Quick post #6

Grown up Green Eggs and Ham

Or, a continuation of my Frittata obsession.

2 large eggs
1 - 2 tbsp fresh pesto sauce
1 tbsp sliced onion
1 large mushroom, sliced
Large handful of baby spinach and arugula mix
1tbsp crumbled feta cheese
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 slice Peppered bacon

Heat up a touch of olive oil (about a tsp) in a medium pan over medium heat, and saute onion and mushroom. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While the onion and mushroom are cooking, whisk the eggs together with the pesto sauce. You shouldn't need extra seasoning at this point, especially if you have a traditional pesto with raw garlic, but if you feel the need, certainly add more garlic.

When onion is tender and mushroom sliced are browned, add the spinach and arugula mixture, and toss until the greens are wilted.

Make sure the veggies are spaced evenly on the bottom of the pan, and pour in the egg mixture, turning the pan to ensure even coating. Allow the eggs to set, using a spatula to help keep the sides free from sticking, about 2 -3 minutes.

When the eggs are no longer completely liquid, flip! You can use a large flat spatula, or, if you are daring, you can wiggle the pan a bit to make sure your half cooked egg disc is loose, then use that fancy saute motion to flip the whole thing. Think Julia Child. Sometimes you get a perfect flip, sometimes you have doubts, and get an imperfect flip. Either way, it tastes good.

After I get the frittata flipped, I turn off the heat and let the other side finish cooking with residual heat for another 30 -60 seconds. Add in your crumbled feta cheese, fold in half, then slide onto your plate next to your awaiting peppered bacon.

Dig in!

I love frittatas because of the many variations of flavors you can have. They are totally customizable to your tastes and they are an excellent way to use up miscellaneous ingredients in your fridge.

Quick post # 4

I've been enjoying salads for lunch or dinner for the past couple of weeks; they're healthy, quick and delicious, making them ideal meals for the summer.
Layering my salad ingredients probably started out of sheer hunger. Who has time for tossing a salad when you're ravenous and all you want to do is stuff food in your face?
But, this layered assembly method stuck with me and now I've got it down to an art.

Start with one or two fistfuls of salad greens of your choosing and place them inside your bowl. Now unless you have enormous bowls, this alone will fill them to capacity, or close enough that adding anything else could result in a tragic mess.
Don't fear, our next step will rectify this. Add any seasonings you may like such as salt and pepper to taste, and then the recommended serving of your favorite dressing. Mine's ranch, and I use a smidge more than 2 tbsp, measured by eye.
Now is the time to cut and/or toss the greens so they get an even coating of dressing. You'll notice that as this happens that the greens will start to take up les volume in your bowl. (The dressing helps to weigh down the greens so there is less air present between all the leaves)
Next, layer on whatever toppings you like. Today I added parmesan cheese, cucumber slices, a tomato, and two hard boiled eggs.
Topping combos are endless, and some of the others I've added recently have been diced chicken breast, sliced mushrooms, sliced bell peppers, carrots, and other typical salad mix-ins.
By leaving the ingredients in layers on top of the greens, I can dig into my salad and get a little bit of everything on my fork, without chasing them around in my bowl.
I also avoid the potential mess of my salad spilling over the sides of the bowl when I try to mix all the ingredients together.

For me this is clearly a superior way to eat salad at home.

Lunching with friends

Last Friday I made lunch for my bff and myself.
It was simple, refreshing, and delicious.

Tuna salad (white albacore, mayo, Old Bay), tomatoes, and salad greens with ranch dressing.

P.s. I love her square plates!

Quick Post # 2 - What do you put on your eggs?

Normally, I use A1 sauce on my eggs. It's weird, but I like the savory kick it has.

I'm all out of A1, and my backup is usually ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic seasoning, but today I decided to tweak that a little.

Since its the being of summer, I've been craving a good crab feast, that means Old Bay.

Trust me when I say that Old Bay is good on everything; French fries, popcorn, tuna salad, any and all seafood, chicken, corn, pizza... Even icecream. Yup, icecream, and I'd recommend sprinkling Old Bay on vanilla.

But that's another topic.

Today I decided to make a Maryland style egg scramble with ingredients I had on hand: corn, bacon, cheese, and Old Bay in my egg sauce, instead of garlic. It was glorious. If I had crab, that would have gone in t tooo, and I'm sure that would make for a special breakfast.

Crabbing was a summer ritual growing up, and marked the end of the school year for my sister and me. I do miss living close to the water, where if you could get your hands on some chicken necks, string, and some patience, you could snag fresh crab. I'll have some crabs sometime soon, its high on my summertime to do list.

In the meantime, I'll continue to put Old Bay on just about everything I eat.

:)

Memorial Day

I've been smelling all amazing charcoal grills of everyone in the neighborhood and decided to fire up the fire pit to roast brauts for dinner.

I also made a s'more for desert with some of the bacon chocolate bars I have stashed.

It was beyond delightful.

I forgot to take pictures of the actual food, but in my defense, I was hungry!