Rainbow Chard with Couscous

I made the mistake once of not removing the stems of chard before putting it in my soup... let me just say that they are quite bitter.  But if sauteed up with some garlic and lemon juice, they're not so bad.

Quinoa with Kale

At last year's Thanksgiving, when my mom asked if I would make a quinoa dish, I just stared at her blankly.  One, I had no idea what she said.  Two, whatever it was, it didn't sound like it belonged at Thanksgiving.  She explained that it's a grain that's really healthy for you.  My disinterest continued.  Thanksgiving is supposed to be about consuming as many calories as possible, not making sure your digestive track is in order.   But in the last few months, my boyfriend and I decided we needed to start a healthier routine.  I finally decided to try quinoa, whatever it is.  Surprisingly, it's pretty amazingly delicious when done well.  This recipe has become a staple in my kitchen, and I've been making it about once a week.

Figs with Goat Cheese

Growing up, my mom always packed is fig newtons in our lunches. For a while I thought they were fancy adult food. But then I got bored with them and realized how uninteresting the flavors were. So for most of my life I just avoided figs. Not like they're that easy to find anyway. Now, as a working adult that can afford fresh produce, I have come to realize that fresh figs are actually pretty awesome, and I wish I had rediscovered them earlier. 

Caperse Sandwich

This year we grew tomatoes from seed, and it was too hard to "kill" the extra plants that we grew.  But with 10 surviving tomato plants, we were bound to have a few tomatoes more than we could eat... So I've been trying to find creative ways to use multiple tomatoes at once. I found this recipe but it used Texas toast and blue cheese. Not being a fan of either, I made this variation.  One slice would be plenty as a side during brunch.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Inevitably, Sacramento gets some pretty hot days. Between the last week of June an first week of July, we had 8 days of temperatures 105F and over. But as much as tomatoes love the heat, they too can get sunburnt. This typically only effects the green ones, but it's still sad to see so many hurt tomatoes. And what can you do with sunburnt green tomatoes? Fry them, of course!

Penne with Cauliflower

This recipe I actually got from a cooking magazine in Italy.  Translating it from Italian challenged my Italian cooking vocab, but it was a good exercise.  And converting from metric to imperial was just as fun (not).  But thank goodness I figured it all out because it's pretty delicious!  I don't think I've ever heard anyone say the like cauliflower, but you would never know when you have it in this simple pasta dish.

Panzanella

At the same time I was living in Rome, a friend of mine was living in Tuscany.  We didn't know each other at the time, even though we went to the same university, but we now work together.  She shared this recipe with me, which she learned while living in Tuscany.  Tuscany has some of the best farming country in all of Italy.  And because of the all the farms and natural woodlands, a lot of the food is much more earthy and gamey than in other parts of Italy.  These seems like one of those recipes that you whip together when you have leftover bread that's about to go stale and a few too many tomatoes.  But it is a delicious snack or side dish!