Weekend Herb Blogging #197 roundup

It's been an honor to once again host Weekend Herb Blogging, the weekly event where foodie bloggers from all over the world submit posts highlighting herb or plant ingredients. Here are the submissions from this week (August 17-23, 2009), with each photo below each description.

From the Northwestern U.S., Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi used cacao nibs (below) in a delicious-looking Berry Chocolatey Energy Bar (Raw Vegan). I love the idea of a DIY energy bar. I also never realized that when your raspberries dry and shrivel on the bush, they're still totally usable!



From Chennai, India, Minu of Chettinad Fiesta tells us how to use mint in a Minty Pakoda. She writes that these "taste great with a cup of hot Masala Chai / Tea, especially on cold rainy evenings." I love non-sweet uses of mint--these look meltingly crunchy.



From Saratoga County, NY, USA, Rachel of The Crispy Cook offers one answer to the summer question of What To Do With Zucchini--Spicy Zucchini Relish. I love the before and after theme in this photo! Looks like this relish will be a nice hit of summer when the zucchini days are long gone.



Joanne from Eats Well With Others made carrot cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting. What a great way to eat carrots. Joanne explains that these were made for someone's birthday--I wish I could just reach in and taste one!

Sra from When My Soup Came Alive made Mushrooms with Sage and Rosemary. The button mushrooms in this recipe are balanced by the same amount of paneer/cottage cheese, and flavored with garlic, red chilli, and herbs from a special garden. This would disappear REALLY FAST if it were set in front of me!

From California, msmeanie of Chocolate Chip Trips has another great take on zucchini, offering Indian-Style Zucchini Patties with Tamarind Chutney. Instead of the usual frying in oil, msmeanie decided to bake these--yum! This recipe will help you use up 3 medium zucchini.




From the UK, Ann of pig pig's corner learned that the tart hairy gooseberries she found are cooking gooseberries, and the sweeter berries later in the season are dessert gooseberries. She used the former to make Gooseberries & Blueberries Turnovers with Cream Cheese Crust. I cracked up at her description of the "crime scene" that occurred when the juicy filling leaked out during baking...



From Haslett, MI, Katie of Eat This also tackled zucchini, making a Zucchini, tomato and kale sauté. She writes that she recently received about a hundred amazing tomatoes, so it was a given that she would include some! This recipe looks like a tasty, healthy way to enjoy summer's bounty.



Kalyn, of Kalyn's Kitchen and the originator of WHB (thanks Kalyn!), sliced and marinated raw zucchini for a mouthwatering Zucchini Carpaccio with Lemon, Herbs and Goat Cheese. The ingredients are so simple, but I bet this dish could impress any crowd. Or make it all yours as a light lunch, like Kalyn did!




From New Paltz, NY, Winnie Abramson from Healthy Green Kitchen made a fabulous preparation from fresh rose petals called Kiva's Rose Petal Elixir. This rose (below) looks so open and gorgeous--seems like having rose petal elixir would make you just blossom, too!



Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything (and WHB's organizer--w00t!) was "lured by the tiniest of tiny vegetables," and made Sautéed Beetroot Shoots. These shoots are paired with garlic shoots to make an aromatic dish that's great hot or cold. Aww, they are pretty cute too!

Pam from Sidewalk Shoes poses this important question: "What says goodbye to summer more than food on a stick? Nothing!!" She made Bye-Bye Summer Herbed Chicken Skewers to take full advantage of her herb garden as the days of summer speed to a close... and school begins. Plenty of mint and plenty of parsley go in the chicken marinade, then you can grill with fresh vegetables of your choice.

From Sydney, Australia, Anh of A Food Lover's Journey is at the opposite end of summer, looking forward to it beginning and enjoying the weather starting to warm up! To celebrate she used matcha (green tea) in a Creamy Matcha Frozen Yogurt. Love that brilliant green color (it looks even better over on her blog!)



From Ontario, Canada, Jerry of Jerry's Thoughts, Musings and Rants found the perfect vegetable to go with some snapper: fennel. The resulting Pacific Snapper with Fennel Slaw was a great combination of flavors--and quick and easy too! Marvelous!



From Garda Lake, Italy, Cinzia of Cindystar had fun with friends and family turning 30 kg of S. Marzano tomatoes into Tomato sauce. This recipe looks great, and I just love the photos on her blog of everybody working together!

Brii, of Briiblog in English and also from Garda Lake, Italy, made a mysterious and fascinating-sounding liqueur featuring laurel, rosemary and salvia! Obscure Delirium Liqueur sounds like a good, mild way to enjoy the magical properties of salvia, maybe like absinthe is a good vehicle for wormwood. (I love that this changes color as it ages, too.)



Last of all, from Vermont, USA, my own entry is a cold Beet & Feta Salad. I craved beets because I thought they might have good heart energy--I've since found out that you can actually get beetroot in capsule form for building up your blood. Aha! The doctrine of signatures (what a plant looks like is what it's good for) strikes again.


Hope you enjoyed this recap--thanks again to everyone who sent submissions! Next week, Rachel from The Crispy Cook is hosting Weekend Herb Blogging #198. Click here for the rules if you're interested.