quinoa

I was inspired by this recipe, and adapted it using the ingredients I had on hand.

Heat some olive oil in a pan, and add a smashed garlic glove—just to infuse the oil with the garlic flavor. Before it gets any color, fish the garlic out and add yellow squash (peeled and sliced lengthwise into 1/4"-thick slices and seasoned with salt & pepper). When the squash is nicely browned on both sides, remove from the pan and set aside. Add to the pan a minced garlic clove and some chopped roasted red peppers, and heat through. Then mix in cooked red quinoa, a few chopped pieces of the yellow squash, and cilantro. Serve over yellow squash slices and garnish with a squeeze of lime and crumbled feta.

root beer float

blueberry-ginger jam

At first glance these two photos look a lot alike... 

but they have different personalities.

The first is savory: ciabatta drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt, and lightly toasted. Topped with ricotta (seasoned with salt & pepper), and blueberry jam.

The second is sweet: anise-flavored pizzelle (waffle cookie), scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, spoonful of jam, and bits of candied ginger.

I found the basic blueberry jam recipe in Real Simple magazine, then embellished it a little with the ginger and Cointreau.

2 cups blueberries

1/4 cup sugar

juice from half a lemon

1/8 tsp kosher salt

splash of Cointreau 

handful of chopped candied ginger

Put everything except the ginger in a pot and mash it up. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer for about 20 minutes (until it gets thick). I added the ginger in about halfway through. Let cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge (it'll keep for a few weeks, but my supply only lasted about 2 days).

that's a wrap

My new favorite sandwich: Spinach wrap, slathered with spicy hummus, and layered with lettuce leaves, a bed of pickled carrots & daikon (made using this recipe), and pile of thinly-sliced roast beef.