Garden to Table

Freshly-picked romaine lettuce and flowers from the garden.

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Souvlaki & Tzatziki

In the mood for some Greek food today.  On the table..

Souvlaki: chicken and beef marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, onion and some Greek herbs and seasoning

Tzatziki: yogurt with grated cucumber, lemon, olive oil, a dash of salt, some cracking of black pepper and dill from our herb garden.

BBQ Time

Kicking off the BBQ season with chicken & shish kabob on lavash, shirazi salad, basmati rice, pickled eggplant and grilled vegetables.

Poulet Au Citron Et Lavande

Saturday dinner date with my loves at home. 

On the menu:

- chicken with lavender, lemon, honey and thyme from the garden
- watermelon with feta cheese and mint
- roasted potatoes

Happy weekend!

Fattoush with Beef

I haven’t had Middle Eastern food before I moved state-side. Shocking, right? But where I moved to, in the City of Angels, Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurants are in abundance from Lebanese to Armenian to Persian to Israeli. And that’s how I acquired the taste for the flavors of the Middle East… kabob, falafel, hummus, tabbouleh, mousakka, baba ghanoush… I like them all.

Home-side, I made fattoush, Lebanon’s most famous salad, for dinner. Tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes and lettuce.

Fruit Bowl

Diced mango, avocado, apple and grapefruit.

Barley Salad with Black-Eyed Peas

We'll be having this salad for supper. Barley, black-eyed peas, tomatoes, radish, dill pickles, ham and lettuce tossed in homemade dressing made of mayo, extra virgin olive oil, honey, sherry vinegar, salt and pepper.

Waldorf Salad

The classic -- apples, celery, grapes and walnut dressed with mayo whisked with extra virgin olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey and artisan sea salt.

Summer Salad

Taking advantage of the bounty of summer before temperature starts to fall.

For this salad I used cucumber, corn, edamame, cherry tomatoes, avocado and fresh basil from the windowsill.  The dressing was homemade… extra virgin olive oil, lemon, mustard, chopped shallots and artisan sea salt.

Eaten with salmon.

Nam Tok

… is a dish native to Thailand.  The rice, I roasted until toasted and  then grind to a coarse powder in a mini food processor. The beef was grilled medium well, sliced thinly across the grain and placed in a mixing bowl. Two tablespoon fish sauce,  juice of five limes, chopped shallots,  a pinch or rock salt, a good cracking of pepper, chopped mint leaves and roasted rice were added onto the beef.  Mixed well and then placed on a bowl layered with lettuce leaves.

Tuna Pasta Bean Salad

Cavatelli pasta, navy beans, potatoes, tomatoes, caperberries, albacore tuna, a sprinkle of rock salt and a generous amount of creme fraiche. 

Tuscan Pasta Salad

Cavatelli was cooked on a pot of salted water.  When pasta was half done I added the cannellini beans then spooned them all up on to a bowl.

The vegetables were grilled on a pan -  a bulb of fennel, red pepper and a bunch of  broccolini.

Tossed them all together and topped with shaved parmigiano-reggiano. Then eaten  with grilled sockeye salmon.

My Colorful Lunch

 
.....grape tomatoes, green grapes, blueberries, mandarin oranges and salad greens 
 
... all organic from Whole Foods Market

Edamame, Black Beans and Corn Salad

On the salad bowl are organic shelled edamame, organic sweet yellow & white corn, organic black beans, organic roma tomatoes and organic parsley tossed and drizzled with Japanese ginger-flavored dressing from Nijiya market.  And then, tossed again.

Served with store-bought rotisserie chicken.