Abundant

Nectarines, raspberries, and strawberries

This fruit plate was a long-anticipated breakfast dish.  The sliced nectarines, raspberries, and strawberries were sprinkled lightly with sugar and then dribbled with fresh lemon juice.  I had intended to serve the fruit as a dessert plate but then had gotten full before dessert.  The flavor combination was described in Deborah Madison's Savory Way in a section that includes other simple dessert/fruit ideas that highlight the tastes in fabulous combinations.

Grilled Veggie Brat with catsup

Over the weekend we grilled veggie brats for a traditional summer meal.  They cook up like meat brats and have good seasoning and consistency.  Perhaps the only difference is they don't have any hard nubbins of fat in them. :)  We had coleslaw along side.  We'd like try the Lightlife brand of brats but haven't found them in town yet.

Farmers' Market Abundance

For this celebration of early harvests, we blanched the snap peas for just two minutes and glistened them with sesame oil, enjoyed our favorite greens salad  and relished the flavorful "aglio ed olio" pasta.  Mmm... yummm...

Scones

Mouthwateringly fantastic!  We serve these to guests for breakfast and these were the best EVER!  I'm wondering if the King Arthur Flour made the difference.  I'm always glad to have company as I'm relieved of breakfast duty and I LOVE these!  I pitch in to whip the cream. :)  The recipe comes from The New York Times Cookbook.

Ravioli Soup

Made with fresh ravioli, this soup is a favorite, quick fix.  Spinach and tomato add body to vegetable stock and any filled ravioli cooks in the liquid to bring richness to the pasta.  Less than 1/2 tsp. of sour cream garnishes the bowl at the table.

Cinco de Mayo dinner

I'm posting this as a "better-late-than-never" reminder of our dinner on May 5.  The cheese-stuffed peppers are not fried, but rather broiled and topped with mango salsa.  On the side we had a straight-forward calabacitas mix and everyday red rice.  All the recipes are from The Border Cookbook.

Macaroni and cheese

As a treat while my mom was visiting, we baked a variation on macaroni and cheese from Everyday Greens.  This has an infusion of fresh herbs steeped in milk to add complexity to the flavor.  Mmm... comfort food.

Asparagus and beet salad

Creating a lovely spring salad, the roasted beets and blanched asparagus were tossed with a vinaigrette dressing flavored-filled with lemon juice.  Yum!

Grilled Tofu and Greens

Eating Well: the magazine of food and health published the recipe for this entry dish in the June/July 2005 issue.  The patio smelled heavenly while the food was grilling!

Raspberry Shortcake

This dessert was the finishing touch to our salad dinner on Tuesday night.  Fresh raspberries, drop biscuits left from breakfast on Memorial Day, and decadent, freshly whipped cream combined to make variation on raspberry shortcake. 

Morrocan Carrot Salad

This salad looks like a plate of carrot peelings, right?  The carrots marinated for an hour in a light dressing of two tablespoons of lemon juice, a drop of olive oil, a pinch of sugar, and orange flower water to taste.  The full flavor of the dressing matches the carrot and would be a surprise to someone expecting an ordinary bite of carrot.  Really good!