Salad Inspiration

I am over-the-top picky about blueberries. You would be too if your first ever experience with them was a wild bush growing in the woods of your backyard, the fruit of which was always the perfect balance of sweet and tart, and never bigger than half a centimeter across. New Englanders are blueberry-spoiled.

BUT, I'm able to live in the world of normal blueberries now, having perfected the art of the 'squeeze-and-select' method. My husband is very kind to allow me to eat all the super-firm ones, while he takes my rejects. Waitrose has had some really nice smallish organic ones in stock lately, so we've had a lot of salads with blueberries on them lately. I want to share my favorite combination with you.

Blueberry and Shaved Parmigiano Salad

Mango Lassi, Mango Lad

BECAUSE SOMETIMES YOU NEED A TOTALLY UNSEASONAL TREAT (*all my foodie friends turn up their noses*).

And sometimes Sainsbury's has a buy-one-get-one-free on mangoes.

I know, I know. London is a far cry from India and anywhere tropical. And, sometimes, these fleshy, juicy fruits can be downright unpalatable out of season and region (I never liked mangoes until I had them in season in the middle of the Caribbean. It was the nectar of the Gods). But, when you're broke and looking for something to diversify your produce pile, a buy-one-get-one sale can make you do crazy things. I guess I trusted that the large Indian population in our neighborhood and London's general love and appreciation of Indian fare would mean that they get pretty good mangoes, year round. So, into my cart they went.

I let them sit for a few days until they were just a bit tender-er and let off a sweet aroma. The little drip of syrup that came from the stem bit was a good sign of peak-sweetness, too. :)

Then it was Mango Lassi time. Fruit and sugar and cream and Autumn spices? Ummm yup.

Empanadas!! (deserve two exclamation points)

Grace: Penn, what do you want me to make with this ground beef?

Penn: The only good thing to make with ground beef is a burger.

Grace: The only good burger is on a grill.

Penn: (googlegoogleepicurioussmittenkitchen) Let's make these.

Grace: (the night before a 15,000 word report is due) Okay!

Dipped in creamy cilantro sauce. Best use of frozen shortcrust EVER.

No-Fry Zucchini Fries

Here in England, fries (aka chips) are sold under the category 'Frozen Vegetables' in the grocery store. I know this because I buy my groceries online for delivery to our flat (free delivery is great) and, in that case, one shops by clickable category instead of walkable aisle. This is all to say, as much as I love me some deep fried potatoes, their nutritional value isn't up to snuff.

So, I asked myself, "Self? What is it you like about french-fried potatoes?" The answer was simple:

Salt

and

Grease

When I looked a bit deeper, I also realized that I like the crunchy texture they add alongside my burger. I like dipping them in sauces. I just like.

Tonight's goal, then, was to get a zucchini:

to accomplish the task of a tater. A real veg for a fake one. If we're aiming for nutrition, I also had to give up the grease. No potato, no grease, but I can keep the rest. The result was very pleasing.

Homemade No-Fry Zucchini Fries take more time to assemble than tossing some frozen Ore-Idas onto a baking sheet, but they do not disappoint.

To get started you'll need:

3 medium zucchini (courgettes in the UK)

1 cup plain bread crumbs (I made my own for the first time! Really easy and embarrassing to admit)

3/4 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. smoked paprika

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs (you may get away with one, so you can start with that)

Baguette Apizza

Do I only eat pizza, you ask? Well, in a perfect world and in my version of Heaven, yes. Only good pizza, of course (I affix the prefix "a" to pizza that makes the cut).

So, this "pizza" is really more like bruschetta or an open-face panino, but what the hey.

These were created after a visit to a ten year anniversary celebration at Roots Market in Olney, MD. However, ingredients were items I almost always have on-hand. Just add a freshly baked baguette and you have dinner (or at least a very sharable appetizer).

Assembling these things is not rocket science, but ingredients are vital. For example, I like the firm, fresh mozzarella that comes bobbing around in liquid or that can be plucked directly from the liquid at an olive bar. When combining cheeses along an Italian theme, I like gorgonzola with my mozz. Plain, pitted calamata olives add oodles of flavor to everything and marinated artichoke hearts are divine. As always, fresh herbs are the icing on the savory cake.

I don't need to do much explaining, but here's the play-by-play on putting these babies together.

Easy Springtime Apple-tizer

First of all, I highly recommend blogging while being circled by a Monarch Butterfly. How to Un-stress Grace, by Mother Nature.

Second, I recommend an easy, light recipe to celebrate today's weather perfection. There's a breeze in my hair, sun on my face, and good eats in my belly. The "good eats" of which I speak were a creation inspired by a friend's own creation I enjoyed at the 2010 New Year Extravaganza a few months back (They were delicious, Sarah!). I tweaked the idea little bit just to see what it would taste like. 'Twas good and simple. Good, simple, and beautiful.

How to assemble Happy Spring Apple-tizers: