Dining In
Breakfast
Ah…Sunday morning. Sleep in, then have a relaxing brekkie. Well, maybe not EVERY Sunday morning, but once in a while it is a nice experience. Anyway, this particular one included banana, coconut, walnut pancakes covered with sliced bananas, walnuts and strawberries then organic real Maple syrup topped it all off. Freshly ground and brewed Kona blend coffee with Silk soy vanilla creamer was our beverage of choice. Tasty…verging on food coma tasty. Cheers!
Lunch
I don’t know about you, but I like to enjoy leftovers for lunch the next day. Somehow eating al fresco on the back patio makes it taste even better. This particular meal included chopped free range chicken thighs, bell peppers (red and yellow), onion, and garlic sauteed in EVOO and Za’atar spices over short organic grain white rice. The salad is organic baby arugula and sweet cherry tomatoes (cut in half) dressed with EVOO, champagne vinegar, freshly ground black pepper, and sea salt. This is making me hungry just remembering it! Cheers!
Dinner
Spring is great! Why? When it comes to cooking dinner, it’s warm enough to fire up the grill is one big reason. Well, that and all kinds for fresh fruits and vegetables start flooding into local markets. For this dinner we cooked a marinated pork loin rolled in herbs and EVOO until the internal temperature was around 165…as you can see firm but still a very light pink in the middle. It was carved on an angle and served over organic faro cooked in chicken broth instead of water. The grilled carrots and zucchini were coated in EVOO, sea salt and freshly ground pepper. A green salad of organic romaine lettuce and cherry tomatoes was dressed with EVOO, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and a fig balsamic vinegar. I believe we had a nice California Zinfandel with that meal. It was soooooooooo good, we served basically the same dish to Laurie’s mom, Joy, the following weekend. BTW: there were NO leftovers after this dinner.
Seafood Paella
Lobster, Gulf Coast “Pink” shrimp, and Cod are the protein in this dish. However, calamari, mussels, and almost any other seafood works too!
Carrots and zuchini squash are the veggies sauted first in garlic EVOO then cooked with the rice. The peas are added towards the end with the seafood and spend a few minutes in the oven @ 300 degrees. Laurie suggests cooking the peas with the rice next time. The cherry tomatoes are added at the end and lightly steamed as the paella settles for a few minutes under a clean, damp cloth. You can skip the cherry tomatoes. I just thought they would add a bit of extra color and flavor…which they did. Mmmmmmm…
Arroz de Espana (“Bomba”) is cooked in a classic Spanish paella pan seasoned with EVOO, a fresh minced garlic clove, fish broth, toasted saffron, smoked Spanish paprika, lime zest, tomato sofrito, and just pinch of salt. First it is cooked on the stove top then transferred to the oven @ 300 degrees to finish up.
End result…tasty.
Wine suggestion:
Interested in some tasty wine to go with your dinner?
Check out Purple Corduroy created by a crew from Laguna Beach.
Barcelona Inspired Tuna Salad.
Here’s a quick meal that is filling and good for you too.
Obviously, there is some lettuce under there. The great thing about the salad is you can use whatever lettuce you happen to have in the fridge. This time I used some red leaf and escarole as the base. Then for color, I added a bit of thinly sliced red cabbage. Additionally, for taste and color I included some shaved carrot and fresh cherry tomatoes. Both Laurie and I like cheese, so for tanginess and creaminess, I added some plain goat cheese. Fresh ground black pepper and sea salt were added before the “dressing.” We like a bit of EVOO and some fresh Meyer lemon.
As for the tuna…I always try and keep a few cans of high quality albacore tuna in the pantry for these types of “I don’t really want to cook anything tonight” sort of meals. I always look for the pole caught and individually mecury tested types of canned tuna. Our favorite ones are also cooked in the can. That way you can use the tuna “juice” instead of draining it. Yum!
American Brand Tuna is one of our favorites, but there are others out there that are really good. IF you ever see the America Brand Tuna that is smoked, buy it immediately. It is the ambrosia of tuna. PS–do NOT drain the olive oil. Use it in your mix.
(Unless of course, you don’t care for smoked fish.)
Ok, sorry for the side track…back to the Barcelona “inspired” aspect of the tuna preparation. Here are the spices I like to use: a pinch of roasted garlic powder, enough smoked Spanish paprika* to give it that smoky taste, a dab of mayonnaise, a couple of grinds of black pepper, and some chopped green olives. Mix it all up and you’re done. Preparation can be completed earlier and transferred to the fridge. However, I suggest you take it out 10-15 minutes before serving so it gets a little closer to room temperature. That helps bring out the flavors more.
*A quick note…IF you use smoked tuna, you may want to skip the smoked paprika spice. Unless, you really like smoky flavors
As you can see from the photo, I served the salad with classic Triscuits.
These are so handy to have in the pantry when I want to put together a quick snack or meal and am too lazy to go get some fresh, crusty bread to accompany the meal.
IF you think ahead or can pick up some on the way home, fresh, crusty bread, buttered and toasted really ups the yumminess quotient of this meal. San Diego has a lot of high quality, local bakeries that provide fantastic products. Look around your area for one.
Please, remember to support local businesses and agriculture when you can. They are your neighbors. We all do better, when we all do better.
Cheers and Enjoy!
A Dash of Dill by Alexa Dilley
Here are some pics of her creations.
Want more? Visit her Instagram site @ A Dash of Dill