From Bougainvillea Flowers to Broccoli: The Weekend Herb Blogging #278 Roundup

Weekend Herb Blogging #278 was hosted here at The Crispy Cook this week, and once again it was an edifying pleasure.  This popular blog event was started by Kalyn's Kitchen five years ago and it has been headquartered at Cook Almost Anything for the last two years.

The focus of WHB is not just on herbs, but on posts that feature other edible plants, and the weekly roundups are always full of interesting ingredients cooked up beautifully by great cooks around the world.  This week we had entries from bloggers from Indonesia, Canada, England, Germany, Singapore, Australia, the United States, Italy, and Mexico and they covered some intriguing new (to me, anyway) ingredients as well as some new presentations of old standbys.

First, lucky Simona of Briciole is already able to harvest some tender young chard from her California garden and she put it to good use. Check out her Frittata with Baby Chard and Homemade Ricotta.

Over at La Cucina di Cristina, a bilingual food blog in English and Italian, we get a bowl of Pasta with Fava Beans and Pecorino. Che bello!

Indonesian blogger GrowinKitchen offers up a plate of Tumis Oncum dan Leaunca, a traditional Sundanese or Western Javanese dish, which she translates into English as Fermented Soybean Waste with Black Nightshade. While this might be a literal translation, I think "Sundanese Tempeh with Nightshade Berries" might be a more appetizing way to introduce this tempting entree to Western readers.

Imagine getting your summer fix (in raggedy early spring no less) with maple roasted tomatoes, arugula, and eggplant topped with a dollop of Greek yogurt and pomegranate molasses sauce. Yum. You can find your reveries turned into reality at the German blog run by expat Italian, Caffetteria al Rosa.

British Columbian blogger Val of More Than Burnt Toast offers up a plate of Shaved Lemon Fennel Salad to accompany a delectable Chicken Saltimbocca.

It's off to Oxford, England, to Elly's Shakespearean-named blog, Nutmegs, seven, for a real harbinger of spring: Bottled Rhubarb. Doesn't this beautiful preserve remind you of jewels?

Winging over to Singapore to visit Asan Khana, we get a peek at a refreshing Cottage Cheese Salad with Purple Basil Leaves.

Imagine quaffing a beautifully purple-tinged, cooling drink infused with bougainvillea flowers. Now, add a cooking school based in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and you've got Flavors of the Sun's Bugambilia Limeade.

Hawai'ian blogger Claudia of Honey from Rock sends over a plate of lemony Zucchini Crudo, perfumed with fresh garden dill. Be sure to stop by and check out Claudia's full post for the photos of two of the cutest chicks you'll ever "lay" eyes on.

A five-star bakery could not produce a more perfect tray of Blueberry Cheesecake Macarons than Melbourne, Australia-based blogger Sue of Youcandoitathome. She offers detailed instructions with lots of photos to help us reproduce these purple beauties. (And I love that macarons are naturally gluten-free!)

Let's all stop over to Briiblog in English to wish our friend a Happy Birthday this coming week and revel in her Spelt, Buckwheat and Carrot Muffins.  Brii leads hiking tours around beautiful Lake Garda in Italy and always shares some gorgeous landscape photos with her tasty posts.

Our Weekend Herb Blogging Goddess, Haalo of Cook Almost Anything, made a fantastic looking Schiacciata di Cavolo Nero.  This stuffed Italian bread has a luscious filling made with cavolo nero, a brassica also known as Black Cabbage, Tuscan Cabbage or Curly Kale.

Janet from Tastespace sent in an exotic Moroccan Cinnamon Orange Salad in fond remembrance of her travels in North Africa.

Finally, there's my contribution to the wonderfully colorful WHB #278 bounty: Broccoli and Pasta Timbale.  I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this rather elegant vegetarian casserole was to make.  And eat. ; )

Thanks again to Haalo of Cook Almost Anything for allowing me the pleasure of hosting Weekend Herb Blogging this week. Be sure to check out Anh's Vietnamese food-infused blog, A Food Lover's Journey next week when she hosts WHB #279.