Parmesan Roasted Zucchini

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Happy July!  The holiday is upon us and I know people everywhere are preparing to beach it, grill it, chill it and of course, drink it!  This used to be the case for us until a certain little someone came along. :)  Now we are home before the fireworks, which is just fine by this momma.  Last year Ayden was just shy of 5 months old on the 4th of July and we tried to watch the fireworks but the poor guy was falling asleep on us.  We packed it up, headed home and beat the crowds.  Winning!

To date, my most popular and most pinned recipe on Pinterest is my White Wine Sangria, pictured above, which is perfect for patriotic holidays like Independence Day!  Today I'm sharing with you an equally delicious and easy recipe that would be great for any gathering or holiday.  Last week while I was making dinner with a hungry toddler clinging to my legs I had the inspiration to make a quick appetizer to hold us over until dinner was ready.  We had some zucchini sitting in the crisper that was just begging to be used up, and after a quick toss with olive oil and parm it was ready to roast.

Toddler approved!

This would be a perfect appetizer or side dish for the summer months.  Chop up any leftovers and toss it into pasta salad - it's delicious cold!  Served with white wine sangria you're sure to please the crowds.  ;)

Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

XO

Parmesan Roasted Zucchini
| Prep: 5 mins. | Bake: 5-7 mins. |
3 small/medium zucchini, ends trimmed
2 tbsp. olive oil
Grated parmesan
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, then in half lengthwise again.  Toss in olive oil.  Arrange on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, pepper and a generous amount of parmesan.  Roast 5-7 minutes, or until desired tenderness.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

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Gobble Gobble!!  One of my favorite holidays is just four days away, and I couldn't be more excited!  We are hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, and I've been planning and organizing for weeks now. It's still not entirely fall-ish weather wise, but at least it isn't 90+ degrees like it was a few weeks ago!  My scarves got to make a brief appearance on a couple of early mornings, but my boots have yet to see the light of day this year.

I know it's cliche, but I've really been thinking about my many blessings recently.  We are so fortunate to live the life we live.  All too often we see horrible reports of heartbreak and chaos from around the globe, and it's easy to fall into a negative mindset.  I've made a great effort to focus on the amazing positives in my life, and every day is better for it.  I'm so grateful beyond words for my sweet little blossoming family and cannot believe I have the privilege of being Robert's wife and Ayden's momma.  I'm so thankful for my job, my friends, my extended family near and far, and for YOU, my sweet readers.  Thank you for welcoming me into your homes and lives and for being such a supportive and loving audience.  I just love ya!

One of the essential sides at Thanksgiving is the cranberry sauce.  Typically it's an afterthought that we hurriedly buy pre-made at the market, but this year is going to be different.  On a whim last night I grabbed some organic fresh cranberries and announced to Hubby "I'm making cranberry sauce!" He wasn't as enthused as I, but that's alright.  My father-in-law looooooves the cranberry sauce that my sweet sis-in-law makes, so hopefully this one gets his stamp of approval on Thursday.  :)  This recipe is very similar to hers, only with fresh cranberries and a few tweaks.

One of the best things about this is that you can make it ahead, freeze it, and thaw it the day before Turkey Day!  Woohoo!  When it comes to making Thanksgiving dinner, timing is everything, and if you can make something in advance do it. 

Here's wishing you and yours a warm and healthy Thanksgiving!  I can't wait to report back with photos from Ayden's attempts at eating turkey and stuffing.  ;)

XO!

Cranberry Sauce with Apples and Oranges
| Prep: 10 mins. | Cook: 15-20 mins. |
16 oz fresh cranberries
3/4 c water
2/3 c sugar
3 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1 orange, small diced with rind
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 apple, unpeeled, small diced


Rinse cranberries and place in a medium saucepan.  Pour in approx 3/4 c of water (just enough to see it, but not cover the berries).  Set aside.  meanwhile, wash and dry the orange and apple.  Dice the orange, flesh and rind.  Add to the cranberries and water.  Add in sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon and bring to a simmer.   Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until berries have burst and sauce has thickened (approx 15-20 mins or so).  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Allow sauce to cool completely.

While sauce is cooling, dice the apple.  Add to cooled cranberry sauce and stir to combine.  At this point transfer the sauce to a freezer zip top bag if you plan to freeze.  Thaw in the fridge for 24 hours prior to serving.  Enjoy!

Asparagus and Heirloom Tomato Salad with Basil Goat Cheese

Pin It Now! I just love Farmer's Markets, don't you?  I love wandering around the various booths and admiring all of the gorgeous local produce and flowers, listening to the (usually many) local musicians and learning about how the vendors grow their produce or make their products.

When I walked by the Drake Family Farms booth I couldn't help myself...  I just had to sample their goat cheese.  They had several to choose from and I was really torn between the cranberry walnut (it was knock your socks off good) and the basil.  I went with the basil and immediately began shopping for things to pair with it.

The asparagus is quickly blanched to preserve its beautiful color, and when combined with a simple lemon dressing and sweet heirlooms this salad is sure to be a springtime favorite.  Try it with your next BBQ, pasta night, pizza night or even toss it with some brown rice or quinoa and make it a meal.  Delish!

Asparagus and Heirloom Tomato Salad
|Serves: 2| Prep time: 10 mins.|
1 bunch asparagus
1 large heirloom tomato, sliced
juice of half a lemon
olive oil
salt & pepper
Basil goat cheese

Fill a medium stockpot with water and set to boil.  Set up an ice bath in a large bowl and set aside.  In the meantime, trim the end of the asparagus and then cut the stalks in about 2" sections.  Cook the asparagus for about 2 minutes in the boiling water.  Remove the asparagus and immediately place in the ice bath to stop the cooking process.  Allow to cool thoroughly.  Slice the tomato into 1/2" thick slices.

To make the dressing, combine the juice of half of a lemon with about 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Combine asparagus, tomato slices and dressing and toss gently.  Serve topped with crumbled goat cheese.

Classic Devilled Eggs {Easter Weekend}

Pin It Now! Happy belated Easter!!  How was your Easter weekend?  Spring has been so beautiful, hasn't it?  Here in Southern California we have been enjoying very mild, sun-filled days.  Hubby and I have been soaking up the beauty on long walks on the cliffs overlooking the beach...  tough life, right?

We do have some pretty enviable views around here, that's for sure.

What are your Easter traditions?  We may not have kids yet (apparently Chico doesn't count.  bah.) but we are definitely kids at heart and had a great time dying Easter eggs.  Is it just me, or do those little tablets never dissolve entirely??  Anyone??  I always forget that the purple ones are completely defunct and end up ruining an egg.  Come on, Paas, get it together.  

Easter Eggs... they just don't know it yet.

Households everywhere are completely overrun with hard-boiled eggs after the holiday.  I'm sure there are a lot of egg salad sandwiches being packed into lunches this week.  I'm definitely not reinventing the wheel with today's recipe.  Just classic devilled eggs - but, boy, are they delicious.  These babies are dangerous.  I admit I ate a couple while making them.  You won't tell, right?

No Easter egg collection is complete without a Mudder egg!

I hope your spring is off to a beautiful start!  See you on the other side of egg overload.  :)

Fancy pants, eh??

Classic Devilled Eggs

8 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced in half

2 tsp mustard (whatever variety you like)

2 tsp sweet pickle relish

2 tbs mayonnaise

salt & pepper

Lightly squeeze the sliced eggs to pop the yolk out into a small bowl.  Add the mustard, relish and mayo and mix until smooth.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Pipe the mixture into the eggs if you feel fancy, or spoon it in and attack them. 

Rosemary Balsamic Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Pin It Now! Sweet potatoes.  You either love 'em, or hate 'em.  I happen to love them.  I'll take them any way I can get them; baked, boiled & mashed, tossed in olive oil & roasted... or the truly sinful sweet potato fries.  Sweet potato fries send me into a feign-like frenzy, so if you're around when a basket of those are involved I recommend you keep your hands a safe distance away.

Today's post, however, isn't about sweet potato fries.  It's about the delicious balance between tangy balsamic and sweet, creamy sweet potatoes, complimented by earthy, aromatic rosemary.  Oh my, that sounded romantic, didn't it?

Pretty mixing bowls make everything taste better.

This was so simple to put together, they were in the oven roasting away in no time.  Hmm, maybe this could be doctored up into a sweet potato salad?  I'm open to ideas!  I used two pretty large potatoes, which yielded enough for about 4 servings.


Rosemary Balsamic Roasted Sweet Potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
salt & pepper
Rosemary (dried or fresh - I used about 2 tsp dried)
3 tbsp Balsamic vinegar, more or less depending on your preference

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Lightly spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.
Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl until potatoes are completely coated.
Spread out on the baking sheet in a single layer.  Roast for approx 35 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Our White Christmas in Santa Fe and Dad's Fried Green Tomatoes

Pin It Now! We're back!  I hope your Christmas was joyful and happy.  We spent ours with my family in Santa Fe, New Mexico and had a gorgeous white Christmas.  I have a major fixation with snowmen and on Christmas day we spent a good hour (two?!) making my very first snowman in the back yard.  Aint he cute?!

Mom and I got to spend lots of time together in the kitchen, our favorite, and even tried our hand at making a wreath.  A restaurant in Albuquerque had their wreaths hung flat on the ceilings and it was so pretty!  So we took inspiration from that and hung ours from the dining room chandelier.  Here's the finished product:



Not bad for first timers, eh??



The logs across the ceiling are "vigas," and are very common in Southwestern architecture.
Grandpa C. built the house with his own hands, lifting each end of every (very heavy!) viga himself!

 Now on to the recipe for today...  My dad had told me some time back that he was enjoying green tomatoes from their garden.  Up until about a year ago I wouldn't touch tomatoes of any kind or color with a ten foot pole.  I was always that pain in the neck girl that told the server "I'm allergic" to keep them from tainting my salads with the wretched things.  I'm not sure what prompted my venturing out, but I started giving them a try, and now I don't mind them.  In fact, I kinda like them.  So when Dad mentioned fried green tomatoes, I was intrigued.  The green fruit has a tart, slightly citrus-like flavor.  Dad topped his with creamy goat cheese - yum!

Green tomato tip: Allow them to sit for a day or so to develop a slight "blush." 
Makes for sweeter flavor.

Fried Green Tomatoes
2 green tomatoes
1 1/2 c Italian style bread crumbs (or panko)
1 large egg
1/2 c buttermilk
1 c AP flour

Start by setting up your breading station:  Pour the bread crumbs into a shallow pan (pie pans are great for breading stations) and shake lightly to level.  Pour flour into second pie pan, shaking to level.  In a small bowl or shallow pan, beat the egg and buttermilk lightly.

In a non-stick skillet heat about 3 tbsp of olive oil on medium-high flame.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the green tomatoes to desired thickness (1/2" - 3/4" is ideal).  To bread the tomato slices, dip in this order: Egg, flour, egg, bread crumbs.  Carefully lay in the hot oil and brown on both sides.  Meanwhile, line a baking dish with paper towels.  After tomatoes are browned, place in baking dish and bake until tomatoes are tender (time will vary depending on thickness - check them every few minutes.)  Enjoy!



Merry Christmas from the Montalvo Family!