I've made a few local dinners recently that I was pretty excited about; obviously sparked by my weekly trips with Stephanie to the farmer's market. One night I made a salad and "pretentious panini," finished off with a nice bottle of wine from Trader Joes (I wish I had a local wine on hand; note to self; buy plenty of Michigan wines while on wine tour in September). It's almost too pretty to eat (but don't worry, I did).
The salad consisted of baby greens, grape tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, Michigan dried cherries, and a little seasoning salt and pepper (I don't really eat dressings). It probably could have used a few Zingerman croutons for crunch, but I was out, C'est la vie.
Next was my pretentious panini. Have I mentioned that I'm in love with panini? I recently bought the
Cuisinart Griddler (mostly for Brad - he's obsessed with hot sandwiches), and it's probably the best kitchen purchase I've made in a really long time. If you're a foodie like myself, do not delay. Go buy one immediately (and get a really sweet deal at Kohl's like I did: only $89 and free shipping!) Why pretentious you might ask? Well that's just my term for "fancy" grilled cheese. You know how in most restaurants these days, they have a
Three Cheese Grill or some other crazy combination of things stuffed into bread? But when it comes down to it, it's still just grilled cheese? Anyway, mine consisted of pesto spread on Zingerman's rustic italian, then layered with market tomatoes and fresh Zingerman's creamery mozarella. It really is divine.
Finally, I made a quick pasta salad last night that tasted much better than I'd expected. I mixed up some small cooked pasta shells, local shelled peas (raw), more pickling cucumber and grape tomatoes, a few small chunks of Monterrey jack cheese, a light Italian vinaigrette, and then spread the whole thing in a bowl lined with local greens. The raw peas really added an unexpected sweetness and crunch.
Eating local can seem scary at first (why did I buy shell peas and what am I going to do with them? I hate shell peas!), but once you start throwing things together, it's amazing what the end result can be (not that I haven't had my own share of food failures too). Get out there and get cooking people; it's so much better for you than processed food.
The salad consisted of baby greens, grape tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, Michigan dried cherries, and a little seasoning salt and pepper (I don't really eat dressings). It probably could have used a few Zingerman croutons for crunch, but I was out, C'est la vie.
Next was my pretentious panini. Have I mentioned that I'm in love with panini? I recently bought the Cuisinart Griddler (mostly for Brad - he's obsessed with hot sandwiches), and it's probably the best kitchen purchase I've made in a really long time. If you're a foodie like myself, do not delay. Go buy one immediately (and get a really sweet deal at Kohl's like I did: only $89 and free shipping!) Why pretentious you might ask? Well that's just my term for "fancy" grilled cheese. You know how in most restaurants these days, they have a Three Cheese Grill or some other crazy combination of things stuffed into bread? But when it comes down to it, it's still just grilled cheese? Anyway, mine consisted of pesto spread on Zingerman's rustic italian, then layered with market tomatoes and fresh Zingerman's creamery mozarella. It really is divine.
Finally, I made a quick pasta salad last night that tasted much better than I'd expected. I mixed up some small cooked pasta shells, local shelled peas (raw), more pickling cucumber and grape tomatoes, a few small chunks of Monterrey jack cheese, a light Italian vinaigrette, and then spread the whole thing in a bowl lined with local greens. The raw peas really added an unexpected sweetness and crunch.
Eating local can seem scary at first (why did I buy shell peas and what am I going to do with them? I hate shell peas!), but once you start throwing things together, it's amazing what the end result can be (not that I haven't had my own share of food failures too). Get out there and get cooking people; it's so much better for you than processed food.
1 comment:
Did you sign up for One Local Summer??? This would be a perfect post for it!
Mmmm. Maybe I will make a zing mozz grilled cheese for lunch!
Post a Comment