Jun

24

Zucchini and Swiss chard soup

June 24, 2009 | 1 Comment

This year my garden is fantastic. I should really thank my husband and my child for the efforts they put in, and the great results they achieved. As some of you might know I find myself full of zucchini and zucchini flowers everyday.  While I’ve decided to let “some” of the flowers go, I still have to find a way to eat my zucchini, and at the same time not get tired of them. So far I prepared fried zucchini flowers, pasta with flowers and zucchini, zucchini in tegame, risotto with zucchini flowers, zucchini salad, zucchini in carpione and so on. The recipe I liked the most though, is this simple zucchini and Swiss chard soup that I often make for my son. He loves vegetable soups, especially if I turn them into a minestrina with small pasta. This latest soup is one of his favorites, so as long as we have fresh zucchini in the garden I’ll prepare it often. Read more

Jun

15

Millet balls with cucumber salad

June 15, 2009 | 2 Comments

I usually eat carbs for lunch and a salad or vegetables, but I easily get bored of the same old pasta or rice so I like to vary my diet with different grains. During the summer it’s easier to prepare interesting and fanciful dishes thanks to the wide range of vegetables in season so the challenge not to prepare the same dish over and over again becomes easier.

I usually don’t plan my meals in advance and when it’s almost time to eat I have to come up with an idea and a FAST one if I don’t want to hear my hungry child yelling “I’m hungry I want to eat NOW”. I can’t help it but I sometimes risk and decide to prepare a more elaborate time consuming dish at the last minute like this millet balls with cucumber salad and he just has to wait though it’s definitely worth it. Read more

Jun

7

Hummus with crudités

June 7, 2009 | 2 Comments

Hummus is a Middle Eastern specialty commonly served together with a variety of appetizers, dips, salads at the beginning of a festive meal and they are called mezze or meze.
The dip is now known worldwide and it’s eaten accompanied with fresh or toasted pita bread or fresh vegetables. It’s a great snack or appetizer even if I often eat it as a main course with fresh vegetables. It’s very healthy and tasty and I never tire of it.

The first time I ate it was about 12 years ago when a take out Syrian restaurant opened in Verona. It was a small family restaurant the first of its kind in the city. They made pita bread from scratch and all the dishes were well selected and lovingly prepared. Unfortunately the restaurant didn’t take off and after awhile they closed. I’m still dreaming about those dishes: kebabs with falafel balls, hummus or Baba Ghannoouj and other appetizers whose names I unfortunately don’t remember. They were particular to me because they used unusual ingredients like pomegranate juice to season the meat or a yogurt garlic sauce to add in the kebabs. I’m pretty sure that in Milan, Rome or in other larger Italian cities I could find the similar dishes, but then that is too far to go for lunch.  In the meantime I’ll try to make my own sometimes with success and sometimes not, and sooner or later I’m sure the restaurant I’m looking for will open again here in Verona. Read more

May

31

Green apple and walnut salad

May 31, 2009 | 2 Comments

The weather has been so warm lately that I decided to lock up the heavy winter food and start eating lighter fresher foods and salads are on the top of that list. I’m always searching for as many salad recipes as possible and I ate a very good one the other week while in Valle d’Aosta. We were at a restaurant and we chose green apple walnut salad as an appetizer. It was a really simple and refreshing dish, flavors were well balanced so I made it again at home. It tasted just like at  the restaurant so I evidently guessed the right proportions. I used granny smith apples, crunchy green celery and walnuts from Sorrento. The choice of the lemon is also important, buy it fresh don’t use bottled juice.

I should consume more apples instead I always underestimate the beneficial qualities of this fruit.  Apples in fact have many healthy properties some of them I didn’t know about. They help digestion something that was already well known by the Romans. They’re an energy source like carbohydrates but low in calories they also contains a good quantity of vitamins and minerals. They are a natural treatment for your teeth thanks to fruit acid and fibers they clean your teeth, so it is a good habit to eat an apple after your meal if you forgot your toothbrush. I guess the proverb “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” maybe is not so far from truth. Read more

May

22

Feverfew Cake

May 22, 2009 | 5 Comments

I know it’s not a refreshing dish with summer drawing near as this is baked in the oven, however feverfew herb is at the end of the season and I really wanted to share this recipe before it’s gone. Feverfew (Tanacetum Parthenium) in Italian “erba madre” or “erba maresina” is a perennial herb that grows wild in our surroundings. It’s mainly used for its medical properties to cure headache and fever but here in Veneto we use it for cooking. It is in fact used in fritters or cakes. I knew the fritters but I had never heard of the cake.

Last year at the Festa della sparasina, “The wild asparagus Festival” I discovered this cake and I definitely got addicted to it in a hurry. It was really a simple cake not overly sweet with an aromatic flavor thanks to the herb. With great surprise I found some plants of feverfew growing wild in my garden as well as in the neighbors’. I asked them if they could give me the recipe for the cake and they did. I tried it and a few others I had found but none resembled the cake I tasted at the Festa della sparasina. Read more




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