Mango salsa with lavender honey

Why have I even made this? Mangoes are nowhere near local, but they showed up in ripe little packets at the grocery store and I couldn't avert my eyes. I threw a burrito party (well a "tex-mex" party) but it was kind of hard to come by many of the standard ingredients such as corn tortillas and seranno chilies and good salsa, and sigh.

I've made mango salsa, peach salsa, strawberry-kiwi salsa, pineapple salsa, chipotle salsa, and just regular pico de gallo. Keep combining and trying until you find something you like. Tomatoes (or fruit), some onions or garlic for bite, bell peppers to increase volume, cilantro, a bit of salt, and lime juice for balance, and any kind of chili pepper for heat.

This is a chop and dump recipe. Chop everything finely (or food process) and then add to a medium sauce pan.  Heat up to get everything set. It will last up to a week in the fridge; it stores excellently in the freezer.

I cut everything by hand, but I'm sure if you have a food processor it would make everything easy.

Mango salsa with a touch of lavender honey
Yield: about 2 cups or more.

Ingredients:
1 jumbo ripe mango, or at least 2 medium ones, finely diced
3/4 cup very finely chopped red and green bell peppers
2 shallots, finely diced
1-2 serrano chilies, remove all seeds and veins using a knife and a small spoon (grapefruit spoons work very well); alternatively plastic gloves are a good choice. Discard the seeds and veins, but don't throw them in the sink because once you turn the water on the spices can aerosolize and make you cough badly.
1 tsp or less salt
juice of 1 small-medium lime, and a bit of grated lime zest
1 tsp of lavender honey (any honey will do fine)
2 tbsp or more chopped cilantro
splash tequila (optional)

Directions:
Put everything in a pot and heat up gradually over medium-high heat. I let it cook 10 minutes. If you leave it the bell peppers lose a bit of color. Adjust for salt, and stir in the honey once it's cooled down a bit. I funnel the salsa into glass jars and store remainders in the freezer.

Baked potatoes with lemon, feta, and herbs

Before the holiday break, the hubs and I were invited over for a Christmas party. We ate baked trout that was steamed in foil packets. The seasonings were simple: bay leaves, lemon slices, delicate garlic slices, and olive oil. It was divine. I try not to be judgmental with my vegetarian ways but hot damn that fish was unlike anything that could ever be recreated in the plant kingdom. So sometimes I cheat, but my vegetarian self always wins. I had to recreate those flavors. My idle time is not spent being bored. I got to work.

I use new potatoes, garlic, shallots, lots of fresh chopped parsley, lemon, capers, red kidney beans, generous pours of olive oil and capers. I carefully arrange everything in small cute foil pouches, and then away they go into the oven coming back steaming an hour later. 

Oh heaven. This is vegetarian comfort food. Just in time for Valentine's Day too. I'll cook you this meal if you can come up with a prettier name than what I named it =-). Yes. They are not really cute, the foil gives them a rather industrial appearance, but trust me these are delicious.


Unwrapped baked potatoes








I really wanted to make these last two images an animated gif. I resisted.

Baked potatoes with lemon, feta, and herbs

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 packet of aluminum foil, or enough for 4 10" by 10" squares

4-6 small-medium new potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2" rounds

scant 1 cup fresh chopped parsley, can sub chopped dill
1/3 cup chopped shallots

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

1 lemon sliced (enough for 1-2 slices in each pouch)

4 bay leaves

1-2 tsp capers (do not rinse them)

1/2 cup feta cheese 

1-2 cups cooked kidney beans (canned beans are fine)

olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 º F; arrange everything on a plate, and then lay out foil squares (10" by 10"). 

2. The order in which the ingredients go don't really matter, although it's probably easiest to start with the potatoes. Pour a bit of olive oil onto the middle of the foil. Place a bay leaf on top and then place about 6 slices of potatoes on top. Top with parsley, shallots, capers, garlic and lemon slices. Arrange feta cheese and beans on top. Pour a generous glug of olive oil over the top, crack some fresh black pepper on top, and then fold into pouches like folding an envelope.

Repeat with the ingredients to make 4 pouches. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for an hour or less. Serve with some warm crusty bread to soak up the juices.