What To Eat On A Rainy July Evening - A Frittatta

We were planning on Burgers on the grill, but Mother Nature was not going to cooperate. Not a problem. There is always the frittatta. Zucchini, yellow squash, onion, red and yellow pepper, fresh parsley, basil and thyme. A little salami. Eggs and Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper. A cutting board and knife. One bowl. One pan. Not too bad for a rainy Tuesday.

Italian Chopped Salad With Couscous & Chickpeas

I found this recipe on the Italian Food Forever blog. The original recipe calls for Farro. Well, guess what I did not have. But I had Israeli Couscous. Not a bad substitution. We loved this salad. There are so many things in it. I liked the veggies chopped nice and small and the arugula added a nice peppery flavor. I did not add the radicchio, it is kind of expensive.

The dressing, lemon and olive oil, is my absolute favorite. Just those two ingredients with salt and pepper are all you need. Throw out your bottled salad dressings!

This recipe makes enough for at least 2 meals, and maybe a lunch too. Perfect for these hot summer days.

Chris grilled Chicken breast that we served along with the salad. They were marinated in olive oil, Cholula Sauce and salt and pepper.

1/2 Broccoli Rabe and Beans and 1/2 Bacon Pizza

I like Broccoli Rabe and Chris likes Bacon. If we were ordering a pie we would get half Broccoli Rabe and half Bacon. So that is what I did at home. There was some Broccoli Rabe that did not get used last night. I blanched it and chopped it up. I had made pinto beans, I was planning on making a soup, but then changed my mind. I had soaked the beans last night and cooked them off this morning. I froze most of them, but kept some out for the pizza. The pizza dough was the Jim Lahey recipe. I did have a piece of the bacon, quality control all that. And Chris tried the Rabe and liked it. 

Sirloin Steaks and Grilled Bread Salad with Broccoli Rabe and Summer Squash

Still not grocery shopping. But Chris is doing such a good job. Tonight he picked up two nice steaks and grilled them perfectly. The meat was so tender. I do love that Maker's Mark Gourmet Sauce.

Now about the side dish. Grilled Bread Salad with Broccoli Rabe and Summer Squash. Loved this dish. The recipe is on Food52. Click here for recipe. Yes the Broccoli Rabe was grilled. I loved the cumin in the marinade. It had a nice spicy taste to it. And you can never go wrong with grilled bread.

Pasta with Chard, Eggplant Balls and Quinoa-Bulgur Balls

I channeled my Dad as I was cooking dinner tonight. He would always say that he would make a pan of beans and start adding so many things he would end up with more food than he could eat. 

Tonight's dinner started as Ravioli with Vodka Sauce. I had a container of the sauce in the freezer, which I put in the fridge last night. This morning I realized that I had taken out the smaller of the two containers that I had frozen. Not a problem I had some Marinara Sauce in the freezer which I defrosted. While in the freezer getting the Marinara Sauce I notice a zip lock bag of Eggplant Balls and Red Quinoa and Bulgur Balls. I think, "Why not!" But wait there is more.

I had some Swiss Chard that I had picked up at Jake's Farm Stand. Yeah, you guessed it. I heated up the Vodka Sauce and the Marinara Sauce in a skillet. I added the Eggplant and Quinoa Balls. Then I sliced the chard and added it to the pan. Seasoned with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper and the sauce was complete. But wait there is more.

I went to get the ravioli out of the freezer and noticed I had two opened bags, of course there was not enough. Grrrrr. Into the pantry I went and pulled out a partial bag of linguine. This is when this meal reminded me of my Dad. All the pasta had the same cooking time.

This was such a delicious meal. Pasta overload? Maybe, but I did not hear any complaints from my husband. And this was not the first time I cooked like my Dad. I found this post from a Friday in July last year.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

I Love Pie Crust

There is something wonderful about having pie dough in the freezer. When I made the crusts for the Meat Pies at Easter I guess I overestimated how many pies I would end up with. So making this quiche was a snap. I just sauteed the onion, zucchini and yellow squash. Put the veggies in the rolled out crust. Adding the filling of eggs, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Topped with some grated Cheddar cheese, prosciutto and baked for about 45 minutes. The crust was perfect.

Chris made a huge salad with the lettuce I picked up at Jake's Farm Stand yesterday. He added grated cheese, carrots, tomatoes and salami. Guess what I am having for lunch tomorrow.

 And I could not resist sharing this photo.

Eggplant and Tomato Casserole

Another Vegetarian Epicure recipe! Eggplant and Tomato Casserole is my favorite recipe from the book. I love it. Chris loves it. Enough said.

Ingredients-
1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 lb.) 
1 1/2 tsp. Salt (optional)
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbs. Melted  butter
Ground pepper
2 to 3 tbsp. Chopped onion 
1/2 tsp. Crushed oregano
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 large tomatoes, sliced thin
2 oz. Cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Paprika

Method-
Peel and slice the eggplant. Put the slices in a pan with the salt and about an inch of boiling water. Cover tightly and cook about 10 minutes. Drain. Mash the eggplant and mix in the eggs, melted butter, pepper, onion, oregano and bread crumbs.

Butter a shallow 1 1/2 qt. baking dish. Cover the bottom with half the tomato slices. Spoon in all of the eggplant mixture and spread evenly. Arrange the rest of the tomato slices on top. Mix together the cheeses and sprinkle over the top layer of tomatoes. Add a sprinkle of paprika and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.

I made a green salad and added the Double Nutty Farro Salad from last night. Nice flavor and texture.

Meat Pie and Double Nutty Farro Salad

I was so glad I had that half of a Meat Pie in the freezer. What a wonderful treat. Next year I have to make at least one more to freeze.

The Double Nutty Farro Salad was very good. The recipe was from Food and Wine.
I made a couple of changes as I did not have all the ingredients. 

Ingredients-

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup mixed chopped nuts, such as walnuts and almonds

3 cups cooked farro

Kosher salt

Pepper

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Chopped Parsley, Basil and Thyme

Method-

In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the nuts and toast over low heat, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in the farro and 2 tablespoons of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the farro is lightly toasted, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the farro to a bowl. Stir in the lemon juice, chopped herbs and the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, season with salt and pepper.

And at work today we had a 3 layer chocolate cake! 

Baba Ghanoush and Rib Eye Steak

I decided to make Baba Ghanoush today. I had an eggplant and wanted to make something easy. The recipe I used was from the Vegetarian Epicure. You remember that book. It was one of the first books in my cookbook collection.

I found the recipe online, I think my copy of the book is in a still unpacked box in the garage. Of course, as usual, I did not bookmark the page and now can not find it. The internet is so large. I found a similar recipe for the ingredients, but a different technique which I may try the next time. Stay tuned for that one. 

For this batch I roasted a whole eggplant for an hour, skin on. I placed the roasted eggplant in a ziplock bag after removing it from the oven for 20 minutes. Then I removed the skin and placed the pulp in a bowl and mashed it up. I added 5 tablespoons of lemon juice, 4 tablespoons of tahini, Salt and pepper. And I added some Cholula Sauce because I was not using garlic. I place the mixture in a serving dish and topped it with fresh chopped parsley. And the votes are in and they are favorable. It was perfect to enjoy while the steaks were on the grill.

The steaks were rib-eye, which Chris picked up on his grocery run. I am still not up for that trip. We marinated them in Maker's Mark Gourmet Sauce. They were grilled perfectly and melted in your mouth.

And tomorrow is back to work.

Zucchini, Onion, Pancetta and Pappardella

I'm back! I can not tell you how good it is to be back in the kitchen. Taking it kind of slow. The doctor gave me the okay to be on my foot, of course keeping the boot on. Today I took stock of what was in the fridge. There was zucchini and yellow squash that inspired tonight's dinner. This afternoon I made the Papardella noodles using the Tide and Thyme recipe.

I cooked up some pancetta and then sauteed sliced onions until tender. The zucchini and yellow squash were sliced with the a handheld slicer and then sliced to match the width of the pasta. The zucchini and squash were added to the pan along with a knob of butter and some salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. They were cooked until tender.

The pasta was cooked in salted water. I reserved 1/2 cup of the pasta water. When the noodles were just about done, I added them to the saute pan to finish cooking. Another knob of butter and chopped herbs from the deck, basil, parsley and lemon thyme were added to the pan along with the reserved water. I let it simmer for a couple of minutes and then it went to the table.

It was delicious. And it gave Chris a well deserved break from getting dinner on the table.