Spring Minestrone #FoodieExtravaganza

Spring Minestrone is the perfect light meal, with tender young vegetables in a clear broth, topped with crème fraîche. You can, of course, substitute whatever fresh from the garden veggies you have available.

I called this recipe Spring Minestrone because I used those itty bitty baby vegetables that often appear in shops in late spring. Many are harvested early while still young and some are actually varieties that will never get much bigger. I went poking about the internet and found a couple of different articles that were very enlightening. This one in particular from Business Insider will give you the low down on some of our favorite tiny vegetables.

And this article on Slate goes into the culinary history of what they call micro-vegetables.

What I know for sure is that most "baby" carrots aren't really, but the rest of the little guys are adorable and, most importantly, make a beautiful tasty soup.

Spring Minestrone

This ingredient list is not set in stone! You can use vegetables in amounts and combinations that please you, so don’t get too hung up on the weights or measures. The amounts below are what I used. The whole recipe is also easily doubled or trebled to feed a crowd.

Ingredients to serve 4-5 as a first course, 2-3 as a main course
1/2 cup or 80g dried tiny pasta, like ditalini rigate
Big handful fine green beans
2 spring carrots
2 small zucchini
1 small bulb fennel (Choose one with fronds for garnish)
1/2 cup or 75g fresh-hulled peas (sub frozen petit pois if fresh aren't available)
2 baby corn on cobs
2 baby leeks
2/3 cup or 117g canned borlotti beans, rinsed and drained
4 1/4 cups or 1L good quality chicken stock

To serve:
Crème fraîche or lightly soured cream
Fennel fronds or chopped spring onions

Tip: Make this vegetarian by substituting a good quality vegetable stock instead.

Method
Scrub your carrots and zucchini and cut them into small pieces. These tender vegetables don’t need to be peeled, just cleaned.

Cut the stalks off the fennel and keep any fronds for garnish. Thinly slice the bulb. Top and tail the green beans and cut them into thirds.

Trim the ends of the corn and the dark green off of the baby leeks and then cut them both into short pieces.

Boil your pasta according to package instructions. Drain, rinse and set aside.

Place the vegetables in a soup pot then pour in the chicken stock.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are cooked through, but still firm, about 5-7 minutes tops.

Add in the cooked pasta and beans. Warm through, then ladle into bowls and top each with a dollop of crème fraîche and a sprinkle of chopped fennel fronds and/or spring onions.

Enjoy!

June is National Fruit andVegetable Month! Many thanks to Ellen of Family Around the Table for this month's Foodie Extravaganza theme and for her behind the scenes work. Check out all of the other fabulous recipes we are sharing today.

• Farmers' Market Walk + Chilled Cantaloupe Soup with Preserved Lemon-Herb Salsa by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Fresh Fruit Tart with Orange Curd by My Pinterventures
• Fresh Strawberry Salsa by Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Fried Onion Strings by Family Around the Table
• Fruity Rice Paper Rolls by Sneha's Recipe
• Green Papaya Salad (Som Tum) by Palatable Pastime
• Grilled Ratatouille by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Shaved Asparagus Pizza with Brie by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spring Minestrone by Food Lust People Love
• Strawberry Avocado Salad by Cookaholic Wife
• Watermelon Lemonade by Caroline's Cooking

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays, and we all post recipes using the same ingredient. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

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Passionfruit Banana Muffins #MuffinMonday

With well-ripened bananas for sweetness and fresh passionfruit pulp for a little added zip, these passionfruit banana muffins make a great breakfast, mid-morning or after school snack.

Often when I make banana muffins, I add some lemon juice and/or zest. That hint of tartness brightens them up. Ditto for passionfruit! The bonus with passionfruit is the little crunchy seeds that make a satisfying pop as you chew them. Some people strain these out, but why?

If you are a fan of banana muffins, you might also want to check out my Peanut Butter Stuffed Banana Muffins, Banana Honey Muffins or my fancier Bananas Foster Muffins.

Passionfruit Banana Muffins

If you only have canned passionfruit pulp, you can use it as a substitute, with perhaps a little added lemon juice to add a bit more tang.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups or 218g flour
1/2 cup or 100g packed soft dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 very ripe bananas (about 10 oz or 285g by weight when peeled)
2 tablespoons fresh passionfruit pulp (about 30g)
1/3 cup or 80ml light vegetable oil
2 eggs

Optional for topping: 2 tablespoons amber sugar crystals

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your muffin pan or line it with paper cups.

Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together. Make sure to mash out any lumps of brown sugar.

Mash the bananas with a fork then add in the passionfruit pulp, eggs and oil. Whisk until thoroughly combined.

Fold your wet ingredients into your dry ones until they are just mixed.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with the sugar crystals, if using.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool slightly in the muffin pan before removing to a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Check out the other lovely muffins my Muffin Monday bakers have for you today!

• Coffee Cake Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Red White and Blue Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Passionfruit Banana Muffins from Food Lust People Love

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

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Simple Salmon Sliders with Sesame Ginger Slaw #FishFridayFoodies

These simple salmon sliders are easy to make and take mere minutes to cook. Topped with sesame ginger slaw, they are fresh and flavorful, a fun appetizer or main course your friends and family will love.

Lately the fishmonger in my closest supermarket has taken to making salmon patties and packaging them up for sale in twos on the fish counter. While I appreciate his efforts, I cannot bring myself to buy chopped up fish that is possibly almost or just past its best. If I'm going to buy salmon, I like a fillet or even a cross-section – bones don’t bother me, they add flavor – where I can see if the fish seems firm and moist and fresh.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t like salmon patties, big or small. I just like to make them myself. If you have a food processor, they are also very simple to make and no fillers like bread or egg are needed. Who knows what the supermarket guy is putting in!

Simple Salmon Sliders with Sesame Ginger Slaw

Feel free to substitute your favorite fresh greens or slaw to top these little guys. Or skip the salad altogether and serve them with a small dollop of mayo mixed with sriracha sauce.

Ingredients - 24 sliders
For the sliders:
2 lbs or 900g fresh salmon, skinned and cut in chunks
8 oz or 225g smoked salmon
Small bundle green onions, both white and green tops, chopped finely
Black pepper
Salt - may not be necessary

To serve:
24 small buns
broccoli slaw
Optional: sriracha for serving

For the broccoli slaw:
1/2 purple onion, sliced thinly
1/2 cup or 120ml sesame ginger dressing or dressing of your choice
12 oz or 340g package broccoli slaw

Method
In a medium sized bowl (or a plastic container), pour a few tablespoons of the dressing over the sliced onion and leave to marinate for a few minutes. This takes a little of the sharpness and burn out of the onion.

Add the rest of the broccoli slaw to the bowl and toss with balance of the dressing. Cover the bowl with cling film (or the container with its lid) and put it in the refrigerator until you are ready almost ready to serve.

To make the salmon patties, chop the smoked salmon with a sharp knife and pop it in a food processor with the green onions and a few good grinds of black pepper. Give it a few quick pulses to combine the ingredients.

Add some of the fresh salmon – about ½ lb or 225g - to the food processor.

Process until you have a thick, chunky paste. This is what is going to hold the rest of the salmon together in patties. Scrape this mixture out of the food processor and into a large mixing bowl.

Chop the rest of the salmon into small pieces with a sharp knife. Add these to the bowl with the salmon paste and mix well with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until thoroughly combined.

Heat your griddle or nonstick pan and cook a teaspoonful of the mixture. Add salt to taste. You might find, as I do, that the smoked salmon adds enough salt and no more is necessary.

Divide the salmon mixture into 24 small piles. Form these into patties, wetting your hands occasionally as you go along, to stop the mixture from sticking to them.

Put your oven on warm and fold a sheet of foil on a baking pan and put it in the oven.

Heat your griddle or nonstick pan again over a medium high heat and panfry the salmon patties a few at a time until browned on both sides and cooked through.

This just takes mere minutes.

Transfer cooked patties to the oven, tucking them between the fold of the foil, to keep them warm.

Slice the buns in half and top each with a salmon patty, broccoli slaw and, if desired, a squirt of sriracha.

Enjoy!

This month my Fish Friday Foodie group is sharing sandwiches made with seafood so you’ve got plenty of tasty choices to check out below. Many thanks to this month’s host, Sue of Palatable Pastime.

An InLinkz Link-up

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