Summer of Herbs Part 2

We hope you were able to join Food ED for the “Using Up Herbs” pop up at the Farmers Market! If you didn’t make it, let me paint a picture for you: we set up the pop-up booth right next to our weekly food scrap drop-off tent and got to cooking! We whipped up green goddess dip and pesto in the food processor and a chimichurri in a mortar and pestle. RSVPed guests and passers-by enjoyed a pesto pasta salad, green goddess dip served with a bell pepper from Wild Rose Elementary school’s garden, and chimichurri on top of chickpeas.

You might be familiar with our pesto and green goddess dip recipes from our last blog post, but this week we have two more recipes to share with you! These recipes are a classic Chimichurri (the one we served at the farmer’s market) and a Mint Simple Syrup. The best thing about these recipes is their versatility. There are many unexpected ways to enjoy chimichurri. We love it with any kind of white beans or veggies. Our mint syrup is a favorite because the recipe can easily be used with other herbs to make any kind of syrup you’d like.

Chimichurri

Another recipe we have been loving is a bright Chimichurri. While this recipe is more traditional than the others that we’ve described, we serve it in a unique way: over top of beans! We’ve been loving it with cannellini beans or chickpeas for a fresh, summer side dish but can imagine it pairing well with all kinds of beans. If you want to go a more conventional route, this recipe would of course be great with meat or grilled veggies.  It’s a great way to use up any parsley you might have lingering in your fridge.

Ingredients

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon smoked paprika

½ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, (from about 1 bunch of parsley, coarse stems removed)

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, oregano, red pepper flakes, and smoked paprika. Stir in the parsley. Alternatively, you could combine the ingredients in a mortar and pestle or with a few pulses in a food processor. Season to taste and serve as a sauce over roasted or grilled vegetables.

Adapted from: https://www.loveandlemons.com/chimichurri-sauce/

Mint Simple Syrup

If you have a sweet tooth, our last recipe, mint syrup is the one to try. Our favorite way to use this is adding it to drinks like lemonade, mojitos, or maybe even a mocha (we haven’t tried this one yet so let us know if you do!). It can be used for so many things, including pastry making and in frozen desserts. If that wasn’t enough versatility, this syrup can be made with many different herbs of your choosing. Get creative with it!  

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 cup white sugar 

1 cup fresh mint leaves

Instructions

Combine water, sugar, and mint leaves in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 1 minute; remove from heat and let syrup steep, about 30 minutes.

Pour syrup into a sterilized glass jar through a mesh strainer to remove mint leaves; let cool.

To make sugar free, replace sugar with 1 Cup allulose monk fruit blend.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Adapted from: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/247478/mint-simple-syrup/

Thank you for taking the time to join us for our “Summer of Herbs”. Until next time, I’ll leave you with some sage advice: make these delicious recipes!