10 minutes?!… just 10 minutes to put a potluck item together? Okay, first thing – what foods do I have. A quick inventory of the fruit bowl: fresh raspberries, an orange – naw. One sweet potato, 2 onions – no time to cook, no time to chop.

To the fridge I go: nearly-thawed cooked beets? too frozen. Almost expired celery? no way. Here’s a 1/2 bunch parsley, 2 scallions, handful of snap peas, carrots, olives, irish moss, coconut yogurt.

Alright, what’s in the freezer: peas, corn, berries, tempeh, grass-fed beef, candied orange peel, edamame. Ah-ha, I recently had a blended parsley, mint and yogurt sauce with an Indian dish, …I like creamed peas, but I hesitated with the peas and then my eyes landed on the edamame again.

Cool, I know what to do. …. get the edamame thawed – so, into the sauce pan they go. Then, get the parsley and yogurt into the blender. I want another level of flavor so I grabbed the 2 scallions. Onions have more of an after taste so I want something to hit that very first “taste-bud wow factor”…. oooh, the orange peel will do that – it’s very perfume-y, plus has a big exotic flavor.

As I’m removing the stems – pinching off the parsley leaves and putting them into the blender – I thought about the cream. I don’t have much yogurt, it’s been time to make another batch for a couple of days now. So, coconut milk came to mind, hmmm, this will be a lot less tart than the yogurt, which is a good thing because this way the orange and onion will have a leading role.

As I reach for the coconut milk in the pantry my arm passes over the tamarind paste. Hmm, a bit tart, yet sweet, that’ll work.

And it did. Many people loved the flavors. So – here’s the recipe…..

The ingredients:

• 1 bag frozen edamame
• 1/2 bunch parsley, no stems
• 2 scallions, leaves and stem, chopped
• 1 tbls candied orange peel
• 1 tsp tamarind paste
• 1/3 can coconut milk

The process:

1. Put edamame in sauce pan with enough water to cover, bring to low simmer, cook just long enough to thaw the beans, about 5-8 minutes.
2. While the beans are cooking, wash, then pinch, snip or cut the tips of the parsley and put in blender.
3. Wash and cut the scallions into 1-2 inch pieces and put into blender.
4. Add the orange peel and tamarind paste.
5. Shake the can of c.milk, then pour 1/3 of it into the blender.
6. Blend well, until the onion and parsley are in small bits.
7. Do a taste test, do another taste test and then one more taste test with a few beans. If you’re like me, you’ll have just one more taste test because it tastes good(!).
8. Drain the edamame into colander and toss a bit to allow the steam to dissipate – just a few seconds, put back into sauce pan and add the cream sauce, stir well.
9. Transfer the goods into a serving bowl, let sit while you rinse the blender, then pour that rinse water into the pot. Put the can of coconut milk and tamarind paste into the fridge, throw the edamame bag away. Cover the beans, ……..and off to the potluck I go.