Category Archives: Appetizers

Olive tapenade

Posted on by

Here’s something else that will taste great on those flax crackers or focaccia bread. If you look for olive tapenade at the grocery store, it will be incredibly expensive to buy one little jar. It only take a few minutes to make and tastes great, so DIY! I found this recipe online somewhere, don’t remember where so apologies to the creator. Ingredients: * 20 pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped * 1 Tbsp rinsed, drained, and chopped capers * 1 tsp fresh lemon juice * 2 tsp olive oil * 1/2 tsp anchovy paste (optional) * Fresh cracked black pepper Preparation: Continue Reading →

Flax crackers – a great low-carb snack

Posted on by

Yeah, flax and kale are all the rage now…for a good reason! Flax seed crackers are a great alternative to a packaged high-carb cracker that probably also has sugar and bad oils in it. I made up this recipe after spending way too much buying flax crackers at the store. The best brand I’ve found, if you don’t want to make them, is Flackers, which, by the way, I reverse-engineered in my kitchen to come up with something that tastes similar for a fraction of the cost. All it takes is time. I was reading around about flax and found Continue Reading →

Pesto – a taste of summer all year long

Posted on by

I’ve had some challenges growing basil in Montana, I think because it likes to be warm at night and even in high summer we get down to 50 degrees most nights. So this past summer, 2014, I grew 8 basil plants in pots in my greenhouse and it did much better than ever before. I was able to snip enough leaves a few times a week to make a batch of pesto and use it or freeze it in ice cube trays. After the trays are frozen, I put the cubes in a ziploc for freezer storage and pull some Continue Reading →

Hooray for Hummus!

Posted on by

I thought for sure I had posted this recipe already but found I hadn’t. This is a great basic hummus recipe that you can use and adapt with other flavors, like pesto or sun-dried tomatoes. I used to be really good and make this from organic, dried garbanzos that I cooked for hours and then spent half an hour shelling. Okay, I’m used to cooking from scratch, but this was just too much for me! I use organic canned garbanzos, which goes in the “good” food category choice instead of “best”. We do the best we can. This is for Continue Reading →

You can’t beat fresh salsa!

Posted on by

I made a bunch of salsa last fall with my tomato crop and froze it in quart baggies, and I’m still enjoying it now in the dead of winter. It’s like a summer explosion on the taste buds when I thaw out a bag and dig in. I use a really simple recipe from my farmer friend Leon, who is an organic farmer in the valley who does CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) produce boxes every summer. That’s where you pay a certain amount of money up front and get a box of fresh produce every week. I used to get Continue Reading →