Christmas with Family and Friends

This Advent season was one of my favorites (I'm sure I feel this way almost every year!). Between wonderful church celebrations (including one led by MSS), opening up our new home for a tree trimming party, visiting friends' homes, having extra time to host friends for dinner and lunch, making lots of cookies with my favorite little people and a commitment to keeping gift giving simple, the actual Christmas day was just icing on the gingerbread!

Chris made 2 quiches: smoked salmon/smoked Gouda and mushroom chive.

We also had a punch made with an iced tea blend: orange blossom green tea/pomegranate white tea topped with TJs pomegranate sparkling juice. It was served in a wine decanter with lots of citrus slices.

The fruit salad was made with pineapple, grapes, banana, walnuts, dates and a squeeze of lime.

I also made Gingerbread Pancakes from the Tassajara Recipe Book (this was the recipe that helped me make the decision to buy the book).
Combine 2 Cups Flour, 1 T Baking Powder, 1 t Cinnamon, 1 T fresh Ginger (grated), 1/4 t ground Cloves, 1 t salt.

In a separate bowl, beat 2 Eggs, and whisk in 2 Cups Buttermilk (I used sour raw milk), 1/4C molasses, 1/4 C Canola Oil.

ladle 1/4 C batter for each pancake onto hot, well oiled griddle.

Other food included magic cookie bars, whole wheat gingerbread cookies, peanut butter blossoms, chocolate waffles. Sharon brought flan and Brenda brought bread pudding. By the time we got to Tasha and Ed's in the evening, we were already full. But we still thoroughly enjoyed the veggie stew and George's bread pudding!

Melithaca - Day One Saturday

As you probably know, Ithaca, NY is one of my favorite get-aways. It is a 4-5 hour drive so I don't get to go as often as I would like, but I have been fortunate to have been able to make monthly trips the past three months. Generally, this blog is about menus and food I cook to share, but since Ithaca is so committed to local, sustainable eating and reflects my ideal way of life (I choose to ignore the horrendous Wal!@^~ that takes up part of what used to be Buttermilk Falls State Park land), I thought I would include it here. Besides, I bought so much food at the farmer's market, that surely this will serve as background for another entry or two.

Generally, we would leave before 8 am to beat the traffic and to take advantage of a full day when we arrive. This weekend however we took it easy in the morning (particularly since we hosted the Pampered Chef party the evening before), and left at 9:45. The traffic on Rte 80 was awful about an hour into the trip, but besides some minor construction congestion, that was the only hold up.

We stopped for lunch at our regular spot, Binghams Restaurant in Lenox, PA (it is about a half hour from when you get on Rte 81 off exit 211). The first time I went, I was skeptical . . . animal heads on the wall and a front dining room full of cigarette smoke generally are not signs of fine dining. To be honest, it's really not fine dining but it is solidly good, home style cooking with fresh baked bread and pretty good coffee. I ordered the bowl of cream of broccoli soup (tasty but a little lumpy) with a side of homemade whole wheat bread. Okay . . . I admit. . . the main reason I stop at Binghams is their pie. They have the most amazing pie. This time, I had a slice of Apple Crumb Caramel (yes! this is as good as it sounds). Chris had the wild blueberry pie warmed up and topped with vanilla ice cream which was also quite delicious.

About an hour after leaving the restaurant, we turned off the highway onto route 79 and began the final 45 minute leg of our trip. As we drove the winding roads through small towns with quaint old churches, signs for chicken barbecue, and beautiful views of tree filled hills, I felt myself begin to relax. We opened the car windows to take in the fresh air. Signs that we were getting close are the Six Mile Creek Winery and the turn-off to Cornell University and Collegetown.

When we got to the downtown area, we parked the car and took a walk on The Commons, a community centered pedestrian mall with lots of independent shops and restaurants. While on the Commons, we bought our tickets for Saturday night's screening and discussion at Cinemapolis, a non-profit independent movie theater.

On the way to our motel, we stopped at our favorite coffee shop, Gimme! Coffee. We picked up a copy of The Ithaca Times while we sipped a truly perfect cup of coffee. We also bought a bag of beans to bring home.

The motel where we stay is not one I would recommend. It's a little run down, but the price is right and they offer a microwave and refrigerator in the rooms. Basically, we just need a place to sleep at night and don't spend a whole lot of time in the room. So I won't plug them here, but would gladly recommend the Frog's Way Bed and Breakfast in the the EcoVillage. You have to share the kitchenette and bathroom with whoever is staying in the second room, but the owners are super nice, the simple breakfast is fresh and energizing, and it is fascinating to spend some time in this intentional community. There are a million lovely bed and breakfasts as well as cottages, inns and hotels. For information, go to www.visitithaca.com. Of course, the state forests also offer beautiful camping opportunities.

Because it was so late when we checked in, we didn't get a chance to go to dinner on Saturday night. Instead, we went straight to the movie theater. Missing dinner was okay though. Cinemapolis has the best movie theater popcorn, popped in peanut oil and topped with real butter. They also have really cool spice toppings. I tried the "Eastern Spice Mix." Really, how can I ever go back to microwave popcorn?

Later this week, the Dali Lama is visiting Ithaca and Cinemapolis was offering a special preview of "How to Cook Your Life," a light documentary film inspired by Zen Master Dogen's "Instructions to the Cook", which uses the preparation of food as a metaphor for the cultivation of our spirituality. It was really interesting and the main person in the film, Zen Master Edward Espe Brown, presents himself as very human - not necessarily what I would imagine a Buddhist monk to be like. One of the most meaningful parts of the film to me is when they talk about the way that food cultivates your three minds: "Big Mind, Joyful Mind, and Kind Mind." If you are really into food as a connection to life, I would highly recommend this film.

Following the film was a panel discussion with Julie Jordon, who operated the Cabbagetown Café for 18 years and authored several vegetarian cookbooks; and Gary Redmond, operator of Regional Access, a food wholesaler and supplier of organic, local and regional products. It was fun to participate with like minded people and hear their thoughts about Ithaca's progress in supporting local farmers and creating hydroponic methods of agriculture.

On the way to the motel, we stopped at the Green Star Co-op for a late night snack. I took some membership material to review (more about that later).

Sunday - Day 2 in Ithaca

We slept in on Sunday and I took a short drive to Smart Monkey Cafe (which has a drive through window) and bought our morning fair trade organic coffee. We hung out drinking coffee and watched CBS Sunday Morning before heading out to church. After parking the car, we had a couple of minutes to enjoy Cascadilla Gorge. St. Paul's United Methodist Church is my childhood church and the church I chose when my family first started worshiping. I love the music, the domed choir area with angels looking down, the beautiful stained glass window with Christ pictured at the door holding a lantern. Most of all, St. Paul's draws people from diverse backgrounds and ages who are warmly welcoming. It is a community of active disciples and I always feel at home. My childhood pastor and his wife have retired back to this church and it was a delight to see them.

Following church, it was off to the Ithaca Farmer's Market. The market is in a permanent wooden structure on the lake. In addition to produce, there are flowers, cheese, yogurt, meat and eggs for sale as well as cider, hard cider and local wine. Local artisans sell jewelry, cutting boards, pottery, soap and other high quality crafts. There are musicians scattered throughout providing folk music and it's not unusual to see children dancing. The farmer's market is a wondrous place! There are also numerous (mostly ethnic) vendors selling fresh cooked food.

For lunch, we had a Jolly Burger, made with quinoa and sweet potato. It was served on a whole grain roll with sprouts, pickles, sauteed onion, lettuce and tomato. I bought four to bring home for lunch this week. The people who worked there were so friendly and happy. In our afternoon at the farmer's market, we also sampled a spinach and cheese empanada and peppermint tea.

I stocked up on winter squash. They make great autumn decorations until I can get around to eating them. I also bought beautiful red chard and a bag of Liberty apples as well as caraway seed cheese and to make an apple chard quiche and cumin seed cheese that I will perhaps use in pumpkin quiche. I couldn't resist the basket of purple potatoes just 'cause I remember my beautiful birthday mashed potatoes. Would it be too weird to each purple potato soup? The farmers are so friendly and I enjoy learning about their farms and the food.

On the way back to the motel to change into our hiking clothes, we stopped at the Ithaca Beer Company for a tasting. They had a number of brews as well as Root Beer. It was the best root beer I’ve tasted and is made with cane sugar. We bought 2 growlers (64oz) of Ithaca Double IPA a specialty brew using all NY grown hops. We look forward to bringing our growlers back for a refill and in the meantime will bring one growler to Katie and Dave's Oktoberfest and will invite Bruce and Gina for dinner to share the other growler.

After changing into hiking clothes, our next stop was Taughannock Falls. There are two trails: the Gorge Trail is a flat path through the gorge to the base of the falls. It is less than a mile. We chose the rim trail with a steep incline and then a flat trail around the top of the gorge with spectacular views. There is a perfect look out spot to see the falls from the top of the gorge. The rim trail took us about an hour and a half all the way around. It is truly an awesomely beautiful example of God's creation.

After the hike (goodness, time flies!), we shower and rest for a bit (and I snacked on some Ithaca "art" Dark Chocolate). It was a little after 7:00 and I was starving. We figured the Moosewood on a Sunday night would be reasonable. We quickly discovered there was a 45 minute wait to be seated. Because I was starving and starting to get a bit irritable, we decided to have our Moosewood meal as Monday's lunch. There is no shortage of good food options in Ithaca and we walked over to Taste of Thai on the Commons. It seemed crowded but we felt good about only having to wait for 15 minutes to be seated. Unfortunately, I was really starving at this point and we had to wait almost an hour more to be served our food. We noticed that absolutely nobody had their food. . . it turned out the computers were down (were the computers cooking the food? I wondered). The manager was gracious (smart?) enough to give us a 10% discount. My spring rolls were crispy and tasty and the Panang tofu was really flavorful. I am happy I ordered a hot level of "one" (of 7) because it was extremely spicy. Once I got over the crabbiness of my hunger, I enjoyed the meal.

While we planned to go to the movies, we were kind of sleepy by 9:30 and ended up crashing around 10.

Pampered Chef

Among Cassie's many endeavors is her new role as Pampered Chef consultant. To kick off her sales career, we hosted a Pampered Chef party at our house. Since it was her first demonstration, it was helpful that she knew most of the guests. People who own any of the products, love them and we were all promoting our favorite tools. I'm still working out my final order. There are a lot items I would love to upgrade in my kitchen.

This was the first time in months that we have had company since we have been unsure of our moving situation, but we decided to just go forward with our out life and we love entertaining so this was a great opportunity to put our home back in order. It was a lovely mix of guests and it was great that we could have some time to socialize while supporting Cassie (and ordering some new kitchen items too!)

I provided a light harvest meal that was almost entirely local from the Hoboken Farmers Market (what am I going to do for produce when they close at the end of the month?). I reconfigured some other recipes that I've made before and was happy with the results. This menu served a dozen guests:

Butternut Squash Soup:
Saute:
1 Medium peeled and chopped butternut squash
3 Carrots chopped
1 Apple peeled and chopped
1 T minced fresh Ginger Root (I used a microplane)

Cover (just barely) with Vegetable Stock and add Salt and Pepper
Bring to a boil and then simmer until squash is very tender (about a half hour)
Puree with immersion blender, food processor or blender

Potato Leek Soup:
Saute in Butter:
6 peeled chopped Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 sliced Leek (choose a fat leek or use 3 skinny ones)
1 sliced Fennel Bulb and/or Leaves (optional)
1 T Crushed Fennel Seed
Add 6 Cups Vegetable Stock
Salt and Pepper
Bring to a boil and then simmer until potatoes are tender. Puree with immersion blender, food processor or blender just until smooth (over processing will make it gummy)

Salad with Maple Dressing
The Maple Dressing recipe is in the Thanksgiving blog entry. It is made with Maple Syrup, Cider Vinegar, Olive Oil, Mustard

The Salad was Mixed Greens topped with:
Organic Feta
Thinly sliced Red Onion
Thinly sliced Red Apple
Sliced Heirloom Yellow Plum Tomatoes
Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper


Pears Baked with Cardamom Syrup
Place peeled cored halved Pears cut side down on Buttered baking sheet
Sprinkle over pears:
Brown Sugar
Crushed Cardamom Seed
1/2- 1 Cup of Water
Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes turning twice and adding water if needed
Serve warm or at room temp

Cassie Turned 20!

I no longer have a teen-ager! Cassie is now 20 years old. In one sense, it’s hard for me to believe, but really, it’s hard to remember a time when she wasn’t in my life. Being a young mom also means that in many ways, I grew up with my daughter.

For the first time ever, I didn’t host a birthday party in our home. Cassie invited me to a cook-out she was having at school. Unfortunately we had a surprise rainy day and she wasn’t able to have an outdoor party. So for the first time in I don’t know how many years, I went to a dorm party (on Hoyt 4th no less).

The gathering was actually quite lovely. The room is so much more spacious than last year and we had room to spread out. We arrived around 5:00. My mom, Katie, Chris and I were welcomed sweetly by Cassie and her friends. We had pizza from Romanelli’s and cake from Cold Stone Creamery. Around 9:00 we headed home after a very pleasant evening.

Since originally it was going to be a cook-out, I had prepared some salads:

Mexican Pasta Salad:
Cooked and chilled Penne Pasta tossed with:
Grated cheddar
Cherry Tomatoes
Diced Jalapeño
Black Beans
Olive Oil, Lime Juice, Chili Spice Mix
Served with salsa (I chose Newman’s Own tequila lime salsa)



Spinach Strawberry Salad (slightly out of season, but this was at Cassie’s request)
Baby Spinach
Quartered Strawberries

Sliced Almonds

Sliced Red Onion

Dill, Mango Chili Vinegar (from Trader Joe’s), Canola Oil, Maple Syrup

Is food still considered local if you have to drive 200 miles to bring it home?

We had a great weekend in Ithaca and did a significant amount of food shopping at the Farmer’s Market and the GreenStar co-op. Much of tonight’s dinner was made with ingredients local to Ithaca. Did you know the Ithaca Farmers Market is a "Zero Waste Zone?" Everything is compostable. Some of the other ingredients tonight were from the Hoboken Farmer’s Market (basil, eggplant, sweet potato).

Southwestern Corn and Potato Chowder (adapted from the Moosewood LF cookbook)
Sauté Onion and Garlic
Add crushed cumin
Diced Jalepeno (I remove the seeds)
Diced Purple Pepper
After about 10 minutes, stir in chopped sweet potato
Add Vegetable Broth (I threw the veggie trimmings including potato peel into the pressure cooker to make broth)
Cook for 10 minutes until veggies are tender
Add fresh Corn (if it’s really tender, cook for only a minute or two more)
Puree half the soup
Add Cilantro and serve

Tomato Galette – I found the most beautiful and delicious organic sunset colored heirloom tomato at the farmer’s market. It was perfect for this dish. Is it weird to be passionate about tomatoes? This is the first summer I really appreciated them.
Thaw a sheet of puff pastry (available at Shoprite)
Spread ricotta cheese in circular area of the pastry (I used the homemade ricotta that I had made before)
Lay out Basil leaves to cover the cheese
Arrange tomato slices to cover the basil
Fold excess pastry over to cover edges of tomato slices
Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper
Bake for about 35 minutes

Green Salad
Beautiful tender lettuce
Lovely heirloom cherry tomatoes - different shapes, sizes and colors
Shaved raw sheep’s milk cheese
Adapted Moosewood house dressing: local small farm organic milk curdled with lemon juice, canola oil, basil, salt, pepper, local maple syrup, garlic

Eggplant (Chris made this)
Pan fry the eggplant in olive oil
Put it in the baking pan with garlic, canned tomatoes, salt, pepper, dried oregano.
Top it with homemade ricotta and sliced mozzarella (from the bodega)
Bake for 45 minutes

I had a bottle of Ithaca brewed beer with my meal.

Some of the other local foods I bought in Ithaca were: maple sugar, molasses, yogurt, tofu, swiss chard, plums and apples.

Farmer's Market Dinner

From June-October, my everyday meals are so much better than in the winter, thanks to the Hoboken Farmer's Market. I went yesterday, and dropped $21 in less than 5 minutes (I was parked illegally and had to rush through the first two booths and get back to my car). This is what I made for tonight's dinner:

Corn on the Cob (steamed just enough to be hot but not "cooked")

Cherry Tomatoes - halved and marinated with a dressing of farmer's market basil and (nonF.M.) garlic, evoo, and lemon juice).

Yukon Gold Potato, Leek and Fennel soup (I made the stock from the trimmings off the veggies, garlic, fennel seed, peppercorn and salt). This was super easy. . . . saute sliced leeks and fennel, add sliced potatoes and vegetable broth. Cook until tender and puree in blender (I love my immersion blender for this)

Ricotta Cheese Bread okay, this was not from the farmer's market (except for the basil) but it was homemade from scratch and so yummy. I made the ricotta myself for the first time which I am quite excited about. I made the bread in the bread machine with flour, yeast, salt, fresh basil, fresh garlic, and fresh homemade ricotta.

My plan is to make another tomato galette with the ricotta, remaining basil and nj field tomatoes in puff pastry.

I also got peppers and eggplant (perhaps ratatouille (sp) or rolatini (sp?)) and a sweet potato (Moosewood LF sweet potato and black bean burrito)

Thank you, Hoboken Farmer's Market!

Labor Day Weekend BBQ

My siblings and I were invited to my dad's place in the Poconos for a cook-out this weekend. His home has become a wonderful place of retreat and relaxation for Chris and me. We've been up there a number of times this summer. Even though the cook-out was planned for Sunday, Chris, Cassie, Margee Liz and I went out on Saturday. I quickly discovered (was reminded) that there is no rest or relaxation when you are responsible for a three-year-old. That being said, we still did have a lovely time.

On Saturday, we took Margee Liz to a little farm/petting zoo. She got to feed the pigs with a baby bottle and she loved seeing the monkeys and goats. It is always sad to me to see animals confined in what is so obviously not their natural environment. They seemed to be treated well, however, and their cages were clean. One of the monkeys actually seemed to turn the tables as he would jump up when you weren't expecting it just so he could see you jump.

We had dinner at Top of the World, a restaurant on top of a mountain in my dad's community. There were not a lot of vegetarian options and since I'm trying not to eat fish out very much, I got the pasta primavera. Then, because I couldn't resist, I ordered it with cream sauce. It was a wise choice.

My sister came up late Saturday night and on Sunday morning, we all met my dad's friend, Sharon at the Garlic Festival. It was nowhere near as creative as the festival we attended in Saugerties a few years ago, but we enjoyed the different vendors and the samples that they offered. We watched an hour long cooking demonstration, and my sister was sold on a set of high quality (ie very expensive) cookware. She has since decided she needs to do some more research on the product and is trying to cancel her order. Margee Liz loved getting her face painted and there was a fun play area for her to use up her seemingly endless energy.

We went back to my dad's and got ready for the cook-out. Margee Liz took a three hour nap. I had some wonderful (From Thursday's farmers market) yellow cherry tomatoes, an orange bell pepper, a purple bell pepper and fresh basil that I tossed in a bowl with white beans, olive oil and lemon juice. I also made a tomato galette (sp?) using puff pastry spread with fresh ricotta and basil, topped with beautiful red field tomatoes. TJ didn't want to eat the tomatoes but we convinced her they were no ordinary supermarket tomatoes. Sharon made a salad with cherry tomatoes and olives and my favorite bottled dressing, Trader Joe's cilantro garlic. My dad bought some grass fed beef from a (somewhat local) farm called Hendricks. I tasted it and it was truly delicious.

Ben and Brenda had brought some dates stuffed with blue cheese, sliced fresh figs, asiago cheese and this really awesome spinach dip. I love having family who work at Whole Foods Market. They also brought a cake for dessert. Our wine was from Oregon . . .my dad had brought it back from his visit in Eugene with his brother. So really, almost our entire meal was bought locally.

It was nice to be all together and spend some time with the new twins. I also really like Sharon and it was fun to have her involved in our crazy family. More than anything, I am happy to see my dad experiencing joy. He's had a hard few years and it's great to see him enjoying his retirement.

Light Dinner and Fruit Desserts

Cassie's friend Kailaigh (sp) spent the day with us at the shore today. It was nice to meet her especially since they will be roommates next year. The girls ate dinner at Popeye's (!!!) and my dinner tonight was a butternut squash and green pepper grilled kabob. I boiled the squash for 10 minutes before skewering it with the pepper and putting it on the grill. It was really simple with just a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Dinner was followed by two fruit desserts. Cassie had requested peach cobbler which I ended up making with peaches and blueberries. The dough was made from a mix that I picked up at Delicious Orchards earlier today. It was just simpler since we are at the beach without access to flour, sugar, butter, baking powder, etc needed to make a biscuit from scratch. There was no cinnamon in the house so I used a sprinkle of nutmeg. Syrup was the only sweetener in the fruit. The topping was a light whipped cream.

The second dessert was strawberry shortcake. I’m on a blueberry kick though (since they are local) so I mixed the strawberries and blueberries with a little sugar. I did keep a dish of strawberries separate since I know Bruce is a purist and would prefer it to the mixed berries. The dough was the same as for the dumplings and again, I used the light whipped cream to layer the fruit and the biscuits.

Awesome Birthday!!!!

What a fabulous way to spend my 36th Birthday! Chris and I spent the day relaxing, walking through Ocean Grove and hanging out at the beach. I made the fruit salad and it came out beautifully. I decided not to mix in the yogurt but will probably parfait it as a dessert or breakfast.

Later, we went to Target. I picked up a pair of sports sandals. I didn’t see any in the women’s department, so I bought a size 8 men’s. http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-1/qid=1183030264/ref=sr_1_1/601-8389595-3923343?ie=UTF8&asin=B000JNORBG
Tasha & Ed and Cassie each gave me money toward Chacos or Keens for my birthday so I’ll be doing more shoe shopping on Zappos later today.

Cassie got here in time for dinner. We prepared a yummy lobster dinner. We bought the lobster fresh from Jodi’s. I had bought some PURPLE potatoes at Delicious Orchards and guess what . . . they are purple inside! They made fun and tasty mashed potatoes. We also had corn on the cob and a mixed baby green salad with baby arugula, goat cheese, halved red grapes and a drizzle of cider vinegar and olive oil topped with fresh ground pepper and sea salt. Chris made a lemon sauce with garlic infused butter and olive oil that complimented everything.

After dinner, we went to Days for ice cream and since ice cream has become a rare treat AND it was my birthday, I got two scoops on a cone: Pralines & Cream and Mocha Chocolate Chip. Cassie got “It’s a Goody” hot fudge sundae and Chris got Pralines & Cream and Belgian Chocolate in a cup with malt topping. Really, they have the best ice cream I’ve ever had. By the time we walked up to the beach, my hands and face were covered in sticky cream. It was fun.

After washing up, we played a little miniature golf at Bradley Beach. There was a heat storm or something with lots of lightening far out in the distance and the sky was really red. We got home just before the biggest thunderstorm downpour I’ve ever experienced. It was intense with almost constant rumbling thunder and flashes of lightening.

It was so wonderful spending hours with Cassie and Chris and just having fun together. Definitely one of my best birthdays so far!

VACATION

Our very generous friends, Bruce and Gina, graciously let us stay in their beach house every year so that we can have a vacation. It’s a great way for us to start the summer and we gener
ally spend one or both weekends with them and have the house to ourselves during the week. One of the best things to me is that I have the time to just experiment with my cooking and make things exactly the way I want. Plus the most wonderful fresh and local produce is available. It's a great season to be vegetarian.

Today, we finally got to go to Delicious Orchards and we had a great time. The produce was beautiful and much of it was local and/or organic. It was so exciting to have such a bounty to choose from. When we got home, we spent the afternoon at the beach and then 3 hours making dinner. After dinner, we went for an hour long walk on the boardwalk before returning to the house for Cio Bella Sorbet (I had the Blackberry Cabernet and Chris had the Lemon). What a great day!

Most of these recipes are adapted from Vegetarian Times.

Grilled Corn and Black Bean Salad

Grill

2 ears of corn wrapped in foil
Half a red onion in 2 thick slices
1 Green Pepper halved

Meanwhile combine

Sliced avocado
Cilantro
1 Can Black Beans
Grape Tomatoes halved
Add in cooled grilled veggies and stir in
Juice of half a lemon
Cumin

Mix together and serve

Quinoa with Pistachios and Mint
Toast 1/2C Pistachios, chop coarsely and place in bowl
Grill small Vidalia onion and chop
Toast 1C Quinoa in pot
Add 2C Water
Bring to boil then simmer covered 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and cool
Stir together,

onion, pistachios, and quinoa with
Lemon Juice
Olive Oil
Salt
Mint

Grilled Vegetable Salad (this will make a great veggie sandwich with hummus or stirred into an omelet. Also any extra marinade can be used as salad dressing)
Whisk together

Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Basil
Chopped Garlic
Pour Marinade Over
1 lb Asparagus
Sliced Portabellas (I actually used a mixture of wild mushrooms)
Sliced Zucchini
Sliced Red Onion

After marinating for 15-30 minutes, grill on low heat for 5-10 minutes
Reduce extra marinade on the stove over high heat. Throw a bunch of spinach into the reduction and steam until lightly wilted.
Stir together grilled veggies, marinade and spinach

Green Salad

Mesculin
Baby arugula
Sliced sheep’s milk cheese
Sliced dried pear
Drizzle of cider vinegar and olive oil
Fresh ground pepper

Tomorrow, I’ll be making a fruit salad with

Pineapple
Peach
Apricot
Grapes

Strawberries

Blueberries
Banana

I’ll toss the bite sized fruit with stonyfield farm fat free blackberry yogurt and vanilla yogurt