Fried eggplant sticks —and the university city of Salamanca
I never imagined when I planted two small eggplant plants in my vegetable garden that they would grow to give such generous production for our family. I get 2 to 4 eggplants every couple of weeks, just enough to supply us with produce to make some of the dishes we are familiar with, like pisto, (check the recipe here) or fried eggplant sticks. Soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside, they are so addictive that you will not be able to stop at just a few!
I leave you with a few photos of the eggplants in the garden, used to prepare today’s recipe, fried eggplant sticks. But I wanted to add some more to this post. Today is National Teaching Spanish Day, and I couldn’t help talking about it. Why? Because (more…)
You’ve probably heard of Basque cheesecake, San Sebastián cheesecake, or cheseecake from La Viña restaurant. I’m sharing that recipe today, which is not mine, but Santiago Rivera’s, chef at La Viña resturant in San Sebastián.
Alcachofas, artichokes, are probably my mom‘s favorite vegetable. And if you make them using this recipe, it might become your favorite vegetable too. Bye-bye chips! For that touch of crunchiness plus an overdose of flavor, try alcachofas fritas, crispy artichokes, which could easily be called artichoke chips.
I don’t know if it’s happening to you, but for me, time is flying. Can you believe Lent starts this week? I had another recipe planned for this post, but I’ll postpone it, because I know you will be looking for fish recipes that are tasty and easy to make. These salmon steaks with majado are it: tasty, healthy, delicious looking and easy to make.
I used so many of my garden vegetables for pisto that its recipe could only be posted alongside more on the progress of the vegetable garden, or Part 3.
If you like carrot cake, you’re going to love zucchini layer cake. The first time I made zucchini loaf bread I couldn’t even imagine you could put zucchini into a dessert. Yet, the result was outstanding. Less known than its cousin the banana nut loaf bread, zucchini bread is one to discover.
The recipe I’m sharing today, chicken with cumin and pimentón dressing and tomato arugula salad holds flavors that remind me of summers in Spain —grilled meats, pimentón and fresh vegetables in one single dish. The grilled chicken has the right amount of heat to please every palate at the table, and the tomato arugula salad, with a dressing that incorporates the flavors of the marinade, blend beautifully in this very summery dish.
As I write this, I should have been in Spain for three weeks now, expecting the rest of my family to arrive today. We would have been heading to the beach on Sunday for a week of family time and fun, relaxation and tapas bars hopping, beach games 
So many zucchinis! When I planted my vegetable garden back in the spring, I didn’t realize I would get such a generous bounty. My friends Cort and Kathleen share the produce from their amazing garden as well, so I’ve ended up with quite a few of them! All the better, since crispy battered zucchini are a hit with my family.
With the higher temperatures, which seem to have come now to stay, lemonade is my drink of choice. I like to make mine, because I can control the amount of sugar I add. And I particularly like lavender lemonade, because lavender is one of my favorite aromas, and I like lemon on just about everything, so putting the two together seems very logical to me. The lavender comes from my garden; the lemons —I wish.
