Green dishes
Granny Mouse Country House & Spa, with its serene and picturesque location along the Lions River, is known for its beautiful garden setting and its fabulous food, offered in the Bistro and superb Eaves restaurant.
General Manager, Sean Granger, says that many guests tell them that, on returning home, they feel inspired by the gourmet offerings. “Green with envy!” he chortles.
Go green then, with some delectable dishes.
EASY CHINESE GREENS RECIPE
Introducing a super-fast and easy Chinese greens recipe that helps you prepare many types of green leafy vegetables for a delicious and healthy side dish.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 2 to 4
Ingredients
· Pinch of salt and vegetable oil, to blanch greens (optional)
· About 4 cups / 300 g Chinese greens or other vegetables (yuchoy, baby bok choy, choy sum, spinach, Chinese broccoli, broccoli, Swiss chard, cauliflower, kale), tough ends removed and cut to bite-size pieces if needed
· 2 tablespoons peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
· 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
· 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (or soy sauce or tamari)
Instructions
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and several drops of vegetable oil (optional) so that the blanched vegetables will look greener. Stir to mix well.
Add the vegetables. Blanch until just cooked through and still crisp.
It takes 1 minute or so to cook tender vegetables such as spinach, baby bok choy, yu choy, chard, and choy sum. It takes 2 to 3 minutes for Chinese broccoli, broccoli, and broccolini.
Once the vegetables are done, immediately rinse them with cold tap water to stop the cooking process. Stop once the vegetables have cooled to a warm temperature and not completely cold. Drain, gently squeezing out as much water as you can, then set aside in a strainer to dry further. If you plan to serve them immediately, you can use paper towels to pat the vegetables dry.
When you’re ready to serve, plate the blanched vegetables with minimal overlapping.
Heat the oil in a small saucepan or skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the garlic, stirring constantly until the edges of the garlic turns golden. Immediately pour the hot oil with the garlic over the plated vegetables.
Drizzle soy sauce on top of vegetables and serve immediately as a side dish.
Notes
You should always drizzle the garlic oil and soy sauce right before you serve the dish. Soy sauce contains salt, and if you add it too early, the greens will lose water and the sauce in the dish will be diluted.
The garlic will continue to cook in the hot oil’s residual heat, even after you pour the oil over the vegetables. It’s important to cook the garlic only until golden, and it’s totally OK if the garlic doesn’t brown evenly.
AVOCADO SOUP RECIPE
Avocado soup is equally great chilled or served at room temperature.
Here, the traditional chicken stock gets swapped for the vegetable variety for a vegetarian soup, and you can easily grab a non-dairy cream substitute to make it fully vegan. (Try coconut milk for the creamiest swap or almond milk for a lighter take. Just make sure whatever you choose is unsweetened.)
The toppings are also customizable—this recipe calls for a touch of heat from hot sauce, salt, crunchy tortilla chips, and fresh cilantro to finish things off. But fresh corn kernels, cubed avocado, poached shrimp, toasted pumpkin seeds, or anything else you can dream of are equally correct answers.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
4 servings
Ingredients
· 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
· ½ medium yellow onion, diced
· 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
· 3 cups vegetable broth
· 1 cup heavy cream
· ¼ cup fresh lime juice
· ½ cup packed fresh cilantro
· 1 jalapeño, seeded (optional)
· ½ tsp ground cumin
· Kosher salt
· 4 ripe Haas avocados (any variety will do), pitted and peeled
· Hot sauce, crumbled cotija/ feta cheese, crushed tortilla chips, chopped cilantro, for serving
Directions
Step 1
In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat oil. When oil is simmering, add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Step 2
Add broth, cream, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeño, cumin, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, avocados, and sautéed onion and garlic to a blender.
Blend on high until smooth, about 2 minutes. Season with salt to taste. Serve immediately at room temperature or refrigerate for up to
4 hours before serving.
Step 3
Serve topped with hot sauce, cotija, tortilla chips, and cilantro.
BASIL PESTO RECIPE
It's truly worth it to make homemade pesto from scratch. Not only is it easy to create, but it’s also incredibly versatile.
Variations.
You can use pretty much any kind of nut you like, and you can even use seeds like sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
If you’re looking to stray from the classic Parmesan, any hard, salty aged cheese will work best.
You can either swap out the basil completely or go 50/50 with arugula, kale, or mint (to name just a few options).
Fresh pesto will last at least a week in an airtight container in the fridge, or up to 8 months in the freezer. Tip: freeze in ice cube trays and pop out a single serving.
Yields: 1 cup.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
2 Cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
½ Cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ Cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Kosher salt
½ Cup finely grated Parmesan
Directions
Step 1
In a food processor, pulse basil, oil, pine nuts, garlic, and a large pinch of salt until smooth. If you don’t have a food processor, a pestle and mortar is fine. You can also chop everything by hand; just make sure your knife is nice and sharp to minimise damage to the basil.
Step 2
Transfer basil mixture to a medium bowl and stir in Parmesan; season with more salt, if needed.
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