A salad to obsess over: Fresh corn salad

Given how long it's been since I posted a recipe, you must be thinking to yourself, this is a really special recipe. And you are right.

We have an amazing local chef in Walla Walla who makes a corn salad at his take-out joint (in a gas station, which is awesome), and I have enjoyed it a number of times. But me being me, I thought--actually for the first time, this summer--I should be able to make this at home, right?

And right I was. After a Google/Pinterest search or two, I found a great many recipes purporting to be "Mexican street corn salad," and narrowed my findings down by reading a few and deciding on one that seemed close to what I'd tasted in the past.

So I made it, and tweaked it, made it again, and kept tweaking. It has, over the course of many makings this summer, evolved to a place where it feels different enough from the original recipe(s) I spotted online, and also very, very good.

Fresh corn salad
6 ears of sweet corn, cut off the cob
1/2 medium sweet (I like the Walla Walla, of course!) onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
2 Anaheim peppers, diced

Saute the first three ingredients over high heat, until the corn starts to blacken and scorch a bit (not unlike grilling or roasting). Add the peppers and saute for a few minutes more, until they wilt a bit. Take off the stove to cool.

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup cojita cheese, crumbled
Juice of three limes, squeezed
1 generous bunch of cilantro, chopped (at least 1/2 cup)
6 green onions, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl mix the mayonnaise, cheese, and lime juice, and stir until well blended. Add the cilantro, green onion and chili powder, and mix.

Once the corn mixture has cooled slightly, toss the dressing with the corn and stir well. Serve with extra cheese, and adapt at will. We have enjoyed this concoction in quesadillas and tacos, I've added tomatoes and avocados and really enjoyed it that way too. This is probably the most repeated recipe in our house this summer, which--knowing Seth's and my shared penchant for pesto--is saying something!

I highly recommend the fresh corn aspect of this salad. Many of the recipes I found called for frozen or canned, and I think that the fresh corn just makes it. I also tended to up the cilantro as I went along, and got no complaints from the guys! The one time they were less wild about it, I couldn't find cojita (not every town has the cheese selections of Walla Walla, let's just say, and on vacation I had to make do) and used parmesan. Just not the same. Go for the cojita.

I hope you make it and enjoy as much as we have this summer. I decided to blog the recipe so that Seth can access it from college this winter if he decides he can't do without a corn salad fix.

This recipe makes roughly eight cups. So divide that as best among your eaters. In our house it tends to go pretty quickly. :)

Sept. 4: Kale makes me happy, but you already knew that!

Another kale salad? Why the heck not! My love of kale has been well-documented this summer, and adding yet another salad to the mix just seemed to make sense. Though, truthfully, this post ends up being more about the dressing than the salad... 

Originally the plan was for the kale caesar salad (see the video below). Then I realized I'm not really a fan of anchovies, and wasn't in the mood to buy them just for this salad. Capers aren't something I love love, either. So I took the idea, and the general concept from the recipe that PBS posted (one of their most clicked on recipes in the month of August!) and adapted to suit my tastes.



Pretty funny pup, eating kale, eh? I love this video. It's a very happy salad-making moment. (I put the happy in there just for you, Jen.)

I also had a really great kale salad at a juice/salad place in Seattle earlier this summer, and have been meaning to recreate that combination of flavors all summer. So this salad really turned into an amalgam of 1) what is around and fresh, 2) my taste memories and 3) any excuse to throw a handful of parmesan cheese into a bowl and call it healthful!

Kale salad with corn, avocado and tomato
Serves 2, as a side dish, 1 if you're me
3 large handfuls of prepped kale--destemmed, roughly chopped or ripped
1 large tomato, diced
1/2 avocado, cubed
1 ear corn, roasted and cut off the cob
1 cup croutons, homemade preferable but storebought is allowed ;)
1/3 cup shredded parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste

Dressing
2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 large bunch parsley, washed
1 egg yolk
2 tsp. dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
2/3 cup olive oil

Put all the dressing ingredients into a blender and whiz on high until blended well.

Put the kale in a large mixing bowl and drizzle the dressing generously over the leaves. Massage the kale with your hands until the leaves wilt and the dressing is very well integrated.

Add the rest of the salad ingredients except the parmesan, and toss to combine. Add a bit more dressing to the salad to ensure that the additional ingredients get coated well with dressing. Add the parmesan last and toss one more time, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

This recipe makes more dressing than needed for one salad. Put the rest of the dressing in a jar and refrigerate. Its pretty greenness will call to you from the fridge!

This salad and dressing are both keepers. I love the bite of the shallots and garlic, as well as the green goddess appearance from the parsley. I will be tossing this dressing on many a salad in the near future!

Enjoy. These waning days of summer, all I want is the good, fresh produce that I know is going to vanish before we know it. Poof.

Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Four cheese mac-n-cheese

ac-and-cheese, made right, checks all the right boxes for a great meal: flavorful, rich, creamy and cheesey. The "healthy" box doesn't get checked as often (see the original inspiration recipe from Emeril Lagasse here), but after I went through and "lightened" the recipe a bit, I felt like I was able to bring it out of a coronary-alert category and closer to a "make occasionally on a cold winter's day" realm.

This weekend presented an ideal scenario for such a dish. The picture below shows you what surrounded our warm abode: Fog fog fog. The sweet owl (we call Owen) on the eaves was a lovely distraction from the fog, for the five minutes he graced us with his presence.

Four-cheese mac-and-cheese
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
Dash or two of Tabasco sauce, to taste
1 pound elbow macaroni
8 1/2 ounces grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, or other good-quality parmesan cheese (about 2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
4 ounces grated cheddar cheese
4 ounces grated chevre cheese
4 ounces grated monterey jack cheese
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs

In a heavy, medium saucepan melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over low heat. Add the flour and stir to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and whisk in the milk little by little. Cook until thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat, season with the salt, pepper, hot sauce and add the cheeses, bit by bit (all but a handful of the parmesan cheese). Stir until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth (but thick). Cover and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add salt to taste and, while stirring, add the macaroni. Return to a boil, reduce the heat to a low boil and cook for about 5 minutes, or until macaroni is very al dente (slightly undercooked). Drain in a colander and return the macaroni to the pot. Add the bechamel sauce and stir until well combined. Set aside.

Spray a 3-quart baking dish or casserole with baking spray and scoop the sauced pasta into the dish, smoothing the surface as necessary.

In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs and the remaining handful of grated parmesan and toss to combine. Sprinkle this over the top of the macaroni and cheese.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the macaroni and cheese is bubbly and hot and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

One of my favorite ways to eat a rich dish like homemade mac-and-cheese is to accompany it with a roasted vegetable. With this batch of mac-and-cheese, I roasted both butternut squash and brussels sprouts and spooned the cheesey pasta on top. It was quite delightful.

And in a happy happenstance, as I dished up and munched away on this Emeril-inspired dish, I watched the most recent episode of Top Chef, and there he was! I have to say I am pleased to see that this chef, who has at times been shown less respect by his food compatriots, seems to have gained in reputation since the early "Bam!" Food Network days. He was judging a fried chicken elimination challenge along with Wolfgang Puck and the usual Top Chef judging crew, and joy of joys, Josie got sent home! Whew. Sometimes it takes a while, but the kitchen karma comes home to roost!

Strawberry salads, forever

ow many bowls of strawberries can one eat, really? That's a rhetorical question. But one that I've been asking myself--a lot!--as we scoop the sweet berries rather regularly to top cereal... ice cream... just to eat ad hoc, one at a time. When our strawberries arrive, they REALLY arrive. I spent an hour picking the other night prior to the monsoon, and came inside with upwards of 10 pounds to eat, freeze, eat and eat some more.

As it's been documented here in past posts, I am alone in this household in my love of fruit on/in a salad. Fruit salad itself is fine with my boys, but when you start adding greens, and nuts, and cheese (always with the cheese!), they both look at me a little sideways and shake their heads--politely, but I know what they are thinking.

So these two strawberry salads were eaten entirely by me. I'm proud to say it, I have been eating more than my share of greens and strawberries lately!

Strawberry arugula salad with baked brie
Serves 1 for a meal, two for a starter
4 cups arugula leaves (I added in a bit of baby spinach as well)
1 cup strawberries, sliced or halved, depending on size
Olive oil, drizzled
Salt and pepper to taste
Brie (three small slices, but that's really up to you...)

Clean and tear the arugula if the leaves are larger than bite-size. Place in a medium bowl. Drizzle the olive oil on the greens and toss lightly. Cut the strawberries and add to the greens, toss gently. Arrange greens and strawberry mixture on a plate.

Turn the broiler on high in your oven. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray (or use parchment) and lay the brie slices on the tray. Broil for 3-4 minutes, depending on your oven and how far your rack is from the element. When the cheese is bubbling slightly, take it out and let the cheese rest for a minute. Gently slide a pancake turner under the cheese, and lift onto the greens.

Salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy!

I really enjoyed the salty-sweet combination with this salad. Quite heavenly.

Here's what I can't believe about this kale salad: That I haven't tried it sooner. The whole "massaged" kale thing has been around for quite some time, but honestly, until you've tried it, you'll just think it will be like eating grass. At least, that's what was rattling around in the back of my mind... But you've probably tried it many times, and I'm the one late to the party... any which way, wow, it's great! The dressing really works its magic, and before you know it, the greens are soft and tender, and the whole combination is quite delicious.

The recipe I found to base this (and the dressing recipe) from did not have any cheese in the combination... obviously I had to change that! I experimented with a bit of blue cheese on one part of the salad, and a little parmesan on the other. Both were quite yummy!

Kale salad with strawberries
Serves 1 for a meal or 2 for a starter
6 cups of kale (this will reduce by more than half when massaging commences)
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup cheese--blue, parmesan, I think chevre would be delightful as well...
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Clean and chop the kale, taking out the stems. (Even with our delicate garden-fresh kale, this makes a great difference in terms of the chewability, steamed or otherwise.) Place the kale in a large mixing bowl and add a couple of tablespoons of dressing and massage for a minute or two. The kale starts to soften pretty quickly, and you can tell by touch pretty easily that it's "done." (If in doubt, taste test!)

Add the sliced strawberries, cheese and nuts, and toss gently, with salt and pepper to taste. Place on a dinner plate (or two salad plates) and enjoy!

Dressing
1 shallot, minced fine
1/3 c. olive oil
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar (I used a meyer lemon balsamic that added some great extra zip)
1 Tbsp. honey
Salt and pepper

Chop the shallot finely, put in a small container. (I start out with the little jam jar that I plan to store the dressing in.) Add the rest of the ingredients, put the lid on the bottle and shake like crazy for a couple of minutes. Voila.

Do you have a favorite strawberry salad recipe to share? I am open and ready to receive any new ideas you would like to send my way. There are still oodles of berries in the fridge...

End-of-summer fling: Nectarine salad with basil and fresh mozzarella

o, remember what I said last week about autumn being here? Well, I lied. Or, maybe more to the point, autumn lied to me. It's summer again, at least for the moment, and gone are the soup cravings, the curry cravings, the anything-warm cravings... it's been WARM. And since there are still vestiges of warm-weather food lying about, I couldn't help but whip up a lovely salad this weekend to go along with the sunshine!


Nectarine salad with basil and fresh mozzarella
(So the title pretty much lays out exactly what's in the salad!)
2 nectarines, sliced thinly
1 cup of basil, cut chiffonade
1/2 cup of fresh mozzarella diced (I had those little bocconcini, and halved them)
2 tsp basil oil (straight olive oil will do, but I couldn't resist)
Salt and pepper to taste

Toss all the ingredients together in a bowl and serve room temperature.

Basil oil
So in true "me" fashion, I didn't look up an infused oil recipe, just stuck some leaves in a pot with some olive oil and warmed them through for a couple of hours. Worked well. But if you want to do it the way every recipe site recommends, you'd blanch the leaves first... I think that's why my color isn't as *green* as other basil oils I've seen... So I'll do that next time. Sigh.

Regardless, the salad was amazing. Really a lovely last taste to leave summer with...

Valentine's dinner for two: Manicotti

alentine's Day, and what to make for dinner?

Not that long ago I posted a Thursday 13 of recipes I have on my to-do list. And of course, I then got distracted and haven't looked back at the list much in the past couple of weeks, other than the salad dressing recipes and a few ebelskiver omelettes I foisted on Seth last weekend... but when I was pondering what to make my love for Valentine's Day dinner, I knew the homemade manicotti I found on food52 would be a good option.

I culled pieces of the dish from various places. I knew I wanted more than just ricotta in my filling, so I found a spinach ricotta filling at epicurious.com to go along with the crepe recipe from food52. I relied on a jarred marinara and the whole dish came together quite quickly.

The first time I tasted manicotti with a crepe in place of a pasta tube was in 1988 in Sydney, Australia. I was on my own in the city, a squeak of a 19-year-old (well, was I ever a squeak? Maybe not...). I had just landed a studio apartment close to the city center and was gearing up to look for a job waiting tables when I happened upon an Italian restaurant on one of the main thoroughfares downtown. I sat down for dinner and did it up proper--manicotti for my main course and a blueberry ricotta cheesecake for dessert (is it any surprise that I remember this meal more than 20 years later? No, not if you know me.). Apparently I was already a cheese freak, and no one argued with me at the restaurant, of course. In fact, when I inquired about possible employment as I was paying my bill, the manager on duty told me to come back in the morning. I was hired on the spot by what turned out to be an exremely neurotic showgirl-turned-restauranteur's wife and so began a six-month adventure at Cafe Giovanni's.

Oh, but the crepe, the crepe. It made an impression. I didn't even know that a crepe was an option to wrap around the filling--Giovanni's also had a beef cannelloni as well--but I loved it the minute I tasted it. It was so fresh and seemed like the perfect vehicle for the ricotta--no thick, chewy pasta standing between me and my cheese!

Spinach-ricotta manicotti
Crepes
1 large egg
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups whole milk, plus more as needed to thin the batter

Filling
1 pound fresh or whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Asiago cheese (about 3 ounces)
3/4 cup chopped frozen baby spinach, thawed and drained, excess moisture pressed out
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large egg

1 jar (28 oz) marinara sauce
Extra Asiago to sprinkle on top of pan prior to baking

Add the pasta ingredients to the bowl of a blender. Blend, adding more milk a bit at a time, until batter is a pourable consistency. Heat a nonstick 8-inch skillet over medium-low heat. Brush pan lightly with oil, if needed. Hold pan at an angle, and swirl pan as you pour in enough batter to coat bottom of skillet. Cook 30 to 45 seconds, flip and cook for 15 more seconds. And don’t forget, the first one or two might end up being sacrificial until you get the hang of swirling the pan.Transfer to a flat dish or tray. Repeat with remaining batter. You should have 8 to 10 crepes by the end.

For the filling, mix all the ingredients together until well blended. Once the crepes are cooked and cooled, spread a large spoonful of the filling mixture across the surface of each shell and spread it out before rolling each up into a long tube.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread a thin layer of marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan. Place each rolled up crepe in the pan as you finish with them. Once the pan is filled with rolled up crepes, pour the remainer of the marinara on the crepes and sprinkle a half-cup of grated Asiago on top.

Bake in the oven until warmed through and bubbly, about 35-45 minutes, depending on your oven.

We ate our manicotti with a tossed green salad and breadsticks! Very amore!

Oh and this? This is what happens when chocolate cupcakes won't come out of their cute little heart molds. I'm posting this so you're not under any false impressions that everything turns out pretty in this kitchen. Not so. But it WAS still yummy. Chocolate cake and vanilla bean ice cream and strawberry freezer jam from a dear friend (thanks, Sara!). Layered and delish.

Keepin' my word: Salad day

ust to prove that meant what I said about some leafy greens today, here's my salad post! But I didn't stop with just greens, oh no. This is one of my favorite winter salads. And I swear, there really are greens under all that other stuff, really!

 

One of Sher's favorite winter salads
A couple generous handfuls of greens--I used romaine and arugula
1 red pear, sliced
2 Tbsp. chevre, crumbled
1/2 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
Croutons to taste (you can see from the picture I was in the mood for croutons! Freshly made just yesterday!)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Champagne vinaigrette

Assemble and devour. I did!

We love croutons around here. Our small person can sidle up to a bag of croutons and do serious damage. And I like to make them myself whenever possible, but have neglected that task recently. In my kitchen binge yesterday, I decided to remedy that.

Homemade croutons
2 loaves homestyle bread--one wheat, one sprouted wheat, cut into 3/4 inch dice
Olive oil, rosemary oil, vegetable oil--whatever you have on hand and is your flavor choice
Salt and pepper
Garlic salt

Chop the bread up and toss with the oils in a big bowl. I usually drizzle a little oil, stop and stir, drizzle some more. I used some of the rosemary oil I still have on hand and it made this batch especially lovely. Add salt, pepper and garlic salt (or minced garlic cloves too!) to taste and spread over a couple of baking sheets. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 10 minutes, then flip the croutons with a spatula and bake for another 10, or until roasty toasty and golden. Cool on the counter before storing in an airtight container. These will get eaten long before they could possibly go stale!

 

And I claim not to like bread. Obviously that's nonsense.

Christmas breakfast cheese blintz puff

I can't remember the first time we made this fabulous but easy breakfast casserole... I think it was sometime in the '90s. The recipe is from the Moosewood book Sundays at Moosewood, which is one of my old favorites. Every time I open it, I am reminded that I should browse it more often! This has been a family Christmas breakfast standby more Christmases than not, and I had almost forgotten about it when Ma mentioned making it yesterday! Yeah for her memory, not so much for mine...

This happy and sunny Christmas morning we made a half-recipe. Having only four adults to partake, a 9x13 pan seemed like a bit of overkill. And the recipe halved quite nicely.

Here is the full recipe, as written in Moosewood:

Easy Cheese Blintz Puff
Batter
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
2 Tbsp sour cream or plain yogurt
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 Tbsp baking powder

Filling
about 1 pound farmer cheese
1 pound ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Toppings
Sour cream
Berries
Applesauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a blender, combine the batter ingredients until very smooth. Pour half of the batter into a buttered 9x13 pan. Bake for about 10 minutes or until set.

Meanwhile, combine the filling ingredients and mix well.

When the bottom layer of batter has set, remove the baking pan from the oven and smoothly spread the cheese filling over it. Briefly remix the remaining batter and then gently pour it over the filling, covering it completely. Return the pan to the oven and continue to bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the top is puffed, set and browned.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting it into squares. Serve immediately--either plain or with toppings.

The bottom layer, prior to baking

The finished puff, just out of the oven

It makes for a lovely breakfast, one I highly recommend for you and yours! We opened stockings before we ate, of course, and now the turkey's (this one Ma has named Annabelle, mine from Thanksgiving was Harold, just a bit of info for you there) in the oven and we'll get started on the rest of Christmas dinner a bit later. It's a beautiful morning on Mayne Island and hardly feels like Christmas at all, but every time I suggest a bit of snow, I get booed down by the rest of the room. Sigh.


Merry Christmas to all from our peaceful island hideaway!

Ricotta ravioli with fresh corn cream sauce

Heaven! I'm practically live-blogging this little slice of paradise as I eat... (Side note: I've decided that the shorter the window between cooking and posting, the higher the likelihood that posting actually takes place... I don't know exactly why, but my interest in sharing wanes fairly quickly.) (Quiet on the ADHD comments, Kim. :))

Back to heaven. On a plate. I mentioned the ricotta gnocchi with fresh corn cream sauce I enjoyed while dining out last week, and so wanted to replicate it as closely as possible. This did the trick for me, sauce wise, and since I already had the ricotta filling on hand, it was very easy just to make a few quick ravioli.

Easy ravioli
Serves one
Ricotta filling
Six square wonton wraps

Lay out wonton wraps. Place a tablespoon of ricotta filling in the middle of each wonton wrapper. Dip your finger in a small glass of water and run it around the outside edge of the wonton, and fold over into a triangle, pressing the edges together to seal. Set aside. Repeat with remaining five wontons.


Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, turn down so it's barely simmering. Gently place the ravioli in the water and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until they rise to the surface. Don't boil too long or they will tear apart. Drain ravioli in a colander and then place on a plate, waiting for the perfect sauce.

Fresh corn cream sauce
Serves one
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup fresh corn, cut off the cob (I suppose you could use frozen, but it will be a far cry from this farm-fresh delight)
2 tsp butter
1/3 cup cream
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 egg, whisked
Basil and cherry tomatoes for garnish

Melt butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add shallot and cook until softened. Add corn and saute until cooked through, about 4 minutes. Turn heat down to low. In a small bowl, crack the egg and whisk. Add the cream and grated parmesan and stir well. Pour cream mixture into the saute pan and stir until the cream is warmed and parmesan has melted. Gently ladle over the ravioli. Garnish with chopped basil and halved cherry tomatoes and enjoy.


The last bite is gone and I'm sad. That was really an end-of-summer treasure. Joyous. Now off to pluck the basil leaves off two garbage bags of basil I harvested tonight... green thumbs (literally!), anyone?!

Is it a quesadilla or a panini? It's a quesanini!

I'm not sure this one actually deserves a post, but I took the picture and it was yummy, so why not!? I'm less of a bready person than most, but still love the concept of a panini.

I had some fresh mozza in the fridge, and basil, and pondered what to do with it. Pizza? Too much effort (yes, it's been like that around here lately, can't you tell?). I also had some whole wheat tortillas, and a mid-winter tomato or two lying about. I hauled out the panini press, which sadly sits unused many a night, sliced the mozzarella thinly, layered it with basil leaves and tomato slices... and voila, a quesanini!

Really, quite a treat. And something I will make again!

Fried egg quesadilla heaven

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to do justice to this little slice of heaven... but I'm going to give it a try! I swear this came to me in a dream, maybe, or in the shower? Anyway, it was percolating around in my brain for awhile and finally I thought I might as well just start experimenting... a few go-rounds with a fry pan and a few eggs later, and I think I'm ready to share my new favorite.

So I start with two white corn tortillas and some no-stick spray on the skillet.

Lay one tortilla in the sprayed pan and warm a bit. Sprinkle some cheddar around the outside of the tortilla, in a ring around the edge, to hold the egg in place. Once the cheese has melted a bit, break an egg into the middle.


Let the egg cook a bit (1-2 minutes), sprinkle a litle more cheese over the egg and then place another tortilla on top; then flip the quesadilla.

Once both sides are browned and the egg is the desired "doneness," it's ready to go. (I have returned a quesadilla or two to the pan upon learning it was too gooey for my taste. I like my egg a bit runny, but not too runny... a bit of a science to it, but I've learned as I've gone along.)

One hand on the quesadilla, one hand on the camera, here we go! You get the idea, right? Yum.

A quick Google search only returned scrambled egg quesadillas. Hmm. No so much. That's a bit too much like a breakfast burrito... fine in it's own way, but no fried egg quesadilla! Do you think I might have actually invented something? That would make my day. Especially since it's something that's so yummy, I think I ate it almost every night for a week not that long ago... sad but true. I have yet to talk my nightly dinner companions into it, they look at me a little like I'm headed for the Cocoapuffs, but maybe one of these days...

Tag, you're it!

This is the second alphabet tag-thingy I've done today. Must be all the rage with the kids these days. Anyway, it is supposed to help you know me better. But my bet is that if you're reading this, you knew all of this already... tell me if I'm wrong.

A-Attached or Single: Attached
B-Best Friend: My husband
C-Cake or Pie: Pie, probably fruity with a crumble topping and ice cream.
D-Day of Choice: Saturday
E-Essential Item: moisturizer
F-Favorite Color: green, always green
G-Greatest Accomplishment: my son, Seth
H-Hometown: Walla Walla, WA. I've been here so long, it's home.
I-Indulgences: music, clothes, food
J-January or July: July
K-Kids: Sweet 12 year old, Seth
L-Life is incomplete without: Food
M-Marriage: Yes, if that's what you want.
N-Number of Siblings: one brother in Seattle.
O-Oranges or Apples: Apples. Braeburn, Fuji or Honeycrisp
P-Phobias or fears: Everything moving by too quickly.
Q-Quotes: "Is it true that radical ideas threaten institutions and then in turn become institutions who reject radical ideas?" I'm sure it's not his, but my dad used to say that a lot when I was growing up. I like a lot of quotes, that one just came to mind quickly.
R-Reason to Smile: Thanksgiving is coming.
S-Season: Fall.
T-Tag Friends: I'm tagging everyone. I want to hear from you!
U-Unknown facts about me: I have a hard time thinking of things I haven't shared. It's making me feel like I should be more private... ha ha, that actually made me laugh. Well, chuckle anyway.
V-Very favorite store(s): Amazon.com, Nordstrom, iTunes store. Remember, I live in a retail desert. I have to make the most of online opportunities...
W-Worst habit: Currently, not exercising enough and eating too much cheese. I'd feel bad about it if it weren't so dang yummy.
X-X-ray or Ultra Sound: Whatever the situation calls for.
Y-Your favorite food: Too many to name. But probably more often than not it's cheese.
Z-Zodiac: Scorpio

So fill me in on you... please. Which rhymes with cheese. Have I mentioned cheese lately? I had that eggy quesadilla thing again tonight. It was even better than last night. And I took pictures, though I must say it tastes better than it looks in the picture... So post will follow.

Rationalizing the cheese crave

Some nights it's all about figuring out what the cheese vehicle will be. Is it a grilled cheese panini? Cheesey pasta? Cheese with a few salad greens holding it up off the plate? You think I'm joking, but it's true. Maybe it's a fall thing. But I've had soup the past few nights and I needed a break. A cheesey break.

I had some leftover ingredients to fiddle around with too... some grapefruit and pomegranates from the salad on Sunday night. What to do?

Ten minutes later I was all settled in with my improvised grapefruit-pomegranate-avocado salsa and quesadilla, catching up on Entourage. (There are very few characters I enjoy as much as Ari Gold, the amazingly crass agent on that show. He is so endearing in his absolute laserlike focus on whatever goal he's currently fixated on. Just brutal.) It was my last solo supper for awhile, and I savored it!

The relish/salsa (I haven't quite figured out what exactly it was) had great flavor. Again with the salty-sweet combo, oh yeah. It would also have been lovely with greens and some chevre crumbled over it too... It was essentially equal parts avocado, pomegranate seeds and chopped grapefruit segments, with a little lime juice and salt.