Cottage cheese dip with lovage and chives

We visited Tower Hill Botanical Garden near Berlin while we were staying in Boston this last week or so. It was raining and perhaps closed, but we walked around anyway. They had a cool 'Systematic Garden', with plantings according to phylogeny, inspired by Arthur Cronquist. Among them was lovage, which at first glance looked a lot like angelica... or even celery. Sniffing a bit made it clear how similar to celery it is - it has a celery-like smell and taste, mixed with something deeper and spicier. Considering our recent obsessions with both celery and celeriac, it seemed like a nobrainer as something we should eat more of. But I've never really seen it anywhere to buy, so have only eaten it a few times, mostly in soup...

We are back in Copenhagen now, and I went to get supplies from the Frugt og Grønt store near Christianshavn metro, and found they had lovage (løvstikke) among their impressive selection of herbs. So of course I couldn't resist. We've had some in salads, S has added it to pasta sauce, and I put it in this dip as well, having also succumbed to a craving for cottage cheese.

(enough for two as a side)

4 tbsp cottage cheese
2 tbsp yoghurt
1 tbsp chopped chives
3 tbsp chopped lovage
1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
salt+pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Adjust for acid, seasoning and consistency. We ate with toasted brown pita breads cut into strips.

Simple fried rice

A very quick and easy, very tasty way to use up leftover rice. Taking advantage of yellow curry paste from our favourite Thai supermarket on Istedgade.

oil
spice paste (used yellow curry paste)
spring onions
cold rice
edamame

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add the spice paste and spring onions and stir-fry until onions are slightly softened. Then add the rice and edamame and stir-fry some more, until the rice is slightly crispy in places and everything is piping hot. Eat straight away.

Koldskål (kærnemælkskoldskål) med kammerjunker

Another Danish food we tried: koldskål is a chilled buttermilk soup, often flavoured with citrus. Cartons of it appeared everywhere on the first warmish day (we haven't had too many of those yet...). It is usually eaten with crispy biscuits (kammerjunker).