I really wanted to make it to 31 recipes this month since there were 31 days. I took a look at my recipe count on Monday and decided I needed 3 more. From #42 to #73. After all, if you subtract 42 from 73, you get 31. I knew that counting worked differently, but I didn't really think about it when I was trying to figure out what I was going to make next. Tonight, I counted.
I made 32 recipes in the month of March. Today is the 90th day of the year. I'm behind by 17 recipes.
Tonight I made three recipes. I started off by making (#71) Shredded Root Vegetable Pancakes. I found this recipe when I was searching for a way to use a beet I had leftover from making beet risotto. Alex was tired of beets, so I didn't want to just eat it by itself. This recipe was perfect because it used the beet and the turnip I had leftover from the Beef and Guinness Stew, in addition to two carrots. I added a little leafy fennel instead of the dill, used dried onions and scallions instead of fresh chopped, and omitted the horseradish. I cooked the pancakes in the bacon grease from the two strips of bacon I used.
Shredded Root Vegetable Pancakes with beefI liked these; Alex liked them (I think), but was still just a little tired of beets. I thought it was a good way to have the flavor of the vegetables without them being overwhelming. I think that including the bacon was an important thing to do. The first batch of pancakes soaked up most of the bacon grease - they were sizzling when I pulled them out of the oven, unlike the others. I'll make these again whenever I have a few extra vegetables.
*****
Tomorrow we have a potluck at work, and I had trouble coming up with something to make. It's supposed to be 75 degrees tomorrow, and my office is a little too warm even when it's cool. I was searching for something spring-y, and I found a recipe that I came to really want to make - (#72) Mint and Pea Hummus.
This recipe cooked pretty much as described. I used frozen peas and homemade vegetable stock. I don't know why the recipe says that it makes 1 and a half cups, though - it makes 4 cups, equal to the amount of peas you put in.
Mint and Pea HummusI like this. I'm not always a fan of mint, but it's grown on me in savory dishes, including this one. This is a nice, fresh taste. I don't particularly notice the tahini in this. Honestly, I haven't tried it with pita bread yet because I don't have any other than what I'm taking to work, but I sure enjoyed licking the spoon. This is definitely a more refreshing taste than regular chickpea hummus. I'm not sure if it'll make it into my regular queue of things I make for snacks, but it's a nice change of pace.
*****
While I was searching for spring flavors, I came across a recipe for strawberry muffins. (Yes, more muffins.) I've never seen a recipe for strawberry muffins, so I'm excited to have found this one. The recipe was actually for Strawberry-Orange Muffins, but they had a variation that jumped out at me - (#73) Strawberry-Basil Muffins - because I have some leftover basil. I made this according to the recipe - I can't identify any adjustments I made to it.
Strawberry-Basil MuffinsThese are tender, soft muffins. They feel hearty and healthy. They do remind me of the fig muffins I made earlier in the month, probably because of the whole-wheat flour. That's not a bad thing! I don't think I mixed in my strawberries and basil evenly, because I lacked fruit in a few bites of my muffin - it also looks like one or two muffins are a little overloaded. The bites with fruit or basil are tasty. Berries and basil are a combination that wasn't intuitive to me, but they really are nice together. The basil provides a deeper flavor for the strawberry to build upon. (Fresh basil in a berry smoothie is excellent!)
They're not as sweet or rich as the chocolate chip muffins I made over the weekend, but this recipe is the one I'd rather have for breakfast because it's more filling (and I like healthier things for breakfast). I'm looking forward to trying the recipe with orange and seeing how that turns out.
Leave a Reply