Garden to Kitchen

We've had tons of rain here in south Texas and the garden is exploding!  And while we don't have full on harvests yet, we are still able to gather small baskets from the garden on the daily right now.  Always just before the cukes ripen, there is a huge dill harvest.  I dry most of it to use all year long but I really love using fresh dill in recipes and I thought I'd share my favorite dill dip with you.

A basket FULL of dill and cilantro for the dehydrator.  We'll use these herbs all year long!

Fresh Dill Dip

1 Cup of sour cream 
1 Cup of mayonnaise 
1 Teaspoon onion powder 
1 Tablespoon garlic powder 
 4 Tablespoons (or more!)of fresh dill
1 Tablespoon of fresh parsley 
Salt to taste

Just put all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse a few times until combined.  Refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

I also use that fresh dill in a marinated cucumber salad that I eat during this growing season.  Just make your brine once and keep adding garden vegetables all summer long.

Marinated Cucumber Salad

1 Cup of white vinegar

1 Cup of water

1 Tablespoon of minced garlic

2 Tablespoons of sea salt

1 Tablespoons of chopped fresh dill

1 Tablespoon of mustard seed

1 Teaspoon of celery seed

1 Tablespoon fresh dill

This is a basic brine, feel free to adjust to your taste!

Mix brine into a large glass jar and then add whatever you have from the garden.  I love the combination of cucumber (use the pickling kind or otherwise they'll get soggy), bell peppers, and red onion.  When my tomatoes are ripe, sometimes I'll add them (once seeded and extra juices squeezed out), or even thinly sliced zucchini or squash.

This little salad is great on sandwiches, salads, burgers, or eating straight out of the jar...which I may or may not have done!