Cupcake Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil (I use melted coconut oil because of the health benefits)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 5-7 or so medium carrots = 4 cups of shredded carrot

• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 1/2 cup salted butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease the cups of 3 mini cupcake pans.

First peel the carrots, then shred the carrots on a box grater or using the grater attachment on a food processor.  Measure out and beat the sugars, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add flour, spices, baking soda, and salt and mix well.  Stir the carrots and the chopped nuts into the batter and spoon into the greased muffin tins.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, remove when a skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

To make frosting, add softened butter and cream cheese to the rest of the ingredients in a food processor or mixer and blend until combined. Add less sugar for a softer frosting, add more sugar to firm up frosting.

When cupcakes have cooled, ice with frosting and top with a chocolate egg or half a nut.

Makes 36 mini cupcakes

~

Participating in these link parties: Between Naps on the Porch, Tip Junkie, Not Just a Housewife , The Thrifty Home, Savvy Southern Style, Delightful Order, My Romantic Home, Funky Junk Interiors, Under the Table Dreaming, Nifty Thrifty Things.

Ingredients: 

• 12 organic lemons
• coarse Kosher salt

Directions:

1. Scrub the lemons under running water with a vegetable or nail brush to get the rind nice and clean.  Then cut the stems and ends off the lemons.

2. Score each lemon into a star: start by making a cut through the lemon from the top down to almost the bottom, but don’t slice all the way through.  Leave enough remaining so that the lemon stays attached.  Cut again twice more, to get a star shape.

3. Pack the insides of the star with lots of coarse salt.  Don’t be afraid of the salt it’s not going to become overly salty if you use too much.  Just go for it!

4. Now pack the lemons into clean, sterilized jars.  Really squish them in there so that the juices start to cover the lemons.  Add extra fresh lemon juice if you need to top each jar up so that all the  lemons are completely covered.  Keep squishing down the lemons over the next couple of days to get more juices out and covering the fruit.

5. Let sit for a month in a cold place like the fridge until the rinds soften.

To use the preserved lemons, rinse under cold running water and remove the pulp.  The pulp can be squeezed for it’s juice, but generally the rind is what is used.  Slice or dice the rind to add to recipes like this one: Chicken Tagine with Green Olives and Preserved Lemon. Yum!

Ingredients:

• 3 large rhubarb stalks, cut into 1-inch-long pieces (~7 cups).  Pick stalks with lots of red on them for pink sorbet.
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon rum

Put everything but the rum in a large saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until rhubarb is tender (about 10 minutes).  Don’t overcook or you’ll lose the nice pink colour.

Using an immersion blender, purée until smooth (or pour into the regular blender in batches – be careful -it’s HOT). Cool purée in the fridge until cold to the touch. Add the rum and stir well; alcohol will help the sorbet remain soft enough to scoop.  Freeze purée in an ice cream maker as per the machine’s instructions.  To harden, transfer the sorbet to an airtight container and store in the freezer.

Rhubarb is a great garden producer, and tasty too.  Check out all the posts on rhubarb here.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups of quinoa
• 1-1/2 cups canned black beans
• 1/3 cup carrots, finely diced
• 1/3 cup snow peas, finely diced
• 1/3 cup snap beans, finely diced
• 1/3 cup feta cheese, chopped into small cubes
• 1/3 cup kalamata olives, pitted and rough chopped
• 1/2 cup leeks
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the quinoa according to package directions, taking care to rinse at least five times before cooking to eliminate bitterness. In a separate pan, saute leeks in olive oil until soft and set aside to cool.  Meanwhile combine apple cider vinegar and well-rinsed black beans together in the salad bowl you will be using.  Let the beans marinate until the quinoa is cooked and cooled, then drain the beans and assemble the salad by combining the beans, quinoa and chopped veggies.  Stir to combine and drizzle with a dressing made of lemon juice and a good quality olive oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Store in the refrigerator and serve as a healthy lunches or a side dish to chicken or pork.

Ingredients:

• 4 fresh Italian sausages
• 2 cups dry orzo (I use kamut but whole wheat would be great too)
• 3 cloves garlic – crushed
• 4 cups cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup sliced pitted green olives
• 1 cup green beans
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh parmesan

Directions: Put a large pot of water on the stove for the orzo and set to high. 

Add garlic and olive oil into a heavy bottomed skillet and set on medium high until sizzling.  Add whole cherry tomatoes (I used the frozen ones from my summer harvest and put them right in frozen), chopped green beans and the sliced olives.  Simmer until the juices release and ‘pop’ the cherry tomatoes with a wooden spoon.  Score sausage casings and add sausages whole to the pan.  Reduce heat to medium low, cover and let simmer. 

When the orzo water is boiling, make orzo according to package directions.  Cook until el dente—do not overcook.  When sausages are cooked through, remove from pan and set aside to rest.  Drain orzo and ladle into the skillet.  Stir over low heat until the liquid gets absorbed into the pasta.  Add salt, pepper and olive oil to taste.

To serve, ladle orzotto into a pasta bowl and grate fresh parmesan over top.  Slice the sausage and serve over the orzotto.  Serves 4.

Summer's Tomato Bounty