Bruschetta Salad

Bruschetta is pure magic. We can all agree on it. If you’re at some sort of Italian restaurant, and they don’t offer some sort of bruschetta or bruschetta-based appetizer, you end up feeling slightly cheated, because Bruschetta Is Magic.

But what if we started deconstructing these dishes that we love so much? What if we replaced the grilled bread with wonderful, glorious mozzarella cheese?

Then you would have this amazing side dish, which blew the heck out of my mind and went like gangbusters alongside those fabulous little stuffed mushroom sliders from a few days back. (DW)

4 medium sized tomatoes, diced
1 handful of basil, chopped (based on preference)
¼ cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pkg of fresh mozzarella cheese, drained, and thinly sliced
Salt, to taste
Balsamic vinegar



In a medium bowl, add tomatoes, basil, onion, garlic, and olive oil. Mix until combined. Refrigerate for 1 hour, to allow all flavors to marinate together.



On a flat serving tray, lay the mozzarella cheese slices in rows (overlapping slightly) until the serving tray is covered. Sprinkle a small amount of salt, to taste, over mozzarella cheese. Spoon the tomato mixture over the mozzarella cheese. Drizzle Balsamic Vinegar over the cheese and tomatoes. Serve immediately. (AW)

4-Cheese Spinach Mushrooms Sliders

There are honestly times where I wish I had the strength and endurance to be a vegetarian. I look at friends of mine who are vegetarians, and they seem so at peace with the world. They look healthy, and friendly, and they’re only occasionally smug about it.

I also know some vegans. Those people can’t eat cheese, however, and I can’t stress how much that bums me out. This post isn’t for them.

Who is this post for? It’s for the vegetarians who know, deep down in their hearts, that they’re missing out on the Culture of the Barbecue.

Because, make no mistake about it, that’s what is...a Culture. Standing around a hot grill, draining a ice cold Blue Moon, and burning the high holy crap out of some brats or a burger.

So you can imagine my shock and surprise that such a meat-focused culture is so easily translatable into purely plant-based terms. But that, of course, is the magic of my wife, who I’m 98.8% sure is some sort of wizard.

By the way, I’ve never been a fan of sliders, but I’ll allow these because they’re so dang tasty. Also, what if we started calling midgets “sliders”? That would be funny, yeah? (DW)

8 baby portabella mushrooms
5 oz frozen spinach, defrosted, and drained of any excess liquid
4 tablespoons cream cheese
4 tablespoons feta cheese
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons green onion
1 clove of garlic, minced
Salt & Pepper, to taste
8 Slider Buns

Clean and remove the stems from the portabella mushrooms.

In a medium bowl, mix defrosted spinach, cream cheese, feta cheese, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, green onion, garlic, salt and pepper.

Spoon equal portions of spinach-cheese mixture into each of the portabella mushrooms. Grill on BBQ for 5-10 minutes, or until mushroom is tender (I grill my mushrooms on a piece of aluminum foil).

Serve on toasted slider buns.

*These mushrooms can also be served without the slider bun as an appetizer (AW)

Farm Fresh to You Friday!

Here is what we get in our Farm Fresh to You delivery this week: Yellow Peaches, Oranges, Tomatoes, Galia Musk Melon, Blueberries, Bing Cherries, Baby Broccoli, Beets, Cauliflower, Arugula, Snap Peas, Rosemary, Yellow Onion, Sweet Gypsy Peppers

We have been so busy lately, that we have not really had time to blog. I am hoping next week that will change. I have lots of good ideas for dinner thanks to our fruit and veggie delivery this week! I plan on making salmon with a caprece salad (tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), blueberry pancakes, a roasted beet salad served with arugula and an orange champagne vinaigrette (it sounds fancier then it really is!), and some stuffed peppers. Can’t wait for all of this good food!

Now let’s just hope we have time to make it all and report back to you on how it came out! Have a great weekend. (AW)

Our night: Nachos. Eating them straight off the pan. Lost finale.

Farm Fresh to You Friday!

Here is what we got in our Farm Fresh To You Delivery this week: Oranges, Peaches, Corn, Avocados, Romaine Lettuce, Carrots, Lemons, Strawberries, Apricots, Broccoli, Zucchini, Bok Choy, Cabbage, Baby Lettuce, Beets, Celery, Onion.

Tonight for dinner, I made some fresh herb chicken, spicy sugar snap peas, and fingerling potatoes (recipes will be posted soon). The sugar snap peas, and the the fingerling potatoes were the last two items I had to use from our deliver two weeks ago. Now I am ready to use my new fruits and vegetables that arrived today!

I was so excited to see apricots and peaches in our box this week. I had already eaten two apricots before I even got all of the fruits and vegetables unpacked from the box. I think I will make some whole wheat pancakes with fresh strawberries on top for dinner one night this week. Who doesn't like breakfast for dinner!? I also have some ribs that I am going to BBQ, and then grill the corn to go on the side. (AW)

Ham & Asparagus Wraps with Pasta

My husband has to work almost every night this week. So I thought I would share with you what a typical dinner looks like when I cook for myself. First off, when cooking for myself, I don't generally worry about if the food works together. I cook what I feel like eating and what needs to be used up in our refrigerator. A typical dinner could be broccoli, tater tots, and a fried egg. But if thats what I feel like eating, that is what I cook!

Tonight I knew I needed to use some asparagus and mushrooms that were getting close to spoiling, and I felt like eating pasta. This is what I created.

First I made some Ham & Asparagus wraps that we usually serve as appetizers in our family.

First you boil some asparagus until tender. Once cooked, drain the asparagus and immediately run cold water over it to stop the cooking process. After the asparagus is cool, take a piece of deli ham, spread some cream cheese on the ham, and then wrap it around the asparagus. Its that easy. And trust me, these are yummy and addicting to eat.

Next, I made some buttered pasta with mushrooms. First you boil your pasta until cooked. Drain the pasta. Add butter and garlic powder to the hot pasta and mix until butter is melted. Add sauteed mushrooms, asparagus, and parmesan cheese.

This was a great, easy dinner for one! (AW)

Caramelita Bars

The reaction this dessert gets is what I love about this one.

You see, I love when Amy bakes. She has an innate gift, or some sort of crazy killer instinct when it comes to baking treats. I am convinced that the job I have now was less earned by my general merit and more earned by the baking Amy would do for the people who would ultimately hire me. That's what good baking/cooking does, in essence: it tips the scales.

We had a Gigantic Worship Rock Concert at the church I work at last weekend, and Amy baked several treats for the army of volunteers helping load in amps and stage lifts. I think one of my boss's kids said it best: "It's like Turkish Delight."

Think about that reaction for a second; Turkish Delight. A reference to a sinful addiction that leads to the corruption and eventual downfall of a young child in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

I can live with that. (DW)

I always see these cookie bars in Starbucks or other coffee shops. When I ran saw this recipe on the Sister's Cafe blog, I decided to try to make them. I made 1.5 times the recipe and baked it in a 13x9" pan, instead of the 11x7" pan they say in the directions. I tell you what, these bars where a huge hit with everyone that ate them. They all raved about how good these were!

1 cup flour
1 cup oats
¾ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter, melted
1 cup chocolate chips
½ pecans
¾ cup caramel topping
3 tablespoons flour

Mix all flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and butter until well combined. Press ½ the mixture into an 11x7 pan, and set the other ½ of the mixture aside. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle chocolate chips and pecans on top of the crust. Blend the ¾ cup caramel topping with 3 tablespoons flour. Drizzle on top of chocolate chips and pecans. Sprinkle the rest of the oat/flour mixture on top of the caramel. Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes or until light brown. Allow to cool before slicing.