FreshMint - Keep It That Way!

I absolutely love the smell of fresh mint and the way the velvety leaves feel between my fingers, almost like a nice scarf you could twirl and play with absentmindedly. However, I find it hard to keep my mint fresh and soft and velvety. I don’t have that many recipes that call for fresh mint, but just when I want to add a little mint to my fruit salad or top off a cloud of whipped cream, I find my once beautiful, fragrant mint has browned and shriveled in the bag or water bath in which I’d left it. Humph.

Recently I learned a couple of tips to keep the leaves fresh and flavorful for more than a day or so. It’s not very time consuming but these techniques go a long way for preservation.

Fresh Mint in the Fridge

1) Rinse your mint as soon as you get it home and lay it out on a towel to dry.
2) Separate the leaves.
3) With another towel or paper towel blot the mint to really get the excess water off the leaves.
4) Then pinch off the individual leaves and layer them in an airtight container. Store these in your refrigerator.

Fresh Mint in your Freezer

Follow the same steps above up to step 3. Once you’ve blotted away the excess moisture, lay the springs of mint on one side of a paper towel and fold the other side over. Put the folded paper towel in a Ziplock and squeeze out the excess air. Fold the bag over and place it flat in the freezer. You will have fresh mint whenever you need it.

Sugar-Free Virgin Mojito

This easy recipe yields a mighty refreshing guilt-free mojito on a warm summer day!!

• 1 can Diet Hansen's Tangerine Lime soda
• Fresh Mint Leaves (thanks CSA!!)
• Ice

Pour soda over ice and mint leaves. The longer it sets, the mintier it gets!! Mmmmm! But don't let it set too long or it will lose its fizz.

Maybe later tonight I'll add the white rum...:)

Hummus Recipe

After thinking we have nothing in the house to eat, I Googled hummus recipes. This is what I found out how to do; a very impressive hummus recipe sure to please guests. I didn't have a food processor, so I used my Vita-Mix machine. I am a big fan of Vita-Mix!!


Ingredients (add all to food processor):

1. 1 can garbonzo beans (or chick peas) (drain and rinse)


2. 1/4c to 1/2c of tahini (mix it in the jar before pouring out to merge the oil with the sesame)


3. 1/2c to 1/4c greek style plain lowfat yogurt (find at Wholesome Choice, Super Irvine, middle eastern food stores)


4. 3 or 4 mint leaves (I used the fresh mint leaves from my CSA basket. Thanks Farmer Donna!)


5. Juice of 1 lemon


6. 2 tsp ready to use minced garlic with 1/2 tsp. salt

Process all the above ingredients in your food processor or Vita-Mix. Use rubber spatula to check consistency. I saw that it was pretty think, so I added 2 tbsp of water and mixed again until smooth. At this point, you can add more lemon (in the form of citric acid - which I do not have). Just use 1/2 tsp.

Plate it!!! It looks fancier and more inviting to dipping chips in (see picture).
Spread on plate with spatula. Sprinkle chopped parsley (thanks CSA!!), sliced black olives, and paprika. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on it. I tasted it and decided it needed grounded Cayenne Pepper which I lightly dusted it with to give it some heat. Whala!! Perfecto delicious!!!

I might even make a veggie sandwich and use this hummus as the spread!! Or you can just dip chips or pita chips in it. Or dip veggies in it like broccoli, cherry tomatoes or cauliflower.