Grilled Tuscan Bread Salad

Have I mentioned that carbs and I are good friends before? To me, they are totally a part of a well-balanced meal and since everything should be in moderation I find this spectacular salad, that can also be made into a one dish wonder, to be a great way to use up extra veggies from your garden, farmers market or CSA basket. The first time I had this salad was in Tuscany after a morning of biking through the hills with the Mr. We stopped at a vineyard for lunch and had one of the most simple but delicious meals of my life. I probably felt this way because I was so exhausted from the ride but since then I have always had this salad close to my heart.

½ loaf of good crusty bread (day old is best)

½ pint of grape tomatoes

1 cucumber, chunked into bite size pieces

1 zucchini, chunked

1 yellow squash, chunked

½ onion, chunked for kabobs

1 sweet pepper, chunked

EVOO

S&P

1 lemon, zested and juiced

¼ C parsley, chopped

¼ C basil, chopped

1 Garlic Clove, cut in half

Fresh Parmesan cheese

*You will need skewers for this recipe

Cut bread loaf in half lengthwise. Brush with EVOO and sprinkle with S&P. Chop zucchini, squash, onion and pepper into large bite size pieces to be skewered and place in a large mixing bowl. Toss in EVOO and salt and pepper until evenly coated. Skewer the veggies and grill both veggies and bread until the edges become crispy and blackened. Rub fresh garlic on the grilled bread to flavor it and then discard the clove. Chop the bread into bite sized pieces and place in the mixing bowl. Add tomatoes, cucumber, grilled vegetables and fresh herbs. Pour lemon juice and zest over the mixture and toss until evenly coated. Before serving sprinkle fresh cheese over the entire bowl.

"Share a Haircut" with a Child in Need

I know it has been a week since I have posted but sometimes life deals out extra cards and you need some time to shuffle them back into your deck to get playing again. The past couple of weeks have brought on tons of family fun with visits from my cousins and sister as well as a long overdue trip home to my beloved Charlottesville. While we were enjoying ourselves immensely it is time to get back to reality and start the gear up for both little B's 2nd birthday and the beginning of his first school year!

little B, prior to his first hair cut.

Last year we started a new family service tradition of making a donation to a cause close to our family every year on B's birthday as a way to give back to our community. Last year we donated 1 dollar for every guest to B's birthday party to the Virginia Hospital Center's breast feeding group, a group that helped both B and I so much during his first year together. While I am still toying with my short list for his birthday donation I do want to mention an awesome ways to give back to the community as the school year begins.

The Hair Cuttery’s Share a Haircut program is giving a free haircut to a local child in need for every kid’s haircut purchased between August 1^st and 15^th in area salons. It is also giving a free hair cut to a child in need for every "share" of their Share a Haircut page on Facebook. I think this is an awesome way to get your little one ready for the school year while helping out another child in need so head out to your local Hair Cuttery salon or share the “Share a Haircut” app on Facebook today to help another child start out the year looking their best.

Greek Chicken Meatballs

This recipe is another adaptation of a Giada recipe. Her Sweet and Spicy Greek Meatballs are super delish but since lamb is pricy and chicken is way healthier I have become a convert to the chicken meatball. Her original recipe also calls for a cup of cooked cous cous but I have made the switch to using quinoa because it is such a healthy, nutrient rich grain. My final recipe adjustment is that I add veggies to my balls. I find that it is an easy way to bump up my family’s vegetable intake without making them feel like I am force feeding piles of rabbit food.

I really enjoy the sweetness of the cinnamon in the tomato sauce which is totally unexpected and brilliant. We eat these as a stand-alone main, over pasta or rice, or even as a meatball sandwich!

1 lb ground chicken (or meat of choice)

1 C cooked quinoa

½ red onion

2 Cloves of garlic

1 C chopped leafy green (I used collards but chard or spinach would do well too)

1 C shredded squash or zucchini

1 egg

¼ C Italian parsley, chopped

2 tbs EVOO

3 tbs dried mint

1 ½ tbs dried oregano

2 tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cumin

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp cayenne pepper

Sauce:

3 tbs EVOO

1 jar of marinara sauce

2 Cinnamon sticks

1 tbs ground cinnamon

Cook quinoa. I do this in a rice maker using 1 part quinoa and 2 parts water. It cooks perfectly every time and I don’t have to worry about burning anything.

In a skillet, add EVOO, garlic, onion, greens, squash and spices. Stir until vegetables are completely cooked through. Dump ingredients into a large mixing bowl and set pan aside. Add chicken, quinoa and egg to the vegetables and mix until incorporated. Form the mixture into small palm sized balls about 2 inch diameter. Once the balls are formed, coat the pan with EVOO and bring to a high heat. Place balls on the pan and allow to cook on each side for about 4 minutes. Add the jar of sauce, cinnamon and sticks. Cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Serve!

Fresh Tomato Pasta

I have been making this super simple summer pasta dish for years. I love vine ripe tomatoes and this dish highlights them in all their glory. It also doesn’t hurt that it is so quick and easy to prepare. In the time it takes to boil a pot of noodles you can have a delicious summer inspired meal for the entire family. Being the carb-o-holic that I am, I usually serve this with fresh bread and dipping oil and a fresh green salad but since I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands I decided to forgo the salad and just add some summer squash to the pan to make sure we all got our veggies. 

This dish is also a great one for feeding toddlers because you get the idea of red sauce with a ton less mess! It can also be made dairy free by substituting the butter with a non-dairy spread like Earth Balance and omitting the cheese at the end.

1 pint grape tomatoes or 1-2 large slicing tomatoes, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 shallot, finely chopped

Fresh parsley, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

Fresh basil, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

EVOO

1 tbs butter

1 lemon, zested and juiced

S&P

Fresh grated Parmesan

Boil pasta, I use whole wheat extra fine spaghetti. While the pasta is cooking, saute garlic and shallot and a couple of tbs of EVOO in a pan over medium heat until they begin to brown (about 2 minutes). Add the remainder of the ingredients (except butter and cheese) and cook for 2 minutes. Add butter to the sauce just as you strain the pasta. Toss mixture in the sauce  and toss in the mixture and finish with a sprinkle of cheese.

 

Pan Patty Squash Tacos

After the last few posts you are probably beginning to wonder if I have made a serious lifestyle switch. Has mommy gone green?? If you follow us along on Facebook then you already know the answer is no, or I guess only partially. While we do try to eat one vegetarian dinner a week on a regular basis I thought it might be fun to challenge ourselves and stretch things a bit further with a week straight of vegetarian dinners. It has been something we have been talking about for a while now and since our CSA is in full swing I figured what better time to give it a shot. Please remember that while I love vegetables, the Mr. only tolerates most of them so this is really a true test of his love for me.

 Since Mr. loves all Mexican food and we have a boat load of squash on our hands I decided to give a veggie taco recipe a try. I chopped up a ton of fresh vegetables and added black beans to increase the protein. This quick prep dish was ready in less than 30 minutes from start to finish and made a delicious and nutritious vegetarian meal for the family that everyone enjoyed. The best things about this recipe is that it is super quick and easy. Yes, chopping takes some time but I did some of the prep the night before so that we would have a quick and dirty meal on the table minutes after we returned home tonight. After all, the cooking time is 10 minutes which is perfect for a week night wonder meal.

Pan Patty Squash Tacos
2 -3 Pan patty squash, chopped (depending upon size)

½ medium onion, thinly sliced

1 sweet pepper, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 large mild chili, chopped (not sure what I used, it was long and light green and came in my CSA crate)

1 tsp of ground cumin

½ tsp of oregano

1 tbs taco seasoning

1 C tomatoes, chopped

¼ C cilantro, chopped

1 can black beans

EVOO

Toppings include

Shredded cabbage

Salsa

Shredded jack cheese

Avocado cream (1/2 an avocado and 2 tbs Greek Yogurt, lime juice, cumin, S&P)

Rinse black beans and set aside. Heat EVOO in a skillet, add all the ingredients together in a skillet and sauté on medium heat for 10 minutes or until all the vegies are cooked to your liking. Serve in tortillas with choice of toppings.

Chocolate, Almond, Zucchini Muffins with Greek Yogurt Frosting

My typical summer baking project has always been chocolate zucchini bread. It’s the kind of treat that tastes delicious while allowing you to believe you are eating a bit healthier since there is a vegetable in there. Truth be told, there is still a full cup of sugar and ½ a cup of chocolate chips in these puppies but who’s counting anyway. Since the Mr. always requests frosting but hates cream cheese (my go to for frosting fruit and veggie based cakes) I decided to give a Greek yogurt frosting a go. I will say the frosting came with mixed results (quite runny) but the taste of the entire endeavor was spectacular so here you have it… Chocolate, Almond, Zucchini muffins with Greek Yogurt Frosting.

Muffins

2 C grated zucchini

1 C all purpose flour

½ C Almond flour

1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

½ C safflower oil (or your light oil of choice)

1/3 C white sugar

1/3 C light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

¾ C chocolate chips

Beat oil, sugars, eggs and vanilla until blended. Fold in grated zucchini and then slowly incorporate dry ingredients until everything is well mixed. Pour 1/3 C of mixture into each cupcake tin and bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick into the center of the muffins and it comes out clean.

Greek Yogurt Frosting

This frosting creates a tangy, sweet topping for your muffins but does not harden well so while it was tasty I would love some ideas on how to stiffen it up a bit. Anyone got ideas for me??

½ C Greek Yogurt

½ C powdered sugar

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

Blend together and then refrigerate until you are ready to frost and serve the muffins.

Grilled Zucchini Pizza

We have a ton of beautiful summer squash that just arrived in our CSA box and since the weather has cooled off a bit I thought it would be the perfect time to fire up the grill. For tonight’s dinner I decided to pull a new trick out of the book, not only grilling the veggies for the pizza but actually assembling the entire meal over the grill. Big thanks to Sarah for pushing me to try this out.

The result was a delicious brick oven fired pizza with crispy burnt edges and just the right amount of bubbly crust. I topped my pie with a fresh tomato sauce, two types of cheese, summer squash and fresh basil. At the end of the cooking time I added a quick drizzle of EVOO over the entire pie.

Crust

1 ball of pizza dough

Cornmeal

EVOO

S&P

Toppings

1 zucchini

1 yellow squash

S&P

EVOO

Fresh mozzarella

Goat cheese crumbles

1 can diced tomatoes with roasted garlic (I pureed them into sauce)

Basil

Roll out the dough on to a pan. Use the cornmeal to help keep it from sticking to the pan. Sprinkle the top side of the dough with more cornmeal, drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with S&P to season. If you are wondering why I use cornmeal instead of flour it is just personal taste. I like the crunchy bits it leaves on the crust, but you can feel free to use flour if you don’t have cornmeal on hand. Poke holes around the crust with a fork to help keep it from bubbling up and then slowly slide the crust onto the hot grill. Grill for 1-2 minutes on medium heat until the bottom is crispy. Flip the crust over to cook the opposite side and oil the top of the crust. Cover with the tomato sauce and then all the other toppings and cook for 3 to 5 more minutes (or until the cheese has melted.) The two other tips I have for cooking this type of pizza were given to me by sweet Sarah, thinly slice the mozzarella ahead of time and place the slices between sheets of paper towels with a plate over them so that the access juices can run out of them keeping them from creating a soppy pie. Add the basil at the very end of the cooking time so it just barely wilts under the heat.

I grilled up a bunch of extra squash while I had the grill on tonight so that I could use the extras for meals later in the week. I store them in a glass bowl in the fridge arranging them in criss cross layers so they are easy to get out when you need them.

Sarah's Veggie Burgers and "Fried” Potatoes

 Sarah here, last night I had the perfect opportunity to try making these veggie
burgers from My Father's Daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook, because
our house guest for the week is vegetarian.  I adapted the recipe to
take advantage of using some of the summer squash we received in our
CSA delivery earlier in the day. They were delish!  Even my meat
loving husband didn't miss the lack of meat in this meal. And they
were super easy to make. The recipe calls for the patties to sit in
the refrigerator for a couple of hours, so it would be the perfect
thing to make ahead and refrigerate while you head to the pool with
the kids.  I, however, hadn't read that part of the recipe so I ended
up throwing mine in the freezer for 20 minutes.  That worked fine too!


Ingredients:
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 can of black beans, drained
1/2 cooked brown rice
1 pattypan squash, finely grated
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbsp Flour
4 burger buns (we used Martin's Famous Whole Wheat Potato Rolls)

Sauté the onions, garlic and cumin with a little bit of olive oil for
about 7 minutes.  Add black beans, brown rice, squash, salt and pepper
and cook for an additional 2 minutes.  Mash all the ingredients
together, but be sure not to mash it too much, you want the burgers to
have some texture. Form mixture into 4 patties and refrigerate for a
couple of hours (again, waiting at the pool is strongly recommended).
To cook coat the patties with flour and fry in a heavy skillet with
olive oil.

Serve with your favorite burger condiments.  We served them with
sliced tomatoes, red onion, and avocado. Yum!

For the "Fried" Potatoes I sliced two large potatoes into 1/4 inch
rounds, leaving the skin (best part!) on.  I sprayed a cookie sheet
with coconut oil, laid out the potatoes in a single layer and then
gave them another spray.  Bake at 350 until they reach your desired
crispness.

Chickpea Salad Roll

We have about two dozen hot dog rolls left from our 4^th of July party so I am working on figuring out ways to use them up. My first inclination was lobster rolls! I mean who doesn’t want a delicious treat like that. Unfortunately, lobster is a bit pricy for this family so I started looking for other more cost effective options. I came across a Vegan “Lobster” Roll recipe on the the runningwithtongs blog and thought … she might be on to something here. Obviously they would be nothing like the original but the recipe was really intriguing as an alternative to  mayo based seafood and meat salads which the Mr. hates. I made a couple adaptations to her original recipe including adding old bay seasoning for flavor, and using a mixture of mayo and Greek yogurt as a creamy base. I must admit that the result was quite tasty. While I would never claim it was anywhere near as tasty as a lobster roll I will say that it is a great budget friendly, healthy and vegetarian option that totally made my whole family smile.

1 can of chick peas

¼ C corn

1 stalk of celery, minced

½ a small zucchini, minced

1 green onion, minced

5 sun dried tomatoes in EVOO, minced

3 tbs Greek Yogurt

3 tbs Mayo (the original recipe called for ¼ C vegan mayo but I subbed for mayo and Greek yogurt)

½ lemon juiced

½ tsp old bay seasoning (for a bit of sea flavor)

1 tbs fresh parsley, minced

Pepper to taste

Rinse the chickpeas and smash them with a fork in a large bowl until most of them are broken into pieces. Mix all other ingredients with the chickpeas and taste. Season more if needed and then refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

Barbecue Apricot Chicken

Katie here!  To hot to grill but still have a craving for barbecue chicken? Then this dish is for you! I'm excited to share this oldie but goody of a Real Simple Magazine.  It literally takes 10 minutes of prep and then throw it in the oven and you are done.  I also like the fact that the barbecue sauce was prepared by me. I served it with corn on the cob and some fresh steamed broccoli.

1 tbs olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained (I used the no salt kind)
1/3 cup apricot jam or preserves
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1 4 lb chicken in parts

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat the oil in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in the tomatoes, jam, vinegar, 1 1/2 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp of pepper.  Simmer until the sauce has thickened slightly, approx 15 minutes.  Arrange chicken in 9-by-13 inch baking dish and season with salt and pepper.  Pour the sauce over the chicken .  Roast, spooning the sauce over the chicken once.  Cook for approx 1 hour.

Summer Spaghetti with Scape Pesto

Fruits, veggies and herbs are all plentiful this time of year and I always try to take advantage by making as many fresh meals as possible. This also marks the time of year when I begin to make sauces to store for the winter months when fresh food gets a bit pricier and further from our reach. This summer spaghetti recipe is light and refreshing and the scape pesto is the perfect no fuss, big batch sauce that defrosts well even months later. I like to freeze mine in ice cube trays so that I can pop out perfectly portioned cubes when I am ready to defrost.

Since I received some delicious garlic scapes in my CSA box last week and we were leaving town for a few days I thought I would use them up with some herbs from my garden to make a delicious fresh pesto.

½ box of thin whole wheat spaghetti noodles

1 Cup scape pesto

1 Quart grape tomatoes, quartered

1 thinly sliced zucchini

Scape Pesto

1 bunch of garlic scapes

1 clove of garlic

1 C assorted green herbs of choice (I used some basil, parsley and chives I had in the garden)

1/2 C Parmesan cheese 

1/2 C shelled walnuts

1/2 C EVOO

1 lemon, juiced and zested

* While the pasta was delicious I am super bummed to announce that the pesto did not survive our 4 day power outage. I am going to have to scavenge some more scapes before the season is over

Frosting Cupcakes: Probably the BEST FROSTING EVER

My dear friend Sarah has now become my go-to cupcake maker for all events. She has this way with frosting that makes me just jump for joy. While I have tried to re-create her delicious frosting several times I never seem to prefect the chocolate ratio the way she does but even my version is delicious.

Sarah's Famous Cupcakes

She tells me that her frosting is an adaptation of the Sprinkles vanilla frosting so I guess credit should really be given to them but to me it will always be Sarah's amazing frosting. So hats off to Sprinkles, Sarah and now of course all of you bakers out there who will be able to make cupcakes ALMOST as delicious as hers.

Chocolate Bar Frosting

2 sticks of butter

1/8 tsp salt

3 1/2 C confectioners sugar, sifted

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp milk (or more if you need to thin the frosting)

1 shaved chocolate bar (Sarah swears by the 56% Icelandic bar found at Whole Foods and I totally agree, its a majorly delicious treat)

Beat butter & salt on medium until fluffy (about 2 minutes.) Reduce speed and gradually add sugar, beating until all the sugar is incorporated. Add vanilla, milk and chocolate shavings. 

This frosting is perfectly light and super delicious. It teeters the line between complete decadence and overindulgence. I have to admit that I have (on a couple occasions) licked the frosting bowl clean after frosting my cakes.

Party Drinks

I wanted to have a couple of festive drinks for our party and lucky for me my good friend Sarah is a perfect hostess (and even better friend) so she lent me her super cute jars to serve them from. My two signature drinks for the day were a big hit! Both were super easy, refreshing and beautiful to look at so I thought I would share them with you.

White Sangria

I have been making this one for years. I actually think its closer to a wine spritzer but I call it sangria since it has fruit in it. I doubled this recipe for the big day and the whole thing was gone by the end of the party.

2 bottles of white wine

1 bottle sparkling water

½ can of frozen limeade

½ can frozen lemonade

Thinly sliced citrus fruit

 Belize Rum Punch

703 Daddy and I spent our honeymoon on the beaches of Belize with several cocktails in hand. One of our favorite pool side drinks was the delicious rum punch they served at the swim up bar.  I was super excited when I came across this recipe for Belize Rum Punch. I made a couple alterations to the original recipe but since it was a bit hit and every bit as delicious as the original I think its official that it will be made again.

½ gallon of OJ

1 can of frozen pineapple juice

3 limes, juiced

½ bottle of grenadine

1 C dark rum

2 c passion fruit rum

1 c coconut rum

Fruit for punch:

2 oranges

1 pineapple

2 limes