Summer Lunch

Zucchini-Bean-Goat cheese Tacos





















Ingredients:

3 Tblsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 yellow onions sliced into rounds
5 garlic sliced thinly
1 Italian zucchini, sliced thinly into rounds
1 cup canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and pepper
8 white corn tortillas
1/3 cup soft goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (for warming the tortillas)

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Cook onions until soft. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in the zucchini and let cook until almost soft. Add the beans, salt, and pepper; cook until zucchini is soft and beans are warmed through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Wrap four or five tortillas in tin foil and place on baking sheet. Warm them for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven.

Spoon a half cup of the bean mixture on tortillas, sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese, and enjoy!

More Blueberries!

I am up to my eyeballs in blueberries here on Chestnut Hill. I can't seem to stop picking them! I found another delicious recipe on the Eating Well website. Eating Well is a food magazine that was recommended to me by a friend. While browsing around on their website for blueberry recipes, I found this one for Whole-Wheat Blueberry Bars. I had to substitute for what I had on hand. Obviously I had more than enough blueberries, but I used white flour instead of wheat, dark brown sugar instead of light brown, melted butter instead of canola oil, and I did not have any lemon zest so I left that out altogether! They turned out quite nicely, however. Give them a try!

Blueberry Turnovers

Good things can come wrapped in pie crust - in this case, freshly picked wild blueberries. Squares of simple pie crust are filled with a dollop of blueberry compote, folded and sealed, brushed with beaten egg, sprinkled with sugar, and baked to golden perfection.




Pie Crust:

1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tblsp. cold water

Filling:

1 cup blueberries
1/4 cup sugar

Glaze:

1 egg, beaten
Granulated or raw sugar

Whipped Cream:

2 cups heavy cream
1 tblsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Turnovers:

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.

Prepare pie crust as follows: Mix flour and salt until blended. Add oil and stir with fork until mixture resembles small pea-sized crumbs. Add water and stir until combined. Bring mixture together into a ball with your hands. Roll out between two sheets of waxed paper until you have a piece partially resembling a rectangle, like so.



Cut this rectangle-like shape into 4 inch squares. Don't bother measuring, just cut to whatever size looks right to you. I made about 14 turnovers altogether.

To make the blueberry filling, mix the blueberries and the sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat until the sugar is melted and the whole mixture looks like a thick syrup. Try not to crush the berries. The filling should look like this:



Scoop about a teaspoon of filling (not too much, not too little) in the center of each square of pie crust. Wet the corners with a bit of water and fold over one corner to make a triangle. Use a fork to seal the edges together. Place on a greased baking sheet.

To make the glaze, beat the egg in a little bowl and gently brush the turnovers with the egg. Sprinkle the sugar (granulated or raw - raw is usually prettier, but I didn't have any) on the turnovers. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

For the whipped topping, measure out the heavy cream, vanilla, and sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat at top speed while covering the bowl so the cream doesn't splash everywhere. After a few minutes the mixture should be fluffy and standing up in gentle peaks when you scoop a spoonful up. The cream will look like this:



Arrange a couple of turnovers on a plate and add a generous dollop of whipped cream.

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie is one of the most traditional comfort foods in America. It's hot, filling, tasty, and, in my experience, absolutely delicious. My favorite version of this wonderful dish includes potatoes. Here is a recipe from Taste of Home with a few tweaks.

Ingredients:

3 medium carrots, sliced into bite-sized chunks
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 cup frozen green beans, thawed (I ran warm water over mine to thaw them out, and then I cut the ones that were too long in half)
Pastry for double crust pie (9 inches). No, I didn't include the recipe for pie crust; you're going to have to dig it up yourself. I recommend using oil pastry!

Pie:

Place the carrots and potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile in another saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Gradually stir in flour until smooth. Slowly add chicken broth, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring all the while until slightly thickened.

Drain the carrots and potatoes and return to their saucepan. Stir in the white sauce you just made, the chicken, and the beans. Make sure everything is fully combined, and then spread in deep 13x9 baking dish. You can grease the dish, but I found it didn't make much of a difference. Roll out pastry into a rectangle, lay over pie filling. Pinch the edges to seal and poke in several places with a fork.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Enjoy!

Try This

An amazing, yet simple lunch I discovered...

...two slices of pumpernickel, three little slices of Pepper Jack cheese, a frying pan, and some butter. I give you...the Pepper Jack grilled cheese sandwich! One of my new favorite lunches. :)

Beef Tenderloin Steaks with Thyme Mushroom Gravy

This is my latest dinner. The bruschetta was the appetizer to this meal, and a fitting one too. These cuts of meat were fantastically tender...I made an herb rub out of salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried thyme leaves, and fresh chopped rosemary. The smell was wonderful. The meat baked in the oven at 450 degrees for about 12 minutes per side. The gravy was made from dried thyme, olive oil, mushrooms, white wine, and chicken broth. The flavor from the white wine was not my favorite; it was a bit fruity...or tangy. The rest of the meal was fantastic. Served with good old frozen mixed vegetables, it was great.