My first little harvest, Quick Cucumber Bites and a killer Vodka Mojito!

My radishes are here, my radishes are here, I'm somebody!

Okay, well, maybe that's a bit over to top, but i did dig my first little babies last night. I always put in tomatoes and herbs, but it has been years since I branched out to other veggies. Pictured are my watermelon radishes, lemon thyme, mint and farmer's market blend lettuce. I gave them all a good rinse and scrubbing and started our meal. Oh, by the way, seems that kitties LOVE the lettuce mix, I kept busting one of mine stealing leaves behind my back! Who knew?

I used the radishes to make a quick appetizer to have with a well deserved Friday Night Cocktail. I'm not posting an official recipe. This is one of those "wing it" type things.

Cucumber Bites
serves 2

Slice 2 watermelon radishes into 8 slices. Using a peeler, slice strips of the cucumber peel making a nice green and white stripe pattern. Then cut 8 slices, about 1/4" thick. Put about 2" of a log of room temp. goat cheese in a small bowl. Add to the cheese a few finely chopped sprigs of lemon thyme and a bit of sea salt and finely ground pepper. Form the cheese into 8 little balls.

To assemble, lay the cucumber wheel flat, center the cheese ball on it, and then place the radish slice on top, pressing down lightly. That's it! You can make these ahead and place them in the fridge to chill, I think they taste better with a chill to them.



I had to post 2 pics, aren't they pretty?


For our Friday Night Cocktail, I made a "version" of a Mojito. Let me tell you, they hit the spot!


Rosemary Vodka "Mojitos"
serves 1

Place a generous amount, I used three, 6" sprigs of fresh mint, in the bottom of a rocks glass. Add the juice of 1/4 lemon, about 2 tbls. or so. Muddle the two with a muddler, if you have one, or you can use a wooden spoon like I did to break up the mint leaves. You want them to have that chopped up consistency. Then add cracked ice, 1/2 shot of rosemary simple syrup (from the Rosemary Rita blog post), 1 1/2 shots of vodka ( I like Pinnacle) and them give it a quick stir to combine.

Sanitas bona !


Note: as for the main course, well you'll have to check back. I will be posting it on the 26th. Believe me, it will be worth checking in on!