Pasta with Slow Roasted Tomatoes (2 ways)

I keep buying large amounts of cherry tomatoes and then forgetting about them until it's almost too late. To use up a bunch at once before they go bad, I've been slow roasting them by lining a baking tray with tin foil, halving the tomatoes, giving them a quick mix with olive oil and baking them at 250 for about 3 hours. I've been trying not to use the oven since it's been so hot, but I LOVE tomatoes after they've been slow roasted and it's way better than letting any tomatoes go to waste. Remember to keep the oil - it's good.

I can definitely go for some plain slow roasted tomatoes, but I wanted to share a couple pasta recipe ideas that make good use of them.

Gnocchi au Gorgonzola 

(aka one of my all-time favorite things to make since high school... not healthy)

1 package gnocchi, cooked

1/2 cup Gorgonzola (or blue cheese), cut up or crumbled

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup heavy cream or half & half

a lot of slow roasted tomatoes (in their olive oil if possible)

1 tbsp chives, chopped

In a small saucepan over medium low heat, combine the cheese and butter and heat until the butter melts, stirring to help melt the cheese. Add the cream and stir to combine. Don't let it bubble too much. Mix with the gnocchi, tomatoes and top with chives.

Nice & Simple Pasta - Garlic, Basil & Tomatoes

2 servings angel hair pasta, cooked 

(pictured is fresh angel hair pasta from Ohio City Pasta, bought at the Squirrel Hill Farmer's Market)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

6-7+ leaves fresh garlic, chopped

1 tsp red pepper flakes

lots of slow roasted tomatoes

In a large pan, heat up the oil over medium low heat. Add the garlic, basil and hot pepper flakes and cook until the garlic is toasted a little. Add in the pasta and mix. Serve with slow roasted tomatoes. 

Fresh Summer Salsa

We visited relatives that have a pool AND their own Wheaten terrier, so we had a pretty nice summer afternoon hanging out in the pool and watching the crazy dog cousins run a million laps around the water. Twilly is totally wiped out now and will probably nap for the rest of the day.

I decided to make my favorite summer recipe (or maybe #2 fav behind tomato pie?) for a post-pool snack. I usually make this all the time when I have a successful tomato growing summer, but my tomatoes were only in pots this year and got all dried out before producing many tomatoes. Good thing there are plenty of farmer's markets around with beautiful heirloom tomatoes.

1-2 nice tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 lime, juiced
2 mild or hot peppers, finely chopped (I used 1 banana pepper and 1 jalapeno from the farmer's market)
kernels from 1 or 2 ears of corn (uncooked)
1 handful cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper

Once everything is chopped up, combine it all in a bowl and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste and add more lime as needed. Sometimes I add garlic if I feel like it needs something else. And you can always add chopped fruit (peach, mango, watermelon, blueberries, grapes...) or avocado. It will keep for a few days in the fridge.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake

This cake was inspired by the ice cream cakes at Dave and Andy's- my favorite ice cream place in Pittsburgh. The pumpkin, cinnamon, and birthday cake flavors are all amazing. The waffle cones are made at the shop so it smells amazing as soon as you walk in and then they put an m&m in the bottom of your cone and basically it is heaven. Their ice cream is so good, I'm forming run-on sentences describing the shop! 

Ice cream cake from Dave and Andy's has an actual cake layer. I love that. Cake + ice cream. 

Brittany and Laura came to Philly to celebrate Brit's birthday! I asked Brit what kind of cake she wanted (while secretly thinking mint chocolate either way) and she said what I was thinking. We had cake, went to the beach, went to America's best bar. Didn't get America's best pizza. Wah. But we did see the Impressionist exhibit at the art museum. And got federal donuts. And Mad Mex. And la Colombe coffee. Phew.

The ice cream is from Minimalist Baker. The cookie crumble is from here via Google. The cake is from Molly Yeh who inspired this entire venture. By the way, this recipe makes enough for 2 cakes or for an epic 4 layer ice cream cake.

First the cake:

1 small bunch fresh mint (bonus points if you have chocolate mint)

1 1/4 cup coconut milk 

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup canola oil 

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

2 large eggs

3/4 c boiling water

Cake directions:

In a small saucepan bring the coconut milk to a boil. Rip up the mint leaves into the milk. Cover saucepan with lid and turn down heat to low for 15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Strain out leaves and measure only 1 cup of the milk to use. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line 2 round 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper. Springform pans would be ideal but not necessary.

Mix together the dry ingredients in a small bowl. In a larger bowl whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs, and coconut milk. Add the extracts. Fold in the dry ingredients. Whisk in the boiling water. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 28 minutes. Let cool completely. Then wrap and freeze.

Then the cookie crumble (aka magic shell plus oreos)

2 1/2 cups Newman's Mint Oreo Cookies (almost whole package)

8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp coconut oil

In a food processor, blend the Oreos in 3 separate batches to form cookie crumbs. You want them to look like crumbs! Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Then melt the chocolate and coconut oil together in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Add to cookie crumbs once finished. 

Spread a thick layer of the crumble over both cakes. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze again. 

For the ice cream

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, divided

1 1/2 cups raw cashews (soaked overnight and rinsed)

1 14-ounce can full fat coconut milk or coconut cream 

1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract 

1/4 cup cane sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup 

3 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Pour coconut milk into small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add half the mint leaves. Turn down heat to low and middle the leaves with a wooden spoon. Cover and let steep for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool. 

Add coconut milk plus cooked mint and fresh mint to blender and blend until mint is completely immersed. Add the rest of the ingredients minus the peppermint extract and blend again until really smooth. Add the mint extract 1/2 tsp at a time until you get an acceptable level of mintyness. Process in ice cream maker. 

Get cakes out. Spread the finished ice cream onto the cakes just up to the edges. Sprinkle with crushed mint Oreos. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm.

Let cakes thaw 15 minutes before singing happy birthday and serving!

Tahini Ice Cream with Berry Crumble

The berry crumble is from 101 Cookbooks. Her recipe has a doubled crumb topping. Hell yes. Also berry season. I just used sesame seeds instead of poppy seeds. The tahini ice cream uses an ice cream base from Minimalist Baker. It has been my preferred vegan ice cream since the cashews mellow out the coconut flavor. Basically the coconut is not as prevalent. The tahini ice cream is everything. 

Also since we were at family dinner, I didn't get a great shot of the ice cream.

Tahini Ice Cream 

1 can full fat coconut milk

1 cup cashews, soaked overnight 

2 tbsp coconut oil 

1/2 cup tahini 

1/2 cup maple syrup 

2 tbsp brown sugar (optional)

1 tbsp vanilla extract 

1 pinch sea salt 

Blend everything until smooth. Chill for 4 hours. Churn in ice cream maker. Pour ice cream into frozen glass container and chill. Let thaw for 15 minutes before serving over berry crumble! 

Apricot Lavender Cake

At the blueberry farm we bought some apricots in addition to the blueberries. I had seen this recipe on a fellow food blogger's Instagram and wanted to make it right away. Lavender forever. I didn't have a springform pan, so I split the cake into 2 pans. The recipe is from Plenty More via The Baking Bird. I've been cooking my way through Plenty (the original book) now that it's summer and all the vegetables are in season. Our tomatoes are just ripening now. 

• ¾ cup plus 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 cup plus 1½ Tablespoons white sugar
• 1¼ cups almond flour
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup pecans
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp sea salt 
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1½ teaspoons dried lavender buds
• 11 ripe apricots, halved and pitted
• Turbinado sugar 
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 2 8 inch pans.
• Process the pecans and lavender in a food processor until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. In a large mixing bowls, combine The butter, oil, sugar, and almond flour until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition to incorporate fully. continuing to beat until well incorporated. Fold in pecans, lavender, flour, vanilla, lemon zest, and teaspoon salt.
• Fill pans with cake batter and arrange apricot halves cut side up. Push down slightly so they are securely in place in the cake. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
• Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown. 
• I served each slice with a dollop of mascarpone and a drizzle of honey.

Lavender Peaches with Mascarpone and Amaretti

Peaches with Lavender Sugar and Amaretti Cookies

It's peach season! I've been making these for years but originally I saw the recipe while watching Giada on the Food Network. This recipe includes gram measurements for the cookies. Love and Olive Oil has a recipe that uses cup measurements. I was just really excited to use my scale.

I also made powdered sugar for this recipe in my Vitamix. It was pretty exciting! (I inhaled a lot of sugar granules in the process)

Amaretti Cookies 

• 3 large egg whites 
• 280g/9.9oz almond meal
• 280g/9.9oz white sugar
• 3/4 tsp natural almond extract (the artificial kind is too strong)
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 
  
• For rolling:
• 2 heaped tbsp. white sugar
• 2 heaped tbsp. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Fill 2 separate bowls with the different sugars.

In a large mixing bowl and using a mixer, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. If you lift your beaters out of the egg mixture, the peaks that form should not fall over.

Fold in the rest of the ingredients with a spatula. The dough will be sticky.

Scoop tablespoonfuls of dough and roll them in the white sugar first followed by the powdered sugar. The method helps all the powdered sugar not dissolve in the dough. It actually worked! 

Place cookies 1 inch apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Let cool on cookie sheets.

The site said they're good for 3-4 days, so I froze about half of mine for later.

-------------------------------

I usually serve 1 peach/person, so I'll just do a general guideline.

Ingredients:

Firm, ripe peaches

White wine

Mascarpone cheese, at room temperature 

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp dried lavender buds 

Blend the lavender with the sugar or grind in a mortar and pestle. Halve the peaches neatly and take out the pit using a little knife. Sprinkle peach halves with the lavender sugar. 

Heat a cast iron pan on medium heat until pretty hot. Spray with coconut oil. Lay peaches cut side down for about 5 minutes without moving them. You want them to be a nice brown color on the edges. Alternatively grilling them would be amazing. Flip over the peaches with a spatula and cook for another 2 minutes. Add a splash of white wine and let cook down for another minute. Now you have a delicious syrup to serve with the peaches.

Serve the peaches with their natural syrup, a sprinkle of extra lavender sugar, a tablespoonful of mascarpone for each peach half, and one crumbled cookie for each peach half. Done. Easiest summer dessert.

Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Sunflower Seed Brittle

Rarely do I try a restaurant without a recommendation or a quick glance at Yelp or TripAdvisor. I just hate paying for food that I can easily make myself. I am literally turning into my mom, ha. We can't take her anywhere because she makes the best food. 

Nick and I were in Easton for our anniversary and all of the restaurants had a long, long wait. So we walked and came across an Italian restaurant and took a chance. It was incredible. We had whole artichokes stuffed with breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and butter. For the meal, rhubarb and strawberry white pizza. I love when chefs totally try something I would never think to make. For dessert we had panna cotta with fresh strawberries and amaretti cookie crumbs with espresso. I was up until 3 after that but it was worth it. So I've been wanting to make panna cotta for awhile. Now I want to make it all the time. You don't even have to turn on the oven for this dessert. It's so light and fresh. Need I say more?

The sesame seed brittle is from the My New Roots cookbook which I cannot rave about enough. It is amazing. I'm cooking through almost every recipe in the book since it starts with spring and follows the seasons. The recipe for this brittle was featured over at Sprouted Kitchen. You can also use any store bought or homemade brittle. I've even used homemade granola. Anything with crunch. 

The rhubarb butter is from this recipe.

The panna cotta is from Martha Stewart who seems to have every recipe ever on her site. 

Instead of dessert, maybe try this in a large tart pan for super fancy brunch?? 

Makes 6 servings 

2 cups buttermilk (whatever fat content you choose- I always go for full fat)

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

2/3 cup heavy cream

Scant 1/2 cup sugar 

1 vanilla bean, split

Set 6 ramekins out on the counter.

In a heavy pot, pour in 1 cup buttermilk. Sprinkle gelatin evenly over this buttermilk. Then give it a quick stir and let sit for at least 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring the cream, vanilla bean, and sugar just to  a boil. Then pour into the buttermilk/gelatin mixture. Turn the burner to low heat and whisk until gelatin dissolves and no lumps remain. Just a couple minutes.

Stir in the rest of the buttermilk. Take out vanilla bean. 

Pour gelatin mixture into the ramekins. Cover with plastic wrap. Leave in the refrigerator for 4 hours until set. Does this remind you of making jello? Because it really is that easy

To make:

Top with a dollop of rhubarb butter. Crush some brittle and sprinkle on top.

I didn't bother to unmold the panna cotta for even more ease.

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

It's way too hot out to have the oven on at 400, but I went ahead and did it anyway to make these tasty parmesan-coated green beans with garlic mayo sauce. I actually made one smallish batch, finished them off, and then wanted more and still had leftover dip - so I turned the oven back on and make another round.

They are worth a even-hotter apartment. It looks like it's about to rain, so hopefully it will cool down soon!

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans with Dipping Sauce
From Buns in My Oven 

2 big handfuls green beans, rinsed & trimmed
1/4 cup or more Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tbsp olive oil
sea salt

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. In a bowl, toss the green beans in olive oil and cheese. Spread them out on the baking sheet and sprinkle with a little sea salt. Roast for about 20-25 minutes, turning mid-way if you want. (I didn't.)

To make the dipping sauce, mix up the mayo, mustard and garlic powder in a small bowl or ramekin. I'm going to make it this way next time I make fries or chicken fingers - I've made a lot of mayo & mustard dips and never thought of adding garlic powder. It's very good. :)

Watermelon Rosemary Lemonade

Watermelon is my favorite fruit to make agua fresca - I usually just blend it up, maybe strain it and add lime juice. It's very refreshing and a pretty pink. This recipe was originally a boozy one with gin, but I've been drinking it booze-less for now. The boozy version adds 8 oz of gin.

Watermelon Rosemary Lemonade
Adapted from a recipe on Food 52

1/2 of a medium-sized watermelon, cut into big cubes
5-6 lemons, juiced
2 sprigs rosemary
1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup water

Blend the watermelon in a blender, juicer or food processor until completely blended. You don't have to strain watermelon juice, but I normally do - sometimes I leave in a little pulp but not all of it. I got about 4 cups of strained juice from half a medium watermelon.

In a small saucepan over medium low heat, melt the sugar in the water, with the rosemary sprigs. Once the sugar is melted, put the lid on the saucepan and let the rosemary infuse the simple syrup for at least 15 minutes, an hour or more if possible.

In a pitcher, mix the watermelon juice with the lemon juice and rosemary syrup. Either chill it in the fridge until cold or serve it immediately with ice. If you want, throw in rosemary and lemon slices.

Queso Dip

There are tons of variations on queso dip - here's the one I usually make if I'm not doing the slightly less classy but very delicious Velvetta and salsa version! If you want to mix it up, you can add corn, black beans, chopped jalapeños or different types of salsa or hot sauce.

Queso Dip

5 oz cream cheese, chopped into 1" pieces

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (pretty much any mild cheese will be good)

1/4 cup tomatillo salsa

1/4 cup milk

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp veg oil

In a medium saucepan, fry up the garlic and cumin in the vegetable oil until fragrant. Drop in the cream cheese and let it soften a little before adding in the cheese, salsa and milk. Keep stirring until it's all integrated and smooth. I keep mine pretty thick but you can add more milk or salsa to thin it out.

I don't usually top it with anything, but you can see in the picture that this time I spooned some more salsa and a few roasted cherry tomatoes on top. You can also throw some cilantro on there, 

Potluck-Ready Pasta Salad

Back when I was in AmeriCorps we had potlucks ALL THE TIME. People were pretty serious about them, too. Since then, I've learned that potlucks are not quite so frequent in your average office environment. However, we did have a potluck recently when our group of AmeriCorps members finished their one-year term. I made this almost-store-bought pasta salad after work the day before. 

This is pretty much a combo of a few things I picked up at Trader Joe's, so I'll write it up as I made it. Obviously, this is not sponsored by Trader Joe's. I wish!!

Potluck-Ready Pasta Salad

1 bag vegetable radiatore pasta (the multi-colored spiral-y one)

1 container pre-cut Healthy 8 chopped vegetable mix (or do the chopping yourself: red and green cabbages, carrots, broccoli, jicama, bell peppers, radishes and celery)

1 container crumbled feta

1 small can sliced black olives

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2 tsp lemon juice

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 tsp dried oregano

1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

1/3 cup olive oil

Combine the pasta, veggies, feta and olives in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix together the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, dill and olive oil. Pour over the pasta and mix well.

Chickpea + Avocado Hummus

The addition of avocado is a fun twist for a simple, quick homemade hummus. I got the recipe from Joy the Baker, whose baked goods are AMAZING along with everything else on her blog.

I ate most of the hummus with pita chips and fresh veggies, like the snap peas from my garden, but I also made a really good pita sandwich with chicken (with lettuce that's also from my garden!). 

AVOCADO HUMMUS

1 can (15 oz) chickpeas

2 ripe avocados

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

 1 1/2 tbsp tahini

2 cloves garlic

salt & pepper

Blend everything in a food processor until as smooth as you like - I like it to stay a little bit chunky for texture but some people like a very smooth hummus. 

Peach Tart

As it is peach season, I've been making this tart continuously. My family loves it and even if they didn't, I could eat it all on my own. I made this for the first time in the early stages of labor along with some slow roasted tomato sauce.
One month later I'm finally finishing this post. It's been a little hectic here and blogging hasn't really been on my mind. At least, I've been failing at taking pictures when I cook. In the future, there are some posts about apple butter, peach cobbler, and all things apple and pumpkin coming up.
Anyways, back to the recipe and feel free to substitute apples for peaches since it is now apple season. I found this on Sally's Baking Addiction and excluded the strawberries.

Ingredients:

For the filling-

3-4 firm peaches, sliced 

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/3 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the crust-

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter

ice water

1 egg, beaten for egg wash

Turbinado sugar for the crust

To make the crust, blend all the dry ingredients together. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or food processor. You want the mixture to resemble large, coarse crumbs. Add water one tablespoonful at a time and toss with a fork until the dough just comes together. Knead into a ball quickly, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

For the filling, toss peach slices with other ingredients in a medium bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. If the peaches are really ripe, add more cornstarch. Drain the liquid.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll out the crust to about 10-12 inches in diameter on a floured surface. Place the peaches on the center in a pretty design leaving 2 inches of dough on the edge free. Fold over the edges. Brush with egg wash, then sprinkle the whole tart generously with the coarse sugar.

Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. Let cool and serve with homemade whipped cream.

Dino Kale Salad with Garlicky Vinaigrette

I went to the new Squirrel Hill farmer's market this morning, and it was so nice! I wish I had started going earlier this summer. It's spread out between two parking lots between Bartlett and Beacon, parallel to Murray. Along with a pie pumpkin, I got some dino kale from One Woman Farm. For lunch I made this basic salad with a great garlicky dressing. I'm also making chicken broth right now, and the apartment smells amazing!

Dino Kale Salad with Garlicky Vinaigrette 
Serves 2 or 1 for a huge lunch salad

10-15 leaves dinosaur kale (depending on size)
1/2 apple
1/4 cup feta cheese crumbles
1 tbsp sesame seeds
2-3 tbsp dried cranberries, cherries or raisins

3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt & pepper

Chop up the dinosaur kale into little pieces - cut the ribs out and fold up the leaves to make thin slices and keep slicing into they are little 1 inch strips. Put the strip in a bowl and crush them a couple of times in your hands. (Your hands will turn a little green, and the kale will become a shade darker.) Cut up the apple into chunks. Mix the kale, apple, feta, sesame seeds and dried fruit.

Smash the garlic cloves with the side of a knife. Mince the smashed garlic. Mix and stir all of the dressing ingredients (garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper). Toss well with the salad.

Pecan Raisin Spaghetti

This is my attempt to copy the sweet pasta dish on the buffet at Zenith. I think I got pretty close! It's one of those things that doesn't sound good at all, but it works somehow, especially as a side dish.

PECAN RAISIN SPAGHETTI

Inspired by Zenith Tea Room & Antiques

2 servings uncooked spaghetti

1/4 cup raw pecan pieces

1/2 cup raisins

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 pinch cinnamon

salt & pepper

1 tsp brown sugar

extra virgin olive oil

Boil up the pasta according to the directions. Toast the pecans until lightly browned (when they start to smell toasty, turn off the heat). Heat the olive oil in a skillet and saute the shallot and garlic. Once they are lightly browned, add in the pecan pieces and the raisins. Add in the cinnamon, salt and pepper. Let it cook for a minute and then add in the brown sugar and mix it up. Stir it all into the spaghetti and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil. 

Blueberry Boy Bait

This boy bait was baked in honor of 2 baby boy dogs and 1 baby boy human.

This baby boy is unconcerned with gender stereotypes. Also, FYI for the lady dogs, his ideal bait would definitely be meat-flavored.

Of course, there is a cute story behind blueberry "boy bait": 

"In 1954 a 15-year-old Chicago teen named Renny Powell submitted a blueberry coffee cake recipe to the Pillsbury $100,000 Recipe & Baking Contest (precursor to today's Pillsbury Bake-Off). Renny took second place in the youth division for her creation, named in honor of its powers with the opposite sex. The recipe has been in circulation for nearly 60 years now, including here on YankeeMagazine.com, where our adaptation is one of the most popular recipes in our archive."

Blueberry-Chocolate Boy Bait
Slightly adapted from the Smitten Kitchen

2 cups white flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
16 tbsp unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
3 eggs
1 cup milk (I used 2% but whole milk or even buttermilk would be the all-out way to go)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup fresh blueberries + 1 tbsp flour
1/3 cup chocolate chips

To sprinkle on top:
1/2 cup blueberries
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp Turbinado sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Kate's Pasta Salad

This recipe is from my high school friend, Kate. It was a staple at her house and recently she made the salad for a mutual friend's bridal shower. I was reminded how great it was and made it twice this month already.

Lately we've been exploring Philly and my hometown with Rexie. We take him to lots of dog parks and restaurants. Yesterday we went to yappy hour with him at Loews hotel downtown. There were about 30+ dogs there and lots of good food for them. They had rice, peas, carrots, and ground beef made special for them. We had doggie themed cocktails. Rex decided to eat about three bowls and then go back for more. He's definitely as into food as we are!

1 lb penne pasta
1 cup sun dried tomatoes, sliced thinly
1/2 cup black olives, sliced
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup packed fresh basil, thinly sliced
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1/3 cup herbed goat cheese, crumbled
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and drizzle with olive oil. Let cool. Toss with all the ingredients together in a large bowl and drizzle with more olive oil and just a touch of balsamic vinegar. It doesn't get any easier than that.

Couscous with Eggplant

Linda got a nice new cookbook called Jerusalem, and one of the recipes got me craving some couscous. Of course, I did not follow that recipe because didn't have the main ingredient and because I'm not good at following recipes. Instead, I made this dish, which was way better than I was expecting and definitely my favorite thing I've made in a while.

Linda, Dan and I moved to a new apartment in Squirrel Hill last month, so I have a new Pittsburgh kitchen now! I was able to move most of my plants over, and there's a spot I can turn into a raised bed in the backyard. I've been eating outside as much as possible!

Tomato & Onion Couscous with Eggplant

1 medium eggplant, chopped

olive oil, salt, smoked paprika

1 lemon, thinly sliced & seeded

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 tsp tomato paste

1/2 tsp sugar

salt & pepper

1 cup couscous

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 tsp turmeric 

Gazpacho

Nothing says summer to me like a bowl of cold gazpacho. Right now, the tomatoes are all coming in from the garden! Finally! I feel like I've been waiting for tomato season all year. Anyways, all the ingredients are available right now. I went to the farmer's market with my sister and Rex and we loaded up on so many fruits and vegetables. We made a vegan stone fruit cobbler for dessert which I sadly forgot to photograph! For a lot of people, this gazpacho is hit or miss. It's pretty acidic but I love it as is! You can cut the acidity by using canned tomatoes but you would miss the point of gazpacho entirely. Just saying.

3 large ripe heirloom tomatoes, quartered

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced

1½ green peppers, seeded

1 large onion, peeled and quartered

2 Tbs. olive oil

2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

3 cloves garlic

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Diced green peppers for garnish

 

Throw everything in the blender for as long as you like. I like my soup super smooth. Then place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to chill. Taste and season it according to your tastes. Garnish with fresh globe basil and lemon thyme. Serve with warm bread.

 

Frittata with Pasta and Cherry Tomatoes

I haven't made this dish since undergrad but it's a quick and easy one. Mainly, it's perfect for summer. I wanted to make a quiche but didn't have butter to make a crust. Anyways, it was a hit with my family (mostly Kelly and Nick) because of the large amounts of cheese I used to make it.

We just spent the past weekend with my cousin Kara and her family (twins + two year old + doggie!). We celebrated my uncle's birthday and helped watch the babies. Mostly we had snuggles with babies and watched Thomas the train engine. It was a blast! Rex was mostly terrified of their dog, Gaia. Probably because she's so refined and he is completely nuts.

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups cooked pasta (rotini or macaroni)
5 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1 bunch swiss chard, stems removed
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan, shredded
herbed goat cheese, for topping
1 tsp dried italian herbs
salt and pepper

Grease a 9 inch round pie pan. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Slice the swiss chard finely and cook in a saucepan over medium heat until wilted. Drain excess water.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together. Add the italian herbs. Then add in the pasta and cooked swiss chard. Stir to incorporate. Then mix in the mozzarella and season with salt and pepper. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
Top with cherry tomatoes, cut side up. Then sprinkle parmesan and goat cheeses all over the surface. The frittata is done when it is almost firm in the center and the top is golden brown, about 30-40 minutes. If the cheese is browning too quickly, just cover with aluminum foil.
We ate this with fresh gazpacho on the side! Yay summer!