Edible Bouquets

Its so nice to be away from the garden for a few days and then return and see all of the changes that took place. My new crop of beets have sprouted, my tomatoes are getting close to outgrowing their plastic tunnel house, and my salad greens are crowding each other for space.

I had a craving for noodles and spicy peanut sauce, and wanted to use what vegetables I had on hand. My fridge offered up a bunch of asparagus and green onions. My garden offered this beautiful bouquet of edible greens and flowers. 

Red Winter Kale, Beet Greens, Mizuna, Cilantro, Red Orache, Johnny-Jump Ups

I blanched the asparagus, thinly sliced the green onions, chopped up the garden greens, and tossed with whole wheat spaghetti (Bionature is an excellent brand for whole wheat organic pasta and is worth the extra pennies), and a batch of peanut sauce. 

note: If you are going to make this into a cold pasta salad, cook one minute past "al-dente" or your cold pasta will have a unpleasant texture. Rinse with cold water, toss with a bit of oil, then add to the sauce and vegetables.

Spicy Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup peanut butter

2-3 Tablespoons light coconut milk

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1-2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

1-2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

1-2 teaspoons red curry paste

(NOT curry powder - Thai curry PASTE)

1 garlic clove

1 inch knob of ginger

Pinch of sugar (unless your peanut butter has sugar in it already)

Pinch of salt and pepper if desired

Using a micro-plane or the fine side of a box grater, shred the garlic clove and the ginger.

Whisk all of the ingredients together, including the shredded garlic and ginger.

I put ranges of amounts for some of the ingredients because you will want to adjust the balance of flavors to your own preference. I like mine sharp and spicy and so I use more vinegar and curry paste, but you may like it sweeter. You can leave out the curry paste if you don't like spice.

If you want a thinner sauce, you can thin it with more coconut milk, or add vegetable oil.