Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

I took this photo a few years ago while on a walk with Dan through the neighborhood. If you look very closely, you’ll see a couple of Adirondack chairs on the pier. Looks like a great place to sit and have a drink while watching the sunset.

This is for the Photo Friday weekly photo challenge. This week’s topic is Natural Light.

Last weekend, we had a gorgeous spring day – sunny with temps in the low 60s. Perfect for getting out in the garden and planting some veggies.

We use a lot of lettuce and love a good spring mix, so I planted a salad bowl in a terra-cotta pot. One of my gardening goals this year is to integrate beautiful ornamental plants with delicious edible plants so I can extend the time the garden looks good. So for this salad bowl, I added a few violas to the pot along with the lettuce mix. I sprinkled few pinches of seeds in the open area and will sprinkle a few more each week. This is called succession planting – I can harvest it all summer long by continuing to sprinkle in new seed and harvest the leaves when they’re ready.

The parsley wintered over in the pot and I’ve been harvesting a few leaves now and then when I need a tablespoon or two for a recipe. It’s so nice being able to just clip what I need.

So, after a bit of a hiatus, I’m back to blogging! I posted a pic of this dish on Facebook, some people asked about it, so here’s the recipe.

Dan and I both love bell peppers. I especially like the beautiful rainbow of colors available, so we buy a “stoplight” package – one each of red, orange and yellow peppers – plus at least one green pepper, almost every week. In the summer, we grow our own. That saves a lot of money! Can’t wait to get the garden going.

I also grow Thai basil in my herb garden. If you have some, use that; otherwise, regular Italian basil is a good substitute.

Thai Red Curry with Shrimp

2 tbsp. peanut oil
1 medium onion, peeled, halved and sliced
2 cups bell peppers, any colors, seeded, halved crosswise and sliced (I used 1/2 each of red, yellow and orange peppers)
1 stalk celery, sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. Thai red curry paste (I use Thai Kitchen brand)
2 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tsp. palm sugar or light brown sugar
1 14-oz. can light coconut milk
1/3 cup raisins
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 tbsp. Thai basil leaves, coarsely chopped (optional)
3 tbsp. cilantro, chopped
3 cups jasmine rice, cooked, for serving
Sriracha hot sauce, optional, for serving

In a large sauté pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté a few minutes to soften. Add bell peppers, celery and garlic and stir a few more minutes. Add curry paste and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in fish sauce and sugar, then coconut milk and raisins. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer till slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

Stir shrimp into curry and simmer till just cooked, about 2 minutes.

Remove pan from the heat and stir in basil, if using, and cilantro.

Serve over jasmine rice. Sprinkle with sriracha, if desired, and garnish with cilantro sprigs.

Makes 4 servings.

If you haven’t received a calendar for 2013, check this out! Twelve pages of yummy recipes and pretty pictures of food. Happy New Year!

I traveled to Turkey with my mom, aunt, uncle and a couple of their friends in May 2001 for a tour/sailboat trip. It’s one of my favorite places to visit.

While in Istanbul, we had a guided tour of the city and one of the places we saw was the gorgeous mosque, Hagia Sophia. I took this photo through the doorway to a small library off the main space. The Byzantine mosaics and woodwork in Turkey are amazingly beautiful. I brought home a few ceramic pieces I bought in town as a reminder.

This is my entry in this week’s Photo Friday challenge. The topic is Interiors.

I am a vinegar fiend. I just checked my cupboard and I have 11 different kinds of vinegar. So when I came across this recipe for chimichurri sauce in Cooks’ Illustrated magazine a few years ago, I really wanted to try it. It’s kind of like a kicked-up version of Italian dressing with a larger proportion of vinegar and uses red-wine vinegar – my favorite.

Chimichurri sauce is a condiment from Argentina generally used as a steak sauce, but it can be used on all kinds of grilled meats. There are variations that include cilantro or oregano, but I found I didn’t like those flavors as well, so I just use parsley. I also am not fond of the bite of fresh onion and garlic, so I reduced the amount of garlic and soaked it and the onion in the vinegar to remove some of their pungency.

Even though summer is unofficially over, there are lots of good grilling days ahead, so try this with your next cookout.

Chimichurri Sauce for Grilled Steak
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

1 cup parsley leaves (reserve stems for another use)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely minced red onion
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
3 medium cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp. water
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Add red onion and garlic to red-wine vinegar and let sit for 10 minutes. Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until fairly smooth. Taste and add salt, if needed. Will keep refrigerated for one week.