The Tomato Challenge Recipe #2
This is the Second recipe in the Tomato Challenge. Read the Tomato Challenge Blog post here. You can see the whole challenge here on YouTube.
This recipe can be easily converted to vegan by using plant based cheeses and substituting the honey with vegan honey or beet sugar.
Stewed Zucchini
Ingredients
4 c water
4 c Ice water
3 small tomatoes
2 small yellow squash
1 medium Zucchini
1 medium onion
3 cloves of garlic (minced)
½ t. crushed red pepper
2 T Extra virgin olive oil
2 T. Fresh Basil, (chopped)
1 T fresh Oregano (chopped)
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 t. Balsamic vinegar
1 t. honey
1 T shredded parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Bring 4 c. water to a boil in a sauce pan. Fill a bowl with the ice water and set aside. Place the tomatoes in the boiling water and allow to simmer until the skins begin to crack. When skins crack open, remove the tomatoes from the pan with a slotted spoon and place immediately in the ice water bath to stop the cooking process and allow to cool. (You can also roast the tomatoes to loosen the skins or skip this step, and go straight to chopping your tomatoes along with the other veggies if you’re in a hurry, but you will have bits of rolled up tomato skins in your dish.)
Rinse the zucchini and yellow squash. Remove the ends, and chop into 1-inch pieces. Peel the onion, remove the ends, and chop into 1-inch pieces. When the tomatoes are cooled, peel off the loose skins, remove the stem and blossom ends and chop the tomatoes into 1-inch pieces. Set aside.
In a large skillet, heat the extra-virgin olive oil and add the onions. Let the onions cook, stirring occasionally until they become tender and transparent. Stir in the crushed red pepper and the garlic. Sauté for a minute or two until the garlic becomes deliciously fragrant.
Add the zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes. Stir to combine. Add the basil and oregano and season with salt and pepper. Pour in the can of tomato sauce and stir. Add the honey and the balsamic vinegar. Stir.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and allow the mixture to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the liquid has reduced and thickened.
Sprinkle the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses on top of the mixture—do not stir it in. Season again with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and cover the pan to allow the cheese to melt before serving.
This is the 1st recipe of the Tomato Challenge. Read the Tomato Challenge Blog post here. Click here to see the whole challenge on YouTube.
Mixed Greens Garden Salad with Dried Cherries, Feta, and Microgreens
6-8 cups of chopped lettuce greens
4-5 slices red onion. Cut each slice in to 1-inch segments
½ cucumber, thinly sliced
2 or 3 thin slices of red cabbage
2 or 3 small ripe tomatoes, diced
½ c dried cherries or cranberries
½ c crumbled feta cheese
A handful of microgreens
Place Lettuce, onion, cucumber, red cabbage, and tomatoes in a salad bowl. Toss to combine. To the top of the salad add dried cherries, feta cheese and microgreens. Do not stir in. Dress with olive oil and vinegar or your favorite salad dressing.
It’s a cold wintry day, and getting colder. Winter Storm Elliot is forecasted to bring minus 50-degree wind chills to Nebraska overnight. The furnace is churning away, and with the help of a warm sweatshirt and cozy socks, it’s keeping the cold at bay for the most part. Still, what better way to take the edge off the chill, than to brew up a hot, fragrant, cup of lemony, gingery gunpowder green tea, and curl up with a good book for the afternoon?
Choosing tea ingredients
My tea blend of choice is very much dependent on my mood. I will throw in ingredients one at a time based on what seems good that day. Choosing the ingredients thoughtfully is part of the experience of tea for me. So is choosing the brewing method, and even the mug for the tea. Today I’m using a mug and tea infuser set that my son gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago. Using the mug always makes me think of him and the thoughtful way he approaches gift giving.
Whenever possible, I prefer to grow and dry my own herbs. Today’s blend of gunpowder green tea with lemon, ginger, and sage is no exception.
The actual tea leaves I buy in bulk from organic sources online. Tea is grown, harvested, and processed using specific methods, that I can’t do from home. Gunpowder green tea gets its name from the small round pellet shape that is the result of rolling the tea leaves. As the tea steeps, the little “pellets” unroll into pretty green leaves.
The lemons I purchased and dehydrated at home. The same is true for the ginger.
The sage I grew in my kitchen hydroponic garden and dehydrated the leaves for both cooking and making teas. Adding savory herbs to teas has been a game changer for me. You might not think of sage as a tea flavor, but once you try it you’ll love the depth of flavor it adds without overpowering the blend. I have also used oregano, parsley, and celery in the same way with great results. Keep an eye on this blog for those recipes!
Recipe: Gunpowder Green Tea with Lemon, Ginger, and Sage
Ingredients:
I used about a tablespoon each of:
- gunpowder green tea
- dried lemon slices (you could also use dried or fresh lemon peel if you don’t have dried slices)
- dried ginger
- dried sage
Instructions:
Add the ingredients to the infuser one at a time, taking a moment to crush the sage leaves to release the fragrance and flavors of the sage.
For green tea, you want the water temperature to be around 175 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. I don’t obsess over the temperature much, just bring the water to a full boil, and then let it settle for a minute or two before pouring it over the blend of tea and herbs.
I like my tea on the strong side, so I let it steep up to 10 minutes, but you don’t have to go that long. Anywhere from 5-10 minutes will get you a flavorful tea to enjoy.
When you’re ready, lift the infuser and let it drain out into the mug.
I found that this tea was perfect as is and did not need to be sweetened, but you can add some honey or sugar. If you like your tea sweet, Belgian Rock Sugar is a great vegan (no animal ingredients or processes) option.
I garnished my tea with a fresh lemon slice, fresh ginger slice, and a couple of fresh sage leaves. This added a pretty touch and a fresh aromatic boost to this already fragrant tea!
A link to my video of the Gunpowder Green Tea with Lemon, Ginger, and Sage is below. Be sure to like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. If you try this tea, please leave a comment below with your thoughts!
Enjoy and stay warm!
