July 28, 2010

Summer Squash with Goat Cheese

Another bucket of summer squash was set outside our front door a few days ago!! My neighbor is going crazy with this summer squash business! After making the risotto the other night, I needed to make something simple and uncomplicated (aka-I just got home from work and don’t feel like cooking!) So here’s what happened: I sauteed zucchini & summer squash in a pan with onions & thyme. I browned them a bit and added garlic at the very end (so it wouldn’t burn). It all went on a lovely plate and was topped with crumbles of goat cheese. We made a main course out of it with some yummy toasted french bread. The goat cheese crumbles melted on top of the squash; adding a scrumptious creamy/tangy element to the dish!

Feel free to substitute the goat cheese for feta or Parmesan. I’ve been on a great goat cheese binge lately, haven’t I? Sorry! If you aren’t into cheese, the squash is fine without it!! It would make any vegan happy. Thank you Ann for the best summer squash I’ve tasted! I’ll will let you know when we’ve had enough! At this rate, it could be soon!
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July 27, 2010

Simple Banana Ice Cream

I keep going back to this post on the kitchn….ONE INGREDIENT ICE CREAM. It’s absolutely bananas! That’s it! I started to preheat the oven today for banana bread and said SCREW IT. I couldn’t be bothered, so made ice cream instead! It’s the simplest little recipe. There’s no ice cream maker required. You just need a device that can puree almost frozen bananas and then you have banana ice cream! No wonder everyone’s been raving about it! It’s CRAZY DELICIOUS.

You’ll find that it’s pretty adaptable. A scoop of peanut butter mixed in would be good…cocoa powder would be dandy! Some cocoa nibs or some chocolate chips? Heaven! I put a scoop of unsweetened coconut flakes in ours tonight! It added a nice little crunchy texture. I topped it with a little chunk of pizelle my grandma made. Hummina Hummina!

The directions go something like this:
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July 27, 2010

Blueberry Pie

I made this pie for my dad because:

1. It was his 64th birthday.

2. He loves blueberry pie.

3. I love him!

4. I wanted to impress my family with homemade pie crust. (And did!)

Oh! This pie!! There were times I felt like giving up because the dough was being a bit obnoxious when I was rolling it out. Parts of it crumbled and I felt like all I was doing was piecing it together. I mostly blame the temperature outside mixed with my lack of patience. It also didn’t help that I drank a bunch of wine the night before with my family and didn’t sleep well. With a glass of red wine and a long deep sigh, I finished what I started. There’s nothing that says I love you more than a homemade blueberry pie. Right? We devoured this fantastic lemon scented blueberry pie. My dad was proud, and we had such a wonderful evening!

Happy Birthday Dad! And thank you to Martha Stewart. This recipe worked out fabulously!
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July 26, 2010

Zucchini & Summer Squash Risotto

Executing this recipe the other night reiterated two things:

1. Making risotto is not hard. It just requires a bit of attention. A drawing pad, crayons & a high chair made this possible!

2. I should never take for granted having neighbors who drop off buckets of homegrown vegetables at my door. NEVER.

My friend Lana seduced me with her batch of pattypan risotto last week. Her son Alden is a week older than Cooper, so we commiserate in the battle of getting veggies into our carb loving sons! If you need to hide some veggies in a dish for your children, this is a good one to try! If you have a significant other who LOVES risotto, this will not disappoint! Casey ate A LOT!

This risotto is very light & creamy. The zucchini & summer squash melt right into the risotto; adding a bit of sweetness. The Parmesan & lemon juice additions at the end are key! They jazz up the risotto perfectly! It’s OK to go heavy handed on them! Thank you Lana & Helen for the inspiration. This will definitively be in our rotation!
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July 22, 2010

Spinach Salad with Fruits & Goat Cheese

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been overdosing on fruit right now. I take all the fruit I have in the house, chop it up, toss it in a bowl and pop it in the fridge to cool! I’ll walk pass the fridge during the day and poke my fork in to get a few bites before I start an activity. Yes. I am totally THAT person. Last night I had a bright idea to eat fruit for dinner! I wanted something savory, substantial & simple with what I had left, so here’s the salad I came up with.

In this bowl of fruit you’ll find kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, mangoes & plums!

I added crumbled goat cheese, a bag of spinach & the remains of the salad dressing used in my Mom’s salad to the fruit.

I realized that it was missing a crunch factor. Enter SUNFLOWER SEEDS!

Everything worked really well together! Casey loved it too. WIN!

So here it is. Our dinner. Served with some crusty toasted bread. DEEELISH!

Have you been into fruit too?

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July 21, 2010

Black Bean Taco Night!

Two nights ago I made Molly’s Quick Black Beans recipe and fell madly, truly & deeply in love. I seriously could eat the whole batch straight out of the pan. But I have a boy & my man to feed, so I figured I’d do something substantial with them.

We had a Black Bean Taco party! Outside!