Mediterranean Za'atar Salad

We've pretty much had the most perfect weather imaginable today. I've spent most of the day outdoors sunning myself, journaling in my baby book, gardening and chasing Mimi around. Unfortunately, I had a routine doctors appointment today which involved fasting and drinking a lemon-lime drink that tasted like flat 7-up. Bleck!! Then I had to sit in the waiting room for a solid hour, which was torture because I kept looking outdoors thinking about the amazing weather.

Yesterday was a different story though folks. It was HOT. I mean as soon as you stepped outside you were sweating. So we loaded up in the car, with the AC on full blast and made a quick trip to the farmer's market to buy a huge box of peaches (oh my goodness, the poor people there were drenched in sweat). I have to freeze them later once they ripen up a bit.

I'm seeing a peach pie post in my future. :)

For now though, I'm going to share a Mediterranean salad with you. I used a za'atar spice blend that I bought from a fancy schmancy spice store. I plan to make my own blend and post the recipe, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I will though, promise!!

Mediterranean Za'tar Salad
Serving Size = 4
Original Recipe

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large cucumber, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup or so of green olives
• 3 teaspoons za'atar blend
• 1 teaspoon sumac
• 2 tablespoons or so of cilantro, roughly chopped
• Roughly 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt/Pepper to taste

1. In a small skillet over medium heat add the olive oil, garlic and za'atar. Cook for a few seconds, until the garlic becomes fragrant. Remove from burner and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, place all of the veggies, cilantro and sumac. Mix well. Add the oil mixture (should have cooled off a bit by now). Add salt/pepper to taste. Mix well and serve.

Linking to: Full Plate Thursday, Potluck Friday, Foodie Fridays, Simply Delish

Green Bean Salad with Dijon Dressing

A few weeks ago I saw this recipe on Casondra's blog and I wanted to give it a try. But first, I had to wait for my green beans to grow in my garden. They eventually did and now I have tons (which I have to can, don't remind me). I picked out the nicest looking beans and set them aside for this recipe. The rest were snapped and are waiting to go into canning jars. I didn't follow this recipe exactly, mostly because I didn't have all of the ingredients, and some of the ingredients (the feta) would be picked around my husband. He's not a feta fan. Anyway, the recipe was delicious and adding new ingredients just shows the versatility. It's impossible to mess up and you can combine any flavors to match your meal. 

Actually, the entire dinner yesterday was delicious. It was one of those memorable dinners that we will look back on and make comments about. We were going to grill steaks outdoors because it's 40,000 degrees with high humidity here (heating the house is a no-no). But it started to storm, bien sur. I won't lie, I hate storms and rain. I want to be outside, see the sunshine, or sleep in bed without flashing lights in my window. Yesterday was probably one of the very few times that I didn't mind the storm though, even if it interfered with my BBQ. The temperature was insane. So this brought in some cooler weather which allowed me to bake today (yay!!!!!).

Dinner Menu:

• Ribeye steaks, indoors (salt, pepper and a touch of onion powder)
• Swiss chard (remove the steaks from the pan to rest, drain excess oil if there is any, add a little bit of chicken stock to the pan to deglaze it, then some minced garlic, add the chard and a touch of salt/pepper and cover with a lid until wilted)
• Cheesy mashed potatoes
• Green bean salad

Trim the beans

Mix the veggies and dressing

Green Bean Salad with Dijon Dressing

Serving Size = 2 - 3

Original Recipe: Pieces of my Heaven on Earth (I made several changes, so check out her recipe)

• Fresh green beans (as many as you want, I just grabbed two or three huge handfuls), trim the ends off (the ones that attach to the plant)
• 1/2 cup of diced cucumber
• 2 - 3 roma tomatoes
• 1/4 cup or so of rinsed chick peas

*You can also add red onion and feta cheese

1. Place the trimmed green beans into a pot and add water, bring to boil and cook for 8 minutes, or until crisp but tender. Immediately remove from pan and place into a cold ice bath to stop the cooking.
2. Add the other veggies to the dressing (recipe below) and mix. Place the green beans onto a serving platter, top with the veggies and dressing. 

Dijon Dressing

• 3 - 4 tablespoons oil (I used grapeseed)
• 1 - 2 tablespoons or so of apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• Salt (don't skimp or it will be flavorless)
• Pepper
• Pinch of sugar (optional)

*This is a rough guess. First, I like to use a lot of dressing, and second, I just add to taste. Some people like lots of vinegar, others don't.  

1. Whisk everything together and adjust to taste. Remember to add plenty of salt, this will give the dressing more flavor.

Mediterranean Eggplant Steaks and Orzo Salad with Walnuts

The other day I was trying to think of something for dinner. It had to be vegetarian because I didn't get out any meat to thaw and I wasn't about to go to the store. Since shopping was out, that also meant that I had to use what was in the good ol' pantry. I was patting myself on the back all night after this meal. Not only was it budget friendly, made from scratch, extremely healthy, planned at the last minute, but the flavor was wonderful and no one complained about the lack of meat. Wait, wait --- I have to pat myself on the back again. hehehe Ok, ok..... I have to be honest, not everyone was thrilled with the meal. My 2-year-old would have nothing to do with it. But she's a picky eater and doesn't eat the majority of what I make anyway, so we can just ignore that.

By the way, I am amazed with her vocabulary lately. She went from speaking very little, to saying more new words than I can count in the last 2 weeks. Every day she says something new. It amazes me the difference a week or two can make in a 2-year-olds life.

This is completely random, but I took this picture and I absolutely love it. The bug sat on the flower right next to me and I was able to get a clear picture. I'll post more random photos later (I have tons of garden pics), but for now we can actually get to the food. :)

Remember the beast (cast iron grill)? When I pick this
up, the only thing I can think about is how I would lose
my foot if I dropped it. Yikes.

Onions, banana peppers and a pepperoncini pepper

Artistic close-up :)

Spinach mixture

Top the eggplant

Breadcrumbs and parsley

Once brown, remove from oven

Mediterranean Eggplant Steaks

Serving Size = 2 - 3

Adapted From

• 1 eggplant, cut lengthwise, 1 inch (I would cut them smaller)
• 1 box of frozen spinach, thawed and drained (9 oz)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt/Pepper
• 4 very small peppers, chopped (banana peppers) or 1 roasted red pepper chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Handful of pitted olives, diced (I used green)
• 1 onion, chopped (I used the white part of the spring onions pictured above and reserved the green part for the orzo salad)
• Hummus (roughly 15 oz)
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs, panko + 1 - 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. I made my hummus, so click here for the recipe.
3. Get out your monster grill and heat it up. Brush the eggplant slices with EVOO, sprinkle on salt and pepper and grill until tender (ALMOST cooked completely, but a little undercooked). 
4. In a large skillet, add some oil and cook the onion and peppers until they soften a bit. Add the garlic and spinach, mix until combined. Add the green olives and remove from heat.
5. Place the eggplant slices on a baking sheet and top each one with the spinach mixture. Then top that with a few tablespoons each of hummus (you can't have too much). Then mix together the breadcrumbs, parsley, and 1 - 2 tablespoons of EVOO (just eye it). Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top.
6. Bake until the breadcrumbs are brown and toasted (5 or 10 mins).

Fresh oregano

Mix and serve

Orzo Salad with Walnuts

Serving Size = 3 - 4

Adapted From

• 1 cup of orzo
• Water (cooking orzo is like cooking spaghetti, fill a pot with enough water to cover the orzo well)
• Broccoli (as much as you want)
• 1 cup or so of toasted walnuts
• 3 stems of fresh oregano, chopped
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced (I didn't have much lemon juice, so I replaced it with apple cider vinegar)
• 1 tomato, chopped (I skipped it)
• 2 tablespoons of EVOO (or almond, grapeseed or avocado oil)
• Salt/Pepper
• Onion, thinly sliced (I used spring onions, only the green part reserved from above recipe)
• Feta (I skipped it, but add to taste if you want)

1. Bring water to a boil, add some salt and add the orzo, cook uncovered for 9 minutes, or until al dente, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, drain and let cool (I start grilling the eggplant after this). 
2. Chop up the veggies and add to a bowl with the orzo. Toast the nuts and let them cool, then chop and add. Mix together the lemon juice or vinegar and oil, add some salt and pepper (a pinch of sugar if you like) and pour over the mixture. Add the oregano and mix well.
3. Serve at room temperature or cold.

Linking to: Foodie Friday, Weekend Roundup