Roasted Beet Salad with Olives, Capers, Shallots and Buffala Mozzarella

I harvested my first beets last week, and made them into this amazing salad. It was so good- I expect to be eating it lots more this winter.

Roast the beets, covered with foil, at 450 degrees for 45 minutes with about an inch of water in the bottom of the pan. When they are done, you can slip off the skins and roots and cut them into chunks or slices if you prefer. Dress them while they are still warm with a bit of red wine vinegar, finely chopped shallots, and salt and pepper. Let them soak up the vinegar before you add any olive oil, and then add the chopped olives and capers.

Homemade Mozzarella with Tomatoes and Basil From the Garden

Treviso with Gorgonzola, Walnuts, and Shaved Parmesan

Leftovers

I had leftover jerk chicken and dirty rice from Brown Sugar Kitchen, so I cooked up some black beans and fried some plantains to go with them. Yum!

Watermelon Salad with Lemon Verbena and Basil

Breakfast Tacos with Sweet Corn, Chilies, and Caramelized Onion

Manchego, French Mustard, and Homemade Pickles

Fresh Black Eyed Peas with Roasted Tomatoes, Olives and Feta

I found fresh black eyed peas in the market today so we decided to adapt Hank Shaw's recipe for a Greek-inspired salad. By keeping the beans warm, along with the roasted tomatoes (as opposed to sun-dried), we made it into less of a salad and more of a hot meal. Yum!

Spaghetti with Smashed Cherry Tomatoes, Sweet Corn and Basil

Spaghetti with Quick Tomato Sauce and Garlic Bread

Erik's been craving spaghetti, and the heatwave earlier this week made my tomato plants explode with fruit, so I decided to make sauce. I just sauteed some onion with marjoram and dried chilies, threw in a couple of whole garlic cloves, and then added the tomatoes and let them caramelize. The result was amazingly sweet, and perfect with bread smeared with salted butter and roasted garlic.

Polenta with Strawberries and Cream

Arugula, Homemade Ricotta, Olives and Chilies

Made with leftovers from our bruschetta last week.

Peach Pie with a Thyme-Scented Crust

Arugula Salad with Watermelon and Lemon Verbena; Smashed Chickpeas on Toast with Preserved Lemon and Chilies

Pear Almond Tart with Custard

Another River Cafe recipe, made with Warren pears from my dad's orchard, and served with warm vanilla custard... yummmm.

Hand-Rolled Fennel Pollen Pici in Fennel-Tomato Sauce

Inspired by this amazing blog post, and Hank's recipes, Erik and I went foraging for fennel pollen last week. After about a half hour of gently shaking fennel flowers into a tupperware container, we had about a tablespoon of pollen and at least as many bugs. Newly convinced that the price of imported, dried pollen was worth it, we gave up and bought a jar. Making the hand-rolled pasta (which has the pollen in it) was surprisingly easy and fun- I think it would be a great meal to make with kids if you have them.

Broccolini with Garlic and Chili

Whole Halibut Baked in Salt

We made this using a combination of instructions from Jamie Oliver, River Cafe, and an episode of Two Fat Ladies. It was a little scary at first but turned out amazingly!

Bruschetta!

with homemade ricotta, arugula, olives and chilies


with smashed chickpeas and sauteed chard

Spaghetti with Tuna, Capers, Onions and Chili

This is my go-to meal when I don't have anything else in mind. I always have the ingredients in the pantry, so it's quick and easy.