The Beauty of Rain and State of the Union

What a change this year. It has been a very wet and temperate spring, so very nice and welcomed. But when it is hot, it is hot! The rain brought out a lot of our flowering plants this year.

 I wish I had more time to spend in the gardens because not only are the flowering plants growing by leaps and bounds, so are the weeds!

 I was very pleased that President Obama put forth his climate change plan. It is scary how much we are doing to harm our planet. And it is scary how we are reverting backwards in time with regard to woman and their rights. I thought I left that behind when I left the male dominated corporate world to move to my own little world. How can these people continue to get away with such bad behavior and lack of knowledge? How can we as individuals make changes?

Sunday, Funday, Foodday

This morning we began the day with brunch at Ironwood Cafe in Southern Pines, followed by a bit of shopping. I purchased several new kitchen gadgets and that put me in the cooking mood, along with the steady but gently falling rain.

We picked up some fresh swordfish, that I grilled on my new stainless steel grill grid (a nice big one this time!). I minced up basil, lemon balm and mint, with some olive oil and lemon juice to brush over it. I also roasted some beets from the garden, with a little leftover quinoa and tomato salad with delicious Feta cheese from Bulgaria, it was a delicious feast.

Swordfish right before it went on the grill, too yummy to stop and take a picture when it was ready to eat!

Tomatillos, peppers, onions, garlic

We have loads of vegetables in the frig after our visit to Super G the other day, my favorite international grocery store in Greensboro (we go there at least every 10 days or so!). I roasted tomatillos, onions, garlic a variety of peppers, then pulsed them in the Cusinart with cilantro, cumin and lime juice. It is delicious as is, but sometimes I'll add some chopped avocado to it. I froze half of it, as it does freeze well.

Finish off with cilantro and lime juice

Yummy tomatillo sauce

I am gluten free, and today we were looking at some sites about traveling in France and Italy, and I came across a recipe for Socco, aka Farinata, a street food in southern France and Italy. It is made by stirring chickpea flour into a mixture of water and olive oil to form a loose batter, and baking it in the open oven. A tin-plated copper baking-pan is used, though I ended up using a stainless pan in the oven at 500! It sits for 2 hours before cooking. Traditionally it  is cut into irregularly shaped triangular slices, and enjoyed (with no toppings) on small plates with sea salt and black pepper. I added grated zucchini, cilantro and red pepper flakes, and baked it in the oven. It is good, I did make it too thick so cooking was a challenge, but hey it was my first time. Definitely a keeper, and I think I'll try it with some other vegetables next time and perhaps do it in one of my tart pans. As well as do one without all my own additions. I cannot be trusted to follow a recipe. Plays well with others, doesn't always follow directions too well.

 I always love to find new GF recipes, that are good!  I am working on perfecting a GF pizza crust that is close to the one made by Against the Grain, on of my fav GF pizzas. Way more cost effective to make your own! It is dairy full, but using almond milk and Manchego you can avoid the dairy effect if need be.

Future Socco

Bon Apetit!!