Minty green sauce

One of my go to Middle Eastern cookbooks is Faye Levy's "Feast from the Mideast":

http://www.amazon.com/Feast-Mideast-Sun-Drenched-Dishes-Cookbooks/dp/0060093617

It's got a lot of really good basic recipes and is very vegetarian friendly.  I made a fish dish yesterday out of it that turned out great, but what really was the clincher was the sauce that went on it.  It is a classic Middle Eastern recipe - lemon juice, herbs, and olive oil.  Fresh and delicious.  It would be fantastic on just about anything - veggie burger, falafel, kebabs, etc.  It is super easy to make, too.

I left out the optional olives, as I hate olives, but love olive oil.

Mint can be cheaply obtained from Asian or Indian groceries.  I bought an enormous mound for $2, enough to make this recipe 4x over.

Parsley is a great herb that Americans just don't appreciate.  I have probably harped on this before, but it tastes great and really makes a dish.  It's more assertive than cilantro and is about the same price.

I usually keep two kinds of olive oil around the house.  One is cheap and is for stir frying.  The other is more expensive and used for sauces and dressing.  Heating oil drives off much of the flavor components and expensive oil burns at a lower temperature.  In this recipe, I used good California oil.  I like California oil because there is a good chance that it isn't counterfit.  A lot of oil from Italy is either not olive oil or is bulk crap from another country.  California oil producers need to keep their quality high in order to compete on the world market, so there is no motivation to make crap.

I have changed the proportions in the recipe a bit.

Minty Green Sauce

2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley.
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup diced onion
4 Tbsp good quality olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
pepper

1) Puree vegetables in food processor until uniform
2) Add in olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.  Mix and serve over whatever you want.

Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

This is one of my mother-in-laws recipes and a favorite of my wife's as a kid during the colder months.  My mother-in-law made mini muffins, but I only have a regular size tin, so I make regular size ones.  I think this might be a bit of an improvement, as the muffins get a bit more of a crunchy outside due to being in the oven longer.  It is a basic recipe, but good.  I might try substituting mashed sweet potatoes or another mashed squash for the pumpkin.  Pumpkin is, after all, a squash.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

1) Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just mixed.
2) Add to greased muffin tin or to cupcake cups.
3) Bake at 350 for ~30 minutes, until a knife inserted comes out clean.