Tomato & Zucchini Gratin

Tomatta season is here! Looking to celebrate?

This recipe was inspired by a dish I found via Bon Appétit online, which originally called for tomatoes and summer squash (see original recipe here.) Sadly, my grocer was out of squash, and my dreams were briefly... squashed. But then I supplemented a yellow & green zucchini mix, and it worked out great. Feel free to stick to the original recipe or try out my version below.

Tomato & Zucchini Gratin

Ingredients:
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used shaved parm because I like how crispy it gets)
2 beefsteak tomatoes

1 green and 1 yellow zucchini, thinly sliced1 clove garlic, diced
4 tbs olive oil (total)
1/2 tsp oregano
4-5 fresh basil leaves
salt & pepper

Toss the Italian cheese and breadcrumbs with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and season with a dash of salt, pepper, and the oregano. Heat the other 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the diced garlic and heat through until fragrant. Add the tomato and cook, tossing occasionally, until heated through and juicy (about 3-4 minutes). Season with salt, pepper, and the basil (chopped up) and transfer to a baking dish. Top with the zucchini slices and the breadcrumb mixture. Bake at 350 degrees until the veggies are tender and the top is golden brown -- I baked mine for about 25 minutes. This would be a great main course or side dish.

A note: If you have an ovenproof pan/skillet, you are lucky and I am jealous. You can cook the tomatoes in the skillet, top them with the zucchini & breadcrumbs and transfer the dish straight to the oven. One pan -- super easy & hardly any clean-up. Like I said, I'm jealous.

Another note: To be honest, with the breadcrumbs, I feel like less could have been more on this dish. I followed the recipe and found my dish way too covered in breadcrumbs. It didn't destroy the taste (it was still really good!), but it did leave me with some valuable advice for you, my friend: take heed with the breadcrumbs. But do not skimp on the cheese.

Enjoy the season!

Love,
Amy

Summertime Favorites

Paying homage to some of my favorite summertime foods today that I was fortunate enough to enjoy in abundance this season. Fresh from the earth & the sea. Home-brewed lemon verbena iced tea, sweet corn, crabs, and local hand-picked fruit! nomnomnom.

I also dabbled in (but more like obsessed over) my first garden this summer. It was nothing crazy - just a few potted plants on the communal deck of my apartment complex. But it did bear some fruit! I ate my first sun-ripened, home-grown tomato the other night. It took months of not-so-patient waiting, but it gave me a whole new respect for all you gardeners out there (my hat is off). 

It feels bittersweet to see summer slipping away, but I'm really looking forward to fall - my favorite season. Hot drinks, savory spices, pumpkin, turkey, GRAVY! Bring it.

Slow down & enjoy these last few weeks of summer, my friends. If you need us, we'll be eating lobster on the deck in the dark, savoring the warm nights while they're still here and getting butter all over our clothes.

 

Love,

Amy (& Jamie) 

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

If there is a combination in this world more rewarding than peanut butter & chocolate I have yet to find it.

Here is a quick & easy recipe I found on Pinterest (original recipe here), however, I've made a gluten-free, dairy-free version for those of you candy-lovers out there with food allergies. I just can't stand the thought of you missing out on a creamy, crunchy, chocolatey, peanutty treat any longer!

Super simple and super satisfying. I couldn't figure out why I didn't make these sooner.


Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter alternative (I used Earth Balance Buttery Spread)
3/4 cup chunky or smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup gluten-free graham cracker crumbs (try Annie's Snickerdoodle Graham Cracker Bunnies!)
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup dairy-free, semisweet chocolate chips (I recommend Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips)
1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
Sea salt

Makes 8 peanut butter cups!

Use a food processor to crush graham crackers into 3/4 of a cup of crumbs. Melt the peanut butter & butter alternative together in the microwave for about 45 seconds and stir until smooth & combined. Then add the graham cracker crumbs and sugar and mix to combine. Divide this mixture into 8 cupcake/muffin cups that either stand alone, or line a muffin tin.  Chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes so the peanut butter sets and stiffens.


Combine the chocolate and almond milk in a microwaveable bowl and heat for about 30 seconds. Stir, and heat for an additional 30 seconds if needed (until the chocolate is smooth).  Pour the chocolate over each of the peanut butter cups and sprinkle with a touch of sea salt. Chill until firm -- about 30 minutes or longer. Once the chocolate is firm, you're good to go! Enjoy the peanut butter & chocolate happiness, friends.

Love,
Amy

Wasabi Lime Vinaigrette

It’s just been way too hot lately, guys. As much as I love hovering over my stove cooking my little heart out, its just been way too sticky in my apartment to fire up the oven or range for more than a few minutes.

So I figured why not get creative with salad?

Buying an immersion blender has totally enhanced my cooking. On top of homemade soups & smoothies, it’s a great tool for blending homemade dressings and sauces. And that’s just what I did the other night when I felt like experimenting in the kitchen, minus the heat. If you like wasabi or anything with a kick, then I think you’ll really enjoy this dressing!

Wasabi Lime Vinaigrette

 

Ingredients:

½ cup canola oil

¼ cup rice vinegar

1 tsp wasabi powder

½ tbs lime juice

½ tsp sugar

1 tbs fresh basil, finely chopped

Blend ingredients together using an immersion blender, or standard blender, until the ingredients emulsify and the dressing looks nice & green & creamy. If you don’t have a blender, you can whisk the ingredients together by hand until emulsified.

I drizzled this tangy dressing over a fresh ahi tuna salad. I sprinkled fresh ground black pepper all over an ahi tuna steak and seared it on medium-high heat for only about 2 minutes on each side. Then I laid the tuna over a bed of greens with cherry tomatoes, orange bell pepper, cucumber, avocado, sunflower seeds, and a sprinkle of goat cheese... and topped it with the wasabi vinaigrette!

And I hardly broke a sweat. 

Love,
Amy

Summer Pasta - 2 Ways!

Sticky, hot days & evenings full of thunder... its summer time & I'm feelin' the heat, people.

One of my favorite foods to eat & cook is pasta. I mean, I thoroughly enjoy many kinds of food, but Italian has its own special place in my heart, as some of my most zen moments have involved a big bowl of pasta, crusty bread, and red wine.

When cooking my own pasta, I tend to stick to heavy red sauces, but since its summer I've really been looking at ways to take the dishes I love and make a lighter version. So recently I've been combining some colorful farfalle pasta with a variety of seasonal veggies, sun-dried tomatoes, oil, and fresh herbs I have growing on my windowsill. And since I've been hooked on goat cheese this year, I sprinkled that in as well. Here are 2 summery pasta dishes that would be great served warm or cold:

Summer Pasta with Spinach, Artichokes & Prosciutto

Ingredients:
3 cups farfalle or "bow tie" noodles (I love the presentation with the multi-color kind!)

Baby spinach

Chopped artichoke hearts

Sun-dried tomatoes
Sweet corn removed from the cob

1 clove garlic, diced

Sweet peas, frozen or fresh
Extra virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar

Sprinkle of goat cheese

1 or 2 pieces of thin-sliced prosciutto, chopped up into small pieces 

Fresh basil

Summer Pasta with Yellow Zucchini & Sweet Peas

Ingredients:
3 cups farfalle
1 medium yellow (or green!) zucchini, chopped
Sun-dried tomatoes
Sweet corn removed from the cob
1 clove garlic
Sweet peas
Extra virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Fresh basil
Fresh chives
Sprinkle of goat cheese
Sprinkle of parmesan cheese too

For both recipes, I cooked the farfalle noodles according to the package's instructions, then set aside to cool. I then heated the olive oil over medium heat and slowly sauteed the garlic until it was heated through and tender, but not brown. I then added all my veggies to the oil and heated through until tender. Then I set that aside to cool to room temperature as well. I drizzled the farfalle with olive oil and red wine vinegar and tossed until the noodles were coated. Then I gently folded in the sauteed veggies, and topped the pasta with the fresh herbs, prosciutto, and goat cheese. I stored leftovers in the fridge in an air-tight container, and then enjoyed it cold the next day for lunch. Yum!


I left the measurements for these recipes off, because I feel that you should go heavy on the ingredients you particularly like, and easy on those you don't like as much. And get creative by tossing in whatever extra ingredients you're craving. Pasta is fun because of the variety it offers!

Enjoy!

Love,
Amy

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Coconut Jam Cookies

Greetings friends! Hope you all had a happy Independence Day! Mine was filled with food, family, friends, fireworks, and so much gratitude. It was perfect.

Now, the nerd in me just loves holiday-inspired desserts. So I made these red & blue cookies for a 4th of July BBQ, but I do think they would be great for any occasion. I love the summery combination of the coconut mixed with the sweet jam. I can't wait to make them again and experiment with some new fruit flavors!

Since this was a BBQ with my boyfriend's family, I made the recipe gluten-free, dairy-free so that he could enjoy them as well. I hope you do too!

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Coconut Jam Cookies

Ingredients for the homemade jam:     
2 cups fresh raspberries
2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup (total) white sugar
fresh lemon juice

Directions: Making the jam ended up being my favorite part! It was so easy and all the leftovers made me very happy. But feel free to cut this recipe in half if you don't want too much jam (or double if you want lots!). All you have to do is mash up 2 cups of fruit and combine with 1/4 cup sugar and a squeeze (about a teaspoon) of fresh lemon juice in a small sauce pan and boil over medium high heat until it thickens. I boiled my jam for about 10 minutes, or until it was thick enough that I could see the bottom of the pan when scraping my spoon through it. Then I popped it into the fridge while I prepared the cookie dough to cool it down. It should thicken even more once cool. Store the extra jam in an air-tight container in the fridge.

Ingredients for the cookies:
inspired by sarcasticcooking.com recipe here
1 cup almond meal, packed
3/4 cup gluten-free flour, packed
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
lemon zest (I only used about 1/2 tsp)
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 cup maple syrup (grade B)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup shredded coconut
your homemade jam!

Directions: Combine almond meal, gluten-free flour, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and whisk together. Pour the coconut oil, vanilla extract, and maple syrup into the dry ingredients and mix until just about combined. Then add in the shredded coconut and continue to mix all the way through, until no flour is visible. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or lightly greased tin foil. Keep the dough refrigerated while oven preheats. Once the oven is ready, roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball (flour your hands with gluten-free flour if necessary) and then place it on the baking sheet, spacing all cookies about 2 inches apart. Press your thumb into the center of each ball of cookie dough, creating a small indent. Drop about 1/2 tsp of jam into each crater. I made half of my cookies with blueberry jam & half with raspberry. I also baked my cookies in two batches, and kept any unused dough in the fridge.

Bake the cookies about 11-15 minutes, depending on how hot your oven runs. General rule of thumb is to bake until golden brown but not dark! :) Place on cooling rack until the cookies are room temperature. Then enjoy!

Love,
Amy

Bruschetta & then some

Last week, after a monstrous lunch involving the world's tallest BLT and a mountain of french fries that left me feeling like I swallowed the Rockies, I was in desperate need of something fresh & light for dinner. So I started to make a basic bruschetta, but then ended up throwing in a few other things like avocado, garbanzo beans, and a summer favorite -- sweet corn!  It's bruschetta & then some. And my stomach was grateful.

Bruschetta & then some

Ingredients:

1 cup diced tomatoes

1/2 cup garbanzo beans

1 small avocado, diced

little bit of red onion, thinly sliced 

1 garlic clove, minced

1 ear sweet corn, boiled, buttered & then removed from cob

Drizzle of olive oil

Few splashes of red wine vinegar

Dried or fresh dill

Fresh basil

Salt & pepper

Mix all of these ingredients together and let it rest for about 15 minutes to a half hour before eating, so the flavors have a chance to meld. Serve with some crusty, toasted french baguette & enjoy!

Love,

Amy