oreganooooooooo

The oregano on my deck is growing like a WEED!

It is so nice to go out and just inhale the wonderful smell. It takes me back to being in Greece, where you walk around on the mountains and smell all the wild herbs growing. So heavenly.

The chives and thyme are doing respectably, too :D

  

Still, I decided some serious oregano action was due. Fresh, uber-local herbs should never be allowed to go to waste. Plus, you know, I love it!

Began with tomato salad, because I just am eating as many tomatoes as I can right now.

Fresh local tomato+ avocado+ the oregano+ lemon juice.

The avocado was a little old and ugly, but still YUMMY. It and the lemon made a fat and acid dressing thing that was grand.

 

Also ad libbed some black bean burgers.

Ingredients:
3/4 of a cup of black beans, drained (Goya low sodium, my fave)
tons of fresh oregano
3 T oats to thicken it up
1 T ground flax
1/4 cup or so of onion, grated
big glug of Worcestershire sauce

I basically took all the things I usually put in beef burgers and mixed them with beans instead. Cooked on my nonstick skillet. Quite good! Though my lentil veggie burgers (in Favorite Recipes) are the ultimate, they take a bit longer, and I already had the beans open!

Also had my first brussels sprouts of the season! Wee babies from the farmer’s market.

I did my usual saute methodology (which I call Austin brussels sprouts since they’re based on ones I ate at Snack Bar in Austin), in which I coated a frying pan in oil, added the brussels (the tiny ones I left whole, the slightly larger but still quite small ones I halfed and started cut side down) and let saute. Then once they’d browned I deglazed the pan with dijon mustard, honey, and (instead of my usual dill), more oregano!

Good but not great. I need to let them cook slower. I’m too impatient!

 

Quality, oreganofull dinner. I ended up topping the burger with peach salsa, which was an EXCELLENT choice.

   

Monday the 15th marked my first day of eating meat after two weeks of abstaining (church related). It was beef time.

Quickly thawed (well actually my mom thawed, I am chronically bad at defrosting things due to my lack of patience and general grossed outedness at raw meat) a pound of organic ground beef.

Then added a colorful mixture of 1 egg; 1/4 or so of an onion, grated; 1/2 of a small carrot, grated; a sprinkling of breadcrumbs, salt and pepper, and TONS of oregano. Who knew it could be so pretty?

 

Rolled them into little meatballs and broiled them 3-4 minutes per side. Wonderfully tender (the grass fed beef just has a better flavor) and nice and flavorful from the veggies and herbs.

  

Enjoyed them with pasta and HOMEMADE TOMATO SAUCE!

How I made tomato sauce:

Bought seconds tomatoes (cheap!). Blanched them in boiling water about 20 seconds (they were big so I just used a bit of water and submerged them one half at a time). Meanwhile sauteed sweet onion and garlic over medium low heat til tender. Along with, wait for it, lots of OREGANO! Added the tomatoes, chopped, some red wine, and salt and pepper. Let cook til saucy (I kept mine chunky).

Honestly, in the summer, I like my tomato sauce with a side of pasta. Tomatoes are just SO GOOD RIGHT NOW!