It started with a craving for grilled cheese. We had half a loaf of homemade bread, and plenty of cheese in the house - or so I thought. Upon investigation, however, the fridge held only a heel of Parmesan, an ounce or so of Calico (a local brand name for Colby Jack), and a small package of garlic-herb goat cheese.
The resourceful cook is a dauntless cook. A scanty larder is an opportunity for creativity. When life gives you cheese scraps, make 3-cheese grilled cheese sandwiches!
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| Parmesan, Calico, and goat cheese get equal billing |
All those lovely fats and carbs demanded a salad to appease the dietary conscience. While I was picking the lettuce, our friendly neighbourhood bumblebee hovered nearby, investigating the Creeping Charlie at the edge of the lettuce bed. Luckily the camera was handy in my apron pocket.
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| He's so big and fuzzy I'm tempted to call him a bunny bee. |
Salads are not made by lettuce alone. Ours included lemon thyme and chive blossoms from the planter garden, topped with a quick vinaigrette.
On the side: baked veggie fritters (chopped onion and bell pepper, with basil from the garden).
The cheeses melted together into a lovely creamy tangy blend. The salad was a delight to the eye and the palate. The fritters were peppery and redolent of basil.
It was a Very Good Lunch. :)
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Mmmmmmmmmmmm!
ReplyDeleteYum.
ReplyDeleteI like your philosophy on the scanty larder. So true.
When life gives you cheese scraps.....LOL.
Looks good!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a Very Good Lunch indeed. I am most intrigued by the chive blossoms in your salad because they have me thinking that a salad with flower blossoms might be fun for my daughter! And I've made potato fritters before, but honestly never thought to put other veggies in them... It is something I will have to try for sure!
ReplyDeleteThanks all! Claire - I started making veggie fritters with batter left over from a fish fry. I would just chop enough onion and pepper and parsley to mix in with whatever batter I had left, and drop spoonfuls into the hot oil. Then I developed a way to make them in the oven so we could avoid the hot splattering oil. (I wrote a post on it - should have linked to it in this post. Duh.)
ReplyDeletehttp://mrsmicawber.blogspot.com/2011/03/oven-baked-vegetable-fritters-gluten.html
If you try this recipe, feel free to add a bit of extra flour and/or water. It's a little scary the first time because it looks like there's no batter at all.
I've seen pictures of marigolds and pansies in salad too but never tried them.
I hadn't thought of chive blossoms in a salad, either. Do you think red onion blossoms might work, too? I've tried the cheese surprise sandwiches and in tomato soup, too. Yum!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure onion blossoms would taste good! Do the plants need them to feed the bulb? (Maybe I'm thinking of irises. No, that would be the leaves. Never mind.)
ReplyDeleteThe chive blossoms work out well for us because the stems get woody and really hard to chew when the plant blooms. It takes a while for more tender shoots to appear after it blooms. At least that's how mine behave!