mini-meat loaf, salad, cake

These 'mini-meat loaves' are a combination of ground beef and lamb, baked up in muffin tins.  Here I served them with a feta sauce and a salad of greens and cucumber.  We saved room for dessert - a chocolate bundt cake with a vanilla glaze.  I always laugh when I think of the bundt cake scene in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".

roasted beet salad - pasta with shrimp

Here is a memory from this summer.  I love to stuff and fry squash blossoms - here they are atop a salsa.  I got some golden beets from a farmers market and roasted them for a salad with greens, orange sections, and blue cheese.  Our main course is pasta with shrimp, spinach, and Parmesan shavings.

shrimp tacos, margaritas, and lemon pound cake

I did shrimp (soft) tacos for dinner so we had to have our hand-squeezed margaritas too.  There is also a glazed lemon pound cake for dessert.  Getting your citrus for the day - lime in the drinks and lemon in the dessert.

chicken, asparagus, and a cocktail

I love the color (and taste) of the Watermelon Sidecar cocktail we had with our baked deviled chicken and asparagus/red bell pepper stir fry.

lamb and potatoes

I made an onion-mint sauce to go with this lovely grilled rack of lamb, with pan-sauteed potatoes on the side.

steak and salad

I marinated a flank steak in a chipotle-honey sauce, which then glazed it as it grilled.  Here it is served with one of my new favorite salads (because we grew a lot of kale this year!):  kale with chopped smoked almonds, dates and Parmesan shavings.  I lightly dress it with a vinaigrette that I put on the kale about 20-60 minutes ahead of serving so it softens a bit.

roasted salmon

I had never tried slow and low roasting for salmon before - it was easy and delicious.  The filet was seasoned with lemon, thyme, salt and pepper.  Lining the pan with foil also made for an easy clean up!

scenes from a summer party

I had some friends over for a vegetarian lunch - I put the menu out on a chalkboard and here are some shots of the food.

exceptional fried egg sandwich

This could be breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner with so many flavor layers.  Maple-glazed bacon, Sriracha mayonnaise, arugula, flash-pickled onion all on sandwich roll and topped with a fried egg.  Delicious!

chicken kiev and salad

Mmm - butter and chicken!  To balance the healthfulness, the salad is shaved summer squash with nuts over greens.

smothered pork chops

These have a wonderful onion gravy on top.  I had some squash blossoms in the garden at the time so tempura fried some as our side dish.  Not pictured here - we had some white chocolate chip blondies for dessert.

we do like lamb, we do like beets

Here we have some lamb chops fried in a Milanese-style, accompanied by a sun-dried tomato pesto.  The beets are roasted, then smashed for a final pan-fry and smothered with roasted garlic atop a bed of arugula.