bitty bella bruschetta

Maybe it is because I have a baby and another on the way, but I find everything tiny super cute these days. You know you aren't immune to it either. How many times have you seen a new puppy or a little pair of shoes and just melted? It even happens to my carnivore every now and again. Don't let his big frame fool you, he's a sucker for small stuff.

I personally love itty-bitty food too. That's why this baby bella bruschetta is a big hit with this vegetarian. To make your own you will need the following:

a large loaf of ciabatta
one quart of baby bella mushrooms
two-three garlic cloves
one pad of butter
one small shallot
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
fresh parsley

Start by slicing a good loaf of ciabatta into your desired sized - bigger for a main dish, smaller for appetizers. Peel and halve a garlic clove. Rub each slice with the garlic. Then brush the bread with olive oil. Place the bread in the oven on a low broil until golden. In the meantime, saute the cleaned and sliced mushrooms in a bit more oil and another garlic clove that is finely diced and one small chopped shallot. Add in one tblsp butter and let it melt. When the mushrooms soften, add a touch of salt and pepper. Take the toasted bread from the oven and top with the mushroom mixture. Add finely chopped fresh parsley over the top. Then bite into the creamy mushrooms and crunchy bread!

menu ideas:

This is a fantastic finger food sized appetizer, but can make a meaty (pun intended) vegetarian main dish. When I made it recently, the carnivore grilled himself an organic fillet from our new meat CSA. We shared buttered peas and baked potatoes.

baby steps

I told you all recently that my carnivore has made a few small changes in his eating habits and as a result has seen his health improve in several ways. One of these switches was to more whole grains and less "white stuff." So, when another big bag of blueberries showed up in my CSA this week, I decided to try my hand at whole wheat muffins.

I found a simple recipe on the given chronicles. You can see it by clicking here. Since baby omnivore loves blueberries too, I thought I would make a few little ones for him as well as some big ones for me and the carnivore. This recipe yielded twelve mini-muffins and eight regular muffins. I also lightly dusted the tops with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon - just to make sure my guys would scarf them down.

And, I am happy to report, they both did eat them. Sure they weren't the giant sugary monster muffins you find at your local coffee shop. But, we all felt a little better eating them knowing they were better for us. Baby steps...

CSA still life

It is no secret I am loving my CSA. Recently, I laid out some of my goodies, along side a jewel from our own garden (the green pepper) and a few peppers from our local produce store. It looked like a still life painting. Sure they were common veggies, but the colors and shapes were art on a chopping block. Who wouldn't be inspired to whip up dinner with this amazing bounty?

So I got to work, slicing and dicing. I used all the veggies above - peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, and onion in my dish. In the carnivore's I limited it to the peppers and onion. I also tossed in some organic sweet Italian sausage from West Wind Farms (who we are now getting a bi-weekly meat CSA from). I sauteed each in a bit of olive oil with kosher salt and freshly ground peppers. At the same time I boiled some whole grain penne (a new healthy switch we have made in our house).

Once everything was ready, i.e. the sausage was cooked, the veggies were soft, and the pasta was al dente, I tossed the penne with a bit more oil and some grated parmesan. I then piled the pasta into two large bowls and topped them with our respective CSA goodies.

So simple, but so satisfying. I enjoyed all the bright colors and fresh flavors. And the carnivore, well, he loves anything with fresh sausage. Even if it doesn't look like a work of art.

comfort food

Let's face it - we all have rough weeks every now and again. I had one this past week. May be its the heat, maybe its the hormones...I don't know. Let's just say I'm glad it is a new week. Really glad. And I don't know about you, but when I'm in a funk I crave comfort food. To me nothing is more comforting than a big pile of fried potatoes. Lucky for me my CSA has supplied me with plenty this year, as well as these purple jewel-like shallots. Aren't they adorable? I feel better already.

I started making my better mood dish with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet that I heated on medium. Next I peeled and diced the shallots and tossed them in the pan. While they got fragrant, I washed and scrubbed the red potatoes. I poked them each with a fork a few times and placed them in the microwave for about three minutes - just enough to soften them some. I then cut the hot potatoes into chunks and added them to the skillet of simmering shallots. Just a bit of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper topped the mixture. I cooked them til they were a bit brown, but not burned. Once ready, I transferred them to our waiting plates and sprinkled a bit of fresh thyme from the herb garden on top.

Like I said, nothing is more comforting. With my belly full of starchy heaven, I was in a much better mood. Funk fizzled...finally.

menu ideas:
That night we also had garlic green beans. The carnivore had a rosemary grilled organic chicken breast, while I had a big tomato salad.

green acres

What your are looking at are the first literal fruits of our labors. Well, actually the carnivore's labors. Being very pregnant this summer, I am not doing a lot of outdoor work in the oppressive Memphis heat. But, my loving hubby made me a garden this spring! And we are starting to see the results. We started small with a few berries in a pot. Both strawberries and blueberries.  I am happy to report we got a few red ones for the baby to munch on at lunch.

The blueberry bush has been less successful. One lone berry...but we haven't given up hope yet of a late bumper crop. In the meantime, we are lucky that are weekly CSA is keeping us stocked in our little guy's favorite fruit.


We also had another tragedy to report. This beautiful beefsteak tomato bloomed...and was promptly eaten during the night by some critter, despite the carnivore's elaborate efforts to keep them out. Sigh.

But not to worry, we have other things growing. This pic was taken very early on. The garden is really growing now. We have several types of bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini and melons going crazy.

For example, these squash blossoms are blooming on two different plants. We are anxiously awaiting the actual veggies to pop. I have lots of ideas for these yellow fellas!


Oh, and don't feel too bad about that tomato plant I mentioned earlier. I have personally enjoyed a plump roma tomato and a small yellow one from two other plants in my salads at lunch. Nothing like a tomato fresh from the vine directly to the plate to make you really feel like it is summer!






And of course, there is always our herbs. We have expanded to two large pots this year. You can see why. We have mint, oregano, dill, parsley, chives, thyme, basil, rosemary and cilantro. I love being able to go out and grab a handful of fresh herbs for any dish.









We have learned lots already this year and will hopefully have an even bigger crop of home grown goodies next year. But in the meantime, we will enjoy every thing that comes of the vines. So, look for future posts where I will share with you the recipes from our own little garden of goodies!

Have you started your own urban farm? What are you growing? And what are you cooking with the fruits of your labors? I'd love to hear more ideas. Just leave a comment below.