garden inspired summer orzo

This is an easy one!  I always keep orzo on hand (if you aren’t familiar it is rice shaped pasta) for easy side dishes like this.  We made 2 different variations, one for grown ups, one for kids.

Grown up rosemary orzo:

ingredients:

• 1 lemon
• extra virgin olive oil
• cherry tomatoes (grown ups only)
• salt, pepper
• sprig fresh rosemary (chopped) (grown ups only)
• fresh parmesan
• frozen peas (kids only)
• orzo (i only used 1/4 pound this time but i would at least double!)

Boil the orzo as instructed on package, drain

 

Mix equal parts lemon juice & olive oil (i squeezed the juice of one lemon into a measuring cup then added an equal amount of olive oil.  Add a healthy dose of pepper and salt (see mills hand above..we like lots of salt).  This is the “dressing” for your pasta.  Set aside.

Chop rosemary, grate parmesan, quarter cherry tomatoes.

 

For the kids version you can see (picture on the right above) i omitted tomatoes & rosemary and added frozen peas.

Well Mills added/ate frozen peas.  Add your dressing to each bowl (i just added a little at a time until I was happy with the consistency).  Add all ingredients.  I like orzo best room temp so if you store in fridge, pull out of the fridge a little early.  Top with (more) fresh parmesan..and enjoy!

fish tacos

With less than a month left until fall I have been embracing some summer favorites.  One staple around here all summer were avocados.  And the first dinner that comes to mind when wanting to incorporate avocados are fish tacos.   The kids love them and so do we so we had Matt & Arre over for some fish tacos last week and thought I would share some pics with you!

ingredients:

this fed 4 adults and 3 children

• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 can of black beans
• sour cream
• 1 jalapeno chopped
• lime juice
• lemon juice
• salt & pepper
• 2 avocados
• chopped cilantro to taste
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
• lemon pepper (optional)
• 5-7 white fish fillets(i used tilapia)
• 10 flour tortillas
• 1/8 – 1/4 cup red onion chopped (use more or less depending on your taste)
• tortilla chips

Season your fish!  We grilled ours but first seasoned with lemon pepper, olive oil, & lemon juice.  I split the 7 (small) filets into 3 tinfoil “boats” for grilling.

 

and wrapped them up, put in fridge until time to grill

 

next on to the chopping!

  

and rinsing

 

Combine the following for your taco “salsa”

 

• 1 cubed avocado
• 1 pint of grape tomatoes halved or quartered
• 1/2-3/4 can black beans rinsed/drained
• 1/8 cup diced red onion
• splash extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• juice of 1/2 a lime
• chopped cilantro to taste

I like to add a little heat – so I chopped up a jalapeno (seeds and all) and mixed with a cup of sour cream as another topping

 

surprisingly I had not eaten all the avocados in the process of chopping and mixing so i was able to make some guacamole with the what was left:

• 1 cubed avocado (or whatever you have left)
• sprinkle of red onions, chopped
• salt & pepper to taste
• juice of 1/2 a lime

mash with a fork until it’s the consistency you like

 

Grill your fish (5-10 minutes depending on size).  Roughly chop up fish for ease of adding to a taco.

and very important: throw your flour tortillas on the grill at the last minute just to crisp them a bit.

add toppings and enjoy!

tomatoes, cucumbers, & fresh mozzarella

Another garden inspired dish – This has been my afternoon snack every day for the past week…

that is a sticker you see on the tomato, it’s from the grocery store – my tomato plant is producing but can’t keep up with our tomato consumption.

There’s not much to this one! And that’s why I love it.   After planning out meals and packing lunches I have nothing left in me to plan out what I will actually eat.  So I love that I can grab 3 ingredients, chop, add salt & pepper, eat and enjoy!

 

cucumber soup

It’s summer!  we are free!

And it’s HOT.  So what better than a cold cucumber soup inspired by your garden.  I say inspired because I only had one cucumber ready to use but it definitely inspired me!  This recipe comes from Susan Mason’s cookbook.  Here are your ingredients (plus all purpose flour not shown)

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 cucumbers seeded, peeled, chopped
• 1 leek sliced, white part only
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 3 cups chicken stock
• salt & pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream
• juice of 1/2 a lemon

peel, remove seeds and chop:

 

melt butter (2T)

 

add leeks (sliced, white part only), bay leaf and chopped cucumbers

 

saute for 20 minutes while you change diapers, wipe tears, break up fights, sit for a performance of a circus, wash your hands, go back to your stove…

remove bay leaf and add 1 Tablespoon all purpose flour and stir to form paste

 

Add 1 teaspoon salt, 3 cups chicken stock

 

simmer for 30 minutes

go take pictures of container garden

   cucumbers                                  jalapenos                            okra

   

tomatoes                                                     basil & rosemary

 

come back to your simmering cucumbers (assuming it has been 30 minutes..)

puree in food processor

put it in the fridge to cool and wait

 

When chilled, add 1 cup heavy cream, plus juice from 1/2 lemon, salt , pepper.  Mine was a bit lemony so maybe add lemon juice a little a time until it’s just right!

serve with fresh dill