bulgarian mish mash--my version

Tis the season for fresh garden tomatoes! 

I used to be a tomato-hater, but in recent years I've begun to like them. So much so that I now grow them in my garden every year. I've got bunch growing now and a whole bunch that are ready to be used. What to do with all these tomatoes?

It used to be that I wouldn't eat tomatoes except in pasta sauce, salsa, and ketchup. I gradually started to enjoy them in their sundried form. Then eventually I would be OK with chopped tomatoes in a taco, although there better not be any seeds or tomato slime! I then moved up to tomatoes cooked on a pizza. One day I was brave enough to try caprese salad. I still hated sliced raw tomatoes; however, the addition of mozzarella cheese made it OK. I then decided I could deal with grape tomatoes, as long as they were with the mozzarella cheese. To this day, though, I still can't bring myself to eat a sliced raw tomato.

I've settled on a few ways to use up the tomatoes. The easiest is to make fresh salsa. It's so much better than the stuff in the jar! I just throw all the ingredients in the food processor, pulse it until it's the consistency I want, and it's done. I use my own tomatoes and jalapenos to make it. I used my own cilantro this year; however, my cilantro isn't doing well so it was kind of a one shot deal. I don't think I'll grow it again.

Another thing I make is caprese salad using the cherry and grape tomatoes I grow. I'm finding that I much prefer grape tomatoes, so I'm thinking of eliminated cherry next year and just growing grape.

And then there's this delicious dish: Bulgarian mish mash. A coworker told me how to make this; however, I've discovered that there are many variations for this and everyone makes it a little different. The base doesn't change, though: tomatoes, peppers, eggs and cheese. I made this last year, but never posted about it, so I figured I would this time around because it's so delicious and easy. I like to eat it with some crusty bread or maybe some crackers. It can be eaten anytime.

This is the base recipe I used, very loosely I might add: Bulgarian Vegetarian Mish Mash

Here's how I actually made mine (this makes about 8 one-cup servings):

2 TB olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 red peppers, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped (optional; remove the seeds)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 oz. roasted red peppers (jar), chopped
8 tomatoes, chopped (you can peel them if you want to, but don't have to)

Fresh parsley
Fresh basil
Fresh oregano
Dash of crushed red pepper flakes, optional
Pepper
4 eggs
8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
Salt, only if needed (be very careful how much salt you use since the feta cheese is very salty)

In a pot on medium heat, sauté onions in the olive oil until they start to soften. Reduce heat to low and add green peppers, red peppers, jalapenos (if using) and garlic. Continue sautéing for about 15 minutes or until soft.

Add the tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and herbs. Cover and cook until the tomatoes break down and it looks like a stew. 

Add the eggs and stir until they dissolve into the tomato mixture. You will see pieces of egg white. This is normal. If you prefer, you can beat the eggs together before adding into the tomatoes. Feel free to add more or less to make it thinner or thicker.

Remove from the heat and add the cheese, pepper, red pepper flakes (if using) and salt, if needed.

Notes: 

1. I used fresh herbs, because I have them in my garden. I used very roughly about 2 TB of each, but add whatever you like, to taste. Used dried herbs if that's what you have; however, if using dried herbs, make sure you reduce the amount you use since the flavor is much stronger than fresh herbs.
2. You can use any hard cheese you like, but I find that feta gives it a lot more flavor. Just make sure you use a cheese that doesn't melt, otherwise it all just disappears into the mix.  The standard cheese is a Bulgarian cheese called "sirene", but I don't know if that's something readily available.
3. You can cook this to whatever consistency you like. I prefer it more like a stew, whereas my coworker likes it more chunky.

 

salmon with lemon and fresh dill

I've been wanting to try my hand at cooking salmon for several years, but never quite gathered enough courage (or motivation, really) to do it. Until recently.

I planted a raised-bed garden this year, which is entirely herbs. (The other bed is tomatoes and green beans.) I decided I would plant dill this year, since it's something I like, but wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to buy fresh at the store. Last year I was able to buy it from a little farm market my neighbor runs out of his garage, which was really convenient. I figured it would be even more convenient if I grew it myself. Great idea, but I neglected to look to see how tall this plant grows--it's about 5 1/2 feet tall right now! Not only that, but it grew VERY quickly.  So, that means I have A LOT of dill. And a little dill goes a very long way, which means I need to find a way to use this stuff.  I also have a parsley plant I wanted to start using.

See my pretty tomatoes and beans!? Also a jalapeno, which I'm growing in a pot this year.

One day I got brave and bought a package of individually frozen salmon fillets. (I didn't want to shell out a bunch of money on fresh and then ruin it.) They were the perfect size:  4 ounces cooked.  I also grabbed some lemons, since I know that lemon, dill and parsley go well together.

All I needed now was a (easy) recipe.  I found many that called for making a cream sauce. I wouldn't mind that, as it looked pretty easy, but I didn't want to have to buy more ingredients, like heavy cream.  I found one that called for lemon slices, fresh dill and parsley, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Basically, you just put it all on the fillet and then bake it, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until it's done. That's it!

I made the recipe as-is, which called for putting the lemon slices on top of the salmon, then adding all the other ingredients. It seemed strange to me that the flavorings, other than the lemon, wouldn't touch the fish, but I made the recipe anyway. It was good, but I was right in thinking the order of ingredients strange. I didn't taste anything other than lemon and the olive oil. Next time I make this I will add all the flavorings and then add the lemon as the last item.

I have to say, I really loved the fact that the fillet was exactly the right portion size. Not a bit of it went to waste or got packed as leftovers. (As a matter of fact, there was only a bite or two left, which was awarded to Leia, my ginger girl.) I feel like I never finish a meal due to the weight loss surgery, which means I always bring food home from the restaurant, have a bunch of leftovers at home, or it just goes to waste because it's something my husband won't eat. And if I do finish, it's because I've cooked myself about a half of a portion, or I got soup or an appetizer only when eating out. This is something that is still hard for me as a post-op, but that's life now.