It’s spring!  Glorious spring!

We spent a weekend planting our little container garden on our balcony.  I have a serious case of garden envy of anyone who has a little plot of land in which to plant a few vegetables.  But we are doing our best [...]]]>

It’s spring!  Glorious spring!

We spent a weekend planting our little container garden on our balcony.  I have a serious case of garden envy of anyone who has a little plot of land in which to plant a few vegetables.  But we are doing our best and we have a couple of tomatoes and bell peppers sprouting in some 5-gallon pots on the balcony.  We also planted some mixed lettuces and some arugula seeds, which are coming up like a little carpet of green.  And lots of basil, which we can never get enough of.  For some great inspiration on planting container gardens, check out this blog: Life On The Balcony.

We had this lovely green pea and basil soup a few nights ago, a nice light spring-time supper.  We had had a big lunch so it was the perfect amount to fill us up in the evening, with a heaping plate of garlic toasts.  I had been intending to make a pea and mint soup, but my mint plant is just sprouting baby leaves and there weren’t quite enough to make the soup without stripping the plant down.  But basil I had in plenty, so I looked up a recipe and the first one I came up with was one by Giada de Laurentis.  And it was REALLY good.  Light but filling, and the basil was the perfect counterpoint to the sweet, sweet peas.  We omitted the cream, and found it was delightful without it (the problem with creamy soups is often you just end up tasting the cream and not the soup).

Green Pea and Basil Soup
From Giada de Laurentis

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 lb frozen petite peas (I used the ones at Trader Joe’s)
3/4 cup chopped basil leaves
3 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
Extra basil for garnishing

Melt butter with the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and cook until onions are translucent and soft.

Add peas and basil, stir around until peas are thawed and heated through. Set aside 1/4 cup of peas for garnishing the soup later.

Put the pea/basil mixture into a food processor and add 1 cup of chicken stock. Whiz until smoothly blended.

Pour the pea puree back into the pot and add the remaining 2 cups stock. Heat up the soup over medium heat, without letting it boil.

Serve garnished with extra peas and ribbons of basil.

Lovebird Attack on Basil

This morning, I got up and went into the living room to put some water on to heat for coffee.  I looked over at the lovebird cage on the windowsill, and the cover was on, as usual (we put it [...]]]>

Lovebird Attack on Basil

This morning, I got up and went into the living room to put some water on to heat for coffee.  I looked over at the lovebird cage on the windowsill, and the cover was on, as usual (we put it on during the night so the birds don’t wake up too early and wake us up too).  Then, I looked next to the cage, to check on our little basil seedlings.  We had been attempting a second crop, since in Xiamen, the weather is warm all year round.  To my shock and horror, one of the basil seedlings was flopped over on its side, the stem terribly mangled and holes in its leaves.

Oh my goodness!  Something has attacked and disfigured the basil!

That’s when I saw the culprits, perched on the side of a flowerpot.  Two little, naughty, rainbow-colored, peachface lovebirds.

Honey!  The birds got out!  And they’ve mangled the basil!

Chris finally managed to get the birds back in their cage.  Mrs. Waffles, the pleasantly plump lovebird, went in easily with a little bit of gastronomic temptation.  But Mr. Waffles, the sly, adventurous one, didn’t give in so easily.

We do let them out occasionally, but not right near the plants.  Somehow, they had managed to unclip the door and slide it open, and crawled out from under the birdcage cover.  They’re smart little suckers.  And they were loving it.  They were in a heaven of windowsill herbs.  And they didn’t attack the old crop of basil, oh no…they knew where the good stuff was.  They just had to attack the tender new young basil plants.

Do you think this poor innocent basil will ever recover?

In the meantime, I’ve brought you a super fast pasta dish.  Great weeknight food.  Penne with a lemony ricotta-basil sauce.  Yes.  Basil.

Penne with Lemon, Ricotta and Basil

Use the freshest ricotta you can find, or if you want to, you can make your own!  It’s surprisingly easy.

3/4 cup fresh ricotta cheese
zest of one lemon, grated
juice of one lemon
3 tbsp butter
½ pound penne
½ cup packed fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Cook the penne in a pot of salted water until al dente, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain and set aside.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, and whisk in the ricotta, lemon juice and lemon zest.  Moisten with some of the reserved pasta water to make a sauce-like consistency.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss the pasta with a bit of olive oil.  Divide among plates and top with sauce and basil.  Serves 2.

How easy was that?