Yes, Mom... it's National I Love Food Day!

Are you like me... there's just too many to list!

The following are my favs, and in no specific order...

1.  See's dark chocolate scotchmallows

2.  Hot cinnamon rolls with raisins (Fred's has the best!)

3.  Toast with something savory and something sweet (cottage cheese and fruit or honey)

4.  Onion rings (well done, of course)

5.  Grilled salmon where it's crispy on the outside

6.  A yummy veggie salad with a little drizzle of olive oil, lemon & salt

7.  A deliciously BBQ'd hamburger, rare

8.  Tropical fruits

9.  Delicious tomatoes, red onions, basil, israeli feta and herbs

10.  Melon with cottage cheese

11.  Ice cold, crispy fresh veggies

12.  A white pizza with extremely thin and well-done crust (pref. Pizzeria Mozza)

Yes, i do love food!

Now please tell me... what are your favorites?

Bon Appetit!

Fresh arugula with oranges, shaved fennel & onion

On one of my trips to Ojai i had dinner in a little bistro in the middle of the village where all of the produce was fresh from local farmers.  I had a delicious salad with arugula, shaved fennel and some other goodies, but it was my first foray into raw fennel.  I loved it, but i knew i would since i adore licorice.  And yes, black licorice at that.  You can't have fun with fennel like you do with licorice whips -- no biting off the ends and using it like a straw in a soda pop.  But fennel has a nice crunch unlike licorice whips.  

I decided to make a salad to bring to Debbie's for lunch today, and I wanted the salad to be simple since i knew she had a lot of other dishes to go with it.  So, as delicious as the salad was in Ojai, i opted to leave out the berries, cheese and celery.  I'll save those goodies for another time.  I think most people enjoyed the salad i brought.  My only concern is should i not have dressed it until i got to Debbie's?  I knew she would have a lot going on, so i tossed mine with the dressing before leaving my home.  The fennel and onion didn't get soggy, but the arugula was a bit soft.  Either way, i think it had nice flavors and was different out of the ordinary.

Shaved fennel... paper thin

Shaved red onion... paper thin

Ingredients -

• one large fennel bulb
• one sweet red onion
• 1 package of fresh arugula
• two oranges, sectioned and sliced into bite-size pieces
• extra virgin olive oil
• red-wine vinegar
• sea salt
• fresh cracked pepper

Shave the fennel into paper thin slices.
Shave the onion into paper thin slices.
Mix into bowl with arugula.
Lightly toss with extra virgin olive oil, a couple splashes of vinegar, sea salt and black pepper.
Toss in orange segments.

Optional additions are shaved parmaesan, feta or goat cheese, along with either dried cranberries or sliced dried apricots or figs.

Voila!  Light and healthy.

Girls' Summer Lunch

I had two friends over for lunch and wanted to think of something light, yet classic so i could put my own twist on it.  I decided a caprese salad would be ideal since heirloom tomatoes are in the height of their season, and i'm always game for celebrating the delicious tomato.  When i was at the market, the produce man said the heirloom tomatoes were not as good as some years, but the little baby heirlooms were good, so i bought a variety of big and baby heirlooms.  I then decided that i would cut the tomatoes and the buffalo mozzarella and basil and serve it on a bed of wild arugula.  I also decided to grill some white peach slices and throw those into the mix.  I used a delicious store-bought salad dressing -- although i either should have used a bit more of it, or i needed something else with more of a "punch".

Unfortunately, I found that none of the tomatoes had the delicious sweet taste that heirlooms usually have.  I was very disappointed because i LOVE LOVE LOVE a good tomato.  I even threw a dash of salt on the tomatoes while they sat hoping that the salt would bring out the sweetness.  No such luck.  Overall, it was a pretty bland salad, but i think i'll work on spicing it up for the future since it's overall healthy, easy, and should be delicious.

Wild arugula.

Grillin' peaches.  Delish!!!

A variety of heirloom tomatoes - although this wasn't a great batch.

Here goes...

WILD CAPRESE SALAD
1 package of wild arugula
3 or 4 large heirloom tomatoes
(optional - 1 basket of baby heirloom tomatoes)
2 white peaches (too firm to eat, but perfect for slicing and grilling)
basil leaves
Lucini's Fig & Walnut Savory Balsamic, or a vinaigrette of your choice

I thoroughly washed the arugula and kept it in the fridge while i prepped the rest of the salad.
Slice the peaches into quarter inch thick slices so that they don't fall apart while you're grilling them.
Grill the peach slices and set aside.
Cut the baby heirlooms in half, and slice all the other tomatoes into bite-sized chunks.
Sprinkle with salt to bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes (if there's any sweetness to bring out).
Chiffonade the basil leaves and mix into the tomato mixture.
Slice the buffalo mozzarella into bite-sized pieces also.
I then tossed the arugula with the balsamic vinaigrette and placed the tomatoes and cheese on top. 

Easy-peasy!

For dessert i decided to serve fresh strawberries and blackberries with my homemade schlag.  Can't go wrong with berries if it's their season.  (Although who would think you could go wrong with heirloom tomatoes?)