A veryyyyy welcome week back in the kitchen, giving my stomach a break from all of the delicious food and alcohol we had in Vancouver last weekend. Got some beautiful cabbage, lemon basil, and zucchini from my CSA last week that all got put to excellent and delicious use.
Sunday
In my attempt to get back to baking at least once a week, I made a raspberry cobbler and FINALLY nailed a recipe I’ve had in the works for a few months. Eat it with ice cream. Eat it with whipped cream. Eat it for breakfast. It does it all, folks.
Dinner was a remake of Smitten Kitchen’s Zucchini and Ricotta Galette, with a twist – I’m meh on ricotta in most things, and when I had some amazing butternut and mascarpone ravioli in Vancouver, I realized I needed to try this galette with at least some of the ricotta replaced by mascarpone. It turned out… very very well. I made a some other tweaks too, which may finally move my version into a separate recipe that I will post here in the next few weeks.
Monday
I made Mike’s Fish Tacos, so named because I got the blackening seasoning and sauce recipes from Kyle’s dad after he made fish tacos for us one time. Add this sauce to the list of sauces I would happily eat with a spoon and put on almost anything. Next time I make fried halibut sandwiches, I’m using that sauce instead of tartar.
I alsoooo, inspired by the many cocktails I had on vacation, and the beautiful bunch of lemon basil from the CSA, made some Lemon Basil Vodka Spritzes. Light and refreshing, they’re a step up from a glass of wine at the end of the day, and you can convince yourself that you’re hydrating.
Tuesday
I whipped up a soy-sauce based marinade that I thought would be tasty – and it was! Extremely tasty. Recipe will be coming next week, so that you can make it too. Only you won’t be surprised that it tastes exactly like teriyaki, like I was. I served it with some grilled bok choy and with a sauce of the boiled-down marinade and it was exactly what I needed on a Tuesday evening.
Wednesday
Repeat of Smitten Kitchen’s Zucchini Ribbons with Pesto and White Beans, which is rapidly becoming my favorite go-to summer recipe. It’s quick! It’s easy! It’s healthy! It’s 100% on the grill! I used Basil-Almond pesto this time (recipe also coming next week), and served it with grilled bread, because I’m pretty sure that’s a legal requirement with this dish.
Thursday
I had about half a cup of pesto-coated beans left over from Wednesday night, so I mashed them up with a splash of red wine vinegar and a pinch of salt, pan-fried a thick slice of bread in olive oil, spread some extra pesto on it, and topped that with the mashed bean mixture and a few shavings of parmesan. It hit the spot and took about 5 minutes, which is exactly what I’m looking for on nights when I’m only feeding myself. Makes me want to do some sort of “leftovers toast” recipe series, since I do something along those lines at least once a week. You can check it out in the main post image.
So I guess it wasn’t quite a full week of cooking, but it’s the summer and weekends get booked, so what can you do. This week I have TWO (2) dinners that I am hosting and a couple other evenings of cooking that I get to squeeze in, so wish me luck.
Hanging Out in the Kitchen 