The other day it was so hot that I did not want anything warm to eat so I sent out a tweet “What is your favorite heat-wave meal?” I got a few responses, but the one that stood out was from Scott aka Seattle Food Geek: “My fave is a platter of mozzarella, tomato, basil, melon, prosciutto, bread, w/olive oil, + a bottle of Riesling.”
Why didn’t I think of that? It’s something we’ve had before, but somehow I couldn’t come up with anything beyond “cold. no-cook. cold…” (it was hot, people). Anyway, just because I couldn’t think of it myself, doesn’t mean I couldn’t eat it. So Dan and I made a meal of caprese salad and melon with prosciutto… a little baguette and good olive oil on the side. Perfect, light meal.
Tagged as:
appetizers,
caprese,
heat wave,
melon,
nablopomo,
prosciutto,
quick meal
Yesterday was the first day since Friday that I felt more okay than not. And I was tired of soup. So when Dan asked for dinner suggestions I said “Not soup… fresh veggies… something simple”. I had no idea what I would be having for dinner. I thought he would maybe come back with a salad and meat of some kind. But when I got home, Dan was putting baguette slices he had brushed with olive oil into the oven, and was in the process of slicing tomatoes. I asked “what are you making?”. His response: bruschetta…
I have to admit I was a little surprised. Not because bruschetta is beyond Dan’s capabilities, by any means. He is a very good cook. But because it wasn’t one of our “normal” meals. You know? After a while you build kind of a repertoire of go-to meals so it is surprising when you walk in on something new. One of our favorite go-to dinners when we just want super simple is good salami and cheese with baguette (and of course, red wine). I wasn’t feeling up for wine or salami, so I didn’t expect that last night. But bruschetta? That was completely unexpected.
On a normal night (not post-sick), I might have wanted something to supplement the bruschetta, but last night it was the perfect light meal. And I loved watching Dan work in the kitchen (as much as I love to cook myself, I enjoy watching him cook for me. I think because in my mind, cooking and preparing food is an expression of love). Anyway, this was really good and super simple. It would be great as an appetizer or light meal especially as the summer tomatoes start rolling in (I’m hoping our tomato plants start showing some growth soon).
Dan’s bruschetta
baguette, sliced into rounds
olive oil
goat cheese
tomatoes, sliced
basil
salt (preferably magic salt aka Kosher. or sea salt)
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. To make crostini: brush baguette slices with olive oil. Place on a baking sheet (or directly on the rack in the oven… we used the pizza stone that lives permanently in my oven). Toast the baguette slices in the oven (about 5 minutes).
2. Spread a little goat cheese on each crostini. Top with a slice of tomato and a few strips of basil. Sprinkle with salt.
3. Enjoy it with someone you love. Or at least like.
Tagged as:
appetizers,
bruschetta,
Dan,
go-to meal,
magic salt,
quick meal
I forgot to eat lunch today. That sounds silly, I know. But do you ever get into one of those modes? Totally focused on something and its like your stomach stops checking in until you’re STARVING. That was me today. I worked from home and was checking things off of my todo list: check check check, when around 5pm my stomach screamed “Stop! Feed me!”. I needed something quick, but most things I think of first as “quick” are full of bad-for-you things so I stopped buying them. What’s a girl to do? My stomach was tempting me to break a resolution (eat healthy) : “Eat the marshmallows… And wash them down with cookies. And… chocolate.” But I stood firm, I want to eat healthy. I feel better when I eat healthy even if I do LOVE dessert. I also want to eat the food I have on hand (I’ve been bad in the past about eating a little bit of something and letting the rest go wasted. But that is expensive and decidedly not green. And also on my list of resolutions are “save money” and “be greener”. I did very well in 2008 adding green habits, but there is always room to improve… ). I have been good eating leftovers, not eating out as much, and eating good-for-me meals most of the time (not all of the time. I have to leave some room for brownies and other treats some of the time).
Anyway. Back to my empty belly and how I filled it… I’m not sure why or how, but I thought of the leftover capellini noodles I had in the fridge and next thing I knew, I had a psuedo-chow mein noodle stir fry dinner. And it was good. I’m not talking crazy good like the shrimp the other night, but for a 5 minute, healthy meal it was really tasty. I wish I had some shrimp or chicken to throw on top of it, but I settled for an all veg. version.
While prepping and gathering ingredients, I started to heat:
about 1 tbsp canola oil
about 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil (for flavor)
Add:
2 cloves garlic, minced (sort of)
a little fresh ginger, also sort of minced
Let it get fragrant and just start to brown a little, then add:
1 tbsp or so of sweet jalapeno sauce (very similar to thai sweet chili sauce)
about 1/5 bag of frozen veggie medley (carrots, peas, green beans)
When that is heated through, add:
some leftover noodles (I had capellini, but I think any noodles would work)
a dash of soy sauce
Mix it up. When mixed and hot, push to one side of the pan and scramble 1 egg on the empty side of the pan. Stir it all together, put it in a bowl with a couple of grinds of fresh pepper… and víola. Enjoy.
Tagged as:
dinner,
leftovers,
noodles,
quick meal,
resolutions
Ah, ramen. It has been ages since I have had ramen. But as I got caught up on my blog reading this morning, I ran across this post from Not Eating Out In New York and I was inspired. So I ventured out to my local megamart (as Alton Brown would call it). What happened? I remember when you could get Top Ramen 10 for $1 or 20 for $1 if you found a sale. But now? 10 for $3! Talk about inflation. My inner college student whinced, but then I got over it and bought 10 packs of the sodium enriched noodley goodness.
Tonight, inspired by the aforementioned blog post, and as an homage to my mom’s occasional ramen dinners, I whipped up a packet of Ramen. I poached an egg in the pot with the cooking noodles and added some baby spinach in the last minute and topped it with green onion. Yummy.
I really need to remember to take pics of the food before I devour it…
Tagged as:
dinner,
noodles,
quick meal,
ramen
