chives – OwlCat Designs

May 1, 2012December 16, 2017

Mango Sweet Pepper Salsa

Chives and how to ~~get rid of~~ use them… Okay, one more… now I think I used almost a cup of chopped chives! I can feel a little better about using things up, I think. This one’s super easy and super yummy! Serve over or with chive burgers and guilt free chive sauce

Ingredients

1 mango, peeled and pitted
1/8th of a red bell pepper
2 tablespoons lime juice
3-4 tablespoons chopped chives

Directions

Chop the mango, finely dice the red bell pepper
Toss with 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice and the chives

April 30, 2012December 16, 2017

Guilt Free Yogurt Chive Sauce

I don’t like to waste things and have been practicing opportunistic eating the last few weeks. What I mean is I am really trying to only eat what is in my fridge, cabinets and seemingly bottomless freezer. Because, let’s face it, the more space one has the more ‘special buys’ find their way into said space. Hard to resist the buy-one-get-one deal on blueberries or roasts, whether you need them that week or not… I do claim complete innocence here and blame my ‘hunter-gatherer’ genes. More the gatherer part here, but hey, it’s not like I can change that, right 😉 And along with emptying out everything to make space for this years garden bounty, I am also trying to be more conscious of using the stuff as it grows instead of storing it for later. Not that I can eat all the chives, but heck am I going to try! And since we all got so many chives, here’s another recipe that will help accomplish that.

This one for a burger sauce. Wait, it would probably be pretty awesome on baked potato as well… or fish! Hmmm I will have to come back to this one… Also a great one for Potlucks and Barbeques, much safer than any Mayo based stuff for sitting outside in the warmth. And totally guilt free, in fact it ups the protein since most of the sauce is Greek Yogurt, and believe it or not, the couple fo spoons of sour cream completely make it super creamy, you wouldn’t even know that you went for the much lower fat Greek Yogurt.

lighter accompaniment for burgers and more…

Ingredients:

1/4 cup chives, chopped
1/2 cup Greek yogurt, try not to use anything below 4%*
2 tbsp sour cream
2 tsp pickle juice (from your cucumber pickles)
2-3 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp salt

* for those of you not familiar with Greek Yogurt, it’s thicker and higher in protein because it is left to drain in cheesecloth. Yes, you could most likely drain your own yogurt and get a pretty good result.

Directions

Mix everything except chives until smooth and homogenized.
Stir in chives and serve! How’s that for easy?

April 29, 2012December 16, 2017

Burgers (or what to do with all those chives)

The last two nights I had to cover up my garden and my two berry bushes with sheets and table cloths for lack of anything more fitting. They looked kinda like awkward ghosts in the morning sun. But they called for freezing and frost and what not, and since the warm weather made the currants burst into flower, I needed to protect them or they will be done and no berries for me this year. Red currants(and black or Cassis currants for that matter) are pretty hard to come by in these parts of the world and so I am wiling to go through all kinds of trouble to save them, including digging them up at my old house and transporting them in a pot, (poor things they lived in that pot for almost a year) or turning them into ghosts. This morning it was soooo cold inside I had to turn my fireplace on to stay warm (I did turn the heat off, it’s almost May after all, and I am keeping it that way, period.) Yes I will wear a fleece in my house, if need be. And need was definitely there this morning. Then this afternoon it heated up to the point where I removed half my clothes before my run for which I left the house seriously bundled up. AND I had dinner outside, on my deck.

What do you want? I had to make sure they were good, I watch out for you guys 😉

I had been looking to make use of the ~~chives~~ chive bush that erupted in my garden this spring. So when I just had to put something on the grill, I knew what to try. The try was successful and filled my tummy with super deliciousness!

I snip the chives with scissors, I find that the easiest way to go about it

Makes 6 burgers

You will need:

1 1/4 lb ground meat (1 lb venison and 1/4 lb beef mixed, or all beef)
1/2 cup chives, chopped
2 small shallots, finely diced
1 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 egg
Fresh ground pepper to taste
3-6 burger buns (preferably sprouted grain such as these)

Serve with

Guilt Free Yogurt Chive Sauce and Mango Sweet Pepper Salsa

Directions

In a bowl break up the ground meat using a fork.
Add mustard, tamari, shallots, egg, ground pepper and chives and stir gently until all mixed up (I did not include any salt here, since the tamari or soy sauce is pretty salty)
With your hands, form into 6 balls then flatten out to make a burger patty, set aside.
Preheat your grill
Grill the burgers to desired done-ness, flipping only once.
Serve on a toasted bun, or half of one, if you like