green summer rolls with zero fat carrot-ginger dipping sauce

sorry i didn’t take any pictures of the process..but its pretty self explanatory..

the actual roll is basically the same as my spring roll recipe . it’s just romaine lettuce, avocado, cucumber, snap peas, thai basil, mint, cilantro and a few carrots.

for the carrot-ginger sauce:

you need:

1 cup of carrots, sliced into rounds

1 T of ginger, chopped

1/4 c water

2 tsp thai chili garlic sauce

1-2 T low sodium soy sauce

1-2 limes, juiced

saute 1 cup of round carrot slices in a pan coated with pan spray. add salt and pepper and saute about 6 minutes. add in 1 T of chopped ginger until fragrant. pour the carrots and ginger into a blender with the juice of one juicy lime (or 2 limes), a tsp of sambol–thai chili garlic sauce and about 1/4 cup of water. it should be thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and not at all chunky. taste it and adjust flavors! enjoy.

(sorry this wasn’t much of a recipe….)

goat cheese bruschettas with charred corn and blackberries

this doesn’t really need a recipe..

crusty bread. topped with goat cheese. topped with arugula. topped with roasted corn finished on the grill. topped with blackberries. salt and pepps. see ya later!

 

shaved asparagus salad with meyer lemon vinaigrette

summer timeeee!!! actually though, i dont know why people are always excited about summer. everywhere i have ever lived, summer just means its over 100 degrees every day. when i got into my car yesterday my thermometer said 109 degrees. its the first week of may. oy vay.

on a positive note…summer also means more fresh produce and lots of bright, refreshing food. (if you eat anything more than a salad you may not be able to move in the sauna that is a central texas summer)

enter: shaved asparagus salad with toasted pine nuts, parmiggiano reggiano and a meyer lemon cilantro vinaigrette.

What You Need for 2 servings of Salad:

1 lb of green asparagus

1/4 c toasted pine nuts

a few nice shavings of good parmesan cheese

for the meyer lemon cilantro vin:

2 meyer lemons, juiced

1 teaspoon white balsamic vin

1 T super finely minced cilantro

1/2 T of thinly sliced green onions

olive oil for streaming, maybe about 1/4-1/3 c

salt and black pepps

lets talk about meyer lemons. different than your standard lemon? yes. really fragrant and fruity, not quite as tart. meyer lemons are actually in season in early spring but whatever, they are the bomb.com.

to assemble:

using a vegetable peeler, shave each asparagus into ribbons. unfortunately it’s difficult to shave once you get past the halfway point of the asparagus. i just saved all of these bits to use later in a frittata or another salad. reserve all your shaved asparagus ribbons in a bowl, tossed with the pine nuts.

to make the vinaigrette, combine the herbs, lemon juice, balsam vin, salt and pepps in a bowl. while whisking, stream in olive oil until the vinaigrette comes together and thickens. taste and adjust seasonings.

once you are ready to serve, toss the asparagus and pine nuts with enough vin just to happily moisten but not drench the ribbons. top with shaved parm!

 

OH AND ALSO. this salad does beautifully as an addition to your breakfast the next morning…

top english muffins or crusty bread with a bit of the salad and a poached egg. yumyumyum! (sorry blackberry photo..)

brown sugar bacon cookie. sweet corn ice cream. smoked chili chocolate sauce. caramel popcorn.

korean bbq inspired tacos

 

 

cumin dusted wagyu beef. carrot ginger slaw. sesame oil. cilantro. green onion. sea salt.

whole wheat spaghetti with roasted grapes, chevre, and squash blossoms

1. my camera isnt working properly, hence the low quality photos. sorry.

2. i am currently in love with roasting grapes and i decided it was high time i made a pasta dish in which i could use them.

3. eat this. its really good.

oh 4. i actually hate whole wheat pasta, it always tastes like bird food pasta to me BUT there is ONE brand that i will eat (sorry its only available in Texas) but if you can find a whole wheat noodle that you like then use it because the nuttiness that it contributes to the dish is wonderful, if not, then use regular pasta.

What You Need for 2 Servings: (or one LARGE me sized serving)

4-6 ounces of spaghetti (take the bowls that you plan to serve your pasta in, fill ONE up with enough dried pasta so that it looks like the amount you’d eat (if you were going to be eating dried pasta) and thats going to be the amount you want to use total because it will double in size)

1 cup red seedless grapes

6 squash blossoms

1/2 c all purpose flour

dried italian blend herbs

cayenne or red pep flakes

3 T goat cheese

good olive oil

1 garlic clove, smashed

salt, black pepper

How To:

1) preheat your oven to 425

2) clean your squash blossoms. cut off the end and pull out the stamen (pollen parts) cut the blossoms into 1/2 inch rings

3) combine the flour, italian seasoning, a pinch of salt and some cayenne or red pep flakes in a bowl. toss the squash blossom rings in the flour.

4) heat up some canola or veg oil in a sauce pot over medium

5) put the grapes on a sheet tray with a drizzle of olive oil, big pinch of salt and black pepper. put them in the 425 oven for about 8 minutes, until they are darker in color and kind of blistery (taste one and see) they are like salty, sweet, warm wine gushers.

6) while your grapes are roasting drop the floured squash blossoms into the hot oil for about 2 minutes just until they start to turn golden. don’t expect a deep fried kind of coating on these, the flour is just to enhance the crispiness.

set the fried blossoms on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.

7) your grapes are probably almost finished..

8) heat up 1.5 T of olive oil and the smashed garlic clove in a saute pan

9) goat cheese out of the fridge. crumble it up.

10) once your pasta is cooked, strain it and transfer it to your saute pan with olive oil and garlic (remove the garlic clove first) add in your grapes, squash blossoms and half of the goat cheese. give it a little shake shake to get the cheese melting and all the flavors hangin’. add a liberal amount of cracked black pepper, a pinch of salt and serve garnished with the remaining goat cheese.

roasted red pepper soup with parmesan crisps

what you need for 2-4 servings:

3 and 1/2 red bell peppers

2 cups of chicken or veg stock

1/2 onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 t crushed red pepper

basil, if desired for garnish

1 T of grated parmesan cheese per crisp

How To:

roast the bell peps! if you have  gas stove, you can just turn the fire on and place the peppers directly on the fire and rotate until they are completely black on all sides.  if you do not have a gas stove, like me, turn  your broiler on. put the peppers on a sheet pan or directly on the oven rack under the broiler about 8 minutes on each side and rotate using tongs until all sides are blackened and blistered.

regardless of which method you use, immediately transfer the peppers to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. set aside for ten minutes.

while the peppers are roasting, which takes about 20-30 minutes in the oven, saute the onion, garlic and 1/2 of diced bell pepper in a sauce pot. once translucent and fragrant, add the crushed red pepper and the stock and let simmer until ready to use.

once the peppers have been sitting for ten minutes, take them out of the bowl and just peel the skin off, it should come off very easily. discard the skin and stems.

put the bell peppers in the blender and add one ladle full of stock and a pinch of salt. continue adding stock as necessary, making sure to get all of the diced bell pepper from the stock into the blender . once you have your desired soup consistency, adjust salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper as needed. stir in a bit of basil and soups on!

to make parmesan crisps:

preheat oven to 400. line a baking sheet with parchment paper. spoon 1 T of cheese and spread out to be a flat circle

leave about 1/2 inch space between each crisp. bake for about 4 minutes or until slightly melty but crispy and firmed. let them cool before removing them from the pan–they firm up a lot more once they’ve cooled and if they are not as crispy as you’d like after cooling you can always pop them back into the oven for a bit longer.

top your soup with 1/2 T of good extra virgin olive oil or a bit of heavy cream for a little added richness!