Ingredients

About 12 corn tortillas
2 cans refried beans
1 can black beans
1 can chipotle or chili ready tomatoes
1 jar (16 oz.) chipotle enchilada sauce (divided into four parts)
1 sm. can sliced olives
1/2 Cup chopped onion
1 sm. can green chili peppers

Saute the onion in a small skillet or place them in a glass dish covered with plastic wrap and microwave them for a minute or two.
Open the cans of refried beans place them in a mixing bowl, open the can of tomatoes and drain the juice into the beans, stir the juice in well in order to thin them a little.
Pour some of the enchilada sauce in the bottom or your baking pan just to coat the bottom, then place four corn tortillas in the bottom of your baking pan overlapping them.
Start layering your ingredients, refried beans, onion, green chilies, black beans, tomatoes, cover with a bit of the enchilada sauce, then layer on four more tortillas, repeat your layering, finally place on four more tortillas cover with the rest of the enchilada sauce and black olives.
Bake for 20 minutes in the prehated oven, let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into 8 pieces and serving.

Serve with fresh guacamole and some salsa and you will never miss cheese in this dish!

Guacamole
2 Avocados
2 Cloves fresh garlic
1 lime
1/4 tsp. Kosher salt

Pit the avocados and mash the fruit in a small bowl, mince the garlic and make it into a paste by sprinkling the kosher salt and a bit of lime juice on the minced garlic and rub with the flat side of a knife. Add the mixture and the juice of the entire lime. Stir.
Cover tightly until ready to serve.

Vegan Shepard's Pie

Delicious and satisfying winter comfort food!
Could be served as a holiday meal or at a dinner party.

Serves 10

Ingredients

1 Head roasted garlic (*instructions below)

For the potato layer
8 medium potatoes
2 Tbsp. Earth Balance (or other vegan buttery spread, or leave it out completely for no added oil)
1/3 Cup soy or other unflavored non-dairy milk, or vegetable broth
4 cloves roasted garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Veg layer
1/4 Cup water
1/4 Cup red wine
1 parsnip peeled and cut in a small dice
2 carrots peeled and cut in a small dice
1 medium onion cut in small dice
2 stalks celery cut in a small dice
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen corn
4 cloves roasted garlic
2 tsp. dried thyme

Sauce
1 Tbsp. tamari sauce
1 Cup vegetable broth
1/4 Cup red wine
3 Tbsp. flour

To make roasted garlic, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the off approx. 1/4 inch of the tip end of the bulb and peel off the outer layers of skin, leaving skins of individual cloves attached. Place in the middle of an 8x10" piece of foil and spray with a bit of cooking spray. Place in oven for 30 minutes. Open foil and allow to cool for 20 minutes before attempting to take the cloves out of their jackets.

Peel and dice the potatoes cover with lightly salted water, allow to come to a boil. Turn heat down and allow to simmer for approximately 20 minutes until potatoes are very soft (while waiting on potatoes start on veg mix below). Drain. Return to pan. Add Earth Balance, soy milk, 4 cloves of roasted garlic, mash potatoes until just barely lumpy with a potato masher, or use a hand mixer. Add salt and pepper to taste, stir.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and spray a 12x9" glass or ceramic baking dish with cooking spray.

While waiting on potatoes to cook through peel and dice parsnip and carrots and dice celery and onion, slice mushrooms, and if very large cut slices in halves or quarters. Line a skillet with 1/4 Cup red wine and one quarter Cup water. Once heated through add all vegetables except frozen peas and corn. Once onion is translucent and other veg are soft add four cloves roasted garlic and stir through. Reduce heat to low. Place frozen corn and peas in microwave and cook for two minutes (don't worry if they are not completely cooked through). Add peas and corn to skillet. Add dried thyme.

To make the sauce; in a small dish or measuring cup wisk together 1 Cup vegetable broth, 1/4 Cup red wine, 3 Tbsp. Tamari sauce and 3 Tbsp. flour.

Add sauce mixture to veg mixture. Turn up heat, bring to a boil and allow to thicken. Take off heat.

Spread veg mixture in bottom of greased baking dish. Layer potatoes on top. Cook in preheated 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and allow 10 minutes to stand before serving.

Serve with vegan gravy if desired. The Happy Herbivore (link provided) is probably the best vegan gravy I have had.

Veg Chili

Feeds 8
It's great stored in the fridge and reheated

Ingredients

1 medium onion chopped
1 green or red pepper chopped (if you like things really spicy use a hotter pepper)
2 cans organic chili hot beans
1 can red beans or dark red kidney beans
2 cans tomatoes (spice things up using chili ready tomatoes or fire roasted tomatoes)
1 can tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp. chili powder
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/3 bag of Quorn grounds Use TVP for veganizing
Ketchup(use the kind made with cane sugar, not corn syrup)

In a large non-stick dutch oven sweat out the onion and green pepper in water or a little red wine.
Pulverize the tomoatoes in a ninja, magic bullet, blender or food processor.
Add the tomato paste, tomato sauce and pulverized tomatoes to the veg.
Add spices and a couple of big squirts of ketchup * note my measurements are guidelines add more or less spice dependent upon your taste.
Cook the mixture for at least 15 minutes, longer to allow flavors to blend.
15 -20 minutes before cooking add the beans and the Quorn grounds and allow to heat through. If you use TSP you will need to rehydrate it before adding to the chili.

Final Harvest Vegetable Soup

Makes 10-12 servings
Is better reheated the second day!

In a large stock pot saute' the following in red or white wine:

1 large garlic bulb chopped finely
1 medium onion chopped
2 small leeks, white parts only, chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
1 large carrot chopped

Saute' until very soft and starting to caramelize, then add 1 large vegetable cube (vegetable bullion), 1 box of vegetable stock, two cups water, 1 tsp. each; salt, pepper, basil, oregano, parsley. If you prefer to use fresh herbs tie them up in cheesecloth and hang them in the pot. Bring the pot up to a boil and turn heat down to low, adding two cans petite diced tomatoes and two tablespoons tomato paste.

Meanwhile prepare whatever fresh vegetables you have. I used potatoes, green beans, green pepper and cabbage. At this point you may also add in barley and lentils, bring the pot up to a boil again, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until vegetables are cooked through. About 20 minutes before serving you may also add in whatever frozen vegetables you like.

Apple Butter

Not exactly a vegetable but, it does take advantage of seasonal offerings!

Makes approximately 4 cups finished product. You may can the butter, store in the fridge for up to two weeks, or it also freezes well.

Ingredients
15 smallish apples
1/2 Cup Demerara sugar
1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice (or 1 tsp. cincinnamon, 1/4 tsp. allspice, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg and 1/4 tsp. cloves)
1/4 cup water

Core and quarter apples. Place all ingredients in a large stock pot and cook over medium heat for at least 45 minutes. Apples should start to break down and become soft, continue cooking past this point until liquid is almost all reduced and apples are a medium-dark brown.
Place in batches and run through food processor until the butter is of the desired consistency.
If you are going to use a food mill, potato masher or an immersion blender instead of a food processor you will need to peel your apples. If using a food processor there is no need to peel.

Vegetarian Enchiladas Verde

Now that you have made salsa Verde it's time to use it!

Serves 6

Ingredients

12 corn tortillas
2 cups salsa Verde
2 ears corn cut off the cob (or use frozen)
1 yellow onion chopped
2 cloves garlic smashed and chopped
1 can of beans of your choice, rinsed and drained
1 lb. grated queso fresco (or cheese of your choice)
1 tsp. cumin

Preheat oven to 350. Wrap 2 stacks of 6 corn tortillas each in foil. Place in preheated oven for 10 minutes to soften.
Saute' chopped onion and garlic in a non stick skillet sprayed with a bit of cooking spray until onion is translucent, add corn to heat through. Allow the onion to just start to caramelize. Add a tablespoon of water if necessary. Add beans. Using a masher or the rounded side of a spoon mash up some of the beans. Sprinkle with cumin and stir. Set aside.
Spray 13x9" glass or non stick pan with cooking spray. Ladle in one cup of the salsa Verde, spread over the bottom of the pan evenly.
Spoon a small amount of salsa Verde in each tortilla, then spoon in some of the bean/corn/onion mixture, sprinkle with a bit of cheese, roll and place seam side down in the baking pan. Repeat this until all of the tortillas are used up. Your pan should be full. Ladle on the rest of the salsa Verde and spread evenly over rolled enchiladas. Sprinkle on the remainder of the queso fresco.
Bake in 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes.

Salsa Verde

We have tons of tomatoes that aren't going to ripen before the first frost additionally, we got some in our CSA share this week. I decided to make a green tomato salsa with the green tomatoes which would traditionally be made with tomatillos. Makes approximately 4 cups, but the recipe could easily be adjusted to make a smaller or larger quantity.

Ingredients
3 lbs. green tomatoes quartered
1 yellow onion chopped
3-5 jalapeno seeded and chopped (or other chili pepper depending how hot you want your salsa)
4 cloves garlic smashed
1 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. cumin
1/4 cup water
zest and juice of one lime
1/2 Tbsp. honey
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro

Toss all ingredients except the cilantro in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Stir. Add cilantro, stir and simmer five more minutes. Remove in batches and run through food processor until desired consistency.

Spaghetti Squash Supper

Delicious way to enjoy the abundant squash of late summer and fall!

Feeds Four

Ingredients

2 Spaghetti Squash

Sauce
2 cans tomatoes or 2 lbs. fresh tomatoes without the skins
12 oz. fresh white or baby bella mushrooms
1/2 large red onion
1 green pepper
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp. basil
2 tsp. oregano
red wine or vegetable broth

Preheat oven to 350. Cut squash in half, scrape out seeds. Place cut side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment or non-stick mat. Bake at 350 for 30 to 45 minutes (squash will scrape out easily when cooked properly). Set aside until cool enough to handle, then scrape out into a large bowl.

While squash is cooking heat a large skillet and saute' the mushrooms, onion, green pepper and garlic in red wine or vegetable broth until onion is translucent. Run the tomatoes through a food processor add to skillet along with herbs, bring the sauce up to where it just starts to bubble, reduce heat and allow to cook down over low heat.

Pour sauce over squash and serve.

I have been experimenting with the no oil plant based diets like Forks Over Knives, Happy Herbivore and Engine 2 Diet, you could just as easily saute' your veg in oil if you choose.

Reflections

I started this blog so that I could remember the recipes I created this year using veggies from our CSA share. We joined the CSA in February, and in March, before getting any veggies from our share (these didn't come until June), I took the leap and decided to become a vegetarian. This was not a spur of the moment decision, nor was it a leap I took blindly, or all at once. I am coming up on the six month anniversary of this change and felt it a good time to reflect on how why I did it, how I did it, and not only renew my commitment to this lifestyle, but to also inspire myself to work toward the next step (giving up dairy completely), and perhaps show others how it can be done.

I have spent several years thinking that I was living incongruously. I am an avid animal lover, activist, educator and sometime rescuer. I would use denial tactics; rationalization, justification, same as everyone else, to justify my continued eating of animals. The cognitive dissonance was getting to me. Then, one March day I ate a Five Guys hamburger for lunch. This was a rare choice, as I considered the Five Guys hamburger the ultimate hamburger and saved it for a special treat. Most days I ate salad or soup and salad for lunch. That night I happened to get the flu. I spent the entire evening re experiencing that hamburger in the very worst way. It was a really bad flu and I could not keep anything down, outside of toast, for at least three days.

In my weakened state I had a brilliant idea! I thought, I haven't been able to eat for several days, why not make the leap to vegetarianism? It would be easy, just don't eat meat again from this point. I had done the same thing with coffee a couple of years earlier. Once I recovered from the flu I thought about what I knew about change. As a former smoker, and having spent 12 years as mental health counselor who dealt primarily with addictions, and the last five years as a probation officer, I know a thing or two about preparing to make a change, making a change and maintaining that change (stages of change). Cold turkey, for lack of a better term, rarely works. This was a change I wanted to maintain long term so I knew I had to stage it, plan it and make the changes in a way that was going to help me commit every step along the way. Including finding support in making and maintaining my change. All this was going to take time.

I decided to start somewhat small, I would not eat meat from the point of my recovery on, I did not immediately stop eating fish. I wanted to have options while I figured out how I was going to maintain this change long term, and find my support. I set a goal date of 90 days to stop eating fish, after my annual coastal vacation. I kept this goal and have stuck to it. I gave up milk immediately, this wasn't difficult, I find I like almond milk better in my cereal. Giving up all dairy has thus far eluded me. I have been going out of my way to find dairy that is 'cruelty free' and cheese that uses non-animal enzymes but, thus far, giving up sour cream, butter and cheese has been quite a challenge. I have significantly cut down on all of the above. I haven't set a date yet to give up dairy, but I am working that way; the cognitive dissonance, once again is becoming unbearable, and my defenses are useless.

My family and friends, with a very minor exception, have been quite supportive. My devoted husband has happily eaten every vegetarian meal I have prepared at home. There will always be those people who don't understand or who don't want to understand. Most of my support has come in the way of online resources and books. To name a few: Vegetarian Times magazine, Forks Over Knives (book and DVD), Happy Herbivore (online blog and several cookbooks), on Facebook; Rip Esselstyn and Engine 2 Team, Why Veg, Our Hen House and Vegucated. All of the aforementioned I find to be helpful resources that are not what I consider to be 'over the top' with scare tactics and judgments, which seem to be the common tactics of some of the other groups and resources I have found.

With the growing season coming to an end, our own garden as well as the CSA shares will stop producing soon. I suspect winter in Ohio will be challenging as I will have to find other resources for fresh food. Food Inc ruined me for the grocery store!

More recipes soon!
Thanks!

'Peasant Style' Bruchetta with Root Vegetables

1-Fennel Bulb, cleaned and trimmed
2-4 Leeks, cleaned and trimmed
4-5 Carrots, scrubbed
2 large Garlic Cloves
2-3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Agave Syrup
4-5 thick slices of French, Italian, or sourdough cut in cubes
2 sprigs fresh Rosemary
1 sprig fresh Thyme
Kosher Salt

Preheat oven to 400. Slice fennel and leeks thinly, cut carrots into coins, smash and chop garlic. Toss all with olive oil in a glass baking dish. Pour balsamic, and agave over vegetables and cook in 400 oven for 45 minutes. Remove pan from oven, add cubes of bread, rosemary, thyme and a good sprinkle of kosher salt. You may add more oil or balsamic if your veg has dried out too much. Put back in 400 oven for 20 minutes or until bread is nicely toasted.

Roasted Tomato Sauce with Penne

This week we got some lovely heirloom tomatoes from our CSA. I am getting a fair amount of tomatoes from my own garden, so I decided to roast these and turn them into a nice sauce.

4-6 medium tomatoes
2 heads of garlic
6 fresh basil leaves
6 fresh sprigs of Greek oregano
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400. Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and water. Blanch tomatoes by bringing a large pot of water to boil. Cut a small 'x' in the bottom of each tomato, put the tomatoes in the boiling water, 2 at a time, for 1-2 min, or until skin starts to peel back around the 'x'. Remove and place immediately in the ice bath for 2-4 minutes. Once all tomatoes are blanched peel them.
Cut peeled tomatoes in half. And place in a parchment lined baking dish. Break apart the garlic heads and peel the cloves. Stuff the whole cloves in each tomato half anywhere the tomato will allow. Then roll and stuff the basil leaves (typically best to stuff this in the seeded softer area). Stuff in the oregano sprigs. Bake in the 400 oven for one hour, or until the tomatoes start to caramelize.
Allow the tomatoes to cool slightly, place in food processor and blend until smooth. Add the balsamic. Serve over penne.

Enchilada Stack

Tons of fresh veggies in this! Great recipe to make with your sweetie, as there are a lot of ingredients and a lot of steps in this one. This week brought us some heirloom peppers, more onions and more summer squash from our CSA, and this recipe made use of those ingredients well.

Makes four servings
Preheat oven to 375
Line a jelly roll pan (or cookie sheet with sides) with parchment paper

1-16oz. jar prepared enchilada sauce (you could also make your own)
9 vegetarian corn tortillas
1/2 cup shredded cheese (can you vegetarian cheese, vegan cheese shreds or skip it altogether)
1 can black beans run through food processor (or use refried beans)
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Veg Mix
1 summer squash, peeled and diced
1 large onion diced
2 large portabella mushroom caps diced
1 large mild pepper diced (can use green, red, purple, orange, yellow)

In a large skillet heat olive oil, add all veg and cook down until caramelized (10-15 mins), over medium heat.
While veg mix cooks down line jelly roll pan with parchment. Place four corn tortillas on the pan. Spread enchilada sauce on the tortillas. Spread a layer of beans on each of the tortillas, top each with a sprinkle of cheese and another tortilla. Spread enchilada sauce on tortillas, top with a layer of the veg mix. Place a third tortilla on top of the veg mix, layer on sauce and cheese. Cook in 375 oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven when nicely browned. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before using a pancake turner to remove each stacked enchilada to a plate for serving. Top each enchilada with fresh salsa.

You could also use any veg you wish in the veg mix! Zucchini or corn would work great! Could also add a bit of cumin in while they cook down!

Fresh Salsa

I make salsa a couple of different ways but, both have the same ingredients.
The first way I like to make salsa is to blanch the tomatoes to get the skins off. This takes time, and if you are in a hurry you can just as easily leave the skins on the tomatoes. I find that if the skins aren't too tough this works out just fine.
Recipe makes about 1 cup of salsa.


4 medium tomatoes, in a large dice
1 small onion, chopped in a small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 minced jalapenos
1 Tbsp. lime juice
dash salt
Fresh cilantro, chopped roughly, to your taste

Mix all ingredients. Serve immediately. Bear in mind jalapenos grow hotter in the fridge, so any leftovers you have will be hotter than what you started with!

Pepper Relish

Great way to use up all of the peppers coming in right now. You can use any peppers you like in this relish. Depending on the peppers you use your relish can be sweet or hot, or somewhere on the continuum between the two. I used a lot of mild banana peppers, some hot banana peppers and a couple of jalapenos, and my relish came out a really nice hot that is easy to eat.
This recipe makes about 1 cup of relish. The recipe could easily be halved or doubled.



10-12 peppers, minced
1/4 cup vinegar (white, red wine, or rice wine are best)
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Mix all ingredients in a jar, or in a plastic storage container and let sit several hours or overnight. This relish is a great topping for baked potatoes, potato salad, pasta salad, anything you'd like to add a little pep to. It's my experience that if you use rice wine vinegar the flavor is a lot more smooth and less sugar is needed.