Hot Day, Cold Salad

Yes, again the heat influenced a meal choice. This time, a shrimp and red quinoa salad was on the menu. Quinoa is my new obsession. It really is a super-food, gluten-free, high in fiber, protein and low in fat. I've previously used it as a side-dish and this time thought it would be great as the base for a nice cold, summer salad packed with vegetables. The ingredients:
Vegetable broth, shrimp, organic red quinoa, black beans, sweet yellow corn, mushrooms, baby spinach and later on some added cherry tomatoes, lime juice, crushed red paper and cilantro. I started by cooking the quinoa in the vegetable broth and in a saute pan, began to cook the baby spinach and mushrooms. After the quinoa was cooked, I added it to the saute pan along with the rest of the ingredients and mixed in some chopped garlic. Finally, I put the entire salad in the refrigerator to cool for a few hours and enjoyed once thoroughly chilled. It was even tastier in the days to come!

A Nice Little Sunday...

It's been a scorcher in New England the past few days. I thought it was supposed to be a bit cooler on Sunday so I planned that to be my "good eats" day. Well, it wasn't 'cool' by any means... though a few rain showers did bring the temperatures down just a VERY little bit.

I've been in the mood for a nice gourmet grilled cheese and at the same time, I've been looking to use my Lemon Honey Fromage Blanc. I LOVE THIS STUFF. Found it back in May at the SOWA Open Market in the South End and now I cannot get enough of it. It's made by Foxboro Cheese Company and is absolutely delightful.

So I decided, upon returning from my monthly pilgrimage to Trader Joe's, that I would make a grilled turkey and cheese using the fromage blanc AND the Havarti Dill I picked up at TJ's. Wasn't sure how the two would compliment each other, IF AT ALL, but they did and it was lick-my-fingers delicious!


It all started with the bread, Whole Wheat Tuscan Pane... then the cheeses and turkey were added...

And the final product...

Sauteed Potato Gnocchi

For the past week or so I have had my eye on the package of potato gnocchi in my pantry, waiting for inspiration to hit. Today it did. The idea and the ingredients all fell into place: sliced baby bella mushrooms, fresh baby spinach and grape tomatoes. The gnocchi was store bought, this particular package I picked up at Trader Joes.

I cooked them according to the package directions (cook in salted boiling water until they start to float and then 2 more minutes after that). I then transferred them to a saute pan I had where I had heated up olive oil and a bit of butter spread with a dash of rosemary.





After a few minutes of moving them around the pan, I added the vegetables and cooked until everything was warm. I plated the dish and added some fresh grated parmesan on top in addition to fresh ground black pepper. The end result -- delicious. Not only was it a good looking dish with lots of colors but the flavors all melded perfectly!

Us

Lucky you for stumbling across this blog. These are the true stories of a girl (me) and her dog (Griffy) and our exciting adventures as we seek to enrich our lives through food, cooking, music and other explorations.