Cooking from the garden

The crops are coming in and it's time to start using them.

Lemon balm is a member of the mint family so not surprisingly, it is spreading in my yard like crazy.  I tried making tea out of it and it's delicious

Lemon Balm Tea

I cut a couple of handfuls of lemon balm, washed the leaves and plucked them from the stalks.  Bring to a boil 6 cups of water.  Put in lemon balm and 2 regular tea bags and 1/4 cup sugar.  Let steep until lukewarm.  Strain out lemon balm and tea bags.  Put in a pitcher and add a tablespoon of lemon juice and another cup of water.  Serve over ice.

Sauted mixed greens with poached eggs

The greens in the vegetable garden are out of control!  I thinned the beet greens and then picked the broccoli raab and some mustard.  Originally I thought I would eat it as a side dish with some pasta but while the greens were cooking, I thought poached eggs would be nice.

Beets greens on left, broccoli raab on right with a few mustard greens in the middle

I minced several cloves of garlic and then warmed them in olive oil.  Added the greens and several shakes of homemade dried pepper flakes.  Cooked until wilted.

For the eggs, heat a little oil on medium heat.  Crack two eggs into the pan and cook for 1 min.  Grab about 4 ice cubes, put in the pan, cover with a lid and cook for 2 min.  The easy way to poach eggs.

Greens with eggs and garlic olive oil