Avocado mango salsa or salad

When avocados and mangoes are both in season I love to make this salad/salsa. It is a great on its own or as a side. It just depends on how much you make. You can use any type of chile peppers, I would recommend experimenting - half a habanero is yummy, red jalapenos make it more colorful, just use what tastes good to you. The same goes with onions, sometimes I use green onions, I prefer red onions, but sometimes all I have in the house is the workhorse yellow.

avocado, mango, onion, serrano, lime, salt (cilantro is optional)

mince your onions and chiles

peel and score your mango for easy cutting

don't peel but score your avocado for easy cutting

just gently squeeze the avocado out of the shell

add salt

and lime to taste and mix - add cilantro here if using

and enjoy as part of a healthy taco night

Mangoes and avocados best friends forever!

CSA week 1

Yay! It's CSA season. This year we moved up to a large share so I can't compare apples to apples in pictures but I do know what we received more of as a large share. Our CSA also has eggs this year, so we will have a dozen of those each week.

This week we got all the spring greens: walking onions, green garlic, chives, arugula, sorrel, spinach, and radishes. For the large share we also got rhubarb and an extra bag of spinach.

What I made: Sorrel, radish, and chive salad; rhubarb pie;  red lentil and green garlic soup; arugula and unchicken salad; spinach dal; spinach in adais; sauteed spinach twice (there is a lot of spinach in those plastic bags); creamy potatoes with chives; and grilled walking onions.

Chickpea salad

I saw this recipe for chickpea salad on g+ about three weeks ago and since then I have made this salad three times. We like it that much. It is a similar to chicken salad and/or tuna salad but so much tastier and healthier. 

I have modified it a bit to suit our tastes. I don't ever use canned beans, I soak my own. I doubled the amount of celery as I love the crunch celery adds in these types of salads. I minced my carrots (I loathe shredded carrots), and I added capers and vegetarian fish sauce for color and flavor. The first time I made it, I followed the smashing instructions in the original recipe, that took a long time, now I just pulse it in a food processor which keeps it chunky and only takes about 5 seconds to do.

I sneak a spoonful of this salad every time I open the refrigerator if it is there, otherwise we eat it in a sandwich, on crackers, on lettuce, and I even put some in a veggie dog. 

carrots, celery, green onions, tofu, chickpeas, mayo, lemon, pickles, salt, and pepper

soak beans overnight if not longer

cook for an hour or so with salt until done

add beans, tofu, pickles, and mayo to food processor (you can add capers here instead)

blended, but still chunky

mince celery, carrots, and green onion

add mix and vegetables to a bowl and stir in lemon juice and veggie fish sauce

season to taste - more salt and some spicy

decide it needs some capers

enjoy on crackers, sandwiches

I already need to make more!

Dandelion syrup

Last year I decided to start using all the dandelions that pop up in our yard. I know they are 'weeds' but they do help the soil and they provide some of the first nectar for bees and ants and other early spring insects. I read all these great recipes on punk domestics, so this year I am making some of them.

This syrup is way better than I imagined it to be, it is delicate and floral and delicious. I used this recipe as a guide but didn't follow the measurements, because if you know me, you know I rarely measure anything. Mine is much darker than shown since we use unbleached sugar, but it didn't affect the delicious taste. We have been eating it mixed with yogurt and berries, you can add some to hot water for a sweet herbal tea, it is going so fast, I will need to make more soon.

pick dandelions in the morning

rinse gently

the work is in separating the petals from the flowerhead

squeeze and twist the green bottom

then pull out the petals

fill pot with boiling water

let sit overnight

drain and strain well

add lots of sugar and simmer on low until desired syrupy-ness (6hrs for this batch)

store in refrigerator

and enjoy where sweet is needed

Enjoy deliciousness!