Avoiding the Monday Night Blues..

Ryan and I had such a fun weekend- going to movies with family on Friday night, farmers market and lunch on Saturday, Gator victory over UTenn, party at Peggy's, and sunset at the beach on Sunday...it was hard to face another work week (not that I don't love what I do, I just wish there was more time during the weekend!). So to combat those typical "case of the Mondays," we decided to make some things we've never made. We were inspired by my lunch at Citrus Cafe and decided to make our own version of a Mediterranean platter (this time, meat included). We cooked herb and garlic meatballs, cucumber/yogurt salad, baked flatbread with olive oil and sea salt, and tabouli. It was all pretty quick; from fridge to table less than 30 minutes.
For the meatballs, we used ground chuck and mixed the beef with minced garlic, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and worchestire sauce. Next they were formed into 1/2 inch in diameter balls and baked at 400 for 15 minutes.

For the cucumber salad, chop one whole English (or seedless) cucumber and add the zest of half lemon and the juice of a whole lemon to a bowl. Stir and add salt and pepper and a small container of Greek fat free yogurt. Lastly, add chopped parsley and add any extra seasoning if it needs it.

For the tabouli, pour 1 cup of boiling water over 1 cup of bulgar wheat and let sit, covered, for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a bowl make a dressing of the juice of two lemons and 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add chopped tomatoes, green onions, and parsley (about 1/2 cup of each). When the bulgar wheat is cooked, add it to the rest of the ingredients, stir with a fork to "fluff" the bulgar and enjoy (it's even better leftover cold).

Happy week to all! :)

Farmers Market/Citrus Cafe

On Saturday morning, we met up with Josh and Alison at the Sarasota Downtown Farmer's Market. It'd been a couple of months since we have been down there, and now I really don't know what took us so long! The weather was great, there was delicious food, fresh produce, music, and of course an array of cute dogs! We strolled around and then had a wonderful lunch at Citrus Cafe. I had a mediterranean platter with hummus, salad, tabouli, feta cheese, and pita bread. It was really outstanding. Josh and Alison had a veggie sandwich that looked good and Ryan's open-face meatloaf sandwich was really good too. Hopefully we can make this a regular thing on Saturdays! I recommend this place to anyone in downtown Sarasota.

http://www.citrussarasota.com/

Pizza Night

So on Sunday we made a ton of ragu, so we used the leftovers for a yummy homemade pizza. It was a perfect dinner for the middle of the week, mostly because we are so dead tired by the time we're home! For the pizza, we used the Publix bakery dough. We rolled it out and then put on a baking sheet and drizzed with olive oil and sea salt. We cooked the dough at a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes until it started to bubble (see picture). We took it out of the oven and added a few big ladle-fuls of the leftover rage/tomato sauce and then some graded mozzarella and parmesan. The pizza cooked for another 15 minutes, or until all the cheese was melted and it started to bubble and brown on the top. Lastly we topped it with fresh ricotta and basil. It was quite delicious; and since there's no decent pizza nearby, it was a good alternative. Happy almost Friday everyone!

PS. One of the pictures is of Sadie, watching us while we cooked.

Sunday Dinner 09/12/10

Another Sunday rolls around. Is it just me, or are Sundays kind of bittersweet? It's great because it's another day without work (plus football!) but there's always the fact that work is tomorrow looming in the back of your mind. We made the most of our Sunday today, went to lunch, shopping, and watched NFL at World of Beer (great place to watch football and not too crowded either). We decided to make a good hearty dinner (we are still recovering from exhaustion and dehydration from yesterday's 104 degree Gator game...btw that's the actual temp not the heat index; and we played an intense match of tennis this morning). We made ragu with ricotta spaghetti.

Recipe: In a large pot, cook 1 large chopped onion until translucent, season with garlic salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of dried herbs (oregano, basil, pasley,and thyme). Add in 1 pound of ground chuck. Cook until beef is browned and then add 1/4 cup of tomato paste. Stir until combined and then add 1 cup of dry red wine. Bring to a simmer and add a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes. Stir and bring to a simmer and then turn the heat on low and put the lid on. Meanwhile boil whatever pasta you like the best. Once pasta is added to salted, boiling water...add 1 cup of part-skim ricotta cheese to ragu and stir to combine. Serve sauce on top of spaghetti with chopped fresh basil and parmesan.

Happy week 4 of the school year!

Gator game (9/11/10)

Ryan and I braved the crazy heat and went to the UF/USF this past Saturday. We went along with our friends Danna and Peggy. It was a blast! The first half was a little rough for my beloved gators, but they got their act together and kicked butt in true fashion! Should be a fun season!

Indoor BBQ Night

So, surprise surprise it's raining...ugh! We really wanted to grill, but are unwilling to deal with the pouring rain (call us wimps), but we really wanted to have some barbeque chicken. So we roasted it! We started with a whole cut-up chicken and seasoned it with salt and pepper and placed on a tin-foil-lined baking sheet. Brush on your favorite barbeque sauce (if it was a weekend, I would've made my own sauce, but hey...I am lazy during the week!) on both sides of the chicken pieces. Place in a 350 degree oven and baste with barbeque sauce every 20-30 minutes until chicken is cooked through (about an hour). Baste one last time with the barbeque sauce and then place chicken on a lower rack and turn the broiler on (don't put it on the top rack, the tin foil might catch on fire...not that I have ever done that...oops!). Don't leave the kitchen, only broil until chicken skins slightly darkens.
With the chicken we made oven sweet potato fries. It was real simple- toss peeled, sliced sweet potatoes with canola oil, salt and pepper and place on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes and then flip potato slices. You can broil it at the last minute if you want them to be extra crispy.

Happy Football Season!

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..."

Happy football season to all! GO GATORS!

Here's a picture of some gator-themed cookies we made for Saturday and Sadie sporting her gator collar and necklace.