This is a food blog right?

I know I need to post about my trip, but I've just been so incredibly busy!  So how about checking out some of our eats over the last week? Actually I lied, there's a couple recipes I want to share with you from before I went on our trip too!  Like this one: Ellie Krieger's Cornmeal Crusted Ratatouille Tart!

Okay, I loved this dish... well aside from the crust. I used Bob Mill's Cornmeal and well, I felt like the finished product tasted grainy.  I wonder if I could do this recipe with my Quinoa crust I used in this recipe.  We all know I love Quinoa! Anyway, here is the recipe!
Cornmeal Crusted Ratatouille Tart
Ingredients: 
Crust:
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup whole-grain pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water
Filling:
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup)
Cooking spray
1/2 pound thinly sliced eggplant rounds (about 1/3 medium eggplant)
1 zucchini, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds (about 8 ounces)
3 medium tomatoes, sliced thinly
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Instructions:

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine cornmeal, pastry flour, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to incorporate. Add butter and oil and pulse about 20 times, until mixture resembles small pebbles. Add water and pulse until mixture forms a loose dough. Remove dough from processor and press into bottom and about 1/8-inch up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a detachable rim. Press aluminum foil into the bottom and sides of the pan on top of the dough and weigh down with uncooked rice or pie weights. (I used my decorative rocks, hehe) Place tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and remove rice and foil. Return to oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until no longer shiny and wet. Remove from oven and let cool.

For the filling: Increase the oven to 400 degrees F. Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat; saute shallots until soft, about 5 to 6 minutes. Spray 2 baking trays with cooking spray. Arrange the eggplant, zucchini and tomato slices on the trays in a single layer and brush with the remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and roast the vegetables until soft but not browned, about 15 minutes. Remove the vegetables from oven and cool.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Lay the eggplant slices in 2 layers on the bottom of tart; cover with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese and some of the shredded basil. Add the zucchini and shallots, top with another 1/3 of the mozzarella and basil, then the tomatoes. Top with rest of the mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan. 

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and vegetables have further wilted. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes, and cut into 8 slices. Serve warm. 

 I served this with Kale Chips and a salad.  It was cheesy and delicious, aside from the crust.  If you do want to make this- don't use Bob Red Mill's Course Grind Cornmeal, use something a little thicker.


Next up, I made burritos.  All I did was combine black beans, corn and crushed tomatoes with jalapenos with Mexican blend cheese.  I used jalapeno wraps and put a cup of the filling and then wrapped them up on a baking sheet and baked for 15 minutes at 350.  Oh, I served these with Kale Chips for a change.

On Monday of this week I made Salmon with Roasted Broccoli and Kale. I didn't take a picture though.  Tuesday, I took the leftover salmon and made salmon cakes over a salad with Annie's Goddess Dressing.

The first thing I did was saute 1/2 red onion, 1/2 red pepper, a bunch of chives, 1 cup of red cabbage. Then in a food processor I added the leftover salmon without skin (maybe 1/2 a pound), the veggies, 1 egg and 1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs.   Then I made small little cakes and sauteed them in a hot pan for 5 minutes on each side. mmmm
Now to move on to a random note....

My mom planted this for me while I was gone.  Isn't it amazing?  Thyme (Lemon), Basil, Chives and Parsley!  I am so excited to have fresh herbs!  My CSA starts next week so I will be having tons of fresh veggies soon!  Post to come on that as well....

Moving on... Wednesday night I made Red and White Quinoa with tons of delicious veggies.  I sauteed portabella mushrooms with the rest of the veggie mixture from the salmon cakes.  Combine that with black beans and cut some corn right off the cob.  Then I added fresh chives and basil with a dressing of fresh lime juice, salt and cayenne pepper.  And yummy avocado on the side. 

 Last night I made Eggplant Stacks.  This recipe was inspired by Bon Appetit.  It was supposed to be grilled eggplant and minted yogurt stacks.  But I had no plain greek yogurt. So I followed the recipe pretty much without the yogurt sauce.  Yum!
Grilled Eggplant Stacks

Ingredients: 

1 cup diced unpeeled cucumber 

12 1/2-inch-thick rounds center-cut eggplant (from 2 large) 

Olive oil (for brushing) 

2 teaspoons ground coriander 

2 teaspoons paprika 

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

1 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 41/2 ounces) 

Instructions:

Preheat broiler. Brush eggplant with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix ground coriander, paprika, and ground cumin in small bowl. Sprinkle spice mix over both sides of eggplant slices. Grill or broil eggplant until slightly charred and tender, 10 to 12 minutes, turning and brushing with more oil if dry. Place 1 large slice of eggplant on each of 6 plates. Divide feta among slices. Put cucumber slices on top. Top with eggplant slices. 

Last night I also made Carrots and Sweet Potato Soup with Cayenne.  Inspired by Bon Appetit.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter 

1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds 

1 1/4 cups chopped onion 

1 5-ounce sweet potato, peeled, chopped 

2 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger 

5 cups (or more) vegetable broth or chicken broth

Instructions:

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large pot over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onion, potato, and ginger; sprinkle with salt and cayenne and sauté until vegetables are slightly softened but not brown, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add 5 cups broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly, then puree in batches in blender until smooth. Return soup to same pot; if desired, add more broth by 1/4 cupfuls to thin soup. Bring to simmer. Season with salt and black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with feta and thyme and more cayenne.

And this was dinner last night.  Obviously way too much food for one night but I wanted to clean out the fridge.

This morning I woke up and ran with my friend Nancy.  I slept past my alarm and had to rush to meet her and let's just say I didn't feel amazing during the run.  But we did still run 9 miles!  9 really really hard miles, but I got through it!  Poor Nancy, I felt bad slowing her down!  Need to get in shape STAT.  My training for NY starts in July.

I have a busy weekend planned.  Having friends over tonight and the menu is lobsters, potato risotto, corn on the cob and salad.  I also made this raspberry custard from Martha Stewart. Tomorrow we have Dave's cousins kids birthday party plus father's day and then I have to set up for a huge celebration party on Monday!  Someday I will post about my trip! I promise!  Happy Weekend!