Cannellini beans in butternut squash broth with fried sage leaves

Sautéed onions, mushrooms, and kale

Roasted sweet potatoes with rosemary

  

BBQ hotdogs and watermelon 

 The Butterfly:
Cannellini beans in butternut squash broth with fried sage leaves

How and why do you fry sage leaves? 

I love sage by the way, it's grown in the wild here naturally, and my father collects it & dries it -- it's perfect for tonic herbal tea & for various food recipes (I mainly use it in white/creamy sauces and/or on heavy meats, like pork)!




Today I had my mother's Yemista (stuffed vegetables with rice)!!!!!! 

The 2nd best food in the world (I say 2nd because the first is my own Yemista, lol! xD But I only make them 1-2 times a year & I'm super perfectionist about it, so yeah xD )!


Here in Crete, we don't add meat to our yemista -- it's really so delicious on its own, with rice & vegetables, meat would be an overkill, really! In my family, we use ripe, flavourful, outdoor-grown tomatoes (this is the right time of year to find such tomatoes), various sweet peppers, small zucchinis, and (the highlight!) vine leaves, all stuffed with rice-vegetables-olive oil-herbs filling and roasted in a pan together in the oven. Also, another difference with mainland Greece is that here, most people (including my family) will usually serve yemista together with yogurt, not with feta cheese (but you better use traditional yogurt, from sheep's milk --the one with the "skin").

 Estelll is the Night Sky:
How and why do you fry sage leaves? 

I like to grow fresh sage as well.  Pick a few long, fat leaves, trim the stems and sauté gently in butter or olive oil until just turning crisp.  It takes less than a minute and they can scorch quickly. The fried leaves add a different flavor and texture than fresh sage, especially in the now flavored butter or olive oil.  This is also really good over cheese or veggie ravioli with a little parmesan on top.  You can also make the leaves and butter into a sauce with a little pasta water added to it, cooked down some and then tossed with a pasta like fettuccini-- again with some parmesan or your favorite cheese tossed in and some coarsely ground black pepper.  Crispy bits of bacon would put it over the top. :)

Some people deep fry the sage or use a flour and egg coating before deep frying or sautéing.  I've been thinking about trying the fried coated sage but haven't yet.

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Yemista sounds really good.  No vine leaves here or goat's yogurt to be found.  I'd have to make a variation on the traditional recipe.  Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!  :)

 

Spaghetti carbonara (cheap low calorie microwave kind lollll)

 The Butterfly:
Yemista sounds really good. No vine leaves here or goat's yogurt to be found. I'd have to make a variation on the traditional recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! :)

But I didn't share my recipe though! The one I linked above (this one) is just one I've found online and it's fairly decent. I do have my own tricks to make them even more special. But the one linked is a fairly good start if you wanna try!! :) Enjoy!! 



 The Butterfly:
I like to grow fresh sage as well. Pick a few long, fat leaves, trim the stems and sauté gently in butter or olive oil until just turning crisp. It takes less than a minute and they can scorch quickly. The fried leaves add a different flavor and texture than fresh sage, especially in the now flavored butter or olive oil. This is also really good over cheese or veggie ravioli with a little parmesan on top. You can also make the leaves and butter into a sauce with a little pasta water added to it, cooked down some and then tossed with a pasta like fettuccini-- again with some parmesan or your favorite cheese tossed in and some coarsely ground black pepper. Crispy bits of bacon would put it over the top. :)

Thank you very much for the recipes!! These sounds a lot with what I do with pasta when in a hurry, with the difference being I always add the (usually dried) sage leaves sprinkled on top after I finish cooking or right before the end of cooking... I've never thought about sautéing it or frying it! I'll try it & see how it goes! :)

 aftertherain:
Spaghetti carbonara (cheap low calorie microwave kind lollll)

Sage is also my personal must-have ingredient in (egg) carbonara, btw!! 

(Oh, and my "secret" ingredient in kima/keema/bolognese/ragù meat sauce --whatever you wanna call it)

Two peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches with pretzels and a glass of water.

Had a Canada Day BBQ with the family yesterday. Spicy tandoori chicken, burgers (with lettuce from our own garden), hot dogs, corn, hard lemonade and wine :) 

Just salad and some fish with soy sauce :)

Fast food night

I put on a medium pot of water for pasta.  I chopped up two small zucchinis, 4 Roma tomatoes, two scallions/green onions  I threw them into a skillet with heated olive oil and let them start softening.  Seasoned with some oregano, basil, salt, pepper, a half of a small clove of garlic grated and a few red pepper flakes.  Cooked it down some then added a can of drained/rinsed chickpeas and a shot of mirin.  By now I'd added angel hair pasta (takes about 5 minutes to cook) to the boiling salted water.  When the veggies and beans were starting to dry I added a pat of butter, let it melt, stirring into the mix and then added some pasta water and stirred.  Drained the pasta and added to the chickpea/veggie mix.  Gave it a few good tosses and served.  I added some grated parmesan on top of mine.  Hubby ate his with some  Pepperoncini peppers.  I call it fast because the nearest fast food joint around here is 10-20 minutes away and this dinner took as long as the pot of water needed to heat and the angel hair needed to cook-15 to 20 minutes--tops.  :)

Last night I had a vegetarian lentil cottage pie, and tonight I should be having sweet and sour chicken with rice. 

Lemon garlic baked salmon steaks with roasted vegetables (potatoes, mushrooms and asparagus).