Tonight was the first of probably many future repeat meals in the Seriously, What’s for Dinner category.  Denny requested chicken salad, so that’s what we had.  We ate corn on the cob with sliced garden tomatoes on the side.

Of note:  the chicken salad contained diced bell pepper from the garden, our first successful bell pepper in history.

I think I’m more tired out by mental work than physical work.  To that end, I chose tapas for our anniversary dinner, because even though they’re kind of fussy and require some effort, I’ve made them so many times I don’t have to think.  The only thing I did that was at all new was the beverage.

The tapas were some of our standards:  baguette with manchego ibérico cheese (Tobin and I had a talk at the Co-op today and decided on the milder cheese that his daddy would probably prefer) and jamón serrano; bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with Maytag bleu cheese and almonds; asparagus that I cooked simply in a cast-iron pan with butter and S&P.  The baguette thingies got a drizzle of good Spanish olive oil and S&P as well.

For the bev, I macerated some sliced peaches (our special fruit) and Rainier cherries in amaretto and peach schnapps and lemon juice.  At serving time, I put a couple of pieces of fruit into each champagne flute along with a couple of spoonfuls of the liquid, then topped with champagne.

It was actually some sort of California sparkling wine, but you know.  It was good and I may just go have some more now, because it’s not going to keep, right?

I got this idea from Martha Stewart of all places (via Pinterest, probably).  I don’t know their official name, but we call them splorts.

They’re a really fun water toy.  They’re not quite as scary as water balloons for little kids, and they’re way less work than filling a million small balloons.  They also don’t leave latex crumbs all over the yard, which is important when you have a Tobin who puts everything in his mouth.  I also like that they use less water than the sprinkler in these droughty times.

Here’s what you do:  take four cheap sponges and cut them length-wise into 4 strips (I used a bread knife).  Gather them tightly in the middle with a rubber band and fluff them out.  Soak in water and throw at your target beloved child.  We just bring a big bowl out into the yard, fill it with the hose, and reload the splorts as necessary.

I’m still excited about the tomatoes that are coming into ripeness in the garden, so we ate of their bounty again tonight.

I threw together something resembling a Caprese salad that wasn’t 100% traditional, but it was good.  It was just cut-up tomatoes, basil leaves, fresh mozzarella pearls (those little balls, or else you could cut up a larger chunk), part of a red onion left over from last night, some crushed red pepper, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and S&P.

For the compound butter, I minced up a whole lot of garlic.  This was my first year growing garlic in the garden (thanks to my dad), and it’s so much fun using it.  I sauteed it in some butter until it was just barely golden, then I chilled it for a while.  I added some finely-grated parmigiano reggiano and more softened butter and smooshed it all together.

We ate that (and the Caprese salad) on baguette that I toasted in the oven a little.  It was very easy, fast, and doesn’t even require a whole lot of clean-up.  Oh, it’s vegetarian, too.  Usually we do meatless Mondays, but we got a little wild this week.

I actually made these last night, but I forgot to blog about them, so here we go.

This is an old standby recipe, and while it’s not difficult, it helps to have two adults out by the grill to work on it.  There are some things that need to happen quickly, and having four hands sort of eases the process.  Last night, my parents were here, so they could mind the short guys while DC and I grilled up the pizzas.

I had dough in the freezer.  It’s Cooks’ Illustrated’s herbed pizza dough, which I can’t find online, but I figure most pizza crust recipes would work as long as it’s a kneaded yeast dough.  I make a double batch when I do it, divide it into single-serving-sized blobs, and freeze the ones I don’t use.  I wrap them individually in plastic wrap.  They thaw pretty fast for a quick dinner.

The sauce was just last year’s all-purpose tomato sauce from the garden (tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil, basil, salt, sugar), cooked down so it was thick.  I also added some of Penzey’s pizza seasoning.  For toppings, I used sliced little tomatoes from the garden, turkey pepperoni, thinly-sliced red onions, basil leaves, and provolone cheese.  It’s important to use toppings that don’t require thorough cooking, because that part of the process happens pretty fast.

To make the pizzas, heat the grill up (DC handles this part…I want to say medium-high or something?), then once it’s hot, turn it down to medium-low.  Brush one side of each flattened-out dough with olive oil, then slap them on the grill.  Close it so there’s an oven effect, and leave them on for 2-3 minutes (check carefully, because burned is trouble).

Once you have some nice grill marks on the bottom, brush the top with olive oil and flip them over.  Immediately spread the first grilled side with tomato sauce, toppings, and cheese.  Close the lid and grill for another couple of minutes, or until the cheese is melty and there are grill marks on the bottom.

Tasty.

Tonight I picked the first ripe, red tomato from this season’s garden.  It was really beautiful on the outside and pretty darn good on the inside too.  Here I am spokesmodeling with it:

We were going to have it with burgers, but then I found out we’re going to some unusual burger place tomorrow night, so we did a last-minute switcheroo and had BLTs instead. I served them on whole wheat with baby romaine lettuce, with some potato salad and grapes on the side.

The only item of note here is that I have learned the best, best way to make bacon:  put it in a 9×13 glass pan (this only holds about 5 strips, which works for us, but you could use a bigger dish or two dishes if you need more), then stick it in a cold oven.  Turn the oven on to 400 degrees and set the timer for 25 minutes.

It cooks slowly that way, almost confit-style the way it cooks in its own rendered fat.  When the 25 minutes are up, take it out, wipe it off on some paper towels, and as my old college roommate used to say, “Viola.”

Did we like it?  Oh yes.  That’s practically the Platonic ideal of summer food.

Did the kids eat it?  Miles ate two ears of corn on the cob and skipped the sandwiches.  Tobin bonked his head getting into his high chair and spent the first half of the meal nursing (did you know how difficult it is to eat a BLT while acting as a food source yourself?) and then had a little bit of applesauce.

Other notes:  We’ll be having these many more times this summer.  We especially go for the thick-cut maple bacon.

Well, I had groceries ready for Denny to grill burgers, but he wasn’t feeling like grilling, so we scrounged.

Denny had leftover pizza, I had a grilled cheese (provolone and some sort of Mexi-blend on whole wheat), Miles had noodles, and Tobin had yogurt.  We all had peaches and cherries.

This is some inspiring stuff, I tell you.

Tonight we had chicken salad.  It’s a recipe that barely requires the oven (doesn’t require it at all if you don’t care about warming up the rolls), so it’s nice for excruciatingly hot days like this.

General recipe:

1 14-oz package boneless, skinless chicken tenders
fistful of garden herbs (sage, rosemary, basil, lemon basil)
S&P
A generous glob of sour cream
A generous glob of mayo
a handful of slivered almonds
maybe a cup of red grapes, halved
half a red onion, finely chopped
dried thyme (fresh would have been nice, but le jardin did not provide)
extra handful of lemon basil, finely chopped
generous dash curry powder

Poach the chicken in the water with salt and the fresh herbs.  Chill in the fridge (I did that last night.  You can also do this with whatever leftover chicken is around).

Chop the chicken into small chunks and add everything else.  Serve on toasted ciabatta rolls.  I served corn on the cob on the side.

Did we like it?  Yes.  This is the second or third time I’ve made it.

Did the kids eat it?  Nah, Miles stuck to the corn and Tobin is still mostly eating pureed food.

Other notes:  This is easy to make in advance and doesn’t use very many dishes.  It’s good for a lazy night and easy to tweak based on what you have on hand.

Hello.

I have started a new category.  I probably won’t start using it regularly for another couple of weeks, because we’re going to be out of town most of next week and I won’t be cooking for the family, but here it is.

The category is called Seriously, what’s for dinner?.  The purpose of it is to honestly document what we eat for dinner most nights.  What we eat is always a compromise between my interest in creative, fresh, healthy cuisine and the limited time and energy I have for meal preparation.  Previously when I’ve blogged food stuff, it’s been things I’m proud of—the more elaborate endeavors.  That’s not what this category is for.

Maybe it will be useful to readers (do I still have readers?), but mostly what I hope to do is get some data that I can use in the future.  What worked?  What did the family like?  What was time-consuming but worth it?  What was not worth repeating, and why?  The first of such posts is forthcoming.

M:  How old are you?

D:  I’m 35.

M:  When will you be 100?

D:  Well, in 65 years I’ll be 100.

M:  You are going to bump your head on the ceiling.

Miles was snacking on cookies with letters on them.  He had three:  Y, F, and X.

M:  Is the X silent?

A:  Um…sure, it can be.

M:  Y…F.  Y…F.  Wife!  (pause)  How do you spell husband?

I was bemoaning the fact that Tobin had a restless night and did a lot of nursing.  He seemed to want to nurse again early in the morning.

A:   Oh, Tobin, I don’t know if I have any milk left.

M:  I think righty could use a drain.