We have a Ponderosa lemon tree that bears large, tart lemons throughout the year (if it had been my choice, I'd have opted for the sweeter Meyer lemon, but the tree predates us).
Anyway, here's some twists on lemonade by the glass.
Ingredients:
- 2 - 3 Tbs fresh lemon juice (depending on how tart you like it).
- 2 Tbs sugar (be generous here, especially when working with tart lemons).
- 8 oz of chilled water
Directions:
- Create your own "simple syrup" by dissolving the sugar with a few ounces of boiling water in the glass.
- Add the lemon juice.
- Add ice (or not; your choice) and top-off with chilled water.
Note: I originally posted this recipe specifying agave syrup instead of refined sugar. At that time, I believed it was a preferable sweetener. However, recent findings indicate that agave syrup is primarily fructose-based, and since fructose isn't directly digestible by the body, it ends up being removed by the liver. So, you can use agave if you prefer it's lower glycemic index, but be aware that it puts more load on your liver, too.)
Fun twists:
- Add some fresh, julienne-cut or crushed mint leaves.
- Add 1/3 glass of sparking water, which makes a refreshing spritzer.
- Add 1/4 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc, for a wine cooler.
À la vôtre!
Given in the course of simple existence that we will be faced with the decision, "Do I eat this product, which contains high fructose corn syrup, or find one like it that uses raw or refined sugar?" Which is the better choice? I was curious myself and found this article from HealthDay, which concludes, sugar is sugar and daily intake is what you want to manage! Seems like an obvious and intuitive conclusion - and this livestrong article backs it up.
Most people are familiar with sourdough bread, but did you know that you can make sourdough starter and bread easily at home? All that's necessary to get started is some whole grain flour, water, and a non-reactive bowl or jar.
Starter recipe & attribution: King Arthur Flour
No-knead Bread Recipe: Bittman, the NY Times (Tip: Use about 1/3rd cup of starter instead of the packaged yeast mentioned in the recipe).
Here's the kick-off!
Two Days Later
Here, we can see the texture is changing and bubbles are starting to appear, which is a good sign that fermentation is on track. At this point, another week of care and feeding - and then it should be possible to use this starter for baking!
About Two Weeks Later
Two weeks later, ready to rumble! I learned a lot about what to do better and why it took so long, too ;-) Basically, don't feed quite as often, use 1:1 ratio flour to warm water when feeding, and a warm environment is better (at least 72 degrees F or so).
The First Loaf
The first finished loaf (a little too crusty, because it was baked at 450 degrees F, but the flavor was just fine). Alongside some Moroccan chickpea stew (recipe & attribution: The Clean Dish).
The Third Loaf
Learning more refinements, the best loaf yet! A third of it was eaten right after it had cooled, it was that good. Nice and spongy, lots of air bubbles within, and just enough crust. This was baked at 400 degrees, instead of 450 degrees as described in the recipe, making the crust just right.
Some other observations:
- The starter has gotten better over time! After several care and feeding cycles, it's become more responsive and active, yielding effectively the same results as dry, store-bought yeast :-)
- Use flour specifically for "bread making" if it's available. It will yield better results. I've also mixed one cup whole wheat flour with two cups unbleached general purpose flour, and that works, but it results in a loaf that's more dense and with less rise. Some breadmakers say adding a tablespoon of oil to the dough mixture before baking helps in this case, but I haven't tried that yet.
I put this lunch together pretty easily at home, as I had all the ingredients on-hand. It was the first time I've made this Moroccan Chickpea Stew and I'll definitely make it again, it was really tasty!
Moroccan Chickpea Stew
Recipe & attribution: The Clean Dish.
Lunch Setting
From the left: Sauteed Swiss chard with tofu, MCS, and Lemon thyme sesame noodles.
Here are some vegetarian courses I tried at home that were quite good.
Roasted Vegetables
This one has cauliflower, sliced fingerling potatoes, de-seeded and chopped tomatoes, some garlic, and onion (drizzled with a little EVOO, sprinkled with salt, pepper, mixed, and baked at 400 deg F until slightly tender).
Grain Base
This is farro with black lentils (along with some sauteed onions and squash cubes, as shown). Since the farro and lentils take about the same amount of time to cook, I cooked them together in some veg broth, and it came out quite well. Particularly suitable as a bed to put other items on top of. I didn't find the onion & squash very complementary to this dish, so I won't do that again - sometimes you learn by making mistakes ;-)
Thai Style
Here's a Thai style dish, with peanut sauce and fresh mint.
Veggie Bowl
And here's some sauteed veggies over rice with a Sriracha drizzle on top, quite tasty!
