roasted poblanos today and covered them in oil with garlic - so good in sandwiches and on tacos!

pepper patience

I am trying to be patient with the peppers - they are slowly, slowly ripening. I tried a jalapeno, but it was very mild - like a bell pepper. The Thai dragons are the right size, but still green, too. There was one jalapeno with a touch of red on the end, and it was perfect! So, once they have a touch of red on them, they should be good to go. You just can't rush ripening - but at least it is nice and sunny, and should stay that way for the week. Soon the Thai dragons will look like this, and I will dry them on a sunny windowsill. They will then be chopped up for hot pepper flakes in pasta sauce, chili, etc. Can't wait!!

Thai dragons

Last summer we grew Thai dragons-little potent red hot chillies that add pizazz to any savory dish. I put them in everything from pasta sauce to lentil curry. They make me happy! Recently, I felt the urge to make noodle salad for lunch- so I baked up some tofu marinated in tamari, mirin, ginger, garlic, and of course, pepper flakes. Boiled some buckwheat noodles, and added the saucy tofu with cilantro and lime. Here is the recipe, from the book: Vegetarian Times Fast and Easy: http://www.amazon.ca/Vegetarian-Times-Fast-Easy-Minutes/dp/0470085525 Thai-Style Tofu and Noodles : 3 Tbl lime juice 3Tbl granulated sugar, or to taste 2 Tbl soy sauce 3 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper, or to taste (use more!) 4 oz. soba noodles 1 Tbs. vegetable oil 1 red bell pepper , thinly sliced Thai-seasoned baked tofu, cubed 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves 1 green onion, thinly sliced 1/2 cup roasted cashews Combine lime juice, sugar, soy sauce, garlic and crushed red pepper. Boil noodles, drain and rinse well. Heat oil in a frying pan an stir fry red pepper slices, add tofu cubes until tofu begins to brown. Combine with rest of ingredients and lime juice mixture. Sprinkle with cashews. The peppers grew in our makeshift greenhouse ( fashioned out of an old awning - get one! they work great!) then they dried with no fuss on the windowsill. I then chopped them up to make pepper flakes.