Random Recipes + sneaking in some greens

It is pouring rain outside tonight.  The television is off and Groovy Girl is off playing somewhere which means there will be a trail and a mess to clean up.  How do I help her learn to clean up after herself?  This is major life trauma right now.  She's 10 and we've made every kind of challenge, chore chart, and list we can think of.  We've worked with her to show her what it looks like to play and then clean up.  I'm glad she plays, I really am; I just which the second part of playing came easier to her.

When we were in New York City in June Groovy Girl, Greg, and I tried a sample of a Mojito Tea (non-alcoholic) that some tea shop was passing out on the street.  We loved the zingy flavor and we made a list of what ingredients we thought it might have in it.  I have been meaning to whip up a batch of what we thought might be in when I found a recipe in Bon Appetit/August edition that seemed pretty similar to what we thought.  I made it tonight with Groovy Girl's help.  It was refreshingly wonderful and I will definitely make it again.  It doesn't have that mojito flavor we were going for yet so close.  I may play with it to see if I can get any closer.

(image source)

Here is the recipe:

Honeyed Lemon-Mint Iced Tea

4 cups water

4 bags green or black tea (we used green)

1 bag mint tea

1/2 of a can of 12-oz can frozen lemonade or limeade concentrate, thawed

1/3 cup honey

ice cubes

fresh mint sprigs or leaves

thin lemon slices (we used lime)

1. In a saucepan, bring the water to boiling.  Remove from heat.  Add tea bags.  Cover and let steep for 10 minutes.  Discard tea bags.  Add lemon or lime concentrate and honey, stirring until honey dissolves.  Cool thirty minutes.

2. Transfer tea to a 1 1/2 quart pitcher.  Cover and chill for several hours.

3. To serve, pour tea over ice cubes in tall glasses. Garnish with mint and lemon/lime wedges.  

Makes 6 servings.

You could easily add a splash (or two) of alcohol to this for an adult beverage.  In the heat here, right before the rain came down, we gulped it down as is.

Our garden is beautiful this year with cucumbers just about ready, tomatoes heavy on the vein, basil beginning to bush out, and many zucchinis!  Groovy Girl does not like this delicious squash and will do anything to avoid it.  Tonight I decided to disguise it in a curry soup.  She likes curry!

Also from August edition of Bon Appetit:

Curried Squash Soup

4 servings

Heat 3 T. vegetable oil (I used coconut) over medium high heat.  Add two chopped large summer squash, 1 chopped small onion, and 1 tsp of curry (I used 1 T.); season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Cook until tender, 8-10  minutes.  Add 4 cups chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender, 25-30 minutes.  Puree until very smooth.  Serve soup warm or chilled, topped with sour cream, cracked pepper, and cilantro sprigs.

When I got to the 3rd paragraph of this I frantically searched for veggie broth paste in my refrigerator and came up empty handed.  There were some old beef cubes from a chili recipe my husband made like two years ago but  I didn't want to use them.  So I added just water, upped the amount of curry powder, a little more sea salt and pepper and hopped for the best.  

I pureed it using my Braun hand-held immersion blender which I adore-I've had it for about 12 years and I have no idea what i'm going to do when it stops working. I am pretty positive that the second one I get will not be as good or as inexpensive.  This one I bought after watching Emeril use it on his early shows on the Food Network.  (I wonder if I should pre-prepare myself by buying this exact replica i found on Etsy)

The soup was not perfect but again I plan on trying it again with good broth and kicking it up a notch or two.  Groovy Girl ate about half a bowl with a dollop of sour cream stirred in.  She asked me twice what kind of soup it was and I said simply, "curry soup", which was true.  She did not say "Ewwww" or even use the zucchini word so I think I got away with my disguised soup recipe.  I think once I play with the recipe she will enjoy it more.  She never needs to know the main ingredient is sautéed squash.

I spent the better part of my day reading The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth.  I'm half way through and am wowed by her writing.  This is the first truly lazzzy day i've spent this summer and I'm pretty happy with it.  And because I was taking it so easy Groovy Girl stayed in her pajamas for the day.  We have a busy rest of the week so it was good to relax.