Lemon Basil Bliss!

Happy weekend! This heat is really starting to cramp my style... but it's given me a great excuse to make sorbet all summer!

What's not to love about sorbet? Simple syrup and juice... could it be any easier? I made a Lemon Basil sorbet that is pretty ridiculously good.

Make a simple syrup with 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar and toss in a big handful or basil leaves (about 1 cup). Once the syrup is cooled, strain the basil out and mix it with 1 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Pop in an ice cream maker to set up.

Fabo!!! Seriously, this stuff is heaven in a bowl.

Move over! Man in the kitchen!

One of the best surprises is when your husband says these few words... "I'll take care of dinner tonight." Another added surprise is when you come home to find him BBQing (this is especially surprising if said BBQ has been sitting in your yard out of commission for months due to lack of propane...) That's totally the cherry on top!

My wonderful spouse ground some lamb, beef and onions with our new meat grinder attachment for our kitchenaid mixer. Forming them into patties, he BBQ'd them up, melting some shredded mozzarella on top.  We took a large piece of pita and spread some homemade hummus over the whole thing and on one half layered some mixed greens, sliced cucumbers, the burger and crumbled feta. Then fold the top half over to make it look like a huge taco. It's a taco/pita/burger. And it's amazing.

For my vegetarian friends, you can omit the meat and make a grilled veggie version with some grilled onions, peppers, tomatoes and lots of yummy cheese. Or if you're feeling adventurous, try making a base for veggie patty by pulsing some onions, carrots, potatoes, sundried tomatoes and other veggies of choice in a food processor. As a matter of fact, even thought I'm (clearly) not a vegetarian, that sounds pretty good, too...

I'll never come between my man and his mission to make a meal!

I'm Back!

Have I fallen off the face of the earth? No.

Have I been plagued with a horrible combination of business/laziness/summer craziness? Yes.

Do I feel bad about it? Yes... and No :)

These past few weeks have been filled with walks with the pup,

good wine,

house guests,

a new vacuum purchase (this is an exciting thing to me...),

yard projects,

and of course, a plethora of deliciousness coming from my kitchen...

I'm sorry that blogging didn't make the to-do list cut, but rest assured, I finally have my act together again.

I hope you'll still be my friend!

Summer Gazpacho

Sorry I haven't posted in a while... I was here all last week:

Anyhoooo, back to reality.

One of my FAVORITE FAVORITE things to make during the summer is gazpacho. It's refreshing, easy, healthy AND delicious- perfect!

My grandma has a wonderful recipe that I start with and then doctor up depending on how I feel and what I have on hand. Here's the basics:

2 cucumbers, peeled and diced
3-4 stalks of celery, diced
2-4 bell peppers, diced (I love them so I go with 4)

Toss all the diced veggies in a BIG bowl...

Next, gather all the liquid ingredients and spices...

2 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes (I use one can of regular and one can of the spicy kind!)
Enough tomato juice to cover the veggies (about 3/4 a bottle of tomato juice, to your taste)
1 cup red wine vinegar
3 Tbs Worcestershire
1 tsp oregano
A dash of hot sauce (Red Rooster is my pick)
S&P

Pour everything in the bowl and mix together...

Chill for a while in the fridge, this is the kind of thing that gets better and better the longer it chills. I will last the whole week and is perfect to pack in a lunch or dole out for a quick dinner. I love the chunky consistency in this gazpacho, but if you're feeling fancy give it a hit with the blender to smooth it out. Top with a dollop of sour cream, avocado and a dash of fresh cracked pepper. Now stay cool!

Tomatoes Galore!

Earlier this spring, we planted tomato plants in our garden. In the past couple weeks, they have gone crazy!  This morning post-gardening, I picked a bunch of them and noticed that I also noticed that my basil was nice and plentiful. My gardening skills have always been lacking so I got really excited and decided to make something really great to go with our breakfast.

I diced the tomatoes up, added a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, some fresh basil and some salt and pepper.

YUM! Going with the whole tomato-basil concoction, I scrambled some eggs with some fresh mozzarella until the cheese was nice and gooey...

Top the eggs with the tomatoes and serve with your breakfast sides of choice... we love asparagus and sourdough toast. 

I could eat caprese any meal of the day. It's so light and summery and I'll use any excuse to work that tomato-basil-mozzarella combo in with anything. Plus with this plethora of tomatoes and basil in my garden, I'll have 2 out of 3 always handy, for a while at least!

Pork Chops and Arugula Grape Salad

Food Network is a favorite website of mine... especially when I want easy and delicious recipe ideas. I found this recipe for grilled pork chops with an arugula and grape salad and decided to give it a shot.

Here's what you'll need for the chops...

I varied it up the recipe by marinating the pork chops in the salad dressing for about 10 minutes prior to grilling.

I doubled the dressing recipe so I could use half of it for the marinade and the other half for the salad. Wisk together a diced shallot, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and S&P. Pour half into a ziploc bag with the chops and stick in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, assemble the salad...

Toss together some arugula mix, red grapes sliced in half, crumbled gorgonzola and the dressing.

Grill the chops on the BBQ or a cast iron grill pan for about 4 minutes on each side, depending on how thick they are. The finished product will look like this...

Uhh... so good!!!

Summer Salad Series- Chicken and Parmesan with Balsamic

I love a good "throw together whatever you have in your fridge" salad... especially on a summer evening  when you come home to a hot stuffy house and the last thing you want to do in this heat is COOK (there, I said it.) Open all the windows then open up your fridge to see what you can toss together.

Here's what I had to work with:

Some salad mix, green onions, shredded parm, already-cooked chicken and my favorite salad dressing ever- Three Cheese Balsamic Vinaigrette from Fresh & Easy (It's bottled up amazingness.)

Empty the salad greens in a big bowl. Chop up the chicken and the green onions. (I also found an apple to dice up and throw in there, too...) Throw in a handful of parmesan and toss with some dressing.

Scoop up some ensalada, pour yourself a glass of chardo and relax.