Tarragon and Chives

 We had a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes this summer.  I was only going to buy one cherry tomato plant but ended up with four different varieties, tomato plant retail therapy-I guess.  They all produced pretty well but two were outstanding, A+.  The little yellow and red round cherry tomatoes ended up in just about everything I put on the table this summer.  The exotic bright orange and yellow pear tomatoes were good but not big producers but I'm okay with that as the other two plants picked up the slack. Yesterday I made another salad recipe featuring-guess what!  I love Greek salads and this salad has just about everything except the salty black olives but they could easily be added.  I'm really into this block feta cheese cut in slices placed over the salad, then you can kind of 'do your own thing' with the feta as you eat your way through this delicious summery green bean salad.   Greek Style Green Bean Salad Serves 4, generously 1 pound ...

 We have bowls of tomatoes from our garden staged on the kitchen counter- waiting to be eaten or shared, either way-all good.  I've been on the lookout for new to me recipes using my tomatoes and this one for Greek style tomato rice is a five star ⭐️ winner.  I made a few adaptions to the original I found in a magazine that I have been hanging onto for way too long.  The rice will be fairly soupy, not like my photo which was taken the day after I served the recipe but I wanted to share because-so good.  And the day after greek stye tomato rice is still exceptional and would make a nice starter or first course before dinner.  The feta cheese on top is bomb 💣 and I loved using Ouzo instead of wine for the rice.  I used chopped early girl tomatoes, fresh oregano, shallots, Ouzo, Arborio rice, tomato paste, lemon juice, olive oil and butter in my tomato rice.  Check out my recipe. Ingredients and Recipe for Greek Style Tomato Rice Serves 3-4 2-3...

Quinoa tossed with any kind of vegetable, nut, herbs or cheese makes a simple satisfying lunch. The very first time I tasted steamed quinoa was in a green salad with shredded carrots, sliced toasted almonds and an Asian style dressing, I was hooked on it's nutty flavor and from that day I have always included a bag of quinoa in my pantry. Quinoa, which is a grain, cooks much like rice, except it takes less time. It needs to be fluffed with a fork after it's steamed and then can easily be added to a salad. Ingredients for Quinoa Salad with Zucchini, pistachios, Mint and Feta s erves 3-4 1&1/2 cups water 1 cup quinoa 2 zucchini, thinly sliced 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced and chopped 3 scallions, white parts minced  1/3 cup raw pistachios  1 small lime,  juiced extra virgin olive oil 1/3 cup minced parsley and mint, plus extra for sprinkling on top of salad 1/2 cup Bulgarian feta, plus extra for sprinkling on top of salad 3-4 cups arugula Sea salt and freshly...

Feta mashed potato cakes made with left over Greek mashed potatoes from last night's dinner, which were so delicious all on their own.  I added a simple avocado tomato salad to bring these humble potato cakes to life. First I'm sharing the mashed potato recipe then the very simple potato cakes and finally the topper fresh avocado tomato salad that I served for today's lunch. Mashed Potatoes with Feta  4 medium size Yukon Gold potatoes 1 garlic clove, minced 1/4 cup plus 2 T extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup Greek yogurt 3 T milk 8 oz Feta cheese, crumbled 2 T finely chopped parsley Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain, cool and slip the skins off. Put the potatoes in a large glass bowl and mash with a potato masher. Gradually add the garlic, oil, yogurt, milk and feta cheese, mashing together until smooth and blended. Add the parsley, season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot, use the left...