Summer Yum

Today's recipes: Lavender Marinade, Linguine with Tomatoes and Basil, Fruit Salad Combos

I'm feeling a bit better this week! Enough better that i want to cook!!! Oh, and I want to share!

I bought culinary lavender at the farmer's market, and got a great marinade recipe with it. I have (of course) tweaked it a bit...

Lavender Marinade

- works for pork or lamb, chops, roasts or tenderloins
1 Tbsp culinary lavender
1 Tbsp herbs de Provance blend (optional... but yummy)
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cloves garlic - crushed or pressed
juice of 1 lemon
olive oil

combine all ingredients in whatever container you are going to marinate your meat in. use enough olive oil to liberally coat the meat. let meat sit in mixture for at least 2 hours. cook & enjoy :-)

- I served Lavender Pork Tenderloin with rice and steamed broccoli... sooooooo nice :-)

This next recipe was given to me at Central Market a few years ago, and I LOOOOOOOOOVE it! Of course, it needed tweaking... my modifications are in parenthesis:

Linguine with Tomatoes and Basil

4 ripe large tomatoes cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I use roma, cherry or grape tomatoes - whatever looks better)
1 Lb Brie cheese, rind removed, cut/torn into 1 inch cubes - really cold brie is easier to handle
1 cup cleaned fresh basil leaves, cut into strips
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced (I use WAY more garlic, and I slice it thinly)
Olive Oil - the recipe calls for 1 cup, I never use more than 1/2 cup
2 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 Lbs fresh linguine
freshly grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)

combine tomatoes, brie, basil, garlic, salt & pepper & oil (here's where I gauge the amount of oil needed - the mixture should be plenty 'gooshy', but does not need to swim in oil). cover and let sit @ room temperature for at least 2 hours

cook linguine, drain & toss w/ the tomato mixture. add parmesan if desired. serve immediately

makes 4-6 portions

- this time around, I'm serving this pasta with Parmesean Chicken Sausage from Central Market


and mango & avocado salad...


I usually just serve it with bread and wine ;-)

I also used the LONGEST PASTA I'VE EVER SEEN! It looks like Ramen, only longer and spiral - Lily Ruth LOOOOOOVED it :-)


oh, I remembered that I wanted to share my current favorite fruit salad combos with you!

peach & blackberry with a tiny bit of lavender sugar
mango & avocado with lime and chili powder
watermelon and white grape with no adornment :-)

Welcome to Summer dining!!!! I'm feeling inspired!

Mmmmmm, More Food!

Today's Recipes: Green Enchiladas, Fruit Salad

Ya'll, I made Green Enchiladas, and DAMN they were good! Here you go - you're welcome :-P

Rachel's Green Enchiladas

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
EVOO
Chili Powder
Cumin
Salt & Pepper
4 garlic cloves - minced
1/2 pkg of sliced mushrooms - broken into even smaller pieces
1/2 pkg of baby spinach - sliced
Cotija cheese - crumbled (a salty, crumbly Mexican cheese)
Monterey Jack cheese - grated
10 whole wheat tortillas
1 can mild & 1 can medium Hatch Green Enchilada Sauce
Plain Greek Yogurt

preheat the oven to 350°. sautee the chicken breasts in a small amount of EVOO - while cooking, season with chili powder cumin and s&p to your taste (I used quite a bit). take the chicken out of the pan & set aside. using the same pan, sautee the mushrooms and garlic. when they are mostly done, turn the heat off, lay the spinach on top and cover until the spinach wilts. chop the chicken into small bits. in a bowl, combine the chicken and the mushroom, garlic and spinach mixture.


spray a glass baking dish with non-stick spray. now, since I used whole wheat tortillas, and they are harder to roll than corn, I laid the ingredients into the tortillas, and set them into the dish as though they were tacos (unrolled).


Then I rolled them one by one without removing them from the dish so that they held each other in place. SO, a little Cotija and a little chicken/mushroom/garlic/spinach mixture into each tortilla. roll 'em up using whatever method works best for you. place them 'open-side down' in the glass baking dish. cover liberally with sauce - that's why I used 2 cans. bake for 40 minutes. uncover, sprinkle with MJ cheese and dot the surface with plain yogurt. bake uncovered for an additional 10-15 minutes.


SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good! here are a few options for substitutions:

- whole wheat tortillas - you could use any flavor: corn, flour, flavored...
- Cotija - you could use ANY cheese. I chose Cotija because I had some in the fridge from my Fiesta weekend impromptu gathering. I also have access to multiple Mexican cheeses. If you do not, don't fret, just pick your favorite cheese and go for it :-)
- Hatch enchilada sauce - this is another product I am just lucky to have access to. there are lots of other pre-made green sauces out there, and it sounds ridiculously easy to make a yummy tomatillo sauce from scratch if you have access to those babies.
- Greek yogurt - you could use sour cream or Mexican Crema. I happen to have yogurt in the fridge as Lily Ruth will eat pretty much anything mixed with Greek yogurt, and I have noticed in the past that it subbed in well for sour cream... or even mayo...

I also made another yummy fruit salad (I ADORE warm weather fruits!):

Blackberries
Blueberries
Mandarin Orange slices
Mango
Black Grapes
Chili Powder
Cinnamon

Great. Now I'm hungry again. Time to plan out a few meals and head to the store!
xoxo, r

Food as Love

Today's Recipes: Summery Salmon, Cool Asparagus, Fruit Salad

Have I mentioned that I love to cook? Have I mentioned that I cook as a way to express my love for those around me? Well, I do.

This is something that came down to me through the blood. In my family, we show love not through gifts that we purchase (although we do some of that as well), but by getting together, being together, laughing together and sharing a meal. It's what we do :-)

I was able to show some love this week - it was my Grandfather's birthday! Those folks have been on a 'flat belly' diet, and have had a LOT of chicken lately, so the birthday boy requested salmon. Done and done. Then I just had to respect the fact that they are trying to watch their fat/caloric intake while planning the rest of the meal - easy-peasy. We ended up with a beautiful summer meal - my first of the year. Here's what we had:

Summery Salmon

2 Lbs salmon
1 large orange
1 large lime
5 garlic cloves - minced
1/4 c cilantro leaves - chopped
kosher salt

lay the salmon (skin side down) in a glass baking dish. Squeeze the orange and the lime over the fish. Sprinkle the garlic and cilantro over the fish. Sprinkle (sparingly) with salt. Cover, and marinate 2-3 hours. You can either grill or bake the salmon. I baked, so... pre-heat the oven to 400° F. Drain extra juice from the baking dish - leave the cilantro and garlic in place. I didn't spray the dish with non-stick spray, and it wasn't awful, but I wish that I had, so you could go either way. Bake for 20 minutes. Check the thickest part of the fish - opaque=done. If it's not done, chuck it back in.


Cool Asparagus

2 bunches fresh asparagus
olive oil
Cavender's Greek Seasoning

snap off the bottoms of the asparagus stalks. Discard the bottoms & rinse the stalks. Place in a large skillet with a small amount of olive oil. Cover & steam over medium heat - adding small amounts of water as needed to steam (not sautee) the asparagus. When the stalks turn bright green, you can start checking for done-ness. When done, rinse with cool water to stop the cooking process, transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with seasoning or toss with a small amount of salad dressing. cover and set aside (or chill) until dinner.


Fruit Salad

Watermelon
Mango
Pineapple
Grapes
Avocado
mix in lime juice, chili powder and cinnamon for an extra kick. TRUST ME - it's awesome

mix all of the fruit together - add avocado immediately before serving. If you end up storing leftovers, remove all avocado first! Don't wuss out and leave the avocado out. Go for it. You could (of course) use any fresh fruit, it's the avocado, lime, cinnamon and chili powder that make this truly stellar.

Brown Rice
Sliced Tomato

it was a little taste of heaven. Also, a great gathering for a fantastic reason.

I also caught the Fiesta 'bug'. Since Lily Ruth is too little for most Fiesta events, we only made it to the King William Parade. I still had this almost physical itch for a celebration, so I decided to have people over at the very last minute. I was just going to invite our neighbors, but ended up with 2 couples. It was pretty great. The weather was awesome. The house was wide open. Music played in the background. Babies laughed as they chased the dog. And of course, there was food. I made:

- Diane's Pork Tenderloin using Anchor Steam Porter and 10 or so garlic cloves served as tacos on fresh tortillas
- Fruit Salad using the rest of the uncut fruit from Grandfather's birthday dinner
- my 'Mexican Rice'
- sliced Avocado
- crumbled Cotija cheese
- sauteed mushrooms, onions and Anaheim peppers
- roasted corn

Today, we had Kyla and her wonderful sons over for brunch. Don made French Toast, and we had scrambled eggs and bacon with it. Then we lounged around watching the kiddos do various adorable things.


I feel like I am surrounded by tiny moments of pure joy.


Maybe they were always there, maybe not. Maybe the only difference is that I have to be very alert all of the time, so I'm noticing them more. Maybe I'm just more open to joy these days.

What a great weekend. Now, if only it were warm enough to swim!