On What I Love Right Now

The library. Oh how I love the Salt Lake Library system. Any book I want to get my hands on I can get without paying--except all those fines for not wanting to return them--oops!!

My new i-wireless phone so I can TEXT, TEXT, TEXT, and TEXT. Who knew I would enjoy texting so much.

Thank you Sephora for sending me the $15 off beauty insiders gift certificate. I have been visiting your site daily and trying to resist. Resist no more!


String Cheese! I can't get enough of the Archer Farms brand at Target.


My big fluffy down blanket that keeps me so warm at night.


Nutella in any form. On crepes, as Gelatto, however it comes.

Yum! My favorite fast-food! And the employees are always SOOO nice. I don't care that they have to be. I still like it.


The BEST ice cream you can get from the grocery store. If I could only eat one brand for the rest of my life this would be it hands down!

I am Thankful for....

Thank you Braeden for helping me remember to be thankful. Here is what Braeden wrote he was thankful for. An original work.

I am Thankful for....
Buttery tasty mashed potatoes at school lunch,
Salty pieces of bacon for brunch,
Crunchy sour apples from the trees,
Sticky sweet honey from the bees,
Delicious brown sugar cinnamon oatmeal for breakfast,
Juicy ham aged from the past,
Rich dark Hershey's chocolate
Creamy, crunchy Butterfingers I find melting in my pocket.
I am Thankful for food.

I love it and just had to laugh. A child after my own heart. I am Thankful for food too Braeden.

Cooking Away My CSA

I've been really bad about posting lately. Probably a combination of things....but I have been doing a good job using our CSA veggies we have been getting weekly. So I thought I'd just make a quick post of some the things I've been making with them.



Grilled Salmon with homemade pesto sauce. This was so easy. All you need to do is put in a food processor as much Basil as you want (CSA ingedient) add some grated Parmesan cheese, and some pine nuts, then slowly add olive oil while pulsing. Then I also made a green salad with strawberries (both CSA ingedients) and roasted tomatoes on the grill with the Salmon. Then drizzle salad and tomates with a good quality balsamic.




Here is another idea for Salmon. Grown up "fish-sticks" adapted from a Giadia food network recipe. Rinse and dry the Salmon, then slice it into sticks. Next dredge it into a seasoned flour mixture (salt, pepper, flour) then into an egg wash and finally into a one-to-one mixture of seasoned breadcrumbs and grated parmesean cheese. Drizzle pan and top of sticks with a little bit of olive oil and bake at 450 for about 15 minutes. I served with the same pesto made the night before with mayo mixed in (to make it creamy and go further). It is also served with Risotto and sauteed Rainbow Chard and garlic with EVOO.

Enjoy!

Cooking Away My CSA

Check out the delivery this week from Liberty Heights Fresh and stay tuned for what I'm making with it this week!

Feta Topped Lamb Burgers with Liberty Heights Fresh Beet and Arugula Salad

This weeks Liberty Heights delivery brought some of my favorite things. I am an avid Feta lover and have recently been enjoying lamb. This week I decided to make lamb burgers for my family and they were a HUGE hit! I patted out the ground lamb (Morgan Valley Lamb) into patties and pan fried it over medium heat in a bit of olive oil. Then I topped it with just a little Rockhill Creamery desert red feta. This feta has such a nice flavor that really complements the lamb. I give it high marks, if you are a feta lover like I am and live in Utah pick up a piece of this cheese at Liberty Heights Fresh.


I mixed some Italian flat leaf parsley with regular mayo and red onions, topped with arugula and served it all on a ciabatta roll.

Also as beets are in season and were included in this weeks pickup as well I made a Beet and Arugula Salad that turned out very nicely. The recipe is slightly adapted from this Liberty Heights Recipe. I wanted to use shallots instead of red onions because I already had a lot of strong flavors going on with the lamb, feta, and arugula. The shallots played a nice background roll. Also, make sure you marinate the shallots with the beets for a beautiful red color.


Beet and arugula salad

1 lb baby red beets (save the tops for later!)
2 cups arugula, cleaned
1 shallot sliced as thin as possible
2 tablespoons port vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil (use a good quality oil)
1 tablespoon chives, chopped
2 teaspoon Italian flat leaf parsley

1. Rinse the beets and coat lightly with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, wrap in aluminum foil and roast in a 375 degree oven until tender, or a knife effortlessly slips in and out of the beet. (You can do all of this if you want, but I just rinsed and roasted since I was throwing away the skin anyway). Allow to cool completely then peel the skin off between two paper towels. Cut into small wedges and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the olive oil into the vinegar. Gently stir in the herbs to combine. Pour some of the dressing over the beet wedges and shallots and allow to marinate for about ten minutes. Toss with arugula and season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Vegetarian Salad with Roasted Zucchini and Portobello Mushrooms

For dinner I was thinking about one of my favorite veggie sandwiches from Whole Foods. It is served with cooled roasted portobello mushrooms and generous portions of roasted zucchini sliced right down the middle.

I also got a recipe from Liberty Heights Fresh that I wanted to try. The only addition I made was adding some lemon juice to freshen it up and add a bit of acidity.

Creamy herb dressing

1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped
2 tbsp. chopped fresh dill
1 scallion
1/2 cup sour cream (or crème fraiche)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

*I added lemon juice as well

1. Put parsley, dill, scallion, and garlic in food processor and chop until fine. Add crème fraiche, yogurt, olive oil and salt and pepper and process to combine.

*This dressing can be made a few hours before serving and can keep for about a week.

I cut the zucchini length-wise in about 4 slices each and roasted the portobellos whole as well as some red onion slices in white truffle infused olive oil (thanks Matt!), a sprinkling salt and pepper in a 400 degree oven until soft throughout (be careful to not make it too soft!).

I let the veggies cool a bit and then cut to the sizes I wanted. While they were cooling I cut thin slices of fennel bulb and tossed with dressing and baby romaine. Finally I added the veggies and crumbled some local Beehive Cheese Company Emigrant cheese (what they call a thankful mistake) a hybrid of parmigian and cheddar which produced a sweet, tangy, fruity, and creamy delight. I would have to agree it was a thankful mistake! One of my favorites from Beehive Cheese Compay to date.

I didn't serve it with any bread which I normally would, because I made punitions for dessert. Recipe and pics might be included in an upcoming post.

Enjoy!

Halibut with Golden Turnips and Sweet-and-Sour Cucumber Salad

I've never had Golden Turnips before. They were interesting, tasted kind of like an earthy potato with sweetness and bitterness all mixed in. I thought they were quite enjoyable. The recipe was slightly adapted from the Liberty Heights Fresh Recipe. The only thing I changed was dicing up the turnips (for a quicker boil time and presentation) and omitting the mint. I just don't like mint in my food much unless it is dessert or a drink. If you don't have parsley substitute carrot-tops from last weeks delivery. You probably won't be able to taste the difference at all.

Also in an effort to use up some more of the fresh dill I made Sweet-and-Sour Cucumbers With Fresh Dill from Epicurious.com. I have a thing for freshly quick pickled things lately (just ask my family). Luckily Braeden also loves all things pickled.

The Halibut was just rubbed with Gray Sea Salt with Herbs de Provence and popped into the toaster over. Yes you heard me right, the toaster oven. Now that Corey and Aubrie showed me how to use it I use it for EVERYTHING! Thanks guys, the fan feature is great!! It is also served with a couple of Crumb Brother's Bakery crostinis.

Enjoy!