Foraging My Garden

Last Friday, I looked in the fridge before I left for work. Besides some cream and lunchmeat, there wasn't much there. Crap. I really didn't feel like braving the grocery store at 5 p.m. on a Friday after a long day of work. And then I remembered - Hey! I have a veggie garden! There's not much in it (yet), but there's definitely enough for a fresh spring meal.

When I got home from work, I set about selecting the ingredients from the garden. There were garlic scapes...

Baby arugula...

Broccolini...

Radishes...

And fresh herbs. I even managed to find a cooked chicken breast in the back of the fridge that was still good.

I chopped up an onion (one thing I did have in my fridge), and sauteed it with a little bit of jalepeno that was in my freezer from last year's garden. Then in went the scapes for a few minutes.

I cooked up some pasta, and toasted the broccolini (kinda like kale chips). Once the pasta was finished, I drained it, then threw in the arugula to soften and mixed in the onions and scapes. A dash of cream, a pinch of salt, topped with the toasted broccolini and fresh basil, and I went from having "nothing to eat" to having a feast for two!

By the Way...

If you're wondering whether I'd dropped off the radar a bit, I did. I had the blog running on autopilot a bit, and also...got married, went on a honeymoon to Italy, had Thanksgiving with my family in Virginia, and then made my way back to Salt Lake City! Whew!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, and I have so much to write about. Hopefully I get to even a third of it. There were wedding DIY projects, parties after parties, all gluten-free, gluten-free restaurants, and sightseeing, and more. I came back from Italy wanting to make everything I couldn't eat there gluten-free, and I'm currently swimming in Italian cookbooks working to make that happen. Plus, I'm happy as a clam playing with every single new kitchen toy we got as wedding presents. Now I realize why newlyweds always complain about gaining weight!

Despite all the fun new toys and growing list of dishes to try, after all our eating in Italy and again at Thanksgiving, I'm ready for some lighter fare. Since winter is quickly approaching, that doesn't necessarily mean salads, although we are enjoying some with our meals. Right now, lighter fare means smaller portions and more vegetables. So here's a simple roasted cauliflower recipe:

Wash a head of cauliflower, then remove leaves and stem. Slice the head into 1/2 inch slices, then cut each slice into smaller pieces at the base of the stems. Spread evenly in a single layer on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, then pop into a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. Turn the cauliflower pieces over, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt again, and roast another 10 minutes. You can cook them a little shorter or longer, depending on how browned you like them.

Makes an excellent veggie side, or you can let the roasted cauliflower cool, then pulverize it in a food processor to make "rice." OR you could use the pulverized cauliflower for a pizza or quiche crust - just mix in an egg, then spread in the bottom of a pan and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until the crust is firm. I find this works better than the recipe I've seen floating around Pinterest, since roasting takes care of some of the excess moisture and brings out all those delicious sugars!

Tastes Like Fall

I love apple cider. Love, love, love. It's my favorite thing about fall.

The only thing more satisfying than buying a jug of apple cider at the grocery store is making it. Yes, making it.

Don't run away! It's really not that hard! Just cut up some apples, cover with water, add some spices, and simmer away. Bonus: free air freshener for your house.

Creamy Polenta and Chorizo

I love planning out my meals, but sometimes it slips my mind and I need to work with what I have in the fridge. This meal was one of those occasions. What do you do with mushrooms, onions, and chorizo that you haven't done a million times? Polenta.

There's really not much of a recipe for this one, since it's so simple. The mushrooms and onions were already cooked in the fridge, so it was just a matter of heating them up, and cooking the polenta and chorizo.

I used this recipe as a starting point, but used nearly half cream instead of water to get a rich, silky, creamy taste to the polenta. I also found myself using a bit more water. Then I let the polenta chill in the refrigerator, then fried spoonsfuls of it in bacon grease. I'm pretty sure the bacon grease was what made the dish so amazing.

Then I topped the fried polenta with the mushrooms and onions, as well as a little chili sauce.

Then some shredded cheese.

Then the cooked chorizo and some sliced scallions.

A delicious way to welcome the coming of summer!

Kitchen Diaries

It seems like there are so many excellent food books coming out right now. I'm cooking my way through Gluten-Free Girl Everyday bit by bit, I can't wait to read Cooked, and I'm learning how to grill with Where there's Smoke.

Even so, I stumbled across an article about Nigel Slater's writing and decided to pick up a copy of Kitchen Diaries. I don't know how I missed his writing before, but I'm hanging on every word. It's wonderful to know I'm not the only one who gets down when there's no fresh produce, or who takes pleasure in a picnic of odd food on occasion. 

If I hadn't already blown my book budget for the month, I'd have each and every one of his books on order right now. I guess it's a good thing though - I've spent all my money on truly great cookbooks, without a dud in sight. There are worse things.

Wine and Cheese

My ultimate dinner. Mostly it's about the wine and cheese. The fruit, because you need something fresh, and the bread and sausage for something with good chew to it. The bread is this baguette, smeared with roasted garlic butter and toasted. Perfect any time, but especially wonderful eaten on the porch, basking in the day's last rays of sunshine.