southwestern chicken salad

This is another fallback meal. (Notice the theme - throw this spice rub on anything and it will taste great.)

southwestern chicken salad
Fresh corn and tomatoes added a nice combination of sweetness and crunch. I threw in the oranges for some extra brightness.
[salad: mixed greens, oranges, tomatoes, corn, citrus vinaigrette (olive oil, lime juice, orange juice, sugar, garlic, salt). chicken: chile spice rub, lime juice, olive oil)]

a lunchtime classic, for dinner

We went to Breadbar for lunch yesterday, and I couldn't leave without picking up a baguette. We had tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner.

grilled cheese and tomato soup
So, technically, this is actually broiled, but I did rub the backsides of the bread with garlic olive oil, giving it a semblance of crisp, grilledness. I used a Dubliner cheddar. I used canned tomatoes for the soup.
[soup: canned tomatoes, chicken broth, onions, garlic, sugar, salt, cayenne pepper. sandwich: baguette, dubliner cheddar, garlic-chili oil.]

Domino's, sort of

So, Domino's pizza has started offering brownies along with their pizzas. It must have slipped into my subconscious, because I had to make brownies for dessert.

mixed greens with oranges and walnuts
I love the combination of oranges and tomatoes in my salad; add in a few nuts and it's got the right mix of sweet, tart and crunchy.
[mixed greens, oranges, tomatoes, walnuts, vinaigrette (olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper]

sausage, spinach, and caramelized onion pizza
I find it very therapeutic to make my own pizza dough. This particular recipe came out fantastically crispy, with just enough chew in the crust. Since I've got so many homegrown tomatoes from my mom's garden, I thought it'd be nicer to use them fresh sliced, rather than making a sauce out of them. The base is a garlic, pepper oil.
[pizza dough (flour, water, yeast, salt), garlic oil, mozzarella cheese, italian sausage, spinach, onions, oil, salt, pepper, basil]

pizza dough
INGREDIENTS
- 1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing stretched dough
- 4 cups bread flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- cornmeal for dusting peel

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Measure 1/2 cup warm (90°F) water in a small bowl or measuring cup. Sprinkle in yeast and let stand until yeast gets all foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup cool tap water and aoil to yeast mixture.

2. Pulse all dry ingredients in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Holding back about 1 tablespoon, pour liquid ingredients over flour; pulse to form a rough ball. If dough does not readily form a ball, add the remaining liquid and continue to pulse until ball forms. Continue to process utnil dough is smooth and satiny.

2a. If you don't have a food processor, this can all be done by hand. It just takes longer. Use a very large bowl and a wooden spoon and mix until everything starts to come together. Once it's a fairly cohesive ball, move it to a lightly floured work surface and knead vigorously until the dough is smooth and satiny.

3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand for a few seconds to form a smooth, round ball. Put dough into a medium-large bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature to double the size, about 2 hours.

4. Lift dough out of bowl and place on a lightly floured work surface. Cut the dough into halves, quarters or eighths, depending on the size of the pizza you want. Stretch the dough to the desired thickness.

TO MAKE THE PIZZA
I prebaked the dough for about 5 minutes, yanked it out and flung the toppings on and then put it back in to cook until the cheese was sufficiently goopy. Oven temperature was set at 450°F. On lazier days, I've been known to top the dough first and bake it all at one go for 10-15 min. I make smallish pizzas, roughly 8 inches in diameter.
Pizza dough recipe based on a recipe fromThe Perfect Recipe, by Pam Anderson.

brownies
I love brownies. These are just the combination of cakey and fudgy.
[chocolate, butter, chocolate chips, walnuts, flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, salt]

italy

I wonder if the Italian flag was based on the colors of their food.

Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil
Fresh tomatatoes from the garden really make this something else. Don't think I can go back to supermarket tomatoes after this.
[tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, olive oil, salt]

afternoon snack

We had lots of kiwis sitting around, and I needed a light, refreshing way to use them up. I was originally going to make a tart, but with the heat being so bad, what better than to make a sorbet?

kiwi lime sorbet
Tart and sweet, with an interesting buzz from the crushed kiwi seeds.
[kiwis, lime juice, sugar, water]

my favorite pancakes

These are modified from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book. This may be the best pancake recipe in the world.

don chapellet's zeppelin pancakes
I'm too greedy/lazy to only do one pancake at a time on my cast iron pan, so they're clearly unevely colored, but they still taste great.
[buttermilk, yogurt, flour, butter, eggs, baking soda, sugar, salt]

we need greens!

In an effort to increase the fiber in our diets, arugula is the main feature in this meal.

arugula and nectarine salad
The sweet nectarines were a nice foil for the bitter greens.
[arugula, nectarine, vinaigrette (olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar), salt, pepper]

spaghetti with raw tomatoes, olives, and arugula
The basic recipe came from Jamie Oliver's cookbook, jamie's dinners. It's super easy because the only cooking you do is boiling the pasta. I added a garlic clove to the cooking water, and then minced it for the sauce.
[spaghetti, tomatoes, arugula, basil, olives, olive oil, balsmic vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper]

good eats? butternut squash dumplings

A semi-successful experiment based on an Alton Brown recipe

butternut squash dumplings
I love Alton Brown, but this particular recipe didn't give specific enough proportions for squash/potato ratio. I ended up with a very wet dough to which I kept adding flour. They taste okay, but are a little on the gummy side. They're sautéed in sage butter, which is very tasty.
[butternut squash, potato, flour, salt, pepper]