Fried Green Tomatoes and Lemongrass Tea

Happy Monday! Have you ever had lemongrass tea? Saturday, when I went to the farmers market, I bought some lemongrass. I didn’t have any idea what this weed looking thing was that was sticking out of a bucket of water, so I had to ask. I buy a lot of my unique finds from a very sweet Korean lady. She always tells me what it is and how to use it. She told me that lemongrass tea was very good for you and that they use it for healing in her country, so of course, I had to buy some. The lady also told me that it was a lot like green tea. I took 2 lemongrass stalks and cut them into 4 inch pieces (leaves and all). I put them in a pot with 5 cups of water and brought it to a boil. After it came to a boil I removed the tea from the heat and let it steep for about 2 minutes. After steeping, I poured the tea into a pitcher, through a strainer, and then added a little agave nectar to sweeten it. Tony drank some hot that night and thought it tasted pretty good. I decided I didn’t want any, so I waited and drank mine cold yesterday. It was very good, and did actually taste a little like green tea. I love trying new things! Oh, and it made the house smell great.

Last night for supper we made some fried green tomatoes…yummo!! Of course that’s not all we ate. We had leftovers from lunch, so we warmed that up and cooked the tomatoes to go with it. We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Chango Loco after church. I can never eat all of my food when we go there, so I always have plenty to bring home for another meal. Their air conditioner was broken yesterday, so it was a little warm in there. Tony couldn’t eat much since it was on the warm side in the restaurant, so we both had plenty for our supper. Take a look at my lunch. I had vegetarian sinchronizada. It was two flat tortillas with spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and mushrooms inside it and then grilled. It was delicious! I think it is one of my new favorites. Of course I couldn’t eat my salad, because I forgot to tell them “no sour cream”. :-(

Okay, back to the fried green tomatoes. Here’s my recipe.

2 green tomatoes
¼ cup corn meal
¼ cup flour
1 tbsp dried oregano
½ tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste.
rice milk (for dipping)
oil for frying

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl that is large enough to dip the tomatoes into. Put the milk in a shallow bowl for dipping the tomatoes. Slice and pat the tomatoes with a paper towel to get a little of the liquid out. Dip the tomatoes slices in the flour mixture (coat well), then dip into the milk, and back into the flour mixture again. Make sure they are well coated. The batter is what makes these babies taste so good. Preheat some oil in your fryer or skillet to 350°. Once hot, gently place the tomatoes in the hot oil and cook until brown. Drain on paper towels and eat immediately.

Oh, I tried a new smoothie out this morning that didn’t turn out so hot. I took some frozen strawberries, half a frozen banana, half of an avocado, some kale, 1 tbs of chia seeds, 2 tbs of hemp seeds, some almond milk and a little agave nectar. I have to admit, I did NOT like this concoction this morning. I don’t really know how to describe the taste other than…BLEH! Maybe it was the kale or avocado that I was tasting? Or, maybe it was just the wrong mixtures? This was my first time using kale, so I'm really not sure what went wrong. Anyone have any suggestions on a great tasting smoothie using kale?

~Peace~