Mixed Media

Hi all! I'm still alive. I just haven't been posting much because in all honesty, I haven't been making anything inspiring lately. Most of my meals have been part of the grand tradition of chopping stuff up and eating it atop some random starch, and while that may not be innovative or particularly photogenic (especially with my recent trend of too-late dinners), I figured I ought to give you a little something.

Here's something pretty to start us off: this is my attempt at a jazzed up wintery panzenella. A panzanella is basically a summer salad of chopped tomatoes, basil, and big fat croutons, all topped with a drizzle of vinaigrette. My version here uses roasted beets, spinach, chick peas, cubed Jarlsberg cheese, and croutons made with my own bread, all tossed in a lemon pepper dressing.

Pretty, huh? It was also really yummy. Crouton salad is a very good idea.

Here's another way to help you use up day-old (or, er, even older) bread that I'm sure you're already familiar with. Add tomato sauce, cheese, and a leaf of basil-- instant mini pizzas. This particular loaf had a bubble near the bottom, so all my slices looked like paisley.

And now for something completely different! Orange coconut macaroons. I love macaroons and making them looked (and was) super easy. I added in a good shaving of orange zest to the basic ingredient list, which turned them into little yellow sunshines. I'm going to experiment with the proportions a bit more before I post a recipe for these.

A stir fry is always an easy dinner. Here I cooked my rice with some lentils and mushrooms for added flavor. The veggie portion of this is cucumbers, red peppers, and spinach in a gingery sauce. Light and quick. I really love cucumbers lightly cooked.

And here's today's lunch-- a beet salad with chiffonaded basil, lemon zest, and crumbled goat cheese over gingery lentils. I still haven't gotten the hang of cooking lentils yet and I always feel like I'm toeing a fine line between them being pretty dry and total mush (that's why I take the easy way out and usually just eat them in soups). All in all, though, this was a really good combination.

Lastly,

Butternut squash soup with home-made bread right out of the oven and still steaming. This was one of my favorite dishes, and it's so darn easy there's no reason I'm not going to have it more. To make the soup: cook the squash however you usually do it, then remove (or let evaporate) any excess moisture. If you boiled it cubed in a pot, just add some butter and an equal amount of flour at this point and start toasting your roux. Throw in some salt and pepper and sage or paprika or ginger or whatever you like. Once your roux is ready, mash up the squash and add in as much or as little milk or cream as you like and bring to a boil. It should thicken up a bit because of the roux. If you're worried about clumps, strain the soup, otherwise just eat it nice and hot with an extra sprinkling of spice and nice fat pieces of salty buttered bread. Just writing this out is convincing me to make myself some more tonight....