Happy 4th of July & Weekend Wrap Up

 I am sure this is what Francis Scott Key wanted this song to sound like.

I love short work weeks. Except squeezing 5 days of work into 3 days is exhausting. But I knew this week would be the way it was so I was prepared on the dinner front.

Monday we had Grilled Mini Meatloaf. I made this last year. This time I used grass fed beef. This is just a delicious meal. The meat was so flavorful and not dried out at all. We had the leftover potato salad and green bean salad.

Tuesday was the return of a house favorite. Bread and Vegetable Lasagna. The recipe is from Living the Gourmet. You have to check out that blog? Her recipes are one better than the next.

Wednesday we had Grilled Chicken Skewers with a Chive Dip. The Chives were from the plant from my Dad's garden. It is nice having access to chives like that.

Today, being the 4th of July, we had burgers. Bison Bacon Blue Cheese Burgers. First time buying ground bison meat. A very lean meat. And the blue cheese and bacon were added so I could clean out the fridge. And we had Jake's Corn! Yeah Jake's Farm Stand is open for the summer.

I will not be posting for a few nights. Chris and I were asked to be Godparents for my nephew's little girl, Elenora. So we are whisking off tomorrow. If you follow me on facebook you might see a post or two.

A Fig Tree Grows in Madison, Hopefully!!!

Grilled Sausage and Fennel Salad

From Real Simple comes this amazing recipe. I like fennel. But grilled fennel is a whole other subject. The anise flavor grilled is sweet but not sugary sweet. Very licorice in flavor. It was perfect with the onion and sausage. I liked the salad, very simple. Spinach with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I had to make some cookie dough for an event this weekend. This was a perfect dinner to quickly prep and hand off to Chris, who does all the grilling!

10:30AM-

6PM - (and who's starting to climb on the right!)

Roasted Cod & Scallions with Spiced Potatoes

Friday night dinner. Something relaxing about it.

 I worked from home so there was no traffic stress. 

I had time to make an appetizer...

Cannellini Bean Dip

I found this on Chow. It was nice and light and 

perfect with a cocktail while dinner was in the oven.

Dinner was quite good. The recipe was from RealSimple.com.

 

The first thing that attracted me to the recipe were the Spiced Potatoes. 

Oh they were soooooo good. Both the Cod and potatoes were cooked perfectly!

Do you think you had a busy day?

Well take a look at this.

11 AM -

6PM -

Archie was patiently waiting for dinner!

Salade Niçoise

 

Another hot day so another salad for dinner. Salads can be time-consuming to prepare. That is why I did all of the prep last night. I boiled the potatoes and eggs and beets. Tonight all I had to do was put everything on the plate and wash some lettuce. I made the dressing and had Chris adjust the seasoning while I snapped the photos.

This could become one of my favorite salads. There are so many flavors that work perfectly together. And what is it with Tuna packed in oil? I had 2 cats at my feet when I opened the can. Cute but not that cute!

 

This is my version of the Salade Niçoise.

For the Dressing -
1/3 cup olive oil 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Kosher salt, to taste

For the Salad -
1 lb. small new potatoes, boiled until tender
6 oz. yellow baby beets, boiled until tender, peeled
8 oz. sugar snap, blanched
12 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup black Niçoise olives
4 hard-boiled eggs, halved lengthwise
1 (4-oz.) cans high-quality oil-packed tuna, drained
Boston Bibb Lettuce
Arugula

Method -
The dressing: Whisk in oil, juice, mustard, and salt and pepper; set aside.

The salad: Arrange all ingredients in separate rows on a large serving platter. Place washed and dried lettuce and arugula in a serving bowl. Serve dressing on side.

Grilled Chicken, Green Onion and Radish Salad

 

I found tonight's recipe on the Whole Foods site. We have never had grilled radishes before tonight. Wow. They taste like a peppery beet. A very nice surprise! The original recipe called for a dressing of lime juice. I decided to use olive oil and lemon juice because I was putting everything on a bed of Arugula. This was a perfect salad for a hot day.

Ingredients -
1 large chicken breast (about 3/4 pound)
2 bunches green onions
2 bunches radishes, halved
1/2 cup toasted and crumbled sliced almonds
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
Baby Arugula
Lemon juice
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

       
Method -
Prepare a grill for medium-heat cooking. Grill chicken until browned and cooked through, turning occasionally, about 12 minutes. Place onions and radishes in a grill basket or on a vegetable grilling screen to prevent them from falling though the grill grates. Grill, turning frequently, until browned and softened, about 4 minutes for green onions and 8 minutes for radishes.

Allow chicken and vegetables to cool slightly, then dice the chicken and coarsely chop the onions and radishes. Place in a large bowl with the Arugula and top with almonds, mint, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and toss.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame and New Pizza Place!

Today Chris and I went to Yankee Stadium for Old Timer's Day! We had the most incredible seats! The Yankees lost the game but we got to see Paul O'Neil, Molly's brother, Bernie William, and a lot of other legends. But my favorite was Yogi Beara. He is so cute! 

We did eat at the stadium. Only problem was the heat. It really was not conducive to eating. Consuming liquid was more important. I had an amazing 300 calorie, yeah the calories are posted, Fresh Lemonade. Talk about refreshing! And only $5.25. We each had a Philly Cheese Steak but that was it. So needless to say we were hungry by the time we got home.

A new pizza place opened not too far from us, New Haven Appiza and Bakery.  I ordered 2 subs when we were driving home from the train station. Chris got the Chicken Parmesan, the Wooster Street. I ordered the Eggplant Parmesan, the Trumbull Street. 

 

The eggplant was perfect and I am pretty sure Chris liked his Chicken Parmesan. 

Unlike the Yankees today neither one of us left anything on the plate!

Giordano's Deep Dish Pizza

One of the women I work with, Wendy, has been raving about Giordano's Deep Dish Pizza. I think she kept saying "The cheese, oh the cheese..." She has been suggesting that we place an order online for quite some time. Finally 4 of us ordered some pies. The pizzas arrived on Wednesday. The excitement was building.

The next day the reviews were in and another order was going to be placed. I still had not had our pizza. I ordered the Stuffed Sausage Pizza and the Stuffed Spinach Pizza.

 

Tonight we tried the Stuffed Sausage Pizza. 

It was my first time eating a Deep Dish Pizza.

 

What the? How much cheese is in this? This sauce is sooooo good! And the crust! Any regular visitor to this blog knows how I love crust. This crust was so perfectly crisp and light. And this was a frozen pizza! Amazing. Delicious. Fresh tasting. Can't wait to try the Spinach Pizza!

I had 2 pieces of this pizza and then a tiny slice from another piece. Could I have eaten 3 pieces? Yes but then there would be less for tomorrow!

And yes I will be ordering this again!

Fried Chickpeas, Chorizo and Spinach

It has been a while since we have had this Mark Bittman classic recipe. Traffic was not too bad for a Thursday night and I was able to make this when I got home. I did cut up the Chorizo before leaving for work this morning.

I heated some olive oil in a saute pan and added the rinsed and drained Chickpeas. I fried them up a bit before adding the sausage. The Chorizo was sauteed with the Chickpeas for about 5 minutes. Then I added some thyme and about 2 cups of fresh chopped spinach. I also added some leftover roasted peppers. Sauteed all that until the spinach wilted and served with Italian bread.

Fresh Summer Minestrone

 From La Cucina Italiana we have Fresh Summer Minestrone.

Let's make this a "not too many words Wednesday."

But this soup was fantastic!