Who would have thought that peaches and tomatoes make such a perfect combination, but yesterday I discovered my new favorite summer salad with a fresh garden tomato and a juicy ripe peach.
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Smothered Okra and Tomatoes
This is Maw Maw Gertie’s smothered okra and tomatoes. It’s a country Cajun dish that I loved so much as a child. Continue reading Smothered Okra and Tomatoes
Double-Berry Romaine Smoothie
I’m back from my month-long journey through Italy. I’m exhausted but inspired by all that we’ve experienced. I learned so much about people, places, art, history, and FOOD! Oh my gosh, so many good healthy and tasty tips on food. I can’t wait to share all of my pictures and new recipes with you, but I’m still recovering from all that travel so I decided to post something simple this week: my go-to-smoothie and my oldest son’s favorite smoothie. This smoothie is what I usually have for breakfast during the work week. We always have the ingredients in the freezer and refrigerator. And when in a rush to get out the door, this is the perfect solution for a healthy start to a busy day.
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Taziki Sauce with Pita Chips
Taziki sauce isn’t for everyone. Daddy will hardly touch the stuff, but I’m crazy about it. It’s a Greek dip, and it can be used as a spread on pita sandwiches or gyros. It is a tiny bit tangy, but if you like cucumbers and dill, you must try this. It’s healthy and worth making it at least once and trying it several different ways: dips, sandwiches, gyros, and even on a greek style vegetable salads.
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Zucchini Pasta and Vegetables with Sun-dried Tomatoes
When this recipe posts, I will have spent almost four weeks traveling through Italy, from Venice to Sicily. I will have had several stops and cooking classes in Tuscany: Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, and Siena. I will have had a cooking class in Rome, traveled down the Amalfi Coast, spent time in Sorrento, frollicking two days on the island of Capri and stopping in the beach town of Cephalu. Along the way, I will have experienced all sorts of Italian cuisine, and I may just cringe when I look back at this little creation of Mediterranean veggies and fake pasta. For starters, the pasta isn’t really pasta…it’s zucchini made with my new contraption found in the “as seen on TV” section of some random store in Huntsville, Alabama.
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Asparagus Pizza on a Pita
This is another one of those little pita pizzas I promised a few weeks ago. This one has no pizza sauce on it, but it’s really good and a nice change from ordinary pizza. Aside from asparagus, it has onions and radishes. I stumbled on using radishes for this one. This is how it went: I only had a small amount of onion left in the kitchen that day so I remembered that, like onions, radishes have sort of a tender, sweet taste when they are cooked. I compensated by using three radishes for the missing onion, and it turned out great. I may try adding artichokes to this pizza next time. That will surprise those taste buds!
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Margherita Eggplant Stacks
I just love basil, tomato and cheese on anything: bread, mushrooms, eggs, zucchini and even eggplants. These little snacks are so delicious and so easy and so quick to make that I’ve made them at least a half a dozen times in the last few months. For a family that doesn’t care much for eggplants, they sure eat these up.
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Kale Salad with Carmelized Peaches and Orange Vinegarette
Hot, right-out-of-the-skillet caramelized peaches poured over kale is super delicious. This is a sweet, warm salad that I put together last week when I found these beautiful peaches at Earth Fare. My salad turned out really nice, and when I was looking for something easy to make today, James requested I make this salad again. OMG! That is unheard of…but, I did have a few peaches left over and when James makes a request for a salad, I jump at the opportunity. Salad, you see, just isn’t his usual lunch request. He’s a meat and potatoes man.
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Spinach and Mushroom Pizza on a Pita
Before I learn to “really” make pizzas in Italy, I must share my adorable little pita pizzas that are requested on a daily basis by my family. They may snub up their noses when I make broccoli salad or smothered kale, but not when I pull out the pitas, pizza sauce, and veggies. It is absolutely delicious and tastes better than any take-out pizza you’ll ever eat. I have all sorts of variations to this recipe that I’ll have to share while I’m gone this month learning to cook like an Italian. I may return and be embarrassed to call this a pizza, but for now it’s my version of what a pizza should be.
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Cauliflower Broccoli Salad with Feta, Medjool Dates, and Pecans
This is my new favorite salad. The medjool dates are so sweet, the pecans have the crunch, and the feta and pecans together give it just enough salt. It’s healthy and delicious! My plan was to eat this for my lunch for a few days because I still am trying to take off a few pounds for Italy, but it didn’t last past the first day. James and Mom finished off the bowl before I could take any to work. I had to eat take out from Piggly Wiggly’s deli instead. That meant I had to have some of their fried okra and home cut french fries, too. Oh well, I had to add a little more cardio and didn’t lose any weight this week, but at least I didn’t gain any either.
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