Summery Meals

I've been struggling this month. There is a draught where I live and now the forest is on fire. I'm tired of being hot, which has made me have low energy and low moods. There has also been some boozy summer fun which has been hard to bounce back from. But today is finally overcast so I went for my first run of the month (5k to the farmers market) and got a nice haul (second pic).

I've been playing with some summer produce and chilled soups.

1. Ajo Blanco. A chilled Spanish soup I've been wanting to make for a while. It's made with almonds, bread, garlic, olive oil and wine vinegar. Garnished with green grapes, fresh mint, olive oil, and toasted almonds. I followed the Serious Eats recipe (https://www.seriouseats.com/ajo-blanco-spanish-bread-almond-cold-soup-recipe) but to be honest, I used a bunch of hamburger buns instead of "rustic bread" because I'm cheap and lazy and I don't think it makes that much of a difference. A soup made out of white bread isn't exactly Mediterranean Diet compliant either way, even if it's a refreshing example of Mediterranean cuisine. I quite enjoyed this!

2. Chilled beet borscht made with beets from my parents' garden. I riffed off this recipe using my favourite goat kefir and kept it basic: https://finefoodsblog.com/cold-borscht/#recipe

3. Beans and beet greens from my parents' garden. A few oz of rotisserie chicken for protein. This is the right proportion of veggies to meat! No grain/starch element because sometimes you just want to eat a big plate of veggies.

4. This is the lunch I just made. Sardines on sourdough rye, drizzled with dill and olive oil. I bought zucchini flowers at the market today which I have never worked with before. I made a batter out of chickpea flour, milk, water, oregano, salt and garlic and dredged and fried the flowers. Absolutely amazing and very easy. Heirloom tomato on the side.