Mint-spiration

I've been in a very mint-y mood today, probably because it's been hot out, and mint is a very cooling herb.

It started this morning, when I went to my local coffee shop.  I usually get their iced mocha, but I took some time to look at the menu while waiting in line and noticed a "iced vanilla mint latte" under their specials.  I never imagined the combination of vanilla and mint, so I decided to give it a try since it sounded so unique.  IT WAS DELICIOUS!  I even tweeted about it.

Sitting at my local coffee shop with a Iced Vanilla Mint Latte.

 I went grocery shopping afterwards, and saw the bunch of mint while I was grabbing a bag of lettuce.  I thought, "let's make this a mint day!"  I already have dried mint in my pantry, but you can do a lot more with fresh.  I came home and started planning how to fit in mint into the rest of my meals tonight.

I started off with a mint salad dressing.  I looked up recipes online, but there weren't any popular ones that stood out to my liking.  I decided to add it to my normal salad dressing with some alterations:

- drops of lemon juice
- drops of vegetable oil
- pinch of salt
- pinch of garlic powder
- small bunch of chopped mint

I mixed them all in my mini food processor and tossed it into my mixed salad - yum!

Dressing ingredients in my food processor.

I had planned to make one of my favorite Persian dishes, Khoresht Ghemeh, and while it does not require mint in the recipe, I thought I compliment the dish with a yogurt soda drink with mint called doogh.  Doogh is normally served with Persian kabobs, but I don't have a grill and I was in the mood for it.  I'll save the authenticity when I visit my parents, they are much better cooks anyway :)

Anyway, doogh is basically plain yogurt blended with club soda, pinch of salt, and some chopped mint (optional).

Doogh, one of my favorite childhood drinks!

Well, I'm off to finish cooking dinner.  Probably going to add the rest of the mint to my tea before bed tonight!