Lunch is Served

Lately on Saturday afternoons, instead of running out for a family lunch, when my men return from boot camp and I come back from yoga  we have been settling in to beautiful lunches at home. As my husband always says of late, "why go out when we have much better quality than what is offered in most restaurants and we cook it simply to our taste - clean food at its best." He's right, as long as he pitches in and we all do it together!!
This Saturday we made salmon grilled in a marinade of oranges, lemons and grapefruit juice all fresh  with chopped mint, olive oil, salt and pepper. Seared the salmon with great lines three minutes each side then a slow cook to medium- I like it cooked through.I served it with a great side dish of cous cous and heirloom tomatoes. This time of year the tomatoes are amazing and my garden is producing such a beautiful array!

Cous Cous and Fregola  Tomato Salad:

Cook cous cous and Fregola separately according to package directions  (Option you can just double either grain, I like using both)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Use 8 large vine ripened tomatoes and 1 1/2 cup yellow cherry tomatoes halved, (or any variety you prefer) as well as any other beautiful large tomatoes you  find in heirloom variety, look for purples and orange colored ones- so sweet.
If you get excited when you see tomatoes just dbl the recipe-it only gets better over a couple of days! Think bruschetta, tomato sauce etc.
To the tomatoes add:
1/2 Cup Olive oil;
3/4 tsp brown sugar;
1 TBL good balsamic vinegar;
2 TBL chopped oregano, tarragon, and mint;
1 garlic clove, crushed; and
cook tomatoes for 15-20 minutes...
Allow the tomatoes to cool,  add to warm grains,  season to taste with salt and pepper.
Optional- add some feta, goat or parmesan cheese to top- Yum!

Add some gorgeous grilled asparagus, and lunch is served!

xo ginny

Comfort Food for My Stormy Night

Miami today was so gorgeous, warm, but not hot, dry with a little humidity. A day we Floridians live in Florida for. The news though told the story of the monster storm, the largest storm of recent history covering over 2,000 miles. Airports were closing all over the nation. I could feel a buzz all over, between the goings on in Eygpt and the monster storm, I was glued to CNN.

Funny without realizing it til I was midway through cooking dinner, I was making a comfort food dinner, as if I too was in the midst of harsh elements. Gathering family around a warm meal. I laughed at myself and yet understood. One of my sons is in school in Chicago. He was having a PJ day in the frat house, chaos in their kitchen as the cook could not make it in. I longed to be there, maybe not around all those guys, they would really be wondering about me...but just with my son hanging out. Cozy- watching the elements go by the window.  For some reason I found it hard to comprehend him living such a life so different and far from us. My comfort food was a way of connecting to him. Once again the heart strings pull tight.

I overcooked by quite a lot, but who wouldn't on a cold stormy night.

My made up pasta recipe. Lets call it- White Bean Roasted Tomato Sauce

I had a white bean puree sitting in the refrigerator (white beans cooked from scratch or canned-rinse well). The puree was made by cooking the finished beans in olive oil, garlic,  rosemary and salt and pepper. Add grated best quality Parmesan cheese. (I used food processor) blend to puree.

To this I added roasted tomatoes and basil (from my garden). Roast cherry or grape tomatoes in olive oil,  salt and pepper, and tons of fresh chopped basil.

Then I combined the two mixtures in a large sautee pan.
Then a lot of zucchini- chopped and added to the pan. Then I left everything on low heat, added more olive oil, stirred frequently to blend the bean mixture thoroughly so it thinned out.

I boiled salted water to cook penne pasta.

While this was going on- I cut up a large butternut squash, again tossed with olive oil, S&P, and added sage. I roasted it in a preheated oven at 425 for 30 minutes. Then added 1/2 cup maple syrup and mixed gently but well.  I cooked it another 20 minutes and then added grated pecorino cheese, to the hot squash. Absolutely incredible.

I also made kale chips spray with olive oil spray (less oil that way) sprinkle with salt cook 25 min at 300degrees. Remove leaves from stem and cut into chip size.

Since I was almost finished cooking- but not quite- I took more basil and fresh arugula (both from the garden), then took some large tomatoes- and cut them in thick rings and laid them over the arugula with fresh organic mozzarella, with a splash of some balsamic vinegar and you guessed it, olive oil.

We lingered over the meal as comfort food has a way of drawing us in tight. Conversation was ongoing, homework and responsibilities waited, and Bear on cue seemed to get it she snored soundly in the background, while the beautiful, balmy South Florida night seemed so very far away.

xo ginny