recipe for a looong weekend

friday evening

• happy hour at bobby’s (more bobby's fun here)
• sushi at 86 west

saturday morning

• vinyasa yoga class

saturday afternoon

• visits to garden centers to gather veggies to plant in garden

• then once back at home plant lettuce, tomatoes, peppers & zucchini.  some of our garden is in the shade so I was on the hunt for vegetables that do well in partial shade – lettuce being one of them.  other semi-shade-tolerate veggies?  beans, peas, root veggies like potatoes and carrots, brussels sprouts, kale, spinach and herbs.

saturday evening

• fire up the grill (steak for craig, veggies for me)
• grill-top veggie packets: cube potatoes, red bell peppers and any other veggies you like.  (i added green onion and whole garlic cloves to ours.)  sprinkle with salt & pepper.  season with fresh herbs & spices.  drizzle with olive oil.  place in a foil packet.  cook over medium heat on covered grill for 20-30 min or until potatoes are tender.  

olive & craig

• craig set up a table and chairs in our back yard and we enjoyed dinner al fresco while olive played in the yard.  simply fabulous.

sunday morning

• walk in doylestown with olive.  even at 9am it was HOT!

• back home for breakfast and to get ready to head over to my parents' for memorial day weekend fun

sunday afternoon

• chillin’ outside and visiting with family while olive played with her buddies, colby & duncan

sunday evening

• meet with cate & chad for drinks in lambertville (they’re just 3 weeks from their wedding so there was a lot of excitement in the air)
• if you find yourself in lambertville, nj and go to libations for drinks, order a “tight dress” – a delicious vodka & champagne cocktail

monday morning

• low key morning – prepped some sides for our memorial day dinner

• quinoa with sautéed red onions, mushrooms & fresh thyme
• red cabbage & carrot slaw with sesame dressing

 monday afternoon

• head over to erin & brian’s for lunch and swimming (and delicious drinks)

• spiked arnold palmer: 1 shot sweet tea vodka over ice, topped with lemonade.  they were honestly a little too good.

monday evening

• back to mom & dad’s for casual outdoor dinner
• homemade turkey burgers with mom’s basil & pinenut pesto
• two salads – quinoa and slaw (that hannah and i made earlier)
• fresh greens (from our garden)
• sweet cherries

lovely long weekend.  how was your weekend?.

potato & mushroom tarte tatin

still lovin' me some whole foods.  yesterday, i went to a nearby natural foods store and also a local farmers' market in order to gather the necessary groceries for the week.  the two stores i visited yesterday i liked even better than the markets i went to last week.  they had a better selection overall and had a lot more local produce, dairy products and eggs!  very exciting : )

so last night - excited to use my farmers' market bounty - i improvised a vegetable tarte tatin using potatoes, mushrooms and onions.  it was simple and delicious...and looked really pretty too.  attractive food always tastes better - have you ever noticed that?

potato & mushroom tarte tatin

1/4 shallot, diced
3 small potatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 vidalia onion, thinly sliced
3-4 baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 green onion
salt & pepper
olive oil

preheat oven to 400

1. spray a 10" cast iron skillet (or pan) with olive oil.
2. saute shallots until golden brown.

3. arrange the veggie over shallots in a circular fan design.

4. season with salt & pepper and spray with more olive oil.
5. snip green onion over top with cooking shears.

6. bake for 30 or so minutes until potatoes are tender and golden around edges.

we enjoyed our tarte tatin over local lettuce and topped it with chicken apple sausage, goat milk feta (from another local dairy) and a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette.  yummy!

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roasted asparagus & brie pizza

omg.  this pizza was truly awesome.  very a-typically as far as toppings go, but what it lacked in tradition it made up tenfold in buttery goodness.
ok, so here's what went down...

earlier in the day i made some super easy, no-knead bread dough.  i know i've shared this recipe before, but if you're anything like me, when i first heard "bread dough", i shunned it in fear.  i always thought homemade bread was an undertaking for only the bravest and most patient of cooks.  i mean, don't bakers have to start working at 3am just so they can open at 7am?  but have no fear - this recipe is truly simple and easy.  it takes about 5 min to mix together all the ingredients, and then you let it rise.  then you mold it and bake.  super easy i promise.  (have i convinced you yet?  here is the recipe.)

back to the pizza.

1/4 of bread dough recipe or 12oz pizza dough
6-8 stalks of asparagus (from a nearby farm)
1/2 shallot
2-3 fingerling potatoes
1/2 small meyer lemon, thinly sliced
3 oz brie
1 tbsp (or 3 tsp) olive oil
rosemary
salt & pepper

1. preheat oven to 400.

2. wash asparagus & potatoes well.  snap the woody part of the stems off of the aparagus and thinly slice the potatoes.

3. place veggies on baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil over veggies and sprinkle with salt & pepper.  roast for 10-15 in the oven until asparagus is tender and potatoes are golden brown around edges.

4. while the veggies are in the oven, thinly slice the shallots and saute in 1 tsp olive oil until caramelized.  set aside.

5. sprinkle cornmeal over pizza stone (or baking tray) and spread dough.

6. once asparagus & potatoes are done roasting and slightly cooled, arrange on the dough.  add the lemon, shallots and brie.

7. drizzle final teaspoon of olive oil over top and season with salt & cracked pepper.

8. bake for 25 min or until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly.  remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.  sprinkle with fresh rosemary before serving.

this pizza was seriously delicious.  and the asparagus - both green and purple - from the local farmers' market was so fresh and sweet.  even with the brie cheese, the asparagus stole the show..

avocado sandwich

i just love avocado.  it's so creamy and delicious.  and adds an indescribable richness when you cook with it.  plus, it's chock-full of MUFAs (i.e. healthy fats).  bonus!

last night for a light dinner, i made avocado sandwiches.  i had just bought some awesome fresh baked multigrain bread and was inspired to make use of some of my other recent farmers' market finds.

avo. sandwiches  (makes 2 open face servings)

2 large slices of multigrain bread
1/2 shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 tbsp olive oil
3 large leaves of romaine lettuce
1/2 avocado
10 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
herbs (i used basil & rosemary from my garden : )
salt & pepper
(ham or turkey, optional)

1. saute shallots in olive oil.  set aside.

2. quickly saute lettuce in same pan.

3. thinly slice avocado & arrange avocado on toasted bread.

4. top with lettuce, shallots, tomatoes, herbs, salt & pepper

so simple.  so yummy.  i put some freshly sliced ham on craig's, but opted for just veggies for mine.  both versions got two thumbs up.

check out more awesome, healthy recipes over at 33 shades of green.

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