04 August 2013

Summertime and the living is busy






A friend called up the other day and asked me if I was fasting. ha ha..... I told him I was quite busy summering and eating, mostly summering. Meghan, too, has been quite busy being a new mother, but we have not forgotten you. In fact, so much is going on that I will have to control my writing and recipes. The gardens have finally taken off and with them all the weeds. Gardening the natural way means keeping a daily routine of hand weeding. Not my favorite thing to do. I much rather harvest and cook. The rains have finally stopped, enabling us to cut hay so some days are spent unloading wagons. To me, it is great exercise. We also built a beautiful stonewall around our home. I rarely sit down for a meal these days but make dishes that last a few days and I can eat on the go. Here is one of my favorites.

PS  Can you guess what vegetable is coming in like crazy now? Be prepared for some wild recipe zingers in a few days.

Summer Rice Salad - Great for leftovers. Feel free to experiment with your own additions. Sometimes I use dried cranberries and raw vegetables. It is the dressing that is yum.

  • 4 cups water
  • 2 cups uncooked white rice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 cup fresh orange juice ( I squeezed one large orange)
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 4 teaspoons grated orange peel
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3 medium tomatoes chopped or 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 regular cucumber chopped or 4 small pickling cucumbers, diced (about 1 cup)
  • 1/2 cup of pecans chopped
  • 1/2 cup dried currants
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
  • 8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled ( optional)

preparation

Bring 4 cups water, rice, and salt to boil in heavy medium saucepan over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook until rice is tender and water is absorbed, about 20/30 minutes. Uncover saucepan and cook rice over very low heat until dry, about 5 minutes. Transfer rice to large bowl and cool to room temperature.
Whisk orange juice and next 5 ingredients in small bowl to blend.
Add halved tomatoes, cucumbers, currants, mint, and feta to rice in large bowl. Add dressing; toss to blend. (Can be made 8 hours ahead; cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature and toss before serving.)


Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Summer-Rice-Salad-with-Feta-Citrus-and-Mint-108284#ixzz2awMcFUUs

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