Whole Wheat Pasta ...

The lovely Andrea is hosting "Grow Your Own" this month, was not sure we could partake as the weather is killing our garden but we found a few survivors out there, so here we go .....

I wanted to go for a sort of "Thai" or "Asian" taste, on the spicy side for tonights dinner. I browned some garlic and Portuguese chili peppers (the only thing still living in our garden) in olive oil until they were lightly crisp and very fragrant. I used whole wheat pasta because I like the nutty flavor, the texture and it is suppose to be better for us. After cooking the pasta (and draining it) I tossed some left over homemade butter into the pot of noodles, threw in some spinach for color and added the browned garlic mixture, sprinkled some Parmesan on top and we were ready! Very delicious for a dish that came from a near empty fridge and pantry!

Veggie Lasagna

We are back on the local train. While it was great having L.'s mother cook Portuguese food for us for a week we are both happy to be eating Local & Organic again! Made one of our favorite dishes today ... Grilled Veggie Lasagna sitting in a pool of Basil Oil, the recipe is one of Emeril's and it is - YUMMY!

Another Light Evening ....

We are on the road to lignt, easy and tasty this week! Fennel and rice salad - tangy and very tasty (not to mention very easy)! I should had served a nice warm crusty loaf of bread with it but did not have time to pick one up today. Dessert ... some simple cubes of a wonderfully fresh cantaloupe!

Asian Inspired Sunday Night Dinner

Lucky for us I purchased an issue of Gourmet magazine at the Newark Airport when we were trying to get home from NY a couple weeks ago. I never buy Gourmet; but, I was intrigued when I saw on the front cover that there was a bit on sliders. We had just had some at the Little Owl so I was very excited! Anyhow, I was inspired by a couple recipes in this issue and I made the following for dinner! Soba noodles sauteed with a cabbage and shitake mushroom sauce. I also sauteed some fresh paprika peppers to serve along side it .... to give it some heat! Was delicious! For dessert I served a homemade plum and red wine sorbet! (recipes, to come ...)

Wok this ....

Friday night we finally had a warm enough evening to take advantage of the deck - it has been a long time! Woked a veggie stir fry - red & purple bell peppers, zucchini, yellow patty pan squash and some young red onions. Very simple with some olive oil and then a sprinkling of a new Tuscan salt. The highlight was a grilled Branzini, which I stuffed with a mixture of fennel, red onion, oregano and Meyer lemon - first time grilling and eating a Branzini, it was wonderful - peeled off nicely from the skin & bones, it was light, moist and very flavorful!

New Potato Salad

Inspired by this recipe, from Real Simple magazine. I did add a little minced red onion to the recipe as well I served it warm. We are trying to eat vegetarian for a couple weeks so instead of a big juicy steak or burger, I added a grilled portabella mushroom which I seasoned with Olive Oil, and a Chiptole Pepper rub. The photo does not do it Justice, it was really fantastic!

May 5th, 2007

We started the evening with Blood Orange Margaritas, Organic Corn Tortillas w/an Eggplant Salsa - we are crazy for Eggplant right now! Next we moved to a Vegetarian Enchilada with a roasted tomatillo chiptole sauce. I have to say, the veggies were cooked just enough with alittle crunch & the sauce had a nice bite of spice with an under tone of smokiness. Went nicely with the Margaritas! Dessert ~ Zest of Blood Orange madelines dipped in a semi-sweet Scharfenberg Chocolate. Time to hit the couch with a bit of Port and a good movie ... Now, what restaurant offers that type of service!