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