Green Eggs and Ham

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

In honour of this glorious day I’m making a classic green meal: Green Eggs and Ham! I wanted to make this two weeks ago for Dr. Seuss’s birthday (March 2nd) however I was distracted with my own birthday celebrations. Granted this isn’t exactly an Irish dish but I felt that making something green is still in the spirit of St. Pats. I found this recipe on www.foodnetwork.com as “Emerald Eggs” but I’m renaming them in honor of Seuss. Also, I made only two hardboiled eggs and eyeballed the other ingredients because I didn’t want to waste food if no one else wanted to eat them. As it turns out they were a success and  next time I’ll make enough to share! Tarragon makes this AMAZING.

Green Eggs and Ham

6 hard-boiled eggs
1/4 mayo, adjust to your tastes
2 tbsp tarragon
2 tbsp scallions
Salt, pepper, cayenne to taste
6 slices of ham ( i used rosemary ham, it was divine)

Directions

Peel hard-boiled eggs, then slice in half lengthwise. Remove yolks into a separate bowl. Add mayo, scallions and tarragon, mixing well. You can also use a food magic bullet or processor. Season with salt and pepper.

In the hollowed whites arrange slices of ham. Place yolk mixture on top of the ham. I garnished mine with a tiny sprig of parsley, and later with cayenne pepper because I love spice.

Serve and enjoy!

Lemon Dill Dressing

Still trying to use up that fresh dill before it goes bad. Here’s a simple salad dressing recipe:

Lemon Dill Dressing

3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 salt
1/4 pepper

Whisk together ingredients and serve. I used this over couscous, very yum. To add some colour garnish your salad with grated raw beets, delicious not to mention beets are good for digestion and hinder garlic breath.

Cucumber Dip

So we have this huge bushel of fresh dill in our fridge after Phil made Cajun Chicken Pasta, and lucky for me greek yogurt was on sale at Safeway today, thus I decided to try making a cucumber/tzatziki recipe. I used a recipe that called for one cup Greek yogurt and one cup sour cream, however I omitted the sour cream to be healthier - yay me! It tasted amazing but if you’re looking for that “authentic store bough/restaurant” tzatziki, add the sour cream.

Tzatziki Sauce
1 cup Greek Yogurt
1 small cucumber, seeded and diced
1 garlic clove ( I used two, was very garlicky but delicious)
1 tbsp fresh dill
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 white pepper
1/4 salt
1 tsp vinegar/lemon juice

In a food processor (or magic bullet!) combine oil, garlic, and cucumber. Cucumbers retain a lot of water so make sure to deseed yours first. Note: I forgot to do this the first time and my dip turned out very runny.

Add blended mixture to greek yogurt. Stir in salt, pepper, vinegar, and dill. For the best results let the dip stand in the fridge for an hour so the flavours can settle together. Mine tasted best the next day.

Just a little note, I’ve made this with and without a food processor/magic bullet. I only blended the cucumber/garlic mixture for a few seconds and I got that store-bought look and feel. This dish is about the flavours so it doesn’t matter if you blend or prepare the ingredients by hand, as long as you make sure to finely chop – no one likes to bite down on a hunk of garlic.

If you really want it to taste store-bought, go ahead and add 1 cup of sour cream, it thickens the dip and gives it a great flavour. Double the other ingredients if you’re adding sour cream.

A Letter to My Diet

Dear Carbohydrate Rich Foods,

The weekend was great but let’s get serious. It’s been fun, and lord knows we know how to throw an Oscar party, but did you really think this was going to last? Today is the beginning of a new week, and so begins a new stage in our relationship: trial separation.

It’s not over; it’s just on hold for the time being. We can still see each other; just not at every meal. I know you’ll understand … it’s not you, it’s me.

Love always,

Brenna