Summer Pizza

Every summer, my favorite combinations of food all seem to involve bread and tomatoes.  Bruchetta, frizzelles, tomato sandwiches with mayo--all of those make my mouth water just thinking about them.  Today was farm market day on The Chew, and coincidentally, it was the first day for our farmer's market to open. 

Carla Hall made a tomato tart, and I bought the ingredients to try it.  They emphasized to buy the best phyllo dough you can find, and I think I purchased the wrong kind, because my tart did not puff like theirs did on TV.  The flavor was delicious, though, and it was easy to make.  It was pretty substantial for just one sheet of phyllo dough!  Here is the recipe, and this will definitely go into the lineup with my other favorite summer tomato dishes.

Kale Salad!

I used to buy kale and end up throwing it away because I didn't know what to do with it.  Then one of my favorite people came for a visit and made it for us.  It was delicious, and I've made it the same way ever since.  Not only that, but I've been able to introduce a few friends to kale with this recipe, too!

Kale Salad

Take a bunch of kale, remove the stems, and slice it very thin.
Add dried cranberries, toasted almonds, and any cheese you prefer.

The dressing is 2 T lemon juice, 2 T olive oil, and 2 T agave.  You can increase the amount of dressing according to the amount of salad you made.

The nice thing about kale salad is it stays crisp for 2 days, so you can make enough to enjoy the next day!

The Gym

Now that I have some time off, I am going to try exercising two hours a day.  Today it is raining.  I went to spin this morning, and will go to step this afternoon.  We'll see how this goes.

New Cookbook!

For Mother's Day, I received a really good gift--Mark Bittman's Vegan Before 6 Cookbook.  I love Mark Bittman's recipes.  They turn out well if you follow them, and sometimes they turn out even better if you change them up a little.  Vegan till 6 should be easy to follow in the summer with the delicious fresh food from the Farm Markets and hopefully soon from the garden.  Today I am going to have a salad for lunch, and spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, so that will follow the plan!   We'll see how it goes.

Green Tea!

I know green tea is good for you, but I hadn't found a tea that I really enjoyed until this summer.  It is Tazo Iced Green Tea with lemon and mint.  It has a lot of flavor and takes about 2 seconds to make.  It is really good.  (Are you noticing a theme here with the mint?)

Back to Recipes

I tried a spring vegetable recipe that was featured in the Post Gazette a few weeks ago.  It was delicious and I'm going to make it againA this week.  Here is the recipe:  Farro with Asparagus, Peas, and Mint.  I have a lot of mint in the yard, and it gives the dish a really fresh flavor. 

Wow!

Can't log in to the old blog, so I might as well start anew.  Took a break because the end of the year got busy and we had a wonderful celebration to attend in NYC.  We are thrilled for our new grads!