I heart podcasts.

I podcast KCRW's Good Food now. It's hard for me to keep up weekly, but I listen to, oh, four in a row when I'm spending Saturday cleaning the apt. One of the more recent ones I heard (which means it could've been from July or February...) had the greatest three words I have ever heard in the history of cooking: triple blanched garlic! Hopefully I'm not way behind on the times and this is something everyone is already doing, but what a fantastically fantastic idea! I hate mincing garlic and getting my fingers all garlicky sticky, I'm usually so impatient I burn it, and who wants to wait an hour to roast those suckers in the oven? All you gotta do is triple blanch it and the "harshness gets leeched out". Brilliant.

These lovely three words inspired a dinner, which I then replicated for a stay-at-home lunch. (God bless proposal writing). I triple blanched the garlic and just threw it under the broiler for good measure as my tomatoes got a nice char, but maybe that step was unnecessary. Then mashed it lovingly with a fork and added a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Loved it so much that I replicated it for a supper club meal. Photos to come.


Herbed chicken breast (at home I used italian seasonings mix, at Tyson's I used some of his roommate's Herb de provence which he brought home from Paris)-- seared on high high heat for 2 min per side, then finished off in a 325 oven for about 15 min, rested on the cutting board for another few min before slicing

And the piece de resistance: rustic roasted tomatoes and mashed garlic. It's so yummy you'll want to marry it. I sliced a variety of tomatoes (cherry, grape, heirloom, some from TJ's, some from fmrs' mkt, some from Kami's yard) and stuck them under the broiler for about 10 min. Drained excess liquid. Added the smashed garlic with extra virgin olive oil. Dash of salt and a chiffonade of basil for color.

Cool snack for a hot day.

Fruit Salad: ripe yellow peach, ripe banana, toss of blueberries.
served with TJ's lowfat cottage cheese in the large tub with green print.

Food on a busy schedule.

So busy.

So this week, I am catching up from work from last week, frantically writing conference proposals, doing professional development 35 miles away, having extended talks with the parents, and trying to go through the laundry that's needed to be folded for, oh, six weeks.

Needless to say, I've had to do a lot of eating on the go. And a lot of scrounging in the fridge.

New fun concoction for dinner tonight: tofu salad.

Extra firm tofu, chopped
frozen corn, thawed in a quick rinse of boiling water
arugula
micro greens
chili oil
furikake

Pretty tasty. Didn't take photos because I ate it too fast.

You can definitely take this city girl out of the city... for this!

During my week hiatus here at Tyson's parents house in Grand Junction, Colorado, I've gotten the opportunity to prepare food in a way that just trumps my bidaily Trader Joe's runs. There is this gorgeous vegetable garden here, with tons of lettuces, swiss chard, kohlrabi, carrots, kale, heirloom tomatoes, cilantro, oregano, basil, mint... quite the orgasm of healthy eating, if you ask me.

It's tough to get internet time here, but I had to do a quick blog post with photos, since it's just marvelous!

Here's me in the garden with my awesome straw fedora and breezy summer dress, harvesting lettuces for a big 4th of July dinner in Beaver Creek with Tyson's extended family.

(Quick city girl story: first time I did this, Tyson's mom told me to pick some lettuce, I asked how, she gave me some scissors and a bag, I stared at her blankly, then she grabbed a bunch and snipped at the base, and I asked "oh, so you just cut it off?")

Here are the veggies of my labor (get it?? ha!).

The harvested lettuce being thoroughly rinsed in a sink of cold water. Makes you appreciate that lovely triple-washed bagged stuff that only costs $1.99. Though there is a sense of accomplishment here (and the freshness of just-picked, of course).

And a final whirl in the salad spinner.

Just had to show off my new engagement ring in this photo. There it is!