Sunday night blahs after a nice outing

In spite of the fact that the only hits on the blog I'm getting are from zombie sites, I continue to do this.

I went with my friend Kathy to the Mission Restaurant today in Syracuse.  Our behind the scenes tour of the new exhibit at the Everson Museum with the curator through the Arts and Crafts Society of Central New York was cancelled but we decided to go for brunch and visit the museum anyway.  The restaurant is really charming - it's in a old church that was once part of the underground railroad.  The food was good but there was too much
 cumin in the huevos rancheros for my taste.  The quesadillas were delicious.

The exhibit is really wonderful - definitely go if you love arts and crafts (Gustav Stickley) furniture, period clothing and amazing pottery from the early 20th century.









 I have the Sunday night blahs but since I need to eat I am heating up some chicken riggies that I got from Emilio's, roasting an organic tomato with Parmesan and fresh basil and parsley from the garden, and asparagus with a sprinkling of garlic, sea salt and pepper. For someone who couldn't tolerate asparagus as a child, I've been eating an inordinate amount of it once I discovered roasting it instead of boiling it until it was a mushy mess - oh the 50's.

I added chopped onion, parsley and some hot peppers to the riggies to spice it up.

Here it is, all ready to go in the oven and the microwave. 

 It's a good dinner but I still have the blahs.

Flooding

I woke up today to water in my basement but it was nothing compared to what so many are dealing with.  I am so saddened at the thought of what they have lost compared to my aggravation at having to sweep water from the basement into the drain, set up the portable sump pump, move the de-humidifer around. It's just unbelievable and I feel so fortunate.

Late night

I still haven't adjusted to the time change or perhaps I should be living in Europe.  So it's an easy meal tonight. The last of the water cress soup, an oregano bruschetta topped with brie and fig spread.  Raw vegetables:  carrots, celery, radishes, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes.  Except for the brie, I'm feeling pretty righteous. 

I'

I'm taking a poll.....how many of you eat at the computer like I do?

Royal India Grill

After visiting my parents one day I stopped by Royal India Grill in Hamilton for lunch.  They have a buffet daily and it is filled with lots of delicious goodies....vegetarian and not.  The owners and servers are very gracious and eager to please and lunch is only about $8.  Not bad for eating as much as you want!  Which I obviously did.....

Nature's beauty

Tonight I'm pan frying a flounder filet in olive oil with some seasonings and lemon, of course.  Not taking a picture of that since I posted one already when I made fish tacos (leftovers for tacos tomorrow night - yay!).

What I did want to post was this beautiful salad - organic cherry tomatoes, red onion, baby cucumber, and lovely fresh parsley, cilantro and Thai basil from my garden with a homemade dressing of rice vinegar, dried mustard, garlic, and seasonings.  

I put on my green garden shoes to go pick the herbs and discovered that a huge branch from my mother's memorial Red Bud had broken off in the violent thunder storm we had today.  Sigh.  My friend Kathy kept telling me she was afraid it was going to happen from the design of the trunk and indeed it did. 

And in case you're wondering, I roasted asparagus in olive oil with seasonings, and nuked some leftover potatoes for a meal of all food groups:  vegetables, fish, starch. And I suppose fruit since technically tomatoes are a fruit.

Watercress soup

Went grocery shopping today at Hannaford's and they had watercress!   This wonderful food is not readily available around here so it's a treat to find it.  Watercress is an excellent source of vitamins A, C & K and a good source of calcium.  Score!  It wasn't organic but no preservatives were added - I washed it thoroughly in a colander and removed the tough stems.

Here's the recipe for four servings:  Dice one onion and one potato and add to heated oil in your soup pan.  I have begun using coconut oil for its health benefits. Work the oil through the vegetables and then cover and simmer for five minutes.

Add two cups of chicken broth and a cup of milk (I cheated and used half and half) and your seasonings.  I used a blend of sea salt, cracked black pepper and garlic that I bought at the Sherrill Farmer's Market the other day from Goat Orchard Farms (www.goatchardfarms.com).  I also squeezed some fresh lemon juice into it.

Bring the vegetables to a boil and then simmer uncovered for ten minutes until the potatoes are tender.  In reviewing multiple recipes on the internet, I discovered that you can use wine or vegetable broth, change up the quantities of everything.  Adjust it to your taste and preference.  It's all good. 

Add the watercress (I also threw in some organic baby spinach) and simmer for four to five minutes until the watercress is tender. The recipe I found called for a pound - the package I got was only four ounces so it's probably not as green as it could be.


Get out your immersion blender and blend until smooth.  That didn't go so smoothly, however. The watercress and spinach kept sticking to the blender!


You can eat this healthy soup hot or cold.  On a hot day like today, it's very refreshing to have cold but I can't wait for it to chill as it's 7 p.m. already.  I'm having a locally baked pumpernickel roll with it.  Time to eat!

Many people would prefer a nice chilled white wine.....I'm just a dry red person no matter
what's being served.  Or not.

And isn't this Tudor Rose soup bowl from Dalton's (www.daltons.com) just perfect?

Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms

I've spent this glorious day pretty much inside doing laundry, relocating winter clothes, moving house plants out to the porch for some additional light, making tapas for Father's Day.  Dirtying dishes, washing dishes, dirtying dishes, washing dishes.  I need a sous chef!  When it came time for dinner I hardly felt like making anything but rose to the occasion.

I had two organic portabella mushrooms so decided to stuff them for dinner.  Wash and dry the mushrooms, remove the stems and set aside.  Spray the mushroom caps on both sides with olive oil, sprinkle on some salt and pepper and place in a hot skillet for three minutes each side.

While they're cooking, chop up your vegetables or whatever you want to stuff them with.  Be creative!  I chopped two cloves of garlic, some red onion, and a few sun dried tomatoes, some chopped parsley, and a few odds and ends of cooked shrimp. 

When the mushrooms are done, remove them from the pan, add a little olive oil and saute the vegetables for about three minutes.  I add the garlic at the end so it doesn't burn.  Next, add about 1/4 cup of bread crumbs to the pan and about 1/4 cup of reduced fat shredded mozzarella.  Cook for another minute. 

Using a spoon stuff the mushrooms which you've put on a baking sheet.  Add some more mozzarella to the top.  And this is what they look like before they're popped into a 350 degree oven.






Bake for 5 to 10 minutes until the cheese has browned.  When they were ready, I included some sliced tomatoes and a piece of multigrain artisan bread.  And a glass of red wine, of course.

Glad I took the time to cook - it was delicious!