Elisa's Eye on the World

More Dinner and Meals

My, the end of January is near and I"m glad to report on more home cooking.

• A double batch of Joy of Cooking (JOC) macaroni and cheese made two great dinners, served with spinach, sliced almond, cherry tomato salads. Four big pieces were wrapped in wax paper and stowed in a plastic freezer container.
• More JOC action with split pea soup to warm up some very wet and cold nights. A simplier variety than the Jane Brody receipe - having time to simmer is key. The leftovers were poured off into an 8 cup glass lidded container and the next night it was extra thick and hearty. Served with rustic potato rolls and a bit of cheddar.
• Half batch of Artisan pizza dough - or enough for 2 14" crusts. Splitting the measurements made my head hurt, but the dough was airy and light. I'm still waiting for a 6 quart container so I can make full recipes. But once the measuring is done it's just quick mix, set to rise then stow in fridge. No Need to Knead.
• Pizza 1 was a classic veggie: sauce, green pepper, yellow onion, fresh mushrooms with mozzerella.
• Avocado and cheese Sandwiches on Rustic Bolo Rolls. Bun toasted, cheese melted and blended avocado spread on an airy crusty roll, squished down before cutting into 1/2's or 1/4's. Quick and satisfying with a spinach salad with carrots, sliced almonds and cherry tomatoes.

Eating out is fabulous, but so expensive. Eating at home takes planning but the results are so satisfying to the tummy and purse. I hope you are able to enjoy these everyday meals in your own home.

Joy of Cooking Split Pea Soup

On this blustry, wet but not too cold January evening I'm about to serve up some "Joy of Cooking" Split Pea Soup. There were two slices of Candadian bacon in the freezer and I defrosted them and threw them in with the spring water and lovely organic peas. Just to see.

After it came to a boil it simmered for an hour, then chopped onion and carrots were added to the mix with an assortment of herbs. Bay leaf, salt, pepper, basil, ground celery.

Some potato buns heating in the toaster oven - let's eat!!

Creative Planning Boosts Menus

It's been some time since I made a full fledged shop with the car for groceries at our natural food cooperative. Impending snow, actual snow and now lots of slush are not my kind of driving conditions.

So here we go, another week into January making the best of what's in the pantry and freezer; with supplements from the nearby conventional grocery (read icky produce).

• The last of the New Year's Risotto, served with TJ samosa,which we have now deemed too spicy
• Lentil soup with Franks in Blankets
• Homemade JoC "New England Clam Chowder" made with 3 cans of TJ Cherrystone clams from Maine, new potato and milk instead of cream
• Naan pizza with sweet onion, blue cheese, provolone and cherry tomatoes
• Store bought frozen Potato and Cheddar Ravioli, prepared then combined in a casserole wth sweet onion, chopped carrots and peas along with some grated cheddar and sprinkle of Panko breadcrumbs and baked with slivered almonds on top
• The last of the JoC Mac and Cheese served with a salad of baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, slivered almonds and carrots
• JoC Tuna casserole over baby spinach

Another Week O Dinners

Last week brought another round of home made and store supplemented meals.

• Leftover baked potato sliced and served in a deep casserole with chopped spinach, carrots, grated cheddar with a bit of strained tomato.
• Lentil soup with carrots, onions and long grain brown rice served with cheddar cheese. With three containers stowed in the freezer.
• The last pizza from the three balls of dough stowed in December. Thursday night pie featured blue cheese, mozzarella, a bit of spinach, chopped green pepper and walnuts over a red sauce. Splendid.
• Tuna casserole from the freezeer with the leftover cauliflower reheated together with slivered almonds.
• Tonight we have risotto cakes from the freezer which will be freshly rolled in bread crumb and Parmesan cheese before baking to reheat- perhaps with some TJ falafel.

 

First Week of Meals (updated w pix)

Best wishes to you dear readers!

This year has been off to a good start with lots of home cooking, mix matching and use of the freezer:

• NY Eve we made risotto, and the leftovers were formed into cakes. Some of the cakes were served a few days later - baked, after dusting in panko bread crumbs and grated Parmesan.

 The rest were formed into cakes, not dusted, then frozen.

• With a dough pulled from the freezer we had a 14" pizza pie with baby spinach, red sauce, mozzerella, chopped green peppers and herbs de Provence.

• Using brown rice noodles and following directions on the package I made Phad Thai with tofu.

The following night we had the leftovers with some baked Risotto cakes.

• Joy of Cooking vegetable chili came out good, but a bit too spicy due to some poor estimates - but some more tomato and sugar balanced things out so it was tasteful with brown rice and grated cheese.

The next night I formed "wraps" from the chili, leftover rice and cheese; these were served with yogurt for a very filling meal. One big and three small containers are now stowed in the freezer. Most have labels!

• Tonight, it's Joy of Cooking tuna casserole. Fresh mushrooms, rather than the canned soup; pasta spirals vs. egg noodles, but otherwise I have the ingredients of: onion, red & green peppers, mushrooms, tuna, breadcrumbs, butter and a nice big pan. Thinking about adding peas. More later, including phtotos.

Here's to Happy and Heathful Eating in 2012!

 

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

What can be better than cookies with:

• Dutch chocolate (for color)
• Milk chocolate chips (for texture)
• Genuine mint extract (for surprise)
• Butter and sugar (for gooey texture)

??

These are simply the best cookies, and I thank Mollie Katzen for sharing the recipe in her Still Life with Menu cookbook.

Franks in Blankets

Although I rarely eat meat, something about making Latkes brings on the urge to make these. The Joy of Cooking 75th Anniversary Edition has a great "recipe" that elevates the usual to quite special.

Of course the franks have to be Kosher, Hebrew National. Usually refrigerated crescent rolls are used. but the traditional brands are quite disgusting in terms of trans fat, and I was thrilled to find an alternative at our cooperative. The cookbook suggests spreading Djon mustard on the dough before rolling them up.

While they were baking and Hubs was making the Latkes I made the suggested "Honey Mustard" sauce (1/3 cup mustard, 6 tbsp. honey and some black pepper)...awesome!!!

Mom's Latkes in not too much Oil

Time for Latkes! I could not find Mom's recipe card, but Googled by blog and found the recipe. Most heat 1/4" of oil in a skillet, but we have this awesome griddle that just needs a light spray of canola oil. The results may be less crispy but they taste awesome and you can eat more with less guilt or excessive fat.

The ever handy (ancient) blender is perfect for fluffing the eggs, before adding the chopped potato and other ingredients.

Hub's skillful technique of ladling batter into small cakes onto the pre-heated skillet is unsurpassed!

The photo is a little over-exposed, but you get the idea. Golden brown but not hash brown crunchy. Placing them on a rack over the tray keeps them from sticking and getting too moist. We never used the dinner plates I set out and ate 'em as they came off the griddle with some crisp white wine and "franks in blankets" as shown in the next post.

Please see other posts in the "Latke" category for the actual recipe and additional photos.

Jane Brody "Greek Shrimp"

I finally got around to making Jane Brody's "Greek Shrimp" from her Good Seafood book and boy it was good! The deal is:

• Simmer up a tomato sauce with onions, garlic and plum tomatoes
• Sprinkle peeled and deveined shrimp (I cheated and used prepared frozen US wild shrimp) with some lemon
• Layer sauce, then the shrimp in a single layer, add more sauce and sprinkle with feta cheese
• Bake until bubbly
• Serve with pasta, I used orzo, layered over some spinach

A delightful dish that would wow a dinner party or make a few good meal for two.

Homemade Mac and Cheese - Thin

Not too long ago I made this "Joy of Cooking" macaroni and cheese recipe, and it was fantastic! Just regular sharp cheddar, TJ pasta (shaped like little caps) and panko breadcrumbs (which are very fine). I used a larger pan, so the dish is thin, not thick and the results were outstanding.

Today, when I wanted something for lunch, I pulled a wax paper wrapped slice from a glass container in the freezer, and it heated up real fast. For those of us who live without a microwave this is a very good thing.

Trying to eat a balanced meal, I ate it with a salad similar to the one shown here. Very satsifying and much better than any frozen meal or store prepared dish.

 

Sunday, Stuffed Sunday

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! The stuffed shells came out better than expected and the real surprise was serving up Sweet Potato Surprise with some Trader Joe's Stir Fried Egg Rolls. Talk about yum!

The weather was dreary and I made some Joy of Cooking Baked Mac and Cheese that came out great; and pulled some JOC chili from the freezer tonight to serve up with a fresh batch of rice.

Happy Thanksgiving

Best Wishes for a great Thanksgiving! I'm on my second cup of tea, soon to take a nice long home yoga session. The sun is out and rain stopped so a nice walk around the scenic park is in order before we get down to some serious eating.

In the fridge there's 3 slices of Crustless Brocolli Quiche to serve for our lunch, with some Vegan pesto.   Both pulled from the freezer stash.

Later on, for our early dinner there's a big tray of stuffed manicotti. I used the same online recipe as last time. Ricotta, onion, chard, Provolone (my substitution) and breadcrumbs. I skipped the egg white. Yesterday I tucked that into the nice Garden Time brand shells, I admit to cutting them in half; plopping the 2 TBSP of filling and rolling it up, placing seam side down in the pan. To save time, I have 2 jars of Newman's Mushroom sauce, though only 3/4 was needed for the prep stage. Before baking, I will top with a mixture of cheese and crumbs, followed by thinly sliced Roma tomato.

In between our lunch and dinner are extended calls to the East. See how everyone's travels went and how deep the snow is in ME.

The side dish for dinner is a big fresh salad, but I might go with steamed brocolli and carrots. Dessert is yet to be determined but there is both a chocolate and vanilla frozen yogurt standing by. Two bottles of Chianti to accompany the meal await our testing and tasting.

All the best to you Dear Readers! Special shout outs to my pals in Cambridge & Concord, Mass. and Washington, DC.

-Elisa

Some T.J. Favorites

One of my runs today was to the nearby Trader Joe's - below are some of my favorites, all under $4.00/each:

• TJ Honey Graham cracker $2.99
• Barb's Shredded Oat Ceral (bigger than other stores) $3.99
• TJ's sliced muenster $3.99
• Sliced Jarlsberg $3.99
• Sliced Colby Jack $3.99
• Dried pasta (Italian import) $.99
• TJ's 5lb. flour $2.99
• TJ Irish breakfast 100 bag box $2.99
• Clif Bars $.99
• TJ 1 liter canola $3.79
• TJ "wheat thin-like" crakers $1.99

I stay away from their produce , odd wine lots, most of the frozen and super snack sections - but for these items, TJ's is the best and all their staff are sincerely helpful and nice.

List of Cooking and Baking Projects

Dear Readers;

I'm back, and do apologize for the lack of posts this past month.  With Thanksgiving just a week away and some time on my hands, I got the shopping out of the way so now I can move through the list.

Done:

• Yogurt muffins with mini chocolate chips and cherries from the freezer. These came out great and I'd call them Cherry Garcia muffins if it was not an obvious copyright infraction.
• Quinoa with avocado and greens with a citrus dressing
• Brocolli quiche with rice at the bottom instead of crust
• Hub's Awesome burritos with brown rice

To Do:

• Mollie Katzen's "Sweet Potato Surprise" a seasonal favorite
• Mollie's "Ricotta and Spinach Dip" to serve with baked potatoes
• Baked shells stuffed with green and cheese
• A rice, tomato, feta and shrimp dish similar to the one the neighborhood Greek place makes
• Joy of Cooking "Macaroni and Cheese" this time doubling the recipe so there's some on hand in the freezer
• Jane Brody's "Favorite Lentil Soup"
• Cheddar Cheese scones from a new cookbook I've been pursuing

Oh oh- time to serve tonight's dinner. Photos and further updates to follow.

-Elisa

Sort of an Ode to Soft Food

Dear Readers;

Sorry for the recent lack of posts as I recover from a gum graft. I've been pulling dinners from the freezer and eating pretty simple food. Cooking will get back in swing tonight with a tuna casserole to warm up this grey wet Saturday.

Sort of an Ode to Soft food.

(the structure is wrong but I felt like using the term, ok?)

Macaroni and soup.

Chowder and tofu.

All kinds of goop.

 

Orange and green juice.

Grapfruit and pom.

Eggs and oatmeal.

 

Soon there will be chewing.

Texture and crunch.

But not Now.

Table for Four, Five...or is that Six?

Although I cook all the time, it's for two. This past week or so I had to opportunity to serve up dinner for travelers from Vermont, Maine and B.C. Where time permitted I did it from scratch, but sometimes the in house deli at the natural food store was the ticket.

Here's four menus for four or more that were met with rave revues, and no leftovers:

• Deli Fresh individual chicken or turkey pot pies, with a green salad of romaine, spinach, romas and red peppers. For dessert: the deli's pumpkin honey cake served with "Lady Grey" tea.
• Home made simple red pasta sauce with basil and whole wheat spaghetti, with steamed broccoli. For dessert: my home made blueberry yogurt cupkcake-like muffins with a Washington Pinot Noir.
• Home made lentil soup with long grain rice, with a green salad of romaine, hazelnuts, romas and red pepper. For dessert: chocolate cream pie from the the local pie shop. OMG!!
• Delivery "good old plain" tomato sauce and mozzarella pizza, with their house salad with garbanzo beans and a Cesar. Another one of those pumpkin honey cakes.

Pictures? Sorry, I was too busy cooking up a storm and visiting.

Sunflowers Everywhere!

September Blooming Fuschias Keep it Bright

 

Goldy Honey Bear Sunflowers

Look at all the unopened flower buds! Flowers ahread this fall.

How plush is that?

In the background you can see an assortment of other varieties of sunflowers - but these are my hand's down favorite.

The element of whimsy shown here is the plaque on the fence to the right that happens to face the sunflower.

 

Three Stage Eggplant Parmesan

I spotted these slender lovelies at our natural food market - that's about 2 lbs. I got home and scanned some cookbooks which reminded me: do not refrigerate - highly perishable.

1. Step I.  Rinse and pat dry, I sliced them in to 1/4 rounds for baking on a parchment paper lined, canola sprayed pan. Once cut they turn brown fast, I brushed the tops with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  The pan was full but not crowded and cooked nicely in the pre-heated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. No flipping, they are too tender. Once they looked brown, they were removed from the oven and cooled. Truth is the were stowed in the fridge till the next day.
2. I came up with this step, which is usually part of the first one but I was not ready to do so on Friday. The eggplant bits are best when covered in tasty breadcrumbs so there's a crunchy outside and creamy soft inside. Traditionally, this is done by deep frying. No thanks. I mixed up an egg with 2/3 cup of non-fat milk and poured it over the roasted eggplant while they were still in the glass container you see above. Meanwhile I mixed up 2 cups of breadcrumbs with some basil (garden fresh), thyme and oregano as suggested by Mollie Katzen. Once again lining a baking sheet with parchment, I dipped each bit and lined them up on the  tray for the second bake. The liquid was nicely absorbed and held the crumbs together. I baked all this for about 20 minutes.
3. Finally time to assemble. Following cues from Mollie and the Joy of Cooking I layered a nice totmato mushroom jarred sauce in a deep pan, followed by 1/2 the crispy eggplant and 1/4 lbs. of Provolone (instead of Mozzeraella, as suggested by a Mainer friend.) More sauce, more eggplant... ...more cheese, then topped with sliced romas dipped in the remaining crumb mixture and some grated Parmesan. Soon as the oven was pre-heated this went in and I started a short pot of water from some thin spaghetti.  

Here's the pan after  I cut the first slice: nice and firm, so the second one was easy too. The remaining four were wrapped in wax paper and stowed in the freezer. Oh. So. Good.

First Stage of Regrading and Chipping the Pathways

Prepping the area around the vegetable garden raised beds and seating area.

Overlapping layer of newspaper for extra blockage and sustainability.

A start of a very good thing. Thanks Hubs!

Yogurt Strawberry and Blueberry Muffins (no nuts)

Nice rise!

This time I remembered to let them cool before removing from the tin to the rack.

Success! See an earlier post of this recipe.

Play Chips for the Yard

Today we had cedar play chips delivered in the alley. The turn is too tight for the truck to dump them inside our yard, so plop they go into the public access...

Lucky for me a kind neighbor responded to my email invitation to run wheel barrows into our yard and about 90 minutes later...

The exposed dirt area is where they will be spread, but we want to adjust some of the grading first. Shown here is the staging area, where usually we have the yard waste/recycling and trash totes.

The area in front of the inward swinging gate is clear and alley swept. Ta-daa! Thanks K. And a big thanks to Garden Guru L. for the referral to Sawdust Supply Company who delivered these quality chips for a reasonable price. Once spread, the pathways should be free of weeds for a few years.

Crazy Baked Quesaidillas

Sorry, no pictures! Friday night quesadillas with what's in the fridge and on my mind:

• large flour tortillas
• cream cheese (about 3 tbs)
• Apple Fig Ginger Chutney (about 3 tbs) visitors brought us from B.C.
• chopped, raw rainbow chard
• caramalized onions
• rinsed and drained black beans
• grated Dubliner cheese (about 1/2 cup)

We had leftovers for lunch with mashed avocado with sliced cherry tomatoes. Hello summer.

Early August Garden View: before the sunflowers take off

 

Yogurt-Blueberry-Strawberry-Walnuts Muffins

Liquids and fruit: milk and plain yogurt mixed well, then canola oil slowly added. I let the fruit soak while the dry ingredients were finalized. The receipe called for only 1/2 cup of fruit but I used about 1-1/4 cups and 1/2 cup of waluts.

It's a little tedious, but strawberries cut into eighths work better than quarters.

Organized muffin making. Liquids and fruit, cup of chopped walnut standing by. I add the baking soda/powder at the very last minute, based on a tip I read about maximizing their effectiveness. Be sure to stir the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, soda, powder, salt) at this point - as once the wet and dry are combined the objective is minimal mixing.

There was plenty of batter and instead of filling the cups 2/3 full, I went for the top, taking some care to evenly distribute and try to making a mound which makes a pretty product.

I was about to test one and remembered to get a picture of the finished product. Some "fell-in" because I rememoved them from the baking tin too soon. Especially with fresh fruit muffins, it's best to wait till they are cooled/solidified a bit.

The recipe was found on-line, there's no egg, no vanilla but they came out great and can't wait to try again.

Two Non Pink Fuchsia Starts for 2011

Marinka. After many unsuccesful attempts at capturing this blooming Fuchsia I finally pointed the camera upwards from the ground.

Voodoo. Another non-pink variety chosen from the array of pink, really pink and super pinks at the garden center earlier this season.

 

Happy Birthday Leos!

Guest Chef Restaurant Style to celebrate my Half Century. Oh my, Tiger Prawns in a slightly spicy fresh tomato sauce with homemade spaghetti.

Hubs had Penn Cove clams over fresh linguine.

The server brought out complimentary Tiramisu and two forks  - it was a perfect dessert for a warm but not hot night.  Happy Birthday to Me and All the Leo Readers.

 

 

Daisies Daisies Daisies

Thai Food Ingredients for the Fridge

Last weekend Elisa's Eye Guest Chef T. was here to dazzle us with her authentic Thai cooking. We've made due before with ingredients from our "well stocked groccery store" but she stopped at the large Asian / International grocery as a special treat.

I took a close up so you can see the labels, most are preservative and free of other additives. :Thai Kitchen" is the brand in most non-Asian stores. These are better.

Fish Sauce; Sweet (not to be confused with regular or dark) Soy Sauce, Tom Yum Paste (hot and sour) and Green Curry Paste, which I learned is hotter than the Red variety.

See if you can find them. It makes a real difference and now I am excited about trying more receipes in the Quick and Easy Thai recommended by G.

Flowering Frenzy

Lovable Daisies

Last of the Rockrose

Impressive Peony

Exotic Tiger Lily

Busy Baking Bee

Yikes! I'm taking advantage of the cool July days and catching up on baking. Already done:

• Pizza Dough (1 used, 1 stowed)
• Pizza (gone already)
• Strawberry Muffins II (mostly stashed in freezer)
• Granola (stowed in air tight glass in the fridge, with a scoop)
• Blueberry Bread (sliced and stowed in fridge)

• Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for Sunday's bike ride/party

On deck baking and cooking projects:

• Burritos for dinner tonight
• Orzo salad with lots of our ready to eat peas
• Macaroni and cheese because it's all gone
• Caramalized onions, to have as a condiments

Happy 50th Birthday Dan O!

Followers of posts here on Elisa's Eye are familiar with "Dan O's contributions and comments over the years. Holy cow it's his birthday today and I had to give a shout out.

Photo by Hubs:  "Taz" adorning the cockpit of his Saratoga Titanium FAT Chance atop Mt. Constitution in May.

Holiday Weekend Menu

Friday Night: Fresh Tomato Risotto

Saturday Lunch: Veggie Quesadillas

Saturday Night: Grilled Sockeye

Sunday Breakfast: Sourdough Waffles

Sunday Lunch: Avocado on Crusty Buns

Monday Lunch:  Garden Burgers in Pita

Monday Dinner: Grilled Halibut

Where did the weekend go? Standing by now for the fireworks...

Early July Garden Views

Do you see the new element of garden whimsy along with the rays of lights? It's a "Whiligig" with a metal propeller blade and movable base with a Maine lighthouse, fisherman, boat and fish.

Another view where the lighting looks great on the ornamental grasses.

The foxgloves, or Digitalis are in full force now, with a harmonious blend of pink, purple and white flowers.

The blue tipped blade of the Whiligig is somewhat viewable through the fountain grass.

Garden elf, post arm surgery amongst Sedums, Bleeding Hearts and Columbines.

 

Naan Pizza: Favorite Crust Alternative

Hubs set up this outdoor shot of lunch last week: Naan pizza with red sauce, chard, cherry tomato slices, blue cheese and a bit of mozzarella. Blog followers know my love of using Focaccia bread for pizza, but now we've decided this is better because it's less doughy, but still very textured. If I can't make the dough ball, this rules.

Fresh Tomato Risotto

Risotto to kick off the July 4th weekend...I found this Early Summer Tomato Risotto recipe in the Wall Street Journal. The featured ingredient is the extracted juice of heirloom tomatoes. 'Nuff said?

The finished dish with speckled lettuce from our garden. A+

There's a good amount leftover which I'm going to reheat/freeze in cupcake form with parchment liners.

Farmer Market Sampling

Strawberries from Eastern WA. I forgot to get a shot of the tender Red Chard.

Two pastries from the "Taste of Prague" bakery in W. Sea. Walnut and cherry. I bring this container every week, it holds them perfectly. The vendor has compostable boxes, but it's nice not to need one. And we walk to the market which is good exercise today. I feel blessed we have one, even if it's scaled down.

Thai Style Fried Rice

I loosely followed a cookbook receipe:

• Canola oil, heated in pan
• Egg, scrambled
• 1 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce, 1 tbsp sugar
• Cooked brown rice (about 2 cups)
• Add sliced veggies (red pepper, kale, scallion) once the mixture is hot and cook some more

Thank you T.  in B.C. for the authentic sauce!

Sweet Snapdragons

Hubs snapped these pictures of the snapdragons in the early evening light. So cute!

Deep Dish Individual Pizza In Pictures

The dough has risen at doubled in bulk!

Air holes are good. This is right before it was deflated and rolled out into four crusts.

As it turned out, I should have made 5 or 6 as there was excess dough on each pan.

A bit of mozzerella in each, other ingredients standing by: sauce, caramalized onions, roasted red peppers, chopped walnuts , blue and Parmesan cheese.

Oven ready!

Cooling on the rack for 10 minutes - these came out great.

Crust recipe from the Jane Brody's "Good Food Book" Onion and Cheese pizza: a nice mix of whole wheat and white flours. Topping are our personal favorites. Maybe too much sauce on these, but some mushrooms or greens would have balanced it out. There's always next time.

Window Boxes of Yellow and Apricot

"Lemon" Sunsatia, Nemesia hybrid

 "Obsession Apricot" Verbena

  "Double Lemon" Calibrachoa

Here you can also see the fabulous pink Lupine and purple blue Johnson's Blue Geranium.

Salmon Poppy - Everyone's Favorite

With the Blueberry colored Lupine

 

Those Crazy Red and Yellow Columbines

Hubs captured these portraits of the Red and Yellow variety

 

White Around the Garden

Low growing Hebe

Mounds of Scotish Moss ground cover

A ground cover that looks like little white parachutes

Another ground cover growing over a rubble wall with a mixture of other plants

The Pea Patch. They start with white flowers which turn to green pods.

Orzo Salad with Asparagus and Broccoli

Lovely local Asparagus. I used the top 5 or 6" in segments. The stem party I cut in half so it cooks evenly with the delicate tips. The bottom inch goes to compost, and the rest in the fridge to add to other dishes (see Naan Pizza).

Using this recipe as a starting point I made a fresh Orzo Salad. We did not have all the ingredients on hand, and it was going to be served here, so I made my own substitutions (blue vs. feta cheese, no cilantro, sprouts, almonds or cucumers)  the recipe is a great point of reference on what goes together. So many potluck salads are bland or scary. This would be great with the avocado to bring to Shakespeare in the Park this summer.

Here's the pasts and the tender crisp greens. Because we were eating this straight away, I drained but did not rinse.

A wee blurry, sorry...added slices of Sugar Plum tomatoes and the oddly chosen toasted burger bun. I used Blue Cheese instead of Feta, just because it was on hand.

 

Naan Pizza: one of endless combinations

• Olive oil
• Sliced cherry tomatoes
• Chopped spinach
• Chopped red onion
• Shredded mozzerella

 

Salmon the Other Night

Copper River (Alaska) Sockeye Salmon right off the grill....thanks Guest Chef Hubs!

Served with spinach salad with red onion, hazelnuts, fresh parsley and drief cranberries. The second course were "potato skins" from the leftover bakers.

That's caramalized onion on top which added some moisture during grilling along with garlic and olive oil.

A Bunch of Green Dinners

Penne with Cottage Cheese, & Red Sauce with steamed Asparagus and Red Leaf Lettuce.

Re-heated roasted vegetables with chopped fresh Spinach.

Fried rice with Kale and Asparagus.

Lemony Orzo salad with Bay Shrimp, Feta, Parsley and Scallions, which are green but not as hearty as the other greens.

Sunday Garden Stroll

Return of the Rhododendron.

 
Lupine, moved last year so it would have more room to sprawl. One of those plants with fantastic leaves and flowers.

Peony standing by to bloom (please please please!)

  
The triangle areas between the paths are really starting to take shape after 5 or so season. So much better than all the decking the dominated the yard when we moved in 17 years ago this weekend.

Tulips, Heuchera, Fox Gloves with a background of mixed Sedum and Ornamental Strawberry.