Shaved Salad

There's something so relaxing about preparing a dish hours before dinner. Spending all the time you want making it look perfect and then taking photos of it while it's still daylight.

Compared to what I usually do...which is whip up dinner right before Ryan gets home and then snap a picture of it in the dim light as it's whisked to the table.

Being outside is just so much more inspiring. If it were possible, my kitchen would be outside. With a stony spring for my sink, a huge trunk for my worktable, and ever-perfect lighting.

The middle tomato in the picture above is a peach tomato. Try one if you get the chance. They are quite a treat. We received the lemon cucumbers below in our CSA basket one week. They did not have a strong flavor...but they were too beautiful to pass up.

I decided to make a shaved squash salad by literally shaving slices of zucchini and yellow squash and arranging them with tomatoes.

I topped it with my favorite Asian concoction...sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, minced ginger, and crushed red pepper.

Then later that night I whipped up fried rice as the main dish...I have to show you the picture to prove the point I made earlier.

Yup. Late dinner = Lighting issues + zero plating technique.

It was the best fried rice I've ever had, though. Unfortunately, I can't remember where the recipe is from. I'll get back to you on that.

Summer Veggie Lasagna with Sage and Balsamic Pork Chops

"Where have I been?" you may be thinking. Well, to be precise, I've been in Boston for the first part of the month and held captive on campus for the last part. Yes, the academic year has begun again and once more the months are rotating around exams, midterms, and academic holidays.

But by no means should this insinuate that I have stopped cooking. On the contrary, I have completed 9 culinary undertakings in the past 48 hours--Apple Pie Cookies, Vanilla Apples with Sweetheart Croutes, Banana Nutella Wontons, Baked Apple Donut Holes, peeling and freezing tomatoes, Summer Veggie Lasagna, Sage and Balsamic Pork Chops, Chilled Cucumber Soup, and Cantaloupe Granita! And stuffed sweet peppers still to come tonight!

(Don't worry...Ryan and I have not been eating all of this ourselves. But most of it.)

This post, however, will just tackle last night's dinner, since I made it up and don't want to forget it!

You can see the Summer Veggie Lasagna up top. I was inspired by a no-noodle lasagna made by the chef teaching one of my food labs (which are the best part of a dietetics major, hands down). But I ventured out on my own with no recipe.

I think it turned out swell. Ryan's commented that adding mushrooms or slicing the squash thinner would be good next time. But the fact that he ate three servings of it made me content with the way it is for the time being.

Summer Veggie Lasagna
Serves 4-5
 olive oil
4 1/2 cups chopped tomato, preferably peeled
1 chopped bell pepper (any color)
1 yellow squash, sliced thinly long-wise
1 zucchini, sliced thinly long-wise
3-4 leaves fresh basil, chopped
1-2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1-2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
1/4-1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic
2 oz low-fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup grated mozzarella, divided (I used a pizza cheese mix)
1/2 cup crumbled feta, divided
1 tomato, sliced

Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and bell pepper. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add herbs to tomatoes along with a dash of salt and pepper to taste. Continue to simmer for about 20-25 minutes. You want to reduce it to about 2 1/2 cups.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375. Slice the squash. Place in a zip-lock bag with a little salt and pepper and 1/4-1/2 cup balsamic vinegar. Let sit.

Soften the cream cheese and mix with 1/4 cup each of mozz and feta.

Once tomatoes are done, put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of an 8x8 pyrex dish. Top with one layer yellow squash and one layer zucchini. (You may need to trim the slices to get them to fit.) Sprinkle lightly with a little of one cheese (mozz or feta) and top with some more sauce. Continue layering, alternating cheeses, until squash, cheese, and sauce is gone. Drizzle over a little bit of the balsamic vinegar from the squash bag. Spread cream cheese mixture on top. Sprinkle with some more mozz. Arrange tomato slices however you desire.

Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.

I love that these nutrition facts are for a 4x4 piece!

Nutrition Facts
4 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		241.3
Total Fat		14.1 g
	Saturated Fat	7.1 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	5.1 g
Cholesterol		36.9 mg
Sodium		373.2 mg
Potassium		910.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate		19.4 g
	Dietary Fiber	4.6 g
	Sugars	2.2 g
Protein		12.6 g

The second thing I made last night was a new pork chop recipe. I am never completely satisfied with my pork chops, because I buy the cheap, thin boneless ones...and so usually overcook them. But this sauce is fabulous. I followed the recipe exactly, except for only using 2 pork chops and making enough sauce for 6. :)

Check out the awesome peach tomato in our salad!

English Scones

Somehow, my friends and I feel unfulfilled if we don't make scones when we get together. Here you can witness for the first time the publication of one of our many, many scone productions. We've tried fluffy ones and flaky ones, berry ones and chocolate ones, flat ones (by mistake!) and lumpy ones, round ones and triangle ones.

These are more like the traditional British scone. No fillings...more like a biscuit, really. Meant to be topped with jam and cream and lemon curd!

I used the lemon curd recipe from one of my other posts. The scone recipe, on the other hand, was new. It was in metric units and used self-rising flour...so below you can find the converted recipe and substitutions for the flour.

Traditional Scones
Makes 21

3 1/2 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
7 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (you can use milk)
1 egg (for top)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together. Rub butter in using fingers or forks until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add sugar and applesauce (or milk) and mix until it forms a soft dough. Turn out onto floured surface and knead until smooth. Pat into a 1" thick round. Cut out rounds using a 3 inch biscuit cutter. Place on a baking sheet and brush with beaten egg. Bake for about 12-15 minutes.

Amount Per Serving

  Calories    131.9

  Total Fat    4.2 g

         Saturated Fat    2.5 g

         Polyunsaturated Fat    0.3 g

         Monounsaturated Fat    1.1 g

  Cholesterol    10.4 mg

  Potassium    34.6 mg

  Total Carbohydrate    20.5 g

         Dietary Fiber    0.7 g

         Sugars    3.8 g

  Protein    2.8 g

We had some fun with the shapes.

Chicken Kebabs, Nectarine Salsa, and Quinoa

Well my foot seems to be fairing a little better today, but blogging is a good way to make me keep it elevated. This was a fun dinner straight from the July issue of Cooking Light. Ryan and I quite enjoyed it! Don't let the list of ingredients for the marinade throw you...it's really very simple.

Chicken Kebabs, adapted from Cooking Light
Serves 2

1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp bottled minced garlic
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 2" pieces
2 bell peppers, any color, cut into 2" pieces

Preheat broiler. Combine ingredients up to chicken.

Place most of the mixture in a shallow dish with the chicken and toss the bell peppers in a separate dish with the rest of the mixture. Let stand 15 minutes.

Thread pieces onto skewers and place on broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 12 minutes or until chicken is done, turning occasionally (be careful not to overcook!!).

Nectarine Salsa
Serves 2-3

2 cups diced nectarine (about 3)
1/2 cup red bell pepper
2 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp minced seeded jalapeno pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 diced peeled avocado

Combine all ingredients except avocado in a bowl. Gently stir in avocado. Serve with chicken.

Ryan said that this one was a keeper!

Herbed Quinoa
Serves 2-3

3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp salt

Combine broth and water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Stir in quinoa and let simmer until all the water is absorbed, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in parsley and salt.