Posts tagged summer
nasturtium & crispy shallot salad
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i was hunting through old posts for a recipe i needed and i stumbled upon some vintage angela ramblings. it was some longwinded monologue on the fact that wesley and i are in a constant battle over style vs function. 

it got me to laughing about how nothing has really changed, and our garden has become as big of a battle ground as our kitchen. i'm all about introducing colors and flowers into the garden so that our eyes are as pleased as our pallets. but wesley only wants things in the garden that we can eat. 

well i found a solution to our conflict. lots of edible flowers. i get my florals, he gets his function. the only downfall is that we have way more nasturtiums than i know what to do with. so i'm getting creative. btw this is ONE of my areas with nasturtiums AFTER i harvested it. 

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wes has been raving about a few of the dishes at his new job and all of them seem so beautifully simple. so i took that idea to the nasturtiums. and the results were delightfully bright, spicy and crisp.

nasturtium & crispy shallot salad
serves: 2
prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 5 minutes
total time: 20 minutes
ingredients: 4 cups chopped nasturtium leaves. 2 cups nasturtium flowers. 1 shallot, sliced thin. .25 cup + 2 tbs olive oil. 3 tbs lemon juice. 2 tbs soy sauce. 2 garlic cloves, so finely minced they become a paste. 1 tbs brown sugar. .5 tsp kosher salt. .25 tsp pepper.

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start by combining the leaves and flowers in a salad bowl and setting it aside. 

to make the dressing, combine .25 cup olive oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar and pepper in a medium bowl and whisk until well combined. 

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set it aside with the greens. heat your remaining oil in medium pan. 

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season the shallots with the salt and add the shallots to the very hot oil. 

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you will know the oil is hot enough when you test one shallot and it sizzles the second it hits the pan. fry up the shallots till golden brown and crispy. about 5 minutes. 

remove them from the pan to a paper towel to remove any excess oil. 

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drizzle your salad with the dressing and toss well.

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top with crispy shallot and serve. 

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xo, a

nasturtium & crispy shallot salad
serves: 2
prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 5 minutes
total time: 20 minutes
ingredients: 4 cups chopped nasturtium leaves. 2 cups nasturtium flowers. 1 shallot, sliced thin. .25 cup + 2 tbs olive oil. 3 tbs lemon juice. 2 tbs soy sauce. 2 garlic cloves, so finely minced they become a paste. 1 tbs brown sugar. .5 tsp kosher salt. .25 tsp pepper.
start by combining the leaves and flowers in a salad bowl and setting it aside. to make the dressing, combine .25 cup olive oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar and pepper in a medium bowl and whisk until well combined. set it aside with the greens. heat your remaining oil in medium pan. season the shallots with the salt and add the shallots to the very hot oil. you will know the oil is hot enough when you test one shallot and it sizzles the second it hits the pan. fry up the shallots till golden brown and crispy. about 5 minutes.remove them from the pan to a paper towel to remove any excess oil. drizzle your salad with the dressing and toss well. top with crispy shallot and serve. 

mango + coconut pops

oh my. where do i even begin?

i guess i'll start by welcoming august, twenty sixteen. we are only two days in, but the air is very thick with excitement, change and gd humidity. 

then i'll have to move along to all the reasons this month is awesome. 

yesterday, i sent off my first invoices for images sold. yup. i sold some of my photos. no, that does not make me a sell out. that makes me a paid photographer b*tches! it only took me six years of practice to figure out what the hell i was doing. 

tomorrow, the winner of my first instagram contest with hoffman home & lifestyle will be announced. it has been wonderful to work with the family owned business i have idolized for years! the have been making fabric for almost a century and i'm thrilled they are expanding into home decor. you can still enter to win a stunning napkin + placemat set & gourmet goodies from me by following @newfoodtuesdayz & @hoffmanhome.life and tagging two friends in the comments section of any of our giveaway posts. come on. you know you want to. wink. 

and now, the real reason that this month is so magical... 

thursday morning, wes & i will hop on a plane to > toronto. where we will meet up with my brother albert & his gf kate. from there, we will purchase a bunch of booze in duty free and hop another flight to > rio, where my youngest brother joshua is already preparing to compete in his first OLYMPICS. yup. after twenty years of training, he has accomplished every athletes dream. no matter the medal outcome, he is an olympian. i'm awed by his drive and dedication. he has given his body, his time and his soul to the sport he loves and it shows. he is a true inspiration. 

so in honor of him, i'm going to spend my time in rio soaking up all the inspiration possible. from the food, to the culture & especially the olympic drive & emotion. 

i also plan on doing quite a bit of relaxing and enjoying time with family, since i've never actually taken an eighteen day vacation and family time is hard to come by. well, i guess i did have a three month unemployment vacation, but that wasn't exactly the same. that time was full of wedding planning and was not surrounded by sugarloaf or christ the redeemer. 

in honor of rio's tropical climate, where ironically it is winter but is till going to be eighty degrees fahrenheit while we are there, i whipped up some tasty mango + coconut pops. 

these pops are easy to make, adorable to serve and provide the perfect hot day snack for yourself or your kiddos. 

mango + coconut pops
serves: 6 pops
prep time: 10 minutes
freeze time: 5 hours
total time: 5 hours 10 minutes
ingredients: 1 large ripe mango, flesh scooped out + 2 tbs small chopped fresh mango reserved. 1 c pineapple juice. .5 c canned coconut milk. .5 c coconut water. 1 tbs powdered sugar. 2 tbs shredded coconut. 1 popsicle mold

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in the bowl of a food processor or blender, combine mango & pineapple juice. blend till pureed.
add in the chunks of of mango and stir just till combined. set the mango mixture aside. 

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in a medium sized bowl, combine the powdered sugar, coconut milk, coconut water and coconut chunks. whisk the mixture together well and set it with the bowl of mango puree. 

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fill your molds, alternating a little bit of mango puree followed by a little bit of coconut mix until your mold is full. 

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if you have molds that don't have fixed toppers, place your pops in the freezer for about 2 hours so the mixture is just slightly frozen. then pop in the sticks so they stay straight up. if you have fixed tops, pop them on and freeze the pops for 5 hours or until firm.

follow the mold instructions to remove your pops (usually running the molds under warm water for about 15 seconds) and serve. 

if you aren't eating all your pops you can reserve them in a plastic bag in the freezer for up to 2 months. 

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xoxo
a

mango + coconut pops
serves: 6 pops
prep time: 10 minutes
freeze time: 5 hours
total time: 5 hours 10 minutes
ingredients: 1 large ripe mango, flesh scooped out + 2 tbs small chopped fresh mango reserved. 1 c pineapple juice. .5 c canned coconut milk. .5 c coconut water. 1 tbs powdered sugar. 2 tbs shredded coconut. 1 popsicle mold.
in the bowl of a food processor or blender, combine mango & pineapple juice. blend till pureed.
add in the chunks of of mango and stir just till combined. set the mango mixture aside.
in a medium sized bowl, combine the powdered sugar, coconut milk, coconut water and coconut chunks. whisk the mixture together well and set it with the bowl of mango puree.
fill your molds, alternating a little bit of mango puree followed by a little bit of coconut mix until your mold is full.
if you have molds that don't have fixed toppers, place your pops in the freezer for about 2 hours so the mixture is just slightly frozen. then pop in the sticks so they stay straight up. if you have fixed tops, pop them on and freeze the pops for 5 hours or until firm.
follow the mold instructions to remove your pops (usually running the molds under warm water for about 15 seconds) and serve.
if you aren't eating all your pops you can reserve them in a plastic bag in the freezer for up to 2 months.