This one has moved to the top of my list for favorite summertime dishes. Sweet grilled peaches, spicy arugula, creamy fresh mozzarella, crunchy pine nuts, and herb-y pesto… It’s simple enough to put together for a light weeknight meal, but fancy enough to serve as a starter at your next dinner party.
Jack and I have been going to the Dai Due dinners (prounced die do-aay) for a few years now, and it’s something we really look forward to. I usually try to snag tickets once a year in the summertime for one of the seafood-themed dinners. (There are some obvious themes I can’t go to as a non-meat-eater — ie. “The Whole Hog” dinner). The husband and wife team, Jesse Griffiths and Tamara Mayfield, take “local” to a crazy-person level (the good kind of crazy). While they set the dinner themes ahead of time, individual menu items aren’t decided until the last minute due to…
I love charred bread, but I haven’t always. When I was younger, my dad ate all the family reject burnt food. Overdone toast, accidentally burnt pancakes, cookies we left in the oven too long… my sister and I had a preference toward underdone and doughy food, so whatever we messed up and overcooked, we’d pile on a plate for my dad. And he’d always say “this is the best kind.” The first time I put burnt toast on a plate for Jack, he looked at me and said “what’s this, am I your dad now?” I had just always assumed…
I eat a lot of tacos. Here in Austin, you can’t walk 10 feet without tripping over another taco truck or Mexican restaurant. But my favorite thing is actually the taco in its deconstructed form: the taco salad. You can take this in as many different directions as there are taco fillings, but I especially like this with red quinoa (although if you had non-red quinoa it would taste pretty much the same). The chewy little red kernels sort of take on the essence of taco meat. The rest of the ingredients came together from what I happened to have on…
On the far end of east Austin is Contigo, a farm-to-table restaurant with arguably the best outdoor setting in town. Maybe it’s the long drive in the opposite direction of civilization, or the layout of the large communal tables, but the sky just looks bigger here… especially on this particular night when some moody purple & grey storm clouds were just beginning to loom overhead. I love it here in the summertime because the menu is lighter and includes more veggie-friendly options. (In other seasons it can be a pretty meaty-pork-heavy place). But this time the highlights for me were:…
Oh, corn… if you’re not from the midwest, you don’t really know corn… in the same way that if you’ve never been to southern Italy, you’ve never truly experienced a tomato. Jack doesn’t “get” corn. But he’s from Florida, so he never grew up with late-July anticipation of the sweet, crunchy, juicy goodness that is Illinois bi-color corn. (And truthfully, I think the closest he got to “corn” as a child was via Frito-Lay). If I had peak-season Illinois corn, I wouldn’t even be cooking it this much. This is a summery dish you make when you live somewhere that…
It’s been a hot summer, and it’s going to continue to be around here… in more ways than the temperature (sorry that was corny). I have so many of these little thai chile peppers growing in my garden (as well as a pile of jalapeños to use up). While I was perusing the internet for ideas, these hot pepper recipes caught my attention: Curry Cauliflower Pickles from White on Rice Couple Quick Refrigerator Dill Pickles from A Couple Cooks Jalapeño Corn Bread Muffins (gluten & dairy free) from Tasty Yummies Green Curry Fried Rice from Rachel Cooks Thai Curried Pea Sandwiches with Coconut-Cilantro…
I’m excited to be guest posting at Anthology Magazine this month with a 4-part summer salad series! If you can’t tell by now, I live on salads all summer long, so I’m excited to share some of my favorites. First up, today, is this savory-with-a punch-of-sweet strawberry & feta quinoa salad.
These kinds of salads have been on our table a lot lately. I’ve been craving vegetables with Dijon dressing and capers… mediterranean sorts of flavors with vegetables I happen to have around. Bonus points if I don’t have to go to the store! That’s the kind of lazy summer we’ve been having. So I’m going to keep this short. Get off the internet, go do something fun outside (or not if you live where I do and it’s way too hot). And make salad.
I’ve been binge eating peaches lately. Usually I’m pretty disciplined about buying only a few peaches at a time. I’ll even stagger my peach buying… 2 one day, 2 a few days later, so that every few days (during peach season) I have a manageable amount of peaches to consume on that one day when they’re perfectly ripe. So when my bi-weekly Farmhouse Delivery started sending me 12 peaches at a time (for the last 3 bushels in a row) my summer “peach system” was, needless to say, wrecked. (I know, it’s rough… my life… they’re really awesome peaches too).…
I could eat coconut all day in the summertime. Cold, crunchy, spicy salads like this one with a side of coconut iced tea, followed by coconut ice cream for dessert. I ask you, who needs so much dairy when the coconut exists? (Ok, don’t answer that, I know you cheese-lovers are a passionate bunch). I’m calling this one a “Thai-inspired” dish. Jack and I are talking about taking a trip to Thailand next spring (!)… so until then, I bring you “Thai-ish.” Coconut milk, lime, and red curry are flavors that I am crazy about… and here they create a delicious…
We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.
