Fresh Tart

Oh, a fabulously restorative dose of Cooper Cuteness this weekend, Mr. Busy himself, in a constant state of motion-giggle-chat. John, Nathan, my dad, and I settled into my sister Stacey's (check out her new website!) lovely home this evening for an early Summer Sunday Dinner. Stace and I put the low-maintenance menu together via email and it worked out beautifully. I brought a salad, full of as many veggie-share veggies as I could cram in there, ha - mixed greens topped with roasted green beans and tomatoes, fresh dill, thinly sliced kohlrabi, sauteed corn, chopped onion and green pepper, and a crumble of feta cheese. Pretty and tasty. Stace made Cucumber-Mint Raita, I brought garlic bread, and we borrowed a genius page from my in-laws, Dot and John, by purchasing deli fried chicken (in this case, theKowalski's version, delicious) earlier in the day and then grilling it for a few minutes just before serving, to re-crisp and warm it...works like a charm. Stuffed, we somehow made room for brownies topped with Blue Sky CreameryDouble Chocolate ice cream (incredible stuff). Yeah. Uff.

After a a bit of digestif swinging on the picture-perfect, front-porch swing, Cooper was ready to run again, wearing his Birthday Party Hat, no less, for maximum cuteness. And then...when his (and Nathan's) running reached the edge of almost-frantic-silliness, we took our exit cue. (Why is it that the more tired children grow, the more energy they expel? So not fair...) After clear-as-a-bell "bu-bye" and "nigh nigh" wishes, we moseyed on home and left Coop to his soft jammies and cozy crib and a Good. Night's. Sleep.

Here are the veggies and herbs (from my LaFinca veggie share) that I have to play with this weekend:

carrots
fennel
green beans
corn
kale
tomatoes
cucumber
zucchini
summer squash
onions
basil
dill

The carrots and fennel are terrific additions to a packet of Potatoes on the Grill. Summer squash would be nice too. In addition, I love steamed carrots with a little butter and lots of fresh dill and lemon.

The green beans, oh man, I'm so roasting half of them for Roasted Vegetable Panzanella, one of my very favorite meals. The other half I'll save for Spicy Braised Green Beans, which calls for tomato and onion as well. Fried Walleye with some Spicy Braised Green Beans? Ohhh, now that's a summer meal. What night can I pull that off? Might have to wait until Monday...

I didn't feel like boiling a big pot of water last night, just for John and me, so I sliced the kernels off of a couple of ears of corn and sauteed them quickly in a bit of browned butter (adds a lovely, nutty flavor). Salt and pepper, done. Easy and sooo yummy. I think I'll do the same for the kids tomorrow night.

The basil is going to become a small batch of pesto - I like to have a bit on hand for stirring into sauteed corn (stir in a diced tomato with the pesto, so pretty). Or for swirling into Instant Vegetable Soup (an assortment of vegetables grated together, brought to a quick simmer with water, and finished off with a sprinkle of cheese; delicious and very nutritious, and also a good way to use up veggie-share veggies!), which makes a perfect, quick lunch.

The cucumber already became Cucumber-Mint Raita, and I already ate it, ha. Ditto for the zucchini (see below for Zucchini-Tomato Gratin).

The kale, hmmm, there's not much of it so I'll probably just saute it with garlic, then steam it with a small amount of water until it's quite tender. With salt and pepper, and a drizzle of good balsamic, it's pretty hard to beat. Even if no one else in my family thinks so...

Yeah. It's shaping up to be a very colorful, healthy, moderate (no parties, no party food!) weekend. Yay, my butt lurves veggies!

More cucumber raita tonight (it's so good, I made it again today; it's my new favorite cucumber salad), this time alongside king crab legs. Can you tell I was needing some new grill subjects? The tandoori turkey breast tenderloinlast night was scrumptious, definitely a keeper. Tender and flavorful, John and I had an awful lot of fun eating it with said cukes and the peach-ginger chutney, on the porch, with some tunes and a nice white. Goooood night.

So, back to the crab, if you haven't grilled king crab legs before, it's an ocean breeze. Slash through the shell in several places (to make the eatin' part a lot easier) and grill 'em on a hot grill for a total of about 10 minutes. Perhaps less. They don't take long at all. And that is it, they're that easy to prepare. Get crackin' (along those slash marks you made) and you'll be in heaven. I don't even bother with butter or sauces - the meat is so sweet and tender, it really needs nothing at all. Except perhaps a side of cucumber raita, ha. I'm making a small tomato salad as well. Ah, summer food. Another goooood night.

Lookin' for something to grill tonight? Me too, something other than steak or shrimp, so I flipped through my latest Cuisine at Home magazine for inspiration and decided on the gorgeous cover meal - tandoori turkey with peach chutney and cucumber raita. How fabulous does that sound? I am all over the spicy, sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy combo of all three elements together. The recipes are a breeze - a bit of chopping up a few fresh ingredients, stirring together a quick marinade for the turkey, and passing the turkey tenderloin over the grill for about 15 total minutes. (There's also a recipe for "naan" flatbread, using pizza dough, but I'm going to skip that part to keep the meal on the lighter side. Plus, Byerly's sells delicious naan in their bakery which is amazing grilled). I'll use my favorite plain yogurt - Greek-style Fage - for the raita and marinade. Can't wait for dinner! (Recipes posted in comments, below.)

I have to confess to having enjoyed eating alone the last couple of days - John and my stepdaughter have been in the Hamptons visiting my in-laws and our friends the Bryts, while Nathan is with Stacey and Cooper visiting my parents in Montana to celebrate my stepmom's 60th birthday - TODAY! - Happy Birthday Susanna! Last night I grilled myself a piece of mahi-mahi (also known as dorado) and it was delicious. All I ate alongside was a pile of raw pea pods - what can I say, I love the crunchy-sweet-vegetal taste, they taste like a garden to me. It was nice to not have to cook them, or make a pan of rice, or set the table. Just me and my mahi-mahi on the deck. Peaceful. Nice.

Tonight John will be back, so I won't be eating tandoori turkey alone, ha. And that's nice too. But once in awhile, a little solitude is a mighty nice thing...