Making a Vinaigrette

1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.

1. Start with a clean bottle (or bowl, or ramekin, or glass, or whatever you prefer to use) and add your base oil. I usually use either olive oil or grape seed oil, but if you want to get fancy, walnut oil is nice too…
2. Add your preferred vinegar (I’m using balsamic here, but some people like red wine vinegar or cider vinegar, or even white vinegar), about 1/6 as much as there is oil, and a spoonful or so of good Dijon mustard.
3. Then add the basic flavors to taste, like salt, pepper and garlic.
4. Of course, you can add other flavors and herbs and spices, for this particular dressing I’m using a hybrid lemon/orange from the garden as well as some fresh basil, oregano and marjoram. You can also add something to sweeten it like honey or maple syrup, which goes nicely with bitter greens.
5. Chop up/juice all the additional ingredients, and add them in. Use a little more oil to wash out the funnel, if needed.
6. Finally, shake or stir it up well and serve over the salad of your choice. Refrigerate any left over, and bring it back to room temperature before serving.

Penne with Tomato and Meat Sauce

The sauce started with some I made in January and froze that was made from patty pan squash and tomatoes from the garden (possibly those in the header!) as well as some home-made spicy meatballs. To freshen it, I fried some ground beef and crimini mushrooms in onions and garlic and olive oil, and added a little fresh asparagus left over from last week, as well a small can of tomato sauce and a healthy handful of fresh cherry tomatoes, topped it off with some fresh basil, and oregano, marjoram and thyme from the garden, and let it all simmer together for awhile to really develop some flavor. The penne’s a healthy flax/multi-grain sort, also from TJ’s. We’ve decided that the whole grain pasta tastes better, despite being healthier. Served with shaved Parmesan over the top, of course, in a big bowl.