My Week in Food

Beauty abounds in the little wine country town of St. Helena where we were lucky enough to spend Labor Day with friends. I was having a mini-fantasy of recreating these peppers strung up along a pretty garden at Farmstead restaurant. Got to grow the peppers first, I suppose.

We feasted over the weekend… first on this salad starring two fat zucchinis shaved into paper thin ribbons, scattered with chopped olives, almonds, Parmesan, mint, and lemon zest. Olive oil and lemon juice finished the job.

Then it was a pizza-making time in an outdoor oven that topped 700 degrees. No patience required:  pies were out in about two minutes.

Back to real life come Tuesday meant building a few meals around a crock pot of pinto beans. We had them first for dinner with blistered tortillas, steamed corn, a cabbage slaw, and smashed avocado. Easy.

Rosie had a bowlful topped with salsa for a snack one afternoon.  I treated myself to a late breakfast taco another day of scrambled eggs, more beans, avocado, and a very quiet house. Bliss.

This was  the highlight of My Week in Food (or perhaps even My Year in Food): a book review in the Boston Globe that one of my girlfriends deemed (avert your eyes children, I’m about to get dirty), “A cookbook writer’s wet dream.”

Still working my way through all those eggplants I mentioned last week. Two of them landed in this luscious pasta whereby I sauteed a small onion and a few cloves of sliced garlic in olive oil, then added the eggplants (already cubed and roasted at 400 degrees until tender) and about 1/2 cup of oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes. Tossed this all with about 12 ounces of bucatini pasta and 1/3 cup chopped basil. Tasty though it was, the kids requested this be the last of the eggplant parade.

Wasn’t sure what to find inside this box that arrived on my doorstep one day.

It was filled with goodies from the folks at Chobani …all their new flavors to love. My favorite? This Blueberry Power Flip, which features yogurt along with a little pouch of walnuts, chia seeds, and hemp seeds.

Speaking of things to love, these are Virginia’s favorite snack from Best Lunch Box Ever:  Skinny Mini Cheese Straws. Addictive.

Lastly, something to make my next Week in Food a little easier. The fabulous Meal Makeover Moms gave me a crack at trying out their new app. I’m not nearly as “app happy” as my children, but I think this one could be awfully handy for finding healthy recipes and creating shopping lists in a pinch. Check it out here.

How was your week in food?