First crop of the year

Please don't be jealous, oh ye who live in northern climes where there is still snow on the ground. We harvested our first vegetables from our garden this week. Radishes! Full disclosure - if it were up to me, we wouldn't have planted radishes since I'm not a big fan (another case of not really eating them when I was a kid and not having ever developed a taste for them). But we said "why not?" and today they were ready to be picked. (Whether they liked it or not - apparently there's some big slabs of concrete under our lawn/garden where there used to be a driveway, so the radishes only had so much room to grow down in before they hit rock.)



So here's what I did with them:


Radish and carrot salad:

Slice up some carrots, radishes, cucumber, and some of the radish greens (I also meant to put in some corn and red onion, but forgot). Toss it all together, coat with creamy dressing of your choice. Serve this spring-y deliciousness with whatever you want (we did Italian chicken and rosemary rice - recipes below).

Dressing (measurements approximate):
1/3 c. mayo
1/3 c. plain yogurt
1/4 c. sour cream
1/3 c. olive oil
3 tbs lemon juice
2 tsp sugar
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
pepper

Whisk together all ingredients. Add more of whatever you want to taste.

Italian chicken:

Chicken breasts
Italian dressing

Marinate chicken in dressing for 15-20 minutes, cook in pan on stove with marinade for another 15-20 or until done.

Rosemary rice:

Cook rice with rosemary and a dash of kosher salt.

-Thyme

Pumpkin Pear Carrot Bread

I am a huge fan of quick breads. I think they're a great way to use up certain types of fruits and veggies that are going bad, they're generally pretty healthy, and yet they're just a touch sweet and, well, they're bread. So today we had half a can of pureed pumpkin, 3/4 of a pear that my son wasn't going to finish, and some carrots that are getting past their prime. And since we were off to a birthday party with no present, we wanted to have some kind of offering.

So, keeping in mind that all of these measurements are estimates (I don't think I actually measured anything), here goes:

8 oz canned pumpkin
3/4 c. grated carrots
1/2 c. grated pear (apple would work great too)
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt (vanilla works good, too)
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg
walnuts

Stir it all together, put in two bread pans, bake at 350F for 50 minutes or so. Eat plain or with butter. You could also toss in craisins or raisins if you want.

-Thyme

Easy Peasy Chocolate Peanut Butter Treat

This is one of my favorites. Tastes just as good as a hard-to-make candy (with less sugar, I might add) or a store-bought one. But you don't have to leave home to get it. I could post pictures, but the time to take and post them would more than double the time for this "dish".


The Recipe:

1 big ol' spoonful of peanut butter

1 big ol' spoonful of chocolate chips or m&m's (I like dark chocolate myself)

Mix in bowl and eat off spoon. Or skip the bowl and just plant the chocolate right on the peanut buttery spoon.

Rosemary