MIA for a day = 2 for 1 special!

Happy Thanksgiving Monday!!  Hope your Turkey Day was as delicious as mine!

One of the things I love about Thanksgiving is the opportunity to reflect on our abundance and good fortune to live in a part of the world where food is plentiful, and we can grow much of it ourselves (...or at least purchase it directly from those that grow it themselves!)

We have been striving for a little more self-sustainability here at our house--which has meant a bit of an endeavour (albeit--a slow move forward)) to grow a little bit of what we eat.  This year we harvested Raspberry Black Caps from our backyard, and froze some for future use in pancakes and muffins (...can't you just imagine how wonderful that will taste in February?!!!!), and made some Raspberry jam.  I re-planted and harvested some wild garlic that we found growing in the back corner of  the yard, had some tomato plants and tried my hand at Tomatillos too! (...if you need any, let me know, there are still some growing on the plants--and we can't eat them all!!)
My favourite part of the garden, however, is my herb garden--I LOVE being able to pop outside and cut fresh herbs to put into a recipe, or make homemade pesto.  Some of the herbs can still be harvested from under the snow, until about January!  LOVE IT!  The best part?  Taste of course, the 2nd best part--the Cost is almost nothing!

So here are 2 recipes for you today (as I was MIA yesterday--too much chaos, turkey and family :)
Turkey Quesadillas
8 flour tortillas
2 cups grated cheese
1 1/2 cup leftover turkey, cut into bite size pieces
2-3 green onion chopped 
1 tomato chopped
1 green and/or red pepper chopped
crushed chilies
cumin
On a cookie sheet lay 4 tortillas flat. Cover tortillas with shredded cheese and add a little of  the green onion, tomato and pepper evenly across all 4 tortillas.  Sprinkle chilies and cumin over vegetables and top with the other 4 tortillas.  Bake for about 10miutes at 350 degrees, or until cheese has melted.  Cut each quesadilla into 4 and serve with sour cream and salsa verde.

Green Garden Salsa -- Salsa Verde

You can make this salsa with either tomatillos or green tomatoes, whichever are at hand.

Ingredients

3 cups  (750 mL)  chopped tomatillos or seeded green tomatoes

3 cups  (750 mL)  chopped green sweet peppers (cubanelle and/or bell)

3 cups  (750 mL)  finely diced cored (unpeeled) pickling cucumbers or English cucumbers

2 cups  (500 mL)  chopped white onion

2 cups  (500 mL)  diced seeded green hot pepper

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup  (125 mL)  white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

3-1/2 tsp  (17 mL)  salt

1 tbsp  (15 mL)  granulated sugar

1 tsp  (5 mL)  ground coriander seeds

1 tsp  (5 mL)  ground cumin

1/4 tsp  (1 mL)  black pepper

3/4 cups  (175 mL)  finely chopped fresh coriander

1/2 cup  (125 mL)  finely chopped parsley

1/4 cup  (60 mL)  lime juice or lemon juice

Preparation

In large saucepan over medium-high heat, bring tomatillos, sweet peppers, cucumbers, onion, hot pepper, garlic, vinegar, salt, sugar, coriander seed, cumin and black pepper to boil, stirring. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes.
Uncover and continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until no longer watery, about 20 minutes. Stir in fresh coriander, parsley and lime juice; simmer for 3 minutes.
Ladle into 4 sterilized 500 mL canning jars, leaving 1/2-inch/1 cm headspace and stirring to release any air pockets. Seal with prepared discs and bands. Let sit at least 1 week before opening. Refrigerate after opening.
Makes four 500 mL jars.

Source

By Andrew Chase, Homemakers Magazine September 2009