Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Using basil in your Spring salad? Hell yes!

basil, organic basil, salad recipe, basil salad
In 2009, TheKithcn blogged about adding fresh basil to green salads. We couldn't agree more.

Traditionally thought of as an herb or spice element to accent dishes, we've found through experimentation that actually adding sliced basil (perhaps half a cup or so) to your salad adds a dimension of freshness and a zing that can replace lemon zest, and even the vinegar in your dressing.

As a big advocate of basil, I urge you to give it a shot. It perfectly compliments arugula and spinach salads. Plus, like I mentioned previously, you'll find that you may not need to use a vinegar based dressing. If fact, I (Don) have been able to convert my wife to become a "olive oil only" dressing user. The simpler, the better folks!


TIP: To avoid bruising the basil (yes it bruises), roll the leaves up before slicing. The result is clean, bruise-free strips of fresh basil. 

Monday, March 18, 2013

Quick Tip - How to keep radish fresh

radishes, fresh, crisp
Here's a quick tip to help keep radish, beets, carrots - pretty much any root vegetable.

When you get home from the store/farmers market/garden, chop the stems off the radishes.   Wash them in cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.

It's best to store them in your crisper drawer in a zip lock bag instead of the plastic bag you brought it home in.

This will help keep your radish (and other root veggies) fresh and crunchy for at least a week.