Lentils, Chard and One Fabulous Poached Egg

I don’t even know where to start with this. It was so GOOD. I ate every last bit. I loved it, told Anne about it. She made it pronto, and it got rave reviews from her husband, too.

Hands down, amazing. I like my poached eggs pretty cooked, but I know the pic would look pretty with the yolk running down. Suffice as to say, it didn’t happen with mine. I also wished I managed to get this on the table before the sunset. It would be much prettier in natural light. Oh well – excuses to make it soon! I am not a big meal-repeater usually (exceptions for pizza), but I want to make this weekly.

I found the recipe on Dishing Up Delights‘ blog and copied it, word for word.

Roasted Beet and Blue Cheese Salad

1 bunch of beets, trimmed and sliced into half rounds

1/2 bag of baby spinach

1 ear of corn, kernels cut

blue cheese

salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic

Preheat oven to 350. Put beets in roasting pan. Add a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast about 45 minutes, or until done. In a bowl add spinach, corn (I don’t cook it, and use it right off the cob. Very fresh.), and blue cheese. Add cooked beets to the salad. It’ll melt the blue cheese a little. Add balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Picnic Lunch

I love monograms. If I could monogram our cat, I would do that. Poor Baby Bean. I’m not sure her opinions on monogramming though. This LL Bean bag is our beach and picnic tote. And it has my married initials on it. AND it’s green. I love it.

It was a Friday and shockingly, we both had the day off. We were Vermont bound the next morning (and for the subsequent weekend). Now, generally on a day off, I’ll do this: workout like a lunatic (whoo hoo, extra workout time!), clean the whole house top to bottom, do all the laundry, cook, bake and then collapse. On this day off – I said screw that! We’re going on a picnic. MUCH BETTER use of time.

I made a Panzanella Salad for Michael (see week 10, same recipe), and a cottage cheese salad for me. Cottage cheese salad is my go-to lunch choice. I eat it All. The. Time. And here is a rough idea of what I do:

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup chickpeas (I use all kinds of beans)

yellow tomato

red tomato

avocado

cucumber

dill

salt, pepper

I have about 25 variations on this (I make one with black beans, cilantro and scallions, which I had for lunch on Monday). Mix it all together and nom it up. I use the 2% or 4% cottage cheese. It’s a nice protein hit. I use beans as a carb source and not a protein source, so I don’t feel like I’m missing carbs with this. (Plus, carbs from the vegetables.)

Peach Cobbler

Peaches make me think of my sweet, southern belle of a girlfriend, Zara. She’s off in Mexico with her new husband, and I miss her dearly. She’s from Georgia, and I thought of her when I made this.

4 tbsp butter, melted

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup milk

4 peaches, sliced

flour to coat

zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 350. In a mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter. Add dry ingredients to combine. Add milk and blend until it’s not lumpy.

Cut peaches and toss with lemon juice, zest and a palmful of flour (just to coat).

Put peaches in a greased pan, and top with batter. Bake about 20 minutes or until done. I went a little under with mine, because it looked like it was bubbling and fully cooked.

Top with ice cream or whipped cream, if you desire!

Chickpeas and Swiss Chard: Dinner for One

Alone on a Friday night, I made something that I used to make when I was a single gal in my bachelorette pad. Quick and dirty, and oh so tasty. Recipe is approximate.

5-6 swiss chard leaves, cut into ribbons

1 scallion, diced

bunch of grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup chickpeas

few diced pieces of mozzarella

magical herb salt from farm share

Sautee the swiss chard and scallions until the greens are very tender. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas. Sprinkle with salt. Add cheese when you remove from heat. It will melt on contact. I had it with some of that lovely bread.

Brown Butter Green Beans

Not gourmet and by no means complicated, this is just plain old good food. My husband is a huge fan of green beans. I try.

1 tbsp butter

large bunch green beans, trimmed

salt, pepper

Brown the butter in a pan, and let the pan get very hot. Add the green beans and sautee quickly. You want them to stay green and crisp and too overly cooked. Remove from heat, sprinkle on salt and pepper. There ya go.

• 2 lbs. Green beans, stem ends snipped off
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 medium onions, sliced as thinly as possible
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 ½ Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook beans in boiling salted water until crisp-tender, 2-4 minutes. Drain; immerse in ice water. Drainagain and let stand to dry.
2. Melt butter in skillet over medium flame. Stir in onions and cook then slowly until very wilted and deepened in color, about 15 minutes.
3. Boil stock in a saucepan until reduced to ¼ cup; stir in sugar and vinegar. Stir in onions. Simmer until slightly reduced.
4. Combine onions and green beans; heat through. Season with salt and pepper.